It's a funny thing - last year at this time, I had zero interest in Dungeons & Dragons, a pastime that occupied a great deal of my youth. Now, half-a-year into the various precautions and physical distancing associated with a global pandemic, I am DMing two campaigns, one online and the other in person, playing in another online campaign, and am waist-deep in painting miniatures for it again.
I most recently finished a beholder, perhaps D&D's most iconic and unique monster. I mean, the eponymous dragons obviously play a big role, but they inhabit a huge swathe of fantasy backgrounds and games alike. The beholder is a terrifying and challenging monster to fight pretty much unique to D&D (I have yet to use one in one of my campaigns, and have only faced one in the old Playstation game, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance), and is the featured creature on the cover of the current Monster Manual.
It got me to thinking about where I stand in terms of these most archetypal monsters. I mean I have collected literally hundreds of monsters over the years, but have only recently included some of those most-associated with D&D. I found an io9 article listing "The 10 Most Memorable Dungeons & Dragons Monsters" (even though one of the monsters described is actually a race and the best known example is actually a good guy) and used it as a baseline to see how many of them I have at my disposal.
10) Tarrasque - The biggest and most challenging monster on the list - I am unlikely to ever use one, given its high Challenge Rating and overall lethality, and it would be an immense and expensive miniature to boot.
Status: no thanks
9) Mind Flayer - Ah, the classic, Cthulhu-inspired tentacle-faced brain eaters. I don't really have anything like this, but the official miniature leaves me a bit cold - the head feels too small and the tentacles are not nearly wriggly enough. The Reaper knock-offs have better heads and poses, but I'm not compelled yet.
Status: maybe later
8) The Drow - Dark Elves can be great villains or even heroes (as described above), but calling them monsters feels a bit dismissive. Besides,m I have plenty of elvish-looking models from a variety of classes I can use in a pinch.
Status: substitutable
7) Lich - Undead sorcerers thirsting for eternal life, whatever the cost - tremendous villains, these! Any skeletal spellcaster will do in a pinch, but I have a dandy one in a throne from Warhammer Quest I can use too.
Status: got it
6) Owlbear - One of the sillier monsters, burdened with an unflattering picture in the original Monster Manual and only really coming back into vogue in recent years as nostalgic players leaned into the weirdness. I just painted one of these recently, and wouldn't mind getting my hands on the Snowy Owlbear variant introduced in a recently published adventure.
Status: got it!
5) Gelatinous Cube - Speaking of weird, how about a translucent cubic blob used by mad wizards to keep the halls of their dungeons clean? Another classic monster from 1st edition AD&D, and now with an excellent miniature that not only shows the treasure it has accumulated from digesting other adventurers, but it can also be placed over other figures to show that they have been enveloped.
Status: got it!
4) Rust Monster - Another amusing meta-monster; this creature doesn't pose much threat to wizards or monks, but can wreak havoc on heavily armed or armoured characters as it can disintegrate metal by touching it! I have nothing like this and it might be good to have a couple on hand as players both hate and fear them. They look quite a bit creepier now than in their original, cute illustration.
Status: searching
3) Mimic - A monster invented to shock and surprise players once, then taunt them with apprehension for perhaps the rest of their lives. The mimic looks like a treasure chest or other item of value, attacking loot--seeking players unawares. I recently acquired one and hope to have it finished shortly.
Status: in progress
2) Displacer Beast - I would really like a couple of these, but only if they are as cool as David Trampier's original illustration. So far the figures just aren't up to snuff.
Status: waiting
1) Beholder - At long last, I have added this terrifying so-and-so to my collection!
Deciding which of the 4 different spell-effect eyestalks I would use was difficult, but in the end I held myself to just the lightning bolt. The clear plastic eyelid piece was another welcome addition to this figure.
Will I ever use the beholder? Hard to say, but none of my players are in a rush to face one anytime soon.
Status: got it!
Not too bad, overall - when the mimic is done I will have half this list on hand, and there are only two more that I am really interested in acquiring as miniatures. Thankfully, I have plenty of figures on hand to proxy in if I need to, and the counters come supplied when we are playing online!
And as far as dragons go - I have access to three painted ones (four if Fenya lets me borrow the one she painted a while back) and another six on the way next year as part of the Arena expansion that three of us Kickstarted, so yeah, I think I'm covered there.
No comments:
Post a Comment