Redspawn Firebelcher

Like the bluespawn godslayer, the redspawn firebelcher is a mutation brought about by Tiamat's magic. Entirely lacking the dignity and majesty of true red dragons, the redspawn firebelcher is the stupidest of Tiamat's spawn. That doesn't make them any less dangerous, since the firebelcher is driven entirely by hunger. Other spawn might be able to control the firebelcher to use them as mounts and warbeasts, though they risk being eaten themselves. Despite the danger, Tiamat's spawn purposely starve the firebelcher in order to guarantee maximum ferocity.

Like all of Tiamat's more animalistic spawn, they exude an aura which protects nearby spawn from certain effects. In this case, it provides immunity to fire. This makes them potentially excellent mounts for whitespawn, since it can cancel out their weakness.

It's been a while since I've done anything for Dungeons & Drawings. I've been having a really really bad art block for the last several months. I didn't seem to like anything I drew. And while I still don't feel like I'm completely back to my comfort zone, I am gradually liking the last few things I've been drawing more.

Anyway, the firebelcher. Their entry describes them as often swimming around in lava pools. Well the first thought that came to my mind was crocodiles, but I really didn't want to go in that direction. The old red dragon illustration was vaguely mammalian anyway, so I went with basing this guy off a hippopotamus. Because hippopotami are horrendous nightmare beasts.

Blanca's Tumblr
 

Skiurid

Yes, D&D has an evil squirrel.

Part of the wildlife of the Shadow Plane, Skiurids usually live in colonies of up to two dozen individuals, along with their pups. Like other natives of their plane, Skiurids are capable of summoning magical darkness. The squirrels create cold areas of darkness, which drain the energy from anybody who happens to wander into them. That drained energy solidifies into a black nut, which the squirrels collect when the coast is clear. Their dens usually contain a small stockpile of nuts for pups and for rainy days. Skiurid energy nuts are coveted by necromancers, who use them to empower their spells.  (In text rules, 50% chance of raising the caster level of a necromancy spell by 2).

The thought of evil squirrels is pretty ridiculous, so much so that Skiurids are better suited for a comedy game. I can imagine evil squirrels in Adventure Time. Or if you just want to mess with your players.

I think it works a bit better if you think of it a bit like the Elysian Thrush. Both are very low CR creatures that would probably only attack someone if directly threatened, but are capable of some fairly impressive environmental effects. For all your PC knows, they've just walked into a patch of darkness caused by some more threatening foe. And only if they make a fairly high perception check will they notice a little black squirrel picking something off the ground.

Verdant Prince

Verdant Princes are wily fey creatures who use guileful magic to manipulate themselves into positions of power. Uniquely, however, a Verdant Prince is endowed with the ability to swear a magical oath or geas (which it will typically engineer in its own favour) which compels a certain bargain to be kept. Both parties are affected by the spell equally - if the oath is broken, or someone fails to keep the agreement, the offending party suffers a hideous curse, wasting both body and mind, only ending when the target dies. Verdant Princes appear to use this ability generously, even wantonly, but they are nearly always acting out of self-interest, and remember that whenever one offers you something that seems too good to be true, it probably is.

I'm pretty fond of Faustian pacts in fiction and Verdant Princes provide a great example of this within the D&D system. The person to break the deal sustains a horrifying -6 penalty to all ability scores until the oath is somehow restored, and their "partner" is magically made constantly aware of the oathbreaker's whereabouts for the duration (you're looking at a Wish or Miracle to circumvent this, it's strong stuff). The lure is always there for a wily PC to engage the Prince in a Death Note-style battle of wits and bluffing, and if you come out on top you know you've got a pretty powerful fairy spirit under your thumb. But expect treachery from both creature and DM, as these things tend to end badly for the greedy. Oh well! You know what they say: "Lente, lente, curritae noctis equi!" Aheh... huh.

