Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!

[MrConsideration]

My most pressing Drider quest is why aren't they in the 'Drow' section?

Dryad

Another creature inspired by Greek myth, the Dryad is a spirit of nymph of a tree. Such a creature can stand in for tree-spirits of many cultures (Kodama, Ghillie Dhu etc) and thus can find a place in almost any campaign.

The Dryad is one of those funny monsters that I can never really see my party fighting – they’re more often a quest-giver or scenery that a monster. However – there is no Manual of Quest-Givers and Scenery so we must treat her as a monster!

Art



This is an interesting piece and quite singular in the Monster Manual because of its broadly impressionistic style. Almost all monster depictions in the book are quite realistic and detailed whilst this opts for the suggestion of femininity and the suggestion of arborealism. The facial expression is awesomely powerful (a serious condition of Resting Birch Face) and intones in the Dryad artwork a sort of nature-goddess vibe with a powerful sensuality. It is brave and I dig it a lot.


Purpose and Tactics

You could feasibly use the Dryad as a low-level boss monster, but I wouldn’t advise it. The Dryad is primarily a controller, and with its low CR, works best paired up with a grab-bag of beasts, Fey or elementals. The reason it doesn’t function as a solo threat is the awful damage and hitpoints – even players disrupted by Charm and Entangle will slaughter the Dryad with ease. Despite the inclusion of Shillelagh, I would avoid using the Dryad for damage at all.

In a fight, assume your dryad is supporting a group of beasts (lets say Wolves). She can use Entangle to deny the characters an action throughout the fight. She could dispense healing in the form of Goodberry, but this seems a fairly weak option. Combining Entangle with her Charm ability to remove foes from the fight would be a strong strategy, especially as Charm does not compete with the concentration needed or Entangle. With clever positioning (aided by Tree Stride, which only counts as movement and no her Standard) you can be a constant disruptive element and expose the party to dangerous isolation, flanking attacks or charmed inactivity. Barkskin will remove your ability to concentrate Entangle, so I would avoid imagining your Dryad can ever successfully tank.

Whilst you have impressive Magical Resistance to protect you from spells (especially Area of Effect) your Dryad will go down quickly to any sustained fire. Most level one characters with any nova ability could feasibly slay the Dryad in a single hit – and this will only be more pronounced as time continues. Use Tree Stride, the range of your magic and the difficult terrain of your forest home to keep you away from direct damage.

Another string to her bow is her use of Stealth and the mighty Pass Without Trace. Whilst I find adjudicating stealth versus the party difficult aside from in an ambush situation, Pass Without Trace makes it extremely likely the Dryad and her allies will get the jump on your players. Pair this with a Bugbear for a pretty terrifying low CR budget encounter!

As a quest-giver, she’s a standard hippy flower-child and will want you to protect her forest. For something a little more edgy, you could borrow themes from the more morally complex world of Princess Mononoke or draw on the idea of a Dryad being cursed to her form – perhaps she is vengeful.

Fluff

None of this is particularly original (Dryads are sexy woodland ladies who cavort with satyrs and unicorns) but I’m not sure how else one could riff on the forest-guardian concept without changing it too much. There’s a nascent doomed love-story plot in the fluff if your players wished they were playing Vampire: The Masquerade instead.

Plot Hooks

A trio of Dryads have taken their protection of the forest to absurd degrees: the kill interlopers just for fertiliser and cause the wooden huts of villagers to spout saplings and grow. They intend that their forest absorb the whole region as it did in primordial times…

The Dryad Waiola loved a mortal man once, and was bound to her tree as punishment. This was millennia ago. Could you find his grave, or ancestors, or ashes and bring back some relic of her love that they might be joined?

