Making a Monster
Game designers show you their favorite monster, how it works, why it works, and what it means. Each bite-sized episode features a D&D or TTRPG designer and the monster of their choice.
Episodes
The mukad are insect-like aberrations following the orders of a slumbering god of destruction as they lurk in the walls.
Read the transcript and get more from the show:
https://scintilla.studio/monster-mukad-grim-hollow-ghostfire-games/
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: www.patreon.com/scintillastudio
Join the conversation: www.twitter.com/SparkOtter
Meet my guests:
Joe Raso: https://twitter.com/_joe_raso
Grim ...
Get three extinct animals raised to life as monsters in D&D: https://www.scintilla.studio/extinction
Episode transcript: https://scintilla.studio/monster-extinction-aurochs-nazis-orcs/
Guides:
Steve Sullivan, director of the Hefner Museum of Natural History at Miami University in Ohio
Jessica Marcrum, Uncaged Author and producer of the Threeflings actual play podcast, www.jessicamarcrumwrites.com
James Mendez Hodes, game designer a...
A team of scientists encounter the Frog of Holding, a giant monstrosity with an extradimensional space for its young!
Get three extinct animals raised to life as monsters in D&D: https://www.scintilla.studio/extinction
Partial transcript: https://scintilla.studio/monster-extinction-frog-of-holding/
Guides:
Sheryl, The Roving Naturalist: https://twitter.com/RvingNaturalist
Ethan Kocak: https://twitter.com/Blackmudpuppy
Chelsea: https...
The cave bear is more than just a monster variant on MM 334. It's the source of piles of dragon bones in caves all over Europe, and fulcrum where archaeology turned from fantasy to science.
Get three extinct animals raised to life as monsters in D&D: https://www.scintilla.studio/extinction
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: www.patreon.com/scintillastudio
Join the conversation: www.twitter.com/SparkOtte...
How does it square with your heroes when the bad guys treat their animals better than the good guys? What if your villain pets the dog?
Read the transcript and get more from the show:
https://scintilla.studio/monster-war-spider-mcdm/
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: www.patreon.com/scintillastudio
Join the conversation: www.twitter.com/SparkOtter
Meet my guests:
James Introcaso: https://twitter.com/JamesIntroc...
Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel's creator was inspired by the solarpunk and hopepunk movements, but what even are those?
Read the transcript and get more from the show:
https://scintilla.studio/monster-solarpunk-journeysthroughtheradiantcitadel
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: www.patreon.com/scintillastudio
Join the conversation: www.twitter.com/SparkOtter
Meet my guests:
Get three extinct animals raised to life as monsters in D&D: https://www.scintilla.studio/extinction
Episode transcript: https://scintilla.studio/monster-extinction-florida-fairy-shrimp
Guides:
Tierra Curry, Senior Scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity
https://twitter.com/TierraMussel
Did you like this stat block? Let me know on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SparkOtter
Music credit: "Extinction Theme" by Alex Monroe
The best game-breaking exploits in D&D. This week: the false hydra, the most terrifying homebrew monster ever made; and the Kung Fu Kraken, an ancient titan of the deep somehow less effective than a straw dummy.
Read the transcript and get more from the show:
https://scintilla.studio/monster-false-hydra-kung-fu-kraken/
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: www.patreon.com/scintillastudio
D&D players have spent almost 50 years breaking the game. This week: the arrowhead of total destruction, nuclear warhead powered by extradimensional spaces; and the wireless troll, communication via regeneration.
Read the transcript and get more from the show:
https://scintilla.studio/monster-arrow-of-destruction-wireless-troll/
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: www.patreon.com/scintillastudio
D&D players have spent almost 50 years breaking the game, creating exploits that became monsters in their own right. This week: the peasant rail gun, an army of hirelings with a light-speed projectile; and the quantum ogre, the monster who is everywhere until it is observed.
Read the transcript and get more from the show:
https://scintilla.studio/monster-peasant-rail-gun-quantum-ogre/
Read the transcript and get more from the show:
https://scintilla.studio/monster-luthic-uncaged-godesses/
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: www.patreon.com/scintillastudio
Join the conversation: www.twitter.com/SparkOtter
Meet my guests:
Jessica Marcrum: https://twitter.com/angrynerdgirl
David Markiwsky: https://twitter.com/DavidMarkiwsky
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/382873/Uncaged-Goddesses?affiliate_id=...
Declared extinct less than three months ago, the ivory-billed woodpecker is the holy grail of birders all over the U.S. Get three extinct animals raised to life as monsters in D&D: https://store.magehandpress.com/products/book-of-extinction-preview
Get the Questing Bird stat block by joining the Mage Hand Press Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mfov
Episode transcript: https://scintilla.studio/monster-extinction-ivory-billed-woodp...
The thylacine of Tasmania becomes the ghost tiger of the Feywild: a tragic figure as enchanting as it is terrifying. Get three extinct animals raised to life as monsters in D&D: https://store.magehandpress.com/products/book-of-extinction-preview
Episode transcript: https://scintilla.studio/monster-extinction-thylacine/
Guides:
Steve Sullivan, Director of the Hefner Museum of Natural History at Miami University
http://miamioh.edu/ca...
The great auk is a powerful bird with a bone-chilling extinction story. It's getting a second life as a D&D monster. Get the great auk and two other extinct animals for your D&D campaign: https://store.magehandpress.com/products/book-of-extinction-preview
Episode transcript: https://scintilla.studio/monster-extinction-great-auk/
Guides:
Kieran Suckling, Executive Director and Founder of the Center for Biological Diversity
T...
Extinct animals get a second life in D&D. It's only fair, since the biodiversity of our natural world is responsible for fantasy storytelling. Get three extinct animals raised to life as monsters in Dungeons & Dragons: https://store.magehandpress.com/products/book-of-extinction-preview
Episode transcript: https://scintilla.studio/monster-extinction-animals-in-dnd/
Guests:
Steve Sullivan, Director
Hefner Museum of Natural Hi...
Body-snatching jungle aliens called the Kelledros roam the prehistoric, stone-punk of Planegea, a new setting for D&D 5th Edition by Atlas Games and designer Dave Somerville. Learn how identity and mystery shape the nature of horror in your D&D game.
Read the transcript and get more from the show: https://scintilla.studio/monster-planegea-atlas-games/
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: www.patreon.com/...
Amy Vorpahl is the voice of Fizban, multiverse-spanning god of dragons, in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. We discuss this character's view of the world, how to write for D&D, and whether Fizban is fun to hang out with. Spoiler alert: he is.
Read the transcript and get more from the show: https://scintilla.studio/monster-fizbans-treasury-of-dragons-with-amy-vorpahl
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: ...
Amy Vorpahl couldn't resist adding a cute little Pokémon to her Candlekeep Mystery. Here's more about the skitterwidgets, what Pat Rothfuss could gain from a little more magic, and how to stay motivated while writing.
Read the transcript and get more from the show: https://scintilla.studio/monster-amy-vorpahl-candlekeep-mystery
Get stat blocks, bonus content, and other monstrous perks: www.patreon.com/scintillastudio
Fun City is the best Shadowrun actual play podcast on the Internet, and its two GMs, Mike Rugnetta and Taylor Moore, crafted a beautiful, dimension-spanning arc with the most thought-provoking villain this show has featured yet.
Making a Monster: GM Edition asks actual play podcasters how they use the monsters in their games. Read the transcript and get more from the show: https://scintilla.studio/monster-fun-city-mike-rugnetta-tay...
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