Check out the full-size image and this detail version, I think it looks way better than the smaller thumbnail. The shape of the horns where they meet the head reminds me of Midna, and I think I ripped this guy off subconsciously from a Dota2 character. Whoops! gg vevlo

Bluespawn Godslayer

The blasphemous children of the dark goddess Tiamat are more in number and form than man can count. The true chromatic dragons (Red, Blue, White, Green and Black) make up only a portion of their ranks - the rest are lesser monsters, dwarf hybrids of creatures horribly twisted by Tiamat's unholy power.

The godslayers are some of the most feared of these. Mutated from the stock of blue dragons into hideous bipeds, they dedicate their lives to the slaughter of Tiamat's enemies. Godslayers take a barbaric delight in the use of melee weapons, which become charged with electricity by their innate draconic energies. Typically godslayers guard the lairs of venerable blue dragons, but are sometimes encountered abroad, roaming for good metallic dragons to torture and kill.

I tried out a more stark shading on this one, because I couldn't get anything more subtle to look right. It's not something I do too much if I can because it feels like a bit of a cop-out but there are some animations I love like Redline that make it work really nicely.

I tried to really push the "mutant" angle here, which is the one element that I like about dragonspawn - mostly they feel kind of mary-sueish (it's part dragon, part spider, part rhinoceros! super strong, no weaknesses! original character, do not steal!) and also they quite often look a bit silly. So I thought, well, the influence of an evil deity like Tiamat isn't going to produce some perfect man-dragon specimen - it's going to be this weird hybrid creature, something like the pasty human-alien thing in Alien: Resurrection, albeit insanely strong and tough. So I've given the guy two heads (two and a half if you count the little half-formed head poking out in the top right) and a little vestigial wing that isn't going to be flying anyone anywhere.

Alert readers will note that bluespawn godslayers do not, in fact, have a breath weapon but I thought the fire looked cool in the composition. And yay, we're back to no backgrounds again! Lazy art is best art.

- Joe

Lunar Ravager

Lunar Ravagers are out and about on days where the moon is bright and visible in the sky. They come down riding on moonbeams, nine feet tall and pale, wielding crescent-shaped weapons. They come down in groups and track the first worthy creature they come across, which could be anything from a wolf, a giant hellbeast or just an unfortunate drunk that got lost on his way home. Nature aids them in their grim hunt, leaving no trace more than the blood of their prey. They take their hunting trophies back with them to their hunting lodge on the moon. To return with no quarry would be shameful.

Lunar Ravagers are one of several D&D monsters based off the folkloric-slash-mythological stories of the Wild Hunt. The basic gist of it is that at certain times fairies or devils come out to be jerks and hunt-slash-kill any innocent people they come across. These certain times can be quite variable from story to story. Sometimes they're only out on certain days of the year, sometimes it has to do which the phases of the moon, and sometimes it's just a case of just don't go out at night. The Wild Hunt thing appears in the folklore of many regions of Europe, but I'm sure other areas have stories that follow a similar path.

I've based the design of the Ravager on a couple of things. The costume is based on old Hun warrior outfits. There's something quite reserved and convienient about their clothing, but still looks cool. Also they look kinda cozy and warm, and I imagine it gets pretty chilly on the moon. Then the noseless face, receded hairline and dark eyes are there to make it look alien (specifically, like a Grey). The last thing is the general subject of the image, inspired by photographs of hunters posing proudly on their felled prey.

Nashrou

Nashrou are among the many animalian predators that are scattered about the Abyss. Their intelligence is comparable to wolves, as are their pack hierarchy. They're rarely alone, but a solitary nashrou could be a good or bad thing. Good may mean that it's been separated. Or it could mean that they're a scout and the rest of the pack is shortly behind them.

Though fierce, these creatures have a big flaw: they're extremely vulnerable to specific hit. You hit one in an especially vulnerable point (i.e. score a critical hit) and you've got a pretty good chance of killing one instantaneously.