A logging syndicate has been set up by the local Baron, who desires you broker a peace with the Dryads and build a sustainable policy that allows the villagers to make a living and the forest to prosper in equal amounts…

Fairuza the Scourge is a Dryad scorned by her sisters. She sees the beauty of nature not in the steady growth of millennia but in the sudden upsurge after a forest fire; she sees majesty not in the venerable old grizzly but in the jaws of a young wolf. Can you prevent her violent attempts to make the circle of life turn a little quicker?

Verdict: Solid as an oak, but not particularly exciting. For more edgy forest guardians, check out my blog post.

[Regitnui]

I plan to have a circle of 6 dryads in a fey forest, each are guarded by a wood woad. Except for the youngest, who will try to seduce the unsuccessful womanizing cleric into becoming her guardian. If he accepts, game over, as she rips his heart out to become her wood woad. If the party objects or she is offended, her sisters and their wood woads join the attack and it's a 6-dryad, 5-wood woad encounter for a party of four level 3s... If they win, the circle.of trees withers and dies under the influence of the local bheur hag...

I've been going easy on them until now, so don't call me evil.

[Spellbreaker26]

I plan to have a circle of 6 dryads in a fey forest, each are guarded by a wood woad. Except for the youngest, who will try to seduce the unsuccessful womanizing cleric into becoming her guardian. If he accepts, game over, as she rips his heart out to become her wood woad. If the party objects or she is offended, her sisters and their wood woads join the attack and it's a 6-dryad, 5-wood woad encounter for a party of four level 3s... If they win, the circle.of trees withers and dies under the influence of the local bheur hag...

I've been going easy on them until now, so don't call me evil.

No matter how easy you've been going on them, how is this not evil? You're putting them in a no-win situation, with the best case scenario involving a forest dying.

An encounter for taking a seduction attempt is fair play. An insta-kill? Even worse, an insta-kill on the healer?

[Shining Wrath]

I agree that a Dryad is a poor choice for a solo monster, but they and Nymphs and the like ought to have instant allies if attacked, assuming the standard "nice fey that helps all the woodland creatures with their problems" take is operational for this Dryad. Party threatens the Dryad, she uses Tree Stride to escape and the party hears a growing crescendo as every little furry creature within a mile or two rushes to defend their beloved queen. Mice climb legs, squirrels leap from trees, badgers bite ankles, and when the bear shows up things get real. It's a nice way to teach murder hoboes a lesson about not attacking everything they see.

[MrConsideration]

Strictly going by RAW, the Dryad would have only three beast allies using its Charm.

But I throw RAW out every session so who cares? Unleash the beast(s)!

[RazDelacroix]

You could play up the 'creepy doom forest' aspect of the encounter! Before ever actually seeing the dryad, have your players take notice of the woodland critters gradual shift in behavior. Songbirds become silent and just LOOK at the passing adventurers. Squirrels and rabbits actively NOT running away from them. Deer walk with wolves as they stalk/escort the potential murderhobos. Have a handsome elf try running towards the party pleading for help, before being dragged away screaming by a bear; while a lilting voice chides the runner for not being done with their hair appointment...

[MasterMercury]

Male Dryads are a thing, right? I'd love to make a Tarzan-ish one. Swinging from trees with Tree Stride, hollering at the top of his wooden lungs to summon all the beasts of the jungle to his command.

[Notafish]

There's nothing barring dryads from using Tree Stride to move between awakened trees, is there?

I don't know how tactically interesting it is in the long run, but it could be a fun surprise to be fighting a group of particularly angry trees when their sworn protector leaps out of one of their trunks.

[Shining Wrath]

The dryad can only charm 3 beasts a day. The dryad can speak with all beasts and plants, at will, as if they shared a language. If the dryad's neutrality extends to aiding beasts and plants injured by "out of balance" stuff - passing orcs, woodcutters and hunters, what have you - she can have as many beasts who think of her as "nice" or "one of us" as the DM cares to imagine.

And I can imagine a lot, given that a dryad lives as long as the home tree does - decades or centuries in one region, tending to generations of rabbits and wolves and chipmunks and what have you.

