D&D General Fiends & Foes is a D&D lore book of beasts, villains, and monstrosities from across the planes

Coming on November 24th 2026 is a new art and lore book by Erin M. Evans which explores all manner of creatures from various D&D worlds. The book provides information and statistics for iconic villains such as Vecna, Tiamat, and Lolth, contains hundreds of illustrations, and presents it all through the eyes of Farideh, a tiefling tasked to deliver a letter by Glasya, a Princess of the Nine Hells. The 320-page hardcover book is being published by Ten Speed Press, under license from WotC.

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An officially licensed, in-world exploration of the art and lore of Dungeons & Dragons’s iconic villains, anti-heroes, and morally ambiguous characters.

“I am Glasya, Lord of the Sixth, Archduchess of Malbolge, and Princess of the Nine Hells. I would like a letter conveyed to someone who doesn’t want to be found. Beyond that, I wish to give you a good story, and so we will set off on this quest, villain to villain, and we will see what happens, and who survives.”

Fiends & Foes guides readers on a dangerous journey through the realms, framed as a quest to deliver a letter to an unknown and extremely powerful character. Each chapter presents art and fascinating lore about D&D’s best-known villains, with quick information about each category of foe, deeper spotlights on significant characters, and an immersive encounter with a legendary evil. Starting with a request from Glasya, this path leads to Tiamat, Vecna, Strahd, Halaster Blackcloak, Lolth, Xanathar, Demogorgon, and many more sinister figures from the D&D multiverse.

With original, never-before-seen chapter opener illustrations and captivating artwork from official D&D adventures, Dungeons & Dragons Fiends & Foes is an immersive, story-driven exploration of the malevolent forces that plague the D&D multiverse.

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[Misanthrope Prime]

Bane can show up in basically any form he wishes.

He wishes to look monstrous. There's no reason for him to look like a shaven twink.

 

[plecostomus]

Okay, here's a post for curiosity's sake, cause that comic above is pretty cut and dry.

I was able to find a thread where Justice Geddes goes into the reasoning behind MTG Bane (2022). I think the original post was deleted because I can only find it under Wayback Machine: Justice Geddes on Twitter

The MTG art mostly seems to reference: (1) the 1996 sourcebook Faiths & Avatars

And (2) 2002's Faiths and Pantheons

However, the MTG art also came from Justice's perspective when looking at Bane's earliest depictions in text and art, which had a lot of racism that his "monstrous" appearance alluded to later on, even when the overtly racist part was removed. Some of this explanation doesn't make complete sense to me, such as Justice claiming a monstrous-looking creature shouldn't also be described as cunning (wait till you hear about dragons!). But I understand the aversion to old racist texts and themes.

Billy Christian (the artist) says his artist brief asked him to "illustrate Bane as a super good-looking Korean man, in a hot and powerful outfit." Not quite as nuanced as that whole thread up there, but that was the order. If you do not care for any of this, well, Justice is no longer at WOTC, and can't hurt Bane anymore.

I do think this 2022 art is quite prescient, considering 2025 showed us that yes, tyrannical evil does know how to use a carrot.
I think in this instance Bane's true form would be the giant flame that creeps onto the stage behind the beautiful celebrities.

 

[plecostomus]

Some things are also starting to come together for me on BG3's Gortash. Better late than never!

 

[beta-ray]

Bane can show up in basically any form he wishes.

Oh that explains it.

 

[beta-ray]

This brings back bittersweet memories for me.

A close friend of mine who owned the FLGS and I used to run a D&D hour at the local library for youth. He used these lore books to walk the kids through creating a small costal setting. Using a white board, he drew a map and as he showed the different monsters and species. He then asked the kids where to put them on the map.

Those poor orcs had a horrible boss in the red dragon who lived in the volcano.

We got some regulars and even ran one session with some very simplified D&D-esque rules (roll high, do good) because we had like 8 or 10 kids at that point.

First COVID shut down the library and then a few years later he had a fatal heart attack. He was in his 50s. His store sat in a limbo for few years until it sold to new owners who shut down just last year.

If you have good gamer friends, give them some extra xp next time you see them, you never know how many games you two will share before something happens.

As a side note, this was Brian Dalrymple, who not only ran his store for decades but also was board secretary for GAMA for 20 years and probably the only one to not lose friends while on the board. He was always about spreading the fun and magic of in-person games in general and ttrpgs especially.

Sounds like a great guy. Condolences on your loss.

 

[Dire Bare]

WOTCs recent propensity to Hot Boi-ify their evil gods should be studied.

Bane and which other evil gods? I don't see the trend.

 

[Umbran]

....There's no reason for him to look like a shaven twink.

Mod note:
Please be aware that the term you're tossing around there is frequently seen as a homophobic slur and pejorative. In the future, choose your terminology accordingly.

 

[Dire Bare]

Just to provide a counter . . .

I think the art of Bane from the Magic card set and in the new book is fine. Fantastic even!

It's fine of course if you don't care for it, Bane has been described and depicted differently over the decades, and your favorite version of the god of tyranny is your favorite, but . . .

Some of the criticism here is coming across pretty bigoted, which is disappointing.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Okay, here's a post for curiosity's sake, cause that comic above is pretty cut and dry.

I was able to find a thread where Justice Geddes goes into the reasoning behind MTG Bane (2022). I think the original post was deleted because I can only find it under Wayback Machine: Justice Geddes on Twitter

The MTG art mostly seems to reference: (1) the 1996 sourcebook Faiths & Avatars
View attachment 442051

And (2) 2002's Faiths and Pantheons
View attachment 442052

However, the MTG art also came from Justice's perspective when looking at Bane's earliest depictions in text and art, which had a lot of racism that his "monstrous" appearance alluded to later on, even when the overtly racist part was removed. Some of this explanation doesn't make complete sense to me, such as Justice claiming a monstrous-looking creature shouldn't also be described as cunning (wait till you hear about dragons!). But I understand the aversion to old racist texts and themes.

Billy Christian (the artist) says his artist brief asked him to "illustrate Bane as a super good-looking Korean man, in a hot and powerful outfit." Not quite as nuanced as that whole thread up there, but that was the order. If you do not care for any of this, well, Justice is no longer at WOTC, and can't hurt Bane anymore.

I do think this 2022 art is quite prescient, considering 2025 showed us that yes, tyrannical evil does know how to use a carrot.
I think in this instance Bane's true form would be the giant flame that creeps onto the stage behind the beautiful celebrities.

I was literally originally going to post something like "I feel the artist for the MTG bane art said some out of pocket things about his earlier depiction being racist" but couldn't find it; of course they walked back their statements and couldn't stand by their own opinions. Nothing about the character of Bane has anything to do with Black people, blackness or anyone with origins in Africa. Aesthetically, Bane has always drawn from European fascism.

EDIT: Also, is it just me or is "Justice" an unusually over-represented name among WotC employees?

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Oh that explains it.