Wizards of the Coast traditionally does well to stockDungeons and Dragonsfans with plenty of extra resources for their adventures. In recent history, Wizards has seemingly doubled down on that.Dungeons and Dragonsgets new sourcebooks year-round nowadays, and diverse ones at that. There’s books likeTasha’s Cauldron of Everythingthat offer players more spells and subclasses, there’s books likeWayfinder’s Guide to Eberronthat bring wholeD&Dsettings to life, and so on. Wizards of the Coast just publishedVan Richten’s Guide to Ravenloftfor the ongoingD&D5th edition,but there’s already a couple more important sourcebooks on the horizon.
Wizards of the Coast recently revealedThe Wild Beyond the Witchlight,a new adventure that will spotlight fey creatures and the Feywild. As big as that is, Wizards revealed another book only a month later:Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons,a tome focusing on dragons and encouraging DMs to put dragons at the center ofDungeons and Dragons.Interestingly, these two books have something in common: They focus on creature types that are pretty uncommon as far as published monster statistics are concerned. If these additions to the DM’s fey and dragons toolkits are indicative of a pattern, then the next sourcebook could focus on another underservedD&Dcreature type.
RELATED:Magic: The Gathering’s Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Shows the Benefits of Pushing Boundaries
Dungeons and Dragons' Mysterious Creatures
Although the Feywild is arguably one ofDungeons and Dragons' most famous planes, there’s not a ton of published fey available to DMs interested in running Feywild adventures.TheMonster Manualfeatures a couplebasic examples like dryads and hags, while later books introduced more niche creatures such as powerful eladrin and redcaps. However, they’ve always only appeared in handfuls, and there’s no statistics for really powerful fey akin to the archdevils and demon lords introduced byMordenkainen’s Tome of Foes.The Wild Beyond the Witchlightwill almost certainly include valuable new fey monsters, as well as Feywild player races recently teased as Unearthed Arcana.
Similarly, dragons aren’t actually very common inpublishedDungeons and Dragonssourcebooksdespite being part of the game’s name. TheMonster Manualnaturally includes the ten elemental dragon types at various ages, but books after that only offer a handful of other dragons.Fizban’s Treasury of Dragonsshould completely overhaul that, introducing gem dragons and other dragon varieties alongside dragon-related tools for players.
Wizards of the Coast has beenworking onD&D5E for long enoughthat it can see the gaps it needs to fill. Its reasoning for makingThe Wild Beyond the WitchlightandFizban’s Treasury of Dragonsmay very well stem from a realization that 5E is seriously lacking in fey and dragon content. By the end of 2021,D&Dfans should have a lot more tools in these departments. Fey and dragons aren’t the only creature types Wizards of the Coast should give some support, though. If Wizards of the Coast is trying to broaden player horizons, then there’s a couple types of monsters that the sourcebook afterFizbancould focus on.
RELATED:Neverwinter Dev Cryptic Studios Describes Collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, Development as D&D Fans, and More
Dungeons and Dragons Could Always Use More Creatures
For one, Wizards of the Coast could make a book about giants. Although there’s some decent choices thanks to variants of true giants and trolls published after theMonster Manual,there’s still room to explore giants. A book about a plane like Ysgard that plays host to many giants would be a great medium to expand this creature type. Similarly, celestials don’t have a ton of representation inDungeons and Dragons5E. Wizards might publisha book of divineD&Dlore, delivering some insight on the gods and places like Mount Celestia while publishing some new celestial stat blocks.
Wizards of the Coast keeps making it easier for DMs to runinterplanarD&D5E gameswith its new sourcebooks. It has gone above and beyond expanding the roster of fiends that DMs can pit players against when plumbing the Lower Planes. Similarly, there’s a wealth of aberrations available for adventurers fighting against the unfathomable influence of the Far Realms. Wizards of the Coast seems poised to expand even moreDungeons and Dragonscreature types, and that’s a great thing. The more types of 5E adventures that Wizards enables, the better.
The Wild Beyond the Witchlightreleases September 21 in physical and digital formats.
MORE:Dungeons and Dragons Death2Divinity Creators Discuss Importance of the All Fat, All Queer Campaign