[Shining Wrath]

Duergar
Another in a continuing series of "creatures that moved to the Underdark because they were bad", anticipating the drow, the Formorians, and so on. These guys date back to 1983 and Monster Manual II, and have always been the dwarvish equivalent of drow. And also like several other Underdark denizens, the Illithids have messed with their minds.

Offhand question - why are drow listed under "elf", but Duergar are not listed under "dwarf"? Is it because drow are a playable subrace?

Art
As usual, nothing provides a sense of scale, but for once it may not be needed; that's a standard dwarf chassis right there, so you can guess he's 4' tall and 3.9' wide. I like the beard; it looks like Santa gone bad. He also appears to be wearing brass knuckles on his left hand. The eyes give a sense of madness. You can tell he's not a friendly dwarf.

Purpose and Tactics
About the same as dwarves. Tough, armored, favor melee over ranged combat. The once / rest size change and invisibility features allow for variety. These guys are built for ambush fighting - wait invisibly, attack from ambush with javelins, close to melee range and Enlarge. The Duergar Enlarge is better than the Enlarge/Reduce spell, as it doubles damage dice as opposed to merely adding 1d4.

Fluff
Grim, haunted by memories of enslavement, and occasionally tempted by Asmodeus himself, these guys are really miserable creatures. The traditional Enlarge ability is poorly explained; why can't other creatures that live in the Underdark and absorb its magical energies do so? Imagine a purple worm that can Enlarge if it feels threatened. Hmmmm .... Rubs hands together in sadistic homebrewing glee. Anyway, on with the duergar.

Plot Hooks
Duergar raiders took a group of humans captive to use as slaves. Unfortunately for them, they took the rich merchant's daughter and only heir, and she has hired the party to retrieve her, and spare no expense. Bribe them if you must, but the merchant would much rather they died miserable deaths for defiling her daughter with their unclean hands.

The long anticipated war between the humans and the hobgoblins is coming, and the humans need weapons and armor! But the only merchants near enough to supply them in time are the grey dwarves dwelling beneath the human lands. Can the party negotiate a deal?

The duergar Slapnoy visited the surface world as part of a trade mission, and ever since his dreams have been troubled with memories - of beauty, of sunlight, of an elf child's laughter. He has left his home and come to the surface. Can the party teach him the meaning of joy? He will pay well if they can.

Verdict
Solid but dour. Use them in the Underdark as part of the setting; they are expected. But until they get more detail, not very interesting.

[Regitnui]

No matter how easy you've been going on them, how is this not evil? You're putting them in a no-win situation, with the best case scenario involving a forest dying.

An encounter for taking a seduction attempt is fair play. An insta-kill? Even worse, an insta-kill on the healer?

I was thinking more along the lines of a timer on a grapple check: after all, it takes time to crack open a ribcage.

It's not the entire forest. It's that specific grove in Thelanis. The real world forest is unaffected, and it's part of the local faerie story that there's a circle of dryads offering succour; killing them now just denies the otherwise safe ground to the PCs. Also, these players are fairly good at talking themselves out of things. Each of the players get a similar dilemma: the roll-player monk has the opportunity to turn on the other players for immediate mechanical benefits, for example.

[Regitnui]

No matter how easy you've been going on them, how is this not evil? You're putting them in a no-win situation, with the best case scenario involving a forest dying.

An encounter for taking a seduction attempt is fair play. An insta-kill? Even worse, an insta-kill on the healer?

I was thinking more along the lines of a timer on a grapple check: after all, it takes time to crack open a ribcage.

It's not the entire forest. It's that specific grove in Thelanis. The real world forest is unaffected, and it's part of the local faerie story that there's a circle of dryads offering succour; killing them now just denies the otherwise safe ground to the PCs. Also, these players are fairly good at talking themselves out of things. Each of the players get a similar dilemma: the roll-player monk has the opportunity to turn on the other players for immediate mechanical benefits, for example.

