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Mythological Figures is a weekly column on EN World by
Mike Myler, originally inspired by
Deities & Demigods. It includes both historical and fictional figures built as NPCs using class levels and standard ability scores, and mythical monsters designed with statblocks that adhere to the stories told about them in our world. A new entry appears every week on Monday. The first entry was
Achilles, in March 2018.
Hardcover
This column is coming to a full-colour hardcover compilation called
Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters via Kickstarter soon.
Sign up to be notified!
Achilles. Lancelot. Robin Hood. Thor. Heroes, all.
The world is full of myths and legends which inspired those in our modern fiction and games. Iconic warriors and wizards, vampires and things from the deep, these legends are universally known.
Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters delves into these paragons of literature, fable, and folklore. From Ancient Greece to the Outer Realms, deepest Transylvania to the High Seas, you’ll meet champions and thieves, pirates and knights, demigods and fey queens, ancient evils and urban legends. Archetypal heroes meet exemplars of villainy like Blackbeard, Rasputin, Dracula, and Baba Yaga.
From Mike Myler’s popular column, this epic compilation of over 100 legendary heroes, villains, and monsters brings these characters to life for the 5th Edition of the world’s oldest roleplaying game.
The hardcover includes a foreword by James M. Ward, author of AD&D's
Deities & Demigods.
Methodology
Challenge ratings are calculated using both the DMG guidelines, and the
Blog of Holding's rubric, with a little manual adjustment. The mythological figures strictly use player character build rules. Most classes used are from the D&D official rulebooks, but occasionally another class might be requisitioned when needed:
Mythological Figures
| Name | Classes | Challenge | Notes |
| Achilles | fighter (champion) 18 | 12 | Greek |
| Aladdin | rogue (thief) 8 | 8 | Middle East |
| Allan Quatermain | fighter (archer) 12/ranger 1 | 9 | British |
| Anne Bonny | rogue (thief) 4/fighter (archer) 5 | 6 | Irish |
| Arthur, King | fighter (warmaster) 4/paladin (oath of royalty) 15 | 12 | British |
| Atalanta | ranger (hunter) 8 | 5 | Greek |
| Beowulf | barbarian (berserker) 20 | 17 | British |
| Billy the Kid | gunfighter (drifter) 8 | 6 | American |
| Blackbeard | rogue (thief) 7/fighter (warmaster) 7 | 8 | British |
| Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta, Admiral | rogue (duelist) 5/fighter (brutal) 11 | 11 | Spanish |
| Boudica, Queen | bard 5 (battle)/fighter (skirmisher) 6 | 6 | British |
| Ching Shih, Pirate Queen | bard (battle) 5/rogue (genius) 7/fighter (warmaster) 8 | 11 | Chinese |
| Cleopatra | rogue (genius) 10 | 4 | Egyptian |
| Conan the Barbarian | barbarian 1/ranger 1/rogue (thief) 3/fighter 11 (champion) | 9 | American |
| Confucius | rogue (genius) 6/cleric (knowledge) 4 | 5 | Chinese |
| Daedalus | rogue (genius) 9 | 3 | Greek |
| David | fighter (archer) 8 | 4 | Middle East |
| Don Quixote | fighter (cavalier) 4 | 2 | Spanish |
| Drona | bard (blade) 5/fighter (master of battle) 11 | 9 | Indian |
| Elizabeth Bathory | rogue (genius) 5/bard (whispering) 5 | 7 | Hungarian |
