Category Archives: Archives of Candlekeep

This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Forty Six on 30th August, 2023. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Rakshasas are often a “pass-over” creature in D&D. They aren’t hidden away in separate resources and they’ve been around for a long time, but they don’t see a lot of use in most D&D resources, and it’s hard at first glance to see what makes them stand out. However, if used properly and the full range of their abilities is taken advantage of, they can be nearly as formidable as dragons. As far as the Research Beholders have figured out, Rakshasas first showed up in the first edition monster manual. It makes sense because “Rakshasas” are actually evil spirits from Hindu mythology, and as we