This was a blind monster (name and image blacked out) given to me by Joe. I'm pretty pleased that the image looks nothing like what's in the book, though I do regret that the one has a way more interesting body in an abstact geometry kind of way.

Lodestone Marauder

The Lodestone Marauder is yet another creature from a wizard's lab that was made for a certain purpose, then got loose. This particular creature has magnetic powers and an insatiable hunger for metal and meat. Pretty good for letting lose in the battlefield and having in chow down on the soldiers, including their armor and weapons. And if somebody is being a bit too effective at swinging their axe, well it can just turn on the magnetism and the weapon gets stuck on their spikes.

The wild ones tend to live underground. There's lots of tasty ore down there and relative safety. The drow and other deep-dwelling creatures sometimes make an attempt at taming one of these fellas, but I imagine their feeding habits can get pretty expensive.

My computer's been busted for the better part of a week. It's been pretty miserable, since you get used to having a machine to do all your art on and forget how traditional means work. But Joe kept pushing me to do the traditional way and I was all like "ehhhhhhh" and he was all like "do it" and I was all like "ehhhhhhhhh, fine" and now I'm pretty happy with the final results. Collage made from painted and non-painted tin foil.

Balhannoth

The ambassador shifted uneasily from one foot to the other as the crooked smile worn by His Eminence, the Drow Underking Xun-yl, continued to widen. He inwardly reassured himself - he was on a diplomatic mission (although who knew if the dark elves would respect such civilities?). And, besides, he was flanked by a squad of the finest mage-warriors the Bright Isles could muster; all of them prepared with high-level magics of brightness and blinding to repel all but the most stalwart of Drow. So why did something feel so... wrong? "It is our... custom, that the diplomats of men shall not leave our lands with blood in their veins," spoke the Underking with a sneer. The ambassador stiffened nervously with shock. "You shall harm no-one this day, elf! We of the Bright Isles are well versed in the ways of the light that you fear. Raise your weapons against us and you will suffer our magics!" To the ambassador's horror, the Drow's smile did not lessen. "You say you know our fears, human? You say we fear the light?" The Underking, almost without effort, lifted a finger in signal to the shadows beside him. "There are things in the darkness far more worthy of our fear. And yours." A stony rumble announced the ground beneath the ambassador's feet splitting open like a trapdoor into a pitch-black chamber below. "They are ancient, and care little for magic." But the ambassador was already falling, and he screamed at what he saw.

Composition is clustered as hell. Look at all the hoots I give!

Drow

The Drow, or 'Dark Elves' are the combination of two classic fantasy tropes: the sexy lady warrior race and the implausibly evil, sacrifice-happy race. I guess it's also an attempt by Wizards to make a race of D&D elves who aren't dainty, serene and all-around perfect.

The drow are a race of black-skinned, white-haired, subtarranean, innately magical elves, who build their cities in the cavernous bowels of the earth (the Underdark). Their society is matriarchical to the cruelest extreme of the word and patterns a spider motif inspired by their goddess the Spider Queen Lolth. They're a race of schemers and false courtesies that somehow hasn't backstabbed itself into extinction (probably thanks to the divine intervention of their goddess).

(Not that she tries really hard, since in demanding sacrifices she "prefers sentient creatures over non-sentient, humanoids over non-humanoids, elves over other humanoids, drow over other elves, powerful drow over weaker ones, and her priestesses most of all". She is actively demanding the sacrifice of the ruling classes and clergy just because she likes to eat powerful things. But she totally wants to keep this society running.)

It's an extremely popular race (with some expected backlash) for the uniqueness of its setting, its innate angst and darkness, its cruelty and its absurd cheesecake factor. And also several series of popular books starring the most famous repentant drow Drizzt Do'Urden by R.A. Salvatore (causing countless my character is seriously not copying Drizzt you guys what are you talking about). I've only read two of the trilogies: the Dark Elf trilogy and the Ice Wind Dale trilogy. I've got to say I prefer the Dark Elf trilogy a lot more, and then the first book out of that, since you actually get to see the Underdark and their bizarre social customs.