| Enkidu | barbarian (primal) 4 / fighter (champion) 13 | 13 | Mesopotamia |
| George, Saint | fighter (cavalier) 6/cleric (protection) 8/paladin 2 | 10 | British |
| George Washington, General | fighter (warmaster) 16 | 8 | American |
| Ghengis Khan | ranger (animal master) 3/fighter (warmaster) 12/rogue (genius) 5 | 10 | Asian |
| Gilgamesh | ranger (hunter) 8/monk (open hand) 8/cleric (nature) 4 | 12 | Mesopotamian |
| Grace O'Malley | fighter (brutal) 11/rogue (thief) 5 | 10 | Irish |
| Harald Hardrada | rogue 2/barbarian (overwhelming) 4/fighter (master of battle) 12 | 12 | Norwegian |
| Harry Houdini | fatebender (mascot) 6/rogue (thief) 6 | 7 | American |
| Hayreddin Barbarossa | fighter (warmaster) 11/bard (valorous) 5/ranger (hunter) 4 | 11 | Middle East |
| Hercules | barbarian (holy) 8/fighter (champion) 11 | 17 | Greek |
| Hippolyta | ranger (hunter) 4/fighter (champion) 15 | 9 | Greek |
| Hua Mulan | monk (kensei) 4/fighter (warmaster) 12 | 8 | Chinese |
| Imhotep | cleric (knowledge) 8 | 6 | Egyptian |
| Joan of Arc | bard (valorous) 5/fighter (master of battle) 8/paladin 2 | 12 | French |
| John Henry | fighter (brutal) 20 | 13 | American |
| Julie d'Aubigny (aka La Maupin) | rogue (duelist) 9/fighter (master of battle) 7 | 10 | French |
| Khutulun | ranger (animal master) 4/fighter (inspirational) 8/rogue 2 | 8 | Mongolian |
| Lancelot, Sir | fighter (champion) 7/paladin (oath of devotion) 6 | 12 | British |
| Loki | rogue (genius) 17/bard 1/druid (lunar) 8 | 16 | Norse |
| Mary Read | rogue (genius) 6/fighter (champion) 5 | 6 | British |
| Merlin Ambrosius | wizard (illusionist) 17/druid (herdmaster) 8 | 20 | British |
| Miyamoto Musashi | fighter (samurai) 18 | 10 | Japanese |
| Morgan le Fay | sorcerer (holy blood) 16 | 16 | British |
| Muso Gonnosuke | fighter (samurai) 11 | 6 | Japanese |
| Nemo, Captain | inventor (gunsmith) 9 | 9 | French |
| Nikola Tesla | tinkerer (mechanic) 9 | 5 | American |
| Nymue, Lady of the Lake | wizard (inventor) 20 | 13 | British |
| Paul Bunyan | monster tamer (animalist) 11/ranger 1/fighter 2 | 11 | American |
| Penthesilea, Queen | ranger (hunter) 4/fighter (brutal) 14 | 12 | Greek |
| Perseus | rogue (thief) 7/fighter (champion) 5 | 10 | Greek |
| Prospero | wizard (enchantment) 11 | 8 | British |
| Rasputin | rogue 1/barbarian 1/fighter (brutal) 10 | 6 | Russian |
| Robin Hood | rogue (thief) 5/fighter (archer) 7 | 8 | British |
| Sage Douban | inventor (alchemist) 5 | 2 | Middle East |
| Saladin | rogue (genius) 6/fighter (warmaster) 11 | 10 | Middle East |
| Sherlock Holmes | savant (coordinator) 13 | 9 | 7 | British |
| Sinbad | rogue 2/ranger 1/fighter (archer) 7 | 5 | Middle East |
| Sun Wukong | rogue (thief) 12/monk (open hand) 8 | 14 | Chinese |
| Talos | fighter (archer) 6 | 4 | Greek |
| Tamar, Queen | rogue (genius) 6/fighter (warmaster) 8 | 9 | Georgian |
| Tarzan | barbarian (animalist) 9 | 5 | American |
| Thor Odinson | fighter (eldritch knight) 14/barbarian (lightning harbinger) 4/paladin 2 | 15 | Norse |
| Titania | bard (fey) 20 | 13 | British |
| Tomoe Gozen | fighter (samurai) 15 | 8 | Japanese |
| Ulysses/Odysseus | rogue (genius) 9/fighter (master of battle) 11 | 11 | Greek |
| Vlad the Impaler | occultist (vampire) 15 | 12 | Romanian |
| Zhuang Zhou | geomancer (architect) 7 | 4 | Chinese |
Epic Monsters
