GUEST WEEK: Nycter by Katie Tiedrich

Don't hurt me!

The Nycter are a race of small bat-men that live in close-knit communities in forest caves. They're a peaceful, flimsy bunch, preferring talk to fight. When cornered, they unleash a paralyzing shriek that gives them enough time to escape into the darkness. Their leaders are called Protectors of the Cave, Nycters with class levels in druid.

Despite their bat-like similarity, the Desmodu and the Nycter don't get along. The Nycter fear the Desmodu since they are much bigger and stronger, the way a human looks at a giant. The Desmodu view the smaller race as cowardly and unintelligent (though the Nycter still possesses average human intelligence). The Nycter retain more of their bat-like qualities, being able to fly and having very sensitive ears (to the point that sonic attacks are extra painful for them).

This is a race of creatures that can be used as a player race, should the DM approve. It sounds like quite a neat idea for some kinda subterranean adventure. A way to avoid the whole you have to be either a drow, druegar, svirfneblin or any of the classic human-like underground races.

Image brought to use by Katie Tiedrich of Awkward Zombie and Aikonia. Internet celebrity, wowzers!

GUEST WEEK: Gravorg by Emmie Bednall

The Gravorg is pretty much just an animal.

A hilarious animal.

Okay, so you're in this cave, right? And all of a sudden you lift off the ground. You go all the way up until you smack into the ceiling. You don't fall again, so you start to stand up on the ceiling. You manage, quite easily in fact. Then you drop again. Then you go up again. Then down again. Smack, smack smack!

That's because the Gravorg is a slow, lazy, sloth-like creature (despite being the size of a horse) and prefers to soften up any prey or enemies by reversing gravity and smacking you around the room until you pass out.

Like I said: hilarious.

Image brought to you by Emmie Bednall. She likes silly animals.

GUEST WEEK: Manscorpion by Oliver Cuthbertson

There's a patrol out on the desert, as you can tell from the dust clouds rising from behind the dune. You ready your weapons, ready for combat. Whoever is on the other side rises over the crest of the sand. It's just a group of men with bows and spears, but as they spot you they dash forward and you see their whole bodies. Skittering legs, a plated body and a curling, sting-capped tail curling greedily towards you.

Another monster for a ya'll to use in your desert campaign.

Though there are scorpion men in 3.5, this little fella's from the Monstrous Manual from AD&D 2nd edition. The artist who did this, Oliver Cuthbertson is a bit of a veteran compared to me. Which is when things were a little bit more hardcore, I think. People today complain about the save-or-die mechanic in 3.5, but the further you go back, the deadlier the game. Manscorpion even come with a number of rounds for convulsions as you slowly succumb to their venom.

Anyway, nice black and white work. Kinda remeniscent of earlier D&D artwork, yes?

GUEST WEEK: Death Knight by Cristian Ortiz Martinez

We all know that sometimes when you die, you don't stay underground like you should. Maybe the right prayers weren't performed, or maybe you're full of hatred that reaches beyond the grave. Or maybe you were chosen by some dark god to become their general for their massive undead army.

That's what a Death Knight is: a warrior of evil disposition who so impressed the forces of darkness that they decided to give him a promotion. They're like evil paladins (a recommended class for these guys tends to be the blackguard class), surrounded by an aura of fear, able to summon hellfire and attracting any undead within a 200 mile radius. That has the potential to be the mass migration of the undead of a smallish country to the spot where this guy is standing.

Also these fellas have turn immunity, so good luck with that strategy, clerics for the forces of good.

This image brought to us by Cristian Ortiz Martínez, a.k.a Crom.

GUEST WEEK: Sahuagin by Chris Cox

The Sahuagin are yet another malevolent race (D&D has a lot of those), this time from deep, deep waters. These fellas are the natural enemies of aquatic elves, and other gentle creatures of the sea. They have bonds with sharks, both by being able to speak with them and by becoming excited by the smell of blood (and going into a rage if its their own blood). Their god is Sekolah, a giant devil shark.

Fortunately for surface dwellers and those who live further up in the ocean, Sahaugin are weak-eyed (especially in sunlight) and water dependant. Unfortunately for those people, they're also mutable creatures. Some sahaugin have an extra set of arms, while others have the appearance of the sea's more benign races. They're ruthless and xenophobic, and while their own society runs relatively smoothly, they believe in the eradication of other races.

Just be careful when you go fishing.

3D models this time! Boy, they's nicely lit. Brought to you by Chris Cox, who's fairly new to the game, but very excited about it.

GUEST WEEK: Forsaken Shell by Tony Comley

Something moves in the corners of your torch light as you enter the room. A piece of fabric? But there's no wind here. It moves again. A bundle of snakes? But it's flesh-coloured and saggy, and as it drags itself closer you see among the twisted skin tangles of boneless fingers and a skull-less human face.