Re: Duergar. I see them as the psionic equivalents to dwarves more than the under dark equivalent. That may be influenced, again, by Everton, where the entire duergar nation of Sarlona fights a guerilla war against the Inspired from the northern border of Riedra.

[Gastronomie]

Out of the Abyss introduced some mushrooms that make you grow bigger or smaller when you eat them (seriously). Coincidentally, they appeared in a Duergar city.

Though not explicitly explained, perhaps the Duergar obtained their innate powers through eating these mushrooms for hundreds of generations.

[Gwendol]

I think you are selling the Duergar a bit short. They are dour, pessimistic, and always at work. I'm imagining the Duergar cities in the Underdark as some kind of fantasy Stalin work camp or gigantic sweat shops where everything as about production.
Duergar need trade as they are not expanding fast enough to absorb their craft themselves. Encountering Duergar will likely not start as a fight, at least not from the Duergar. They will want to see if they can trade first.

Also, why prefer melee? They are master craftsmen and will likely use crossbows, hand crossbows, slings etc before resorting to melee. They should excel at tunnelfighting, enlarging to gain tactical advantage with those behind using polearms or ranged weapons.

[Millstone85]

Duergar
Another in a continuing series of "creatures that moved to the Underdark because they were bad", anticipating the drow, the Formorians, and so on.

Since the sin of the duergar's ancestors was that they delved too greedily and too deep, I think they weren't any worse than other dwarves.

Offhand question - why are drow listed under "elf", but Duergar are not listed under "dwarf"? Is it because drow are a playable subrace?

The duergar are a playable subrace too as of SCAG, but that came later so you might be right. Another possible explanation is that "Dwarves: Duergar" wouldn't change the alphabetical order.

Out of the Abyss introduced some mushrooms that make you grow bigger or smaller when you eat them (seriously). Coincidentally, they appeared in a Duergar city.

Though not explicitly explained, perhaps the Duergar obtained their innate powers through eating these mushrooms for hundreds of generations.

I thought my dragon tortoise joke a bit far-fetched but now it is starting to look almost canon.

[Shining Wrath]

Out of the Abyss introduced some mushrooms that make you grow bigger or smaller when you eat them (seriously). Coincidentally, they appeared in a Duergar city.

Though not explicitly explained, perhaps the Duergar obtained their innate powers through eating these mushrooms for hundreds of generations.

Jefferson Airplane is now writing for WotC? Who knew? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANNqr-vcx0

I think you are selling the Duergar a bit short. They are dour, pessimistic, and always at work. I'm imagining the Duergar cities in the Underdark as some kind of fantasy Stalin work camp or gigantic sweat shops where everything as about production.
Duergar need trade as they are not expanding fast enough to absorb their craft themselves. Encountering Duergar will likely not start as a fight, at least not from the Duergar. They will want to see if they can trade first.

Also, why prefer melee? They are master craftsmen and will likely use crossbows, hand crossbows, slings etc before resorting to melee. They should excel at tunnelfighting, enlarging to gain tactical advantage with those behind using polearms or ranged weapons.

Duergar are dwarves with the vices exaggerated and the virtues diminished. Hard work is turned into a religion, but they take no joy in their artistry. Dwarves are greedy; duergar, extra-greedy.

As for battle tactics, I'm imagining the Underdark as having twisty tunnels where ranged combat would be problematic because you don't have line of sight; and caverns where the enemy would probably close quickly. Their spec'd equipment (I know, I know) is scale, a war pick, and javelins.

[ZeltArruin]

The reason Duergar aren't listed under Dwarf is likely because they are only distantly related, not a true subrace as Drow are to Elves. The fact that bringing up this relationship to a Duergar will likely incite violence not withstanding.

