D&D 5E Iggwilv/Tasha To Join Volo, Xanathar, and Mordenkainen? [UPDATED!]

Is WotC teasing a new announcement? There have been a few D&D books named after famous personalities from the game's extensive lore - Vole's Guide to Monsters, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. It looks possible that the next such personality might be Tasha of Tasha's Hideous Laughter fame -- which was an adventuring alias of the Greyhawk villain Iggwilv.

UPDATE -- A page has appeared on Amazon entitled Dungeons & Dragons November Title (Announced August 24). It's a hardcover, $49.95, November 17th release date.

On their Discord channel, WotC posted a short audio clip; it features some female-sounding voices laughing, and it is titled "Feather and Tart". It also has a metadata info which says August 24th, 2020, which is Monday. But in addition to that, a WoTC staff member on Reddit's avatar was changed to an image of Iggwilv.

Iggwilv was an evil magic-user, a villain created by Gary Gygax. When adventuring with the Company of Seven, she used the alias Tasha. The lore has it that the witch Baba Yaga adopted her as a child and named her Natasha, and she soon became Natasha the Dark (Baba Yaga also adopted Elena the Fair).

Iggwilv has two forms, one old and one young. You can read more about the character on Wikipedia.


What does seem clear is that WotC is teasing an impending announcement! I assume that the announcement they are teasing will be the announcement of an upcoming announcement, or I'll be disappointed.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

They never said it was weeks away, or soon, or anything like that. They always said it was hard to implement and that it would take time and that it was high on their priority list but they couldn’t promise a time.

They literally did - including in a video in June. Indeed, following that video in June they changed the WIP listing to break it down into two parts (where before it had always been a vague single part). It seems like that was when they actually properly started work on it, despite it having been listed as "WIP" since November.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

They literally did - including in a video in June.

I’ve watched every dev update, and they’ve only ever said they were working on it. They never gave a specific timetable.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Not at all.

The spell slots to negate damage as a reaction sucks, the extra attack sucks because it forces you to choose between Booming Blade/Greenflame Blade and attacking twice. The first level ability is really good, but that's basically it.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The spell slots to negate damage as a reaction sucks, the extra attack sucks because it forces you to choose between Booming Blade/Greenflame Blade and attacking twice. The first level ability is really good, but that's basically it.

Okay!

 

[Richards]

Wait! Beholders have binary genders!? I mean they DREAM THEMSELVES INTO EXISTENCE. No sexual organs needed and, unless some of those eyes have purposes that don't come up in the random-eye-attack roll table, they don't have genitals.

According to I, Tyrant (a beholder-themed sourcebook from the AD&D 2nd edition days), beholders have both male and female reproductive organs located beneath their tongues. They are also capable of self-replication, which does away with the need for finding a suitable mate. This "dream themselves into existence" business is add-on (more likely "replacement") lore from later editions.

Johnathan

 

[humble minion]

.... Do they poop?

From distant memory of the aforementioned I, Tyrant sourcebook, they do not have butts and instead continually drool poop out of their mouths.

Thank you, 2e ecologies sourcebooks, for telling me IN GREAT DETAIL things I really didn't want to think about...

 

[Khelon Testudo]

After some hesitation, I came to prefer the new method of reproduction for beholders. It gives implicit permission to create all sorts of wonderful variants, from cosmetic through to your own designs.

 

[Chaosmancer]

From distant memory of the aforementioned I, Tyrant sourcebook, they do not have butts and instead continually drool poop out of their mouths.

Thank you, 2e ecologies sourcebooks, for telling me IN GREAT DETAIL things I really didn't want to think about...

I somehow knew the answer would be disgusting

 

[Demetrios1453]

After some hesitation, I came to prefer the new method of reproduction for beholders. It gives implicit permission to create all sorts of wonderful variants, from cosmetic through to your own designs.

I mean, you could have both methods. Presumably a beholder could dream about beholders that reproduced sexually, and -poof- they would appear.

 

[Khelon Testudo]

You're not wrong!