Something for a horror campaign. A Forsaken Shell is an empty skin with imbued unlife, motivated by vengeance. Despite its appearance, it's horribly elastic and agile. Once it gets a horrible flaccid hand on you, it begins to wrap itself around you and squeeze. Perhaps it's some kind of feeble-minded attempt to take over your solid, structured form. In D&D campaign, skin wears you!

And then it kills you and your guts and bones dissolve as you become another awful slithering skin.

Image brought to you by Tony Comley, a director at Sherbet studios. Just lookit how gross this thing is.

GUEST WEEK: Mind Flayer by Antoine Porcheron

Mind Flayers (also known as Illithids) arrived on the world from some unknown place beyond the stars. They live in the stony corrupt darkness, hidden from the light of the surface world. Of the organized creatures to live in the Underdark, these may be the most feared. While most other races simply kill or enslave interlopers, these creatures take it a step further. We're their cattle; we're the second stage of their growth cycle.

Mind Flayer's feed on the brains of their victims, done by boring holes into their skulls using their tentacles. It's partially the solid matter that makes up a brain that they consume, but a good part of their nutrition is made up of the psychic and other mental energy within it. Though they try to cultivate their food using mind control, they find the taste of slave brain unsatisfying (and it's dangerous, since their greatest disaster involved the freedom of the Githzerai and Githyanki, their racial enemies). The brain of a life well-lived and full of knowledge, willpower and excitement is delicious to the Mind Flayer.

The Mind Flayer is also quasi parasitic. That second stage of the growth cycle I mentioned? An Illithid tadpole is taken from the tank of the Elder Brain, and placed inside a facial orifice of some humanoid creture, where it consumed the brain and grows until the physical structure of the host is changed into their final form.

No wonder these guys are a classic D&D monster.

Kicking off this Guest Week with a fabulous ink wash illustration by Antoine Porcheron. Just look at that snazz. Way to make me look bad.

Gaspar by Adam Vian

You come across a huge deer on your travels through the Beastlands. It stands four times taller than a normal human being and antlers sprout not only from its head, but down its neck to its haunches, giving it a coat of grand bony spears. You're confident in the strength and tactics of your party as you charge through the bushes, where you surround the surprised Gaspar. It can't run anywhere without being met by fences of spears and swords. As you raise your weapons to pierce its comparatively soft underbelly, the Gaspar rears up and slams down.

There's a golden light and you can't see your quarry anymore, nor the eternal afternoon sun of Kirgala, nor the ancient trees of the Beastlands. The Gaspar didn't leave, but you did.

--

Drawing by Adam Vian of Super Flash Bros, since I'm currently trying to get my old laptop to cooperate with me and Photoshop.

Happy Holidays, folks.

Owlbear by Tara Helfer

I'm gonna be doing some work for an project called 72 Demons. A collection of artists will each be doing one of the demons features in Ars Goetia, a 17th century grimoire. The head of this project, Tara Helfer, offered to do an art trade, where I do a header for her blog and she submits a monster for mine. Well, I haven't gotten around to my side of the deal yet, but she certainly has. She even prepared the blurb for me.

      

Owlbears are probably the crossbred creation of a demented wizard; given the lethality of this creation, it is quite likely that the wizard who created them is no longer alive. Owlbears are vicious, ravenous, aggressive, and evil tempered at all times. Owlbears are a cross between a giant owl and a bear. They are covered with a thick coat of feathers and fur, brown-black to yellow-brown in color. The 8-foot-tall males, which weigh between 1,300 and 1,500 pounds, are darker colored. The beaks of these creatures are yellow to ivory and their terrifying eyes are red-rimmed. Owlbears speak their own language, which consists of very loud screeches of varying length and pitch.
An owlbear's main weakness is also its greatest strength -- its ferocity. Because owlbears are so bad-tempered, they stop at nothing to kill a target. It is not difficult to trick an owlbear into hurling itself off a cliff or into a trap, provided you can find one.

The owlbear walks a line between the whimsical and the most fearsome beasts. Art featuring the owlbear tends to split in two different directions. Apart from the big, bad and bloodthirsty, there's a tendency to draw the owlbear as an awkward and misunderstood creature - pretty embarrassing for a killer. And why not? The owlbear doesn't make a lot of sense in terms of evolution and is excessively armed for a forest predator, making it my favorite d&d monster.
I wanted to draw the owlbear with a more flexible, feathery form rather than a bear's. While it's known for it's deadly "hug", I imagine the face-full of beak following would be much worse.

      

Also, my kobold illustration was used in a website called Delvers, where the 2e campaign stories of guy, his girlfriend and her two itty girls  are collected.