[Gwendol]

As for battle tactics, I'm imagining the Underdark as having twisty tunnels where ranged combat would be problematic because you don't have line of sight; and caverns where the enemy would probably close quickly. Their spec'd equipment (I know, I know) is scale, a war pick, and javelins.

Javelins ::facepalm::
are these master craftsmen or goblins?

[Regitnui]

Javelins ::facepalm::
are these master craftsmen or goblins?

You'll be marvelling at the details on the shafts even as they pin you to a wall.

[Gwendol]

Nah, that'll be elf-crafted javelins.

[Regitnui]

Nah, that'll be elf-crafted javelins.

Not if the shaft is made of metal...

[Shining Wrath]

Not if the shaft is made of metal...

Either way you're getting the shaft, no? Duergar javelins you admire the quality of the metal and the keenness of the edge as the head passes through your body.

[Spellbreaker26]

Perhaps they use javelins instead of throwing axes because they want to differentiate themselves from other dwarves. Or perhaps they specialize in making them because they can sell them to goblins and drow and it's easier to just make javelins for both themselves and their buyers.

[Alejandro]

I think you could make a decent mid-boss out of a spellcasting Drider. The key is to go into their backstory a little. Remember that Driders exist because they failed an important test and are now worthless in the eyes of their goddess (though, frankly, that feels backwards, why would a spider goddess punish you by making you resemble one of her favored forms more). So, they would do anything to get her approval again, to be let back into society, to shed their monstrous forms. That gives a very strong motivation for a villain.

I know we are discussing other monsters now, but wanted to say: I think a drider, rejected by the Spider Queen, angry and wanting more power to take revenge on the society and demon goddess they were cast out from, that becomes a Warlock of one of the other demon princes, would be a terrifying opponent for PCs. A juiced up drider, with eldritch blasts and summoned demon minions?

[JellyPooga]

Perhaps they use javelins instead of throwing axes because they want to differentiate themselves from other dwarves. Or perhaps they specialize in making them because they can sell them to goblins and drow and it's easier to just make javelins for both themselves and their buyers.

Or perhaps it's just that (going by price) you get 150 Javelins for every Hand Crossbow (not counting Bolts). A Crossbow might be a good personal investment, but if you were equipping an army or knocking out goods for profit, then Javelins are going to stand you in better stead (e.g. if you were a crafty Duergar weapon merchant, selling Javelins at 6sp a piece is much more likely to fly under the radar than selling a Hand Crossbow for 90gp, even though it's the same 20% mark-up). I imagine it's also easier to "mastercraft" a Javelin for an even bigger mark-up, than it is with something more complex like a Crossbow.

Javelins are also, arguably, one of the best short-ranged weapons available; versatile for use in melee or thrown, better range than thrown axes or spears, better damage than darts, easy to use (who isn't proficient with javelins?), cheap, retrievable (unlike Xbow bolts), decent enough damage (if not great...but hey, even a Longbow only does 1d8), one-handed, no fiddly loading property. Sure, as a PC there's better weapons available because you can either work around the flaws and/or capitalise on the strengths, but for NPC's Javelins are a great staple weapon.

[Shining Wrath]

Or perhaps it's just that (going by price) you get 150 Javelins for every Hand Crossbow (not counting Bolts). A Crossbow might be a good personal investment, but if you were equipping an army or knocking out goods for profit, then Javelins are going to stand you in better stead (e.g. if you were a crafty Duergar weapon merchant, selling Javelins at 6sp a piece is much more likely to fly under the radar than selling a Hand Crossbow for 90gp, even though it's the same 20% mark-up). I imagine it's also easier to "mastercraft" a Javelin for an even bigger mark-up, than it is with something more complex like a Crossbow.

Javelins are also, arguably, one of the best short-ranged weapons available; versatile for use in melee or thrown, better range than thrown axes or spears, better damage than darts, easy to use (who isn't proficient with javelins?), cheap, retrievable (unlike Xbow bolts), decent enough damage (if not great...but hey, even a Longbow only does 1d8), one-handed, no fiddly loading property. Sure, as a PC there's better weapons available because you can either work around the flaws and/or capitalise on the strengths, but for NPC's Javelins are a great staple weapon.

