D&D 5E (2014) Monstrous Compendium Eldraine Creatures

[Voadam]

you know I cant actually think of a DnD adventure module thats set inside a Magical school, would love to get pointers towards some.

Check out College of Wizardry for 2e. It is mostly a sourcebook (metamagic feats before 3e), but also has a couple of short adventures.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Eldraine could share some common elements with Witchlight because they are settings where the feys enjoy more relevance.

I guess maybe it is too soon for a sourcebook about the setting because they have to writte the end of the plot, and to draw the maps. What if later they want to add new characters?

Eldraine could be perfect if we wanted a magic cook or a magic farmer/gardener "class".

 

[Marandahir]

Eldraine could share some common elements with Witchlight because they are settings where the feys enjoy more relevance.

I guess maybe it is too soon for a sourcebook about the setting because they have to writte the end of the plot, and to draw the maps. What if later they want to add new characters?

Eldraine could be perfect if we wanted a magic cook or a magic farmer/gardener "class".

The big difference is that back in the day they got a whole year of development for a setting, while now it's about 2/3 the card face content (everything is a large set) but 1/3 the lore (because only one set in the location).

Eldraine is just NOW getting its part 2. And while it has to serve as a "change-it-up" phase 2 of the setting, it also has to fill in the gaps for what they wanted to do in the first set but didn't have space to do. Originally Eldraine was supposed to be 2 sets in 2019-2020 but then they canceled the second one in favor of a return to Theros (partly to help set up Elspeth's role in the Phyrexian Invasion Arc; partly because they wanted to make a Greek sword & sandals style D&D book in 2020 too).

So half the set is fulfilling outstanding phase 1 "core Eldraine" tropes while the other half is showing how they can change up the setting post-Invasion.

So the courts have crumbled in their power but they're still there just in the distant background.

My point with this all is that the coffee table books had a lot to work with. Zendikar and Innistrad each had 2 different blocks to tell the story of, and Ravnica had 3 blocks to tell the story of (and even had a second coffee table book just for the set of War of the Spark, and an entire D&D sourcebook on top of it rather than just a planeshift article). The Dominaria coffee table book had TOO MUCH content to cover all of it so just focused on the Domains and some additional key points about Terisiare and Jamuura -- it's focused on the areas that were in focus in the Dominaria set, when they first tried to do the setting as a cohesive whole rather than picking a location and time period and exploring that in depth. Think a Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting: not a Abeir-Toril Campaign Setting, but specifically on Faerûn, but not zoomed in to the Sword Coast or Chult or Icewind Dale or even into one of the cities like Neverwinter, Waterdeep, or Baldur's Gate, like various 4e and 5e books have done. Kaladesh, Amonkhet, and Ixalan had just a single block a piece when their books came out, but even that was a large set and a small set, while Eldraine until now had just a single large set to draw on.

I'd say that Eldraine now has enough lore content to do a coffee table type book, and thus has enough content for it's own tie-in book. But I don't see that happening as it would have been announced before now. I could definitely see them releasing more digital-only products like this though. And I wouldn't be surprised if we get a pay-for Monstrous Compendium for every Magic: The Gathering release going forward.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction and Bloomburrow seem especially apt for Monstrous Compendiums!

 

[Parmandur]

And I wouldn't be surprised if we get a pay-for Monstrous Compendium for every Magic: The Gathering release going forward.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction and Bloomburrow seem especially apt for Monstrous Compendiums!

The big thing is the art is already done, and if they have designers on staff who can experiment with some stat blocks...

Worth noting, too, that the Honor Among Thieves tie-in stat blocks used the art from the Magic Secret Lair cards.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

If the High Fae Noble is an indication of where monster design is going, in general, I like it.

Your endorsement has made me go from waffling to buying. I hope you're happy with yourself!

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I feel curiosity if Bloomburrow could be used to sell us some sourcebook about antropomorphic animals as PC species.

* If there are vehicles in the future "death race" set, why not also transformers?

 

[Weiley31]

Wait. Does this mean there will be an Eldraine book?

It's the one MtG setting that I WANT for a crossover book

 

[Weiley31]

The specter of Nights Reaping Scythe is pretty brutal. I don't think there are many monsters that inflict exhaustion:

View attachment 295633

I always believed that 5E's Exhaustion was the modern take on older edition's Energy Drain, but without the on-the fly math adjustments the led to headaches on the Character Sheet.

 

[Weiley31]

With the addition of the gingerbrute and the sweettooth horror, plus the snow golems in Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, the options for a Christmas-themed one shot have never been better!

And to make it more Christmasy:

Lasers & Wishes: Solstice Special 2022 - Lasers & Liches | DriveThruRPG.com

Lasers & Wishes: Solstice Special 2022 - Welcome to the Retroverse! An exciting new 5E universe from Lasers & Liches that resides in a place of half faded me

www.drivethrurpg.com

A Christmas Carol Adventure & Maps - Verge Games | DriveThruRPG.com

A Christmas Carol Adventure & Maps - The Spirits of Christmas seek redemption for Scrooge. Dark spirits want him just as he is. A new twist on the classic ta

www.drivethrurpg.com

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Was there a Minecraft tie-in book?

I assume all their comments in the document about how to repurpose these Eldraine creatures for a Feywild or Giants campaign are their tie-ins.

For the planeshift comments -- it should be noted that each Magic setting that got a big coffee-table book and a planeshift article has a rough equivalent in D&D -- Zendikar to D&D in general, Innistrad to Ravenloft/Shadowfell, Kaladesh to Eberron, Amonkhet to Dark Sun, Ixalan to Chult (even was launched around same time as Tomb of Annihilation season), Dominaria to the core kitchensink worlds. Even Ravnica can be repurposed for Sigil (SIH-GHILL not SIH-JILL). Theros and Strixhaven don't have rough equivalents, but are both themed around extremely common D&D fantasy concepts (tons of campaigns use the Greek Gods or draw from Magical School stories).

So doing Eldraine, the rough equivalent of the Feywild, is not unsurprising. What's surprising to me most is that we didn't get it in 2019 or 2020. But glad it's finally happening here, and we don't REALLY need a setting book when there's so much MtG lore published on the Magic side of the website. It would be nice if they repackaged that as a Gazetteer though, a la Baldur's Gate just recently.

It's the one MtG setting that I WANT for a crossover book

I'm pretty sure this is the best your going to get, plus they ruined the setting in March of the Machines.