GUEST WEEK: Crypt Thing by Adam Vian

The Crypt Thing is a guardian of sacred places and objects, which sits atop an ancient stone throne. It's a reanimated corpse, brought back by priests, to do away with intruders and thieves in a nonlethal manner. If it ever comes to force, the Crypt Thing will first scatter his opponents with minor teleportation magic. Despite being undead, it's not evil and can be civil with those who don't present a threat to him or his charge.

Round two of guest week comes to a close by an encore image from a previous guest, Adam Vian. He's recently put out a game he did in collaboration with Catherine Unger called From Beyond, which is quite delightful and spooky. And another game which I've always enjoyed and feel the need to bring to your attention is The Arrow Of Time (included: time travel, elemental arrows, a little soldier with a whistle for a head).

GUEST WEEK: Kuo-Toa by Jack Cunningham

The Kuo-Toa are a race of malevolent amphibious humanoids living in coastal areas. They are violent and worship their own goddess, Blibdoolpoolp, "Sea Mother" in their own language, to whom they give bloody sacrifices. Their skin produces a sticky slime, giving them an edge when it comes to wrestling. Their signature weapon is a spear with a pincer at the end, which they use to immobilize large opponents.

Image given to us by Jack Cunningham, an illustrator-animator with a defined graphic style. He and Joe Bichard are responsible for the very lovely film Mars!, a film about space travel with some extra messages about our effect on the planet.

GUEST WEEK: Bog Giant by James Lancett

The Bog Giant is one of the smaller members of the giant family - as their name suggests, they primarily live in swamps. Having developed some oddly amphibian characteristics appropriate for their surroundings, these creatures stalk their territory in search of large reptiles such as black dragons and crocodiles to hunt and eat. Despite being their prey and their main source of clothing, crocodiles are venerated by bog giants, and are sometimes kept as pets.

This image was drawn by yet another illustrator-animator, this one named James Lancett. He's done a really nice cover for the Puffin competition for James and The Giant Peach.

GUEST WEEK: Blackstone Gigant by Charlie Hamill

The Blackstone Gigant is a gargantuan guardian of unholy temples. Created from massive blocks of dark stone by evil priests, they are usually carved in the shape of many-armed female demons. They're unlike other golems in that Blackstone Gigants have basic malignant intelligence. Her touch can turn her victims to stone, allowing her to cruelly shatter their petrified bodies to make into morbid jewellery. Should she choose not to shatter them, she can bring them back to life later on, completely under her control. Despite their massive size and cumbersome bodies, Blackstone Gigants are capable of effortless flight.

This image is brought to you by Charlie Ray Hamill. He's also an excellent photographer and a huge fan of glamorous and dangerous ladies.

Sorry about the late double-post (this was supposed to be up yesterday), but we're currently enjoying a short holiday in Spain and wifi-equipped cafés are a little harder to come by than we anticipated. Oh well!

GUEST WEEK: Ethereal Filcher by Joe Bichard

The Ethereal Filcher is a mischievous creature that travels between our plane and its wispy ethereal neighbour. Truly bizarre-looking creatures (but surprisingly benign), they are the embodiment of pan-dimensional kleptomania, and will stalk people endlessly waiting for them to let their guard down, only to quickly teleport across into our world and filch their belongings. Their lairs are full of purloined goods.

Image kindly provided by by Joe Bichard, another illustrator-animator from jolly ol' Angle-land. He's one of the members of the Colour Club art collective (which includes the Joe Sparrow half of our Dungeons and Drawings team), whose current project is a selection of animated concert visuals for the musician Kidda.

GUEST WEEK: Wolf-in-Sheep's-Clothing by Third Rail Design Lab

This creature appears as a tree stump with a rabbit sitting on its shorn edge. But on getting closer the stump reveals teeth and tentacles; the rabbit is just the lure it used to draw you in.

Image is provided by Third Rail Design Lab, a comic/illustrator. Yeahhhhh, this is one of those creatures that got excluded from further editions of D&D because it's just a little too silly to take seriously, even for this game. The fact that the rabbit is a part of the creature's body seals the deal. And its name doesn't really help that much because implies something a little more... something that isn't a stump with a rabbit on its head. It's still a classic though.

Paizo attempts to slightly refluff the monster in their book Misfit Monsters Redeemed by making the creature on top be the last thing it killed; which makes more sense because you kill one adventurer, then you lure the rest to you with images of him.

GUEST WEEK: Banshee by Matt Layzell

The Banshee is a hideous female monster, ghostly and fearsome in apperance, always preceeded by her unholy howls. She is the spirit of a woman who in life was dominated by jealousy and hatred, and in death is consumed by envy of the living. Her wails slay all life around her.