Javelins are also a lot easier to carry (in a practical real world sense). The only classes that don't have proficiency are wizards and sorcerers, who really ought to have cantrips better than javelins anyway. Your basic point is correct; the MM duergar is a mook. A duergar knight or cleric ought to be better equipped.

Loving the idea of a drider warlock, pledged to the destruction of Lolth herself. An interesting moral conundrum for a good aligned elven PC - "You, depraved evil doer of horrible evil deeds, are pledged to the destruction of ... one of my race's deadliest foes".

[Millstone85]

This is an interesting piece and quite singular in the Monster Manual because of its broadly impressionistic style. Almost all monster depictions in the book are quite realistic and detailed whilst this opts for the suggestion of femininity and the suggestion of arborealism. The facial expression is awesomely powerful (a serious condition of Resting Birch Face) and intones in the Dryad artwork a sort of nature-goddess vibe with a powerful sensuality. It is brave and I dig it a lot.

At the risk of lowering the level of the critique, I must confess that I consider Ms. Dryad here to be the most attractive woman in this manual.

[M Placeholder]

At the risk of lowering the level of the critique, I must confess that I consider Ms. Dryad here to be the most attractive woman in this manual.

Still cannot fathom why Celia's ex-boyfriend cheated on her with a dryad.....leafy w%%kers

[GlenSmash!]

a serious condition of Resting Birch Face

Bwahaha! A love a subtle little pun.

[Spellbreaker26]

Well, D is certainly a packed section, but E is a bit sparser. Let's see if there are any gems here neverthless.

Elementals

I must admit I'm not familiar with the cultural heritage of elementals. I did some quick checking and apparently they come from alchemy, but were originally called Gnomes, Undine, Sylphs and Salamanders, which are totally different creatures in DnD.

There is a reason they crop up in both tabletop and DnD a lot - they have a clear rock-paper-scissors thing going with their elements (or rock-water-fire-air thing, I guess) so they make a tactical challenge and they're also faceless and virtually mindless which makes them good goons that don't impose a moral qualms for killing them.

Art

Not very impressive, but there's not a lot of room to maneuver with drawing elementals so they get a pass. I like how they've got little frowny faces though. It's so cute!

Purpose and Tactics

Elementals are likely to be servants of whatever bigger bad can summon them. Each presents a similar tactical challenge - they get close and deal AoE damage. The only exception is Rock, which is just a slugger and seems more suited for a siege situation where the party has to defend a wall by destroying one.

I'm kinda disappointed in their resistances - water isn't resistant to fire, for one, and neither is rock. You ever tried to set a rock on fire?

They're all fairly tough in terms of hitpoints. Air has knockback, so using one on a windy mountain path seems like a great challenge. Fire seems like the most difficult in a conventional fight, since it can stack up damage over time and you can't just surround and hammer away at it's chunky bar of hit points. Water seems like one that would grapple two party members, then retreat back into water. Earth's burrow ability would allow it to flank opponents if they're underground by hiding in the cave walls.

So each is most dangerous in its element, essentially. Appropriate.

Fluff

They're expressions of their respective element without any personality, you've heard it all before. Wizards summon them because they're less dangerous than demons and devils and so they can be used as golem stuffing.

Plot Hooks

The mighty keep of the Hornburger has stood for generations. Now an evil sorcerer's army is attacking, and mighty stone elementals are smashing down the walls. Your party must intervene and stop them.

In order to claim the four crystals of light, you must first travel to the Elemental Keep and challenge four elemental guardians each in an arena corresponding to earth, air, fire, and water.

Verdict If you want an element themed villain with an actual personality, go for genies. These guys are just obstacles or bodyguards at best.