Clockwork Mender

Required raw materials: gold, silver, copper, rhodium, earth, amber, glass, ichor (earth elemental), blood (bird), blood (hornet), blood (own).

Being a bit late with these. I was working on last week's one and hoping to get it out on time, but it looks like it's gonna require a little bit more time.

Clockwork Menders are cat-sized vaguely insectoid machines that exist to repair other constucts. They can be individuals, but are commonly found in swarms, though the swarm doesn't last very long as Clockwork Menders will use up their own life force in the repair of another construct. Their main form of defence is a numbing poison.

With the Improved Familiar feat, some ranks in Craft (blacksmithing) and an open-minded GM, you too can have one of these little creatures as a companion. That or you can try to steal one from the plane of Mechanus.

Trying out pixel-stuff a little bit, because its fun in a way. I'm not sure if I could do this consistently, but it's still fun.

I was actually originally trying to do this with pen and ink, but found that I'm still to inexperienced with it to have the steady hand required for perfect circles.

Defacer

A Defacer is an undead creature formed when the spirit of a shapechanging creature, such as a Doppelganger, is animated by a necromancer. Most ordinary creatures, once risen in such a way, will generally keep the form they held in life. Shapechangers, however, barely having a definite form or identity to start with, are brought back as dark, blank, faceless creatures, and their utter absence of identity compels them to "steal" the faces of those around them, a horrific ability which leaves the victim's face featureless. The many faces they "collect" in this way swim about their body, keening frightfully.

Been working a lot in what I guess would be called pixelart lately, essentially eschewing anti-aliasing of any kind and getting down and dirty with each individual pixel. It's really satisfying, it actually feels a lot to me like painting but there's a really nice, economic feel to it because you can only get so much detail in, every pixel has to be in the right place. anyway, another quick one this week, I'm actually a week behind now so I'll probably be doing another one tomorrow!

Howler Wasp

This creature didn't happen naturally, as many creatures do, but was the mistake of the paranoid wizard Otiulke. Seeking to protect himself from Slaadi enemies, he sought to create a fierce guardian animal. His initial experiment provided the Howler Wasps, a combination of monkey and hornet. They proved to be too vicious to control, but Otiulke was caught and killed before he could destroy his creation. They escaped and have since been spreading through the world, creating giant nests ruled over by a monstrous Queen.


Really, what do you expect when you try to make a something that combines the cuddlyness of a wasp with the friendliness of a baboon? Fortunately, the howler wasps are fairly small creatures, about the size of a dog (which I guess is still a little too big) and fairly weak. However, killing one means that the body begins secreting a pheromone that attracts other wasps and drives them into a frenzy.

Just set the nest on fire.

Githyanki

Githyanki are vicious, gaunt humanoids who live in societies strewn across the Astral Plane, the vast, timeless space between dimensions. Long ago bred as slaves to the ancient Illithid empire, the Githyanki were led from captivity by their ancestral leader Gith, in a great war which nearly wiped out the Illithids altogether. Now, wracked by internal conflict, the Githyanki are little more than a race of pirates, adding to the dangers of astral travel. They build their fortresses on the petrified bodies of dead gods adrift in the void.

The Githyanki are a weird sort of race in D&D, looking a little like a cross between orcs and elves (if such a thing is concievable). Not only are they essentially pirates, they are space pirates, which is pretty cool in my book. I inked this one by hand in Photoshop after making some custom brushes, and I'm pleased with the result. I tried to make up for the fact that they're usually depicted as barely clothed humanoids by doing a ridiculous upside-down foreshortening thing, but I think it gets the zero-gravity feel of the Astral Plane across fairly well. Oh, and they use these cool mercurial swords.