Welcome to the first day of our second ever Guest Week. We've got some more artists for you offering up their personal interpretations of various D&D monsters. Up first is Matt Layzell, a super cool illustrator-slash-animator. His work may be better known among any English people following this blog; he and his studio Treat is responsible for the very cool Slackers Club spots on Channel 4.

GUEST WEEK: Thri-Kreen by Victoria Maderna

The mantis warriors scour their arid territory for today's meal, moving slowly and deliberately to best blend in with their surroundings. They come across some high cliffs and, looking up, spot a pair of desert goats steadily making their way up the rocky face. The hunters begin to leap up the steep face, easily finding handholds, and quickly closing the distance between them and their prey. They fall upon the goats with poisonous bites and swipes from their two-bladed gythkas.

Thri-Kreen are a classic D&D monster, appearing all the way back in 1st Edition and gaining popularity in 2nd Edition with the introduction of the Dark Sun campaign setting, where they became one of the playable races. They're one of the more popular non-core player races, though the Thri-Kreen are a little bit to strong for a truly low-level campaign. And really, who wouldn't want to play a giant praying mantis that can leap farther than most can walk, has unique racial weapons, doesn't need to sleep and (depending on the DM) has psychic powers?

This is the final entry for this round of Guest Week. Our closing image has been provided by Victoria Maderna, whose artwork has appeared in the official 4th Edition D&D book, the Player's Strategy Guide. More of her artwork can be seen on Pigs with Crayons, along with that of her partner Federico Piatti.

I'd like to thank all the artists that have contributed to the blog for the past week. It's been really awesome to see different people's styles take on the monsters of D&D. We're definitely going to do another guest week again in the future.

Guest Week: Umber Hulk by Keith Sparrow

The Umber Hulk is a subterranean creature capable of burrowing long distances through solid rock. Creatures of mindless anger, they are most often found rampaging through the countryside, attacking and devouring anything small and soft enough not to pose a threat (including humans). Whilst it may seem merely a creature of brute strength, the Umber Hulk is not a force to be underestimated- while it may be slightly lacking in intelligence or magical ability, those ferociously strong arms, capable of literally battering their way through stone, can make short work even of an armoured foe should they get within reach. Umber Hulks have also been known to use their burrowing ability to create traps, pitfalls and cave-ins to deal with enemies too tough to handle otherwise.

Today's illustration is brought to you by Keith Sparrow, a professional illustrator with many years of experience who has specialised in illustrations for children and children's books. Probably the most well-known string to his bow is the popular Mega Manga book, one of a series of How-To-Draw-Manga books which you see pretty often in comic book stores and art stores in england. As you might have gathered from the name, he's also my dad and pretty much the sole reason I wanted to be an illustrator growing up. I really like that Keith produced this illustration completely by hand, it really shows off his genuine skill in that regard, and makes for a really original interpretation of a classic monster. Cheers, dad!

GUEST WEEK: Glaistig by Adam Vian

The haunting song comes from a beautiful woman standing waist deep in the pond, her clinging robe mottled with algea. She beckons her victim closer into her embrace, and when her song stops he only has enough time to notice her long teeth, and her goat legs beneath the rippling water surface. What he thought were stones and pebbles in the pond floor turn out to be bones.

And here we have yet another addition to the evil fey collection we've been building. Gosh, they sure ain't nice, aren't they. These fellas come from Celtic mythology, though they aren't always evil in the original legends.

Today's image is given to us courtesy of Adam Vian, another university chum, and one half of the Super Flash Brothers team of Flash games and films. They're currently working on a sequel to one of their more popular games, Detective Grimoire. Our other guest, Catherine Unger, is helping with it too, providing some amazing background artwork for the game, which can be seen on the game development blog.

GUEST WEEK: Nalfeshnee by Matt Dicks

The Nalfeshnee is an enormous demon and denizen of the chaotic Abyss. It appears as a huge gorilla-like creature, standing three times the size of a man and weighing more than 8,000 pounds. It flutters obscenely on impossibly-small bat wings, taking horrible enthusiasm in its task: the torturing of damned souls.

In D&D, Devils and Demons are two distinct families of hell-kin; the former reside in the Nine Hells of Baator and represent the Lawful Evil alignment - Devils are evil but generally live by a lawful system, and are more likely to play "within the rules". By contrast, Demons are always Chaotic Evil, and their home - the Abyss - is a lawless place, governed by whoever happens to be strongest at the time (and often-changing).

The Nalfeshnee is brought to us by one Matt Dicks, another illustrator friend of ours. Although perhaps not the greatest enthusiast of role-playing-games, Matt is in posession of a truly amazing and distinctive style, kinda Ralph Steadman in its violence but always with an intelligent restraint. I thought a demonic creature would suit the style well, and I really like what he's given us.