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Flipping via a Monster Manual is among the nice joys of getting ready to run a recreation of Dungeons & Dragons, with each web page providing potential pals and foes in your gamers to come across. Spelljammer: Adventures in Space revives Dungeons & Dragons’ weird pulp science fiction setting after greater than 30 years with a field set that includes an journey happening on the Astral Plane and a marketing campaign information full of new character choices and guidelines for spaceships. But the true gem is Boo’s Astral Menagerie, a bestiary full of greater than 60 new creatures that dwell within the magical oceans generally known as wildspace.

The e book options loads of creatures discovered within the authentic Spelljammer, just like the magic merchandise sellers the mercane, plus Lovecraftian horrors just like the brain-collecting neh-thalggu. But for those who’re actually seeking to benefit from the area opera setting, these are the 5 weirdest creatures you must embrace in your recreation.

[Ed. note: Definitely some clowns in here. Don’t say we didn’t tell you.]

Dohwar

Three rainbow-colored penguins and a semi-sentient winged boar.

Image: Brynn Metheney/Wizards of the Coast

Shopping has by no means been cuter than when it includes a gaggle of dohwars, that are also referred to as a cartel. 3-foot-tall brightly coloured penguin folks wish to domesticate an air of secrecy by sporting cloaks and assembly in darkish alleys, even after they’re simply conducting mundane enterprise. They’re powerful negotiators since they’ll detect ideas and sometimes are mentally linked with one another, a course of generally known as merging. They additionally worship each god of wealth and enterprise within the D&D cosmos from the Forgotten Realms’ Waukeen to Greyhawk’s Zilchus in hopes of gaining their favor and turning into the multiverse’s prime retailers.

Dohwars additionally breed area swine, flying boars which might be used as trackers or beasts of burden. They may also be skilled for fight and lined in armor, incomes them the title of demise squealers, or roasted and served with applesauce.

Astral whales flock amid a green, purple, and orange cloud of gas. A rocky planet sits in the background with innumerable stars just over the horizon.

Image: Jessica Nguyen/Wizards of the Coast

Kindori

If you wish to base an journey on the Doctor Who episode “The Beast Below” or Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Spelljammer has you lined with these 80-foot-long area whales. They’re principally chill, swimming via wildspace and feeding on daylight whereas speaking with one another via blinding flashes from their eye beams. But they supply loads of journey hooks, since they’re hunted by dragons and are so large they’ve their very own gravity and air bubbles the place smaller creatures can dwell.

You would possibly discover a kindori adopted by a scavver, successfully an area shark that likes consuming the parasites that attempt to colonize the whales. When a kindori dies of sickness or previous age, scavengers will choose its flesh clear, however the bones are remarkably resilient. The nice beast’s skeleton may even be was a very creepy spelljamming ship.

Space Clowns

A cursed miniature from WizKids showing a clown with a longarm.

Image: WizKids

Yet another cursed clown, this one with a wee li’l pistol

Image: WizKids

Inspired by Killer Klowns from Outer Space, area clowns are the fiendish denizens of a system generally known as clownspace. They sail in ships armed with pie-flinging catapults and large klaxon horns utilizing spelljamming expertise bought from the dohwar. The residents of three-ringed worlds worshiped a god of revelry, however had been corrupted by their priesthood, which received everybody hooked on an elixir known as Thrill Joy that’s distilled from demon ichor and the bozo flower. That potion ultimately gave them their creepy clownlike look.

Space clowns eat different humanoids, attacking them at sea or luring them in at carnivals with the promise of enjoyable. They’re expert performers and acrobats who can at all times pull a trick out of their pocket, like stunning with a contact or firing a raygun that acts just like the Joker’s gasoline and afflicts the sufferer with uncontrollable laughter. They’re additionally masters of phantasm — in a nod to It, area clowns could make themselves appear to be a floating balloon.

A cosmic horror stares out of the back cover of Boo’s Astral Menagerie.

Photo: Charlie Hall/Polygon

Space Hamsters

There are loads of animals on this e book with the phrase “space” tossed in entrance of them, however few have the wealthy historical past of the area hamster. Giant area hamsters are the dimensions of grizzly bears however simply as cute as a typical rodent, making them an ideal companion for a ranger or druid. Gnomes have tried to energy spelljamming ships with large hamster wheels, however to date haven’t had any luck.

The e book’s namesake, Boo, is supposedly a miniature large area hamster, a species created by wizard experiments on their large kin that made them tiny, sensible, and telepathic. Boo is the animal companion of the ranger Minsc within the authentic Baldur’s Gate online game, and regardless of Minsc’s many claims on the contrary he appears to simply be a traditional hamster. But in line with the lore he, and in reality all hamsters on the Material Plane, is simply hiding his psychic powers from everybody besides his greatest good friend. As a tribute to Minsc’s most memorable line, area hamsters have the facility “Go for the Eyes,” which lets them blind and harm their goal.

Vampirates

Why have a ghost ship when you’ll be able to have a intelligent portmanteau? Vampirates are pirates who’ve died however proceed to journey wildspace stealing not simply plunder however the life essence of their victims. They leach life via contact or a ranged assault somewhat than ingesting blood. They don’t have to eat or drink however they love to do it, significantly having fun with swigging rum whereas singing darkish sea shanties.

Vampires normally require loads of work to kill, however these variations explode in a cloud of damaging necrotic mud as quickly as they’re dropped to zero hit factors. You don’t at all times should combat them, although. In the journey Light of Xaryxis, gamers are more likely to ally with the vampirate captain Grimzod Gargenhale. He’s accompanied by Lefty, his personal hand that he misplaced in a swordfight and animated as a crawling claw. It’s like a parrot besides it might play musical devices and talk by making gestures. Presumably Lefty favors impolite ones.

Spelljammer: Adventures in Space might be out on Aug. 16. It was previewed with a pre-release copy of the books offered by Wizards of the Coast. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media might earn commissions for merchandise bought through affiliate hyperlinks. You can discover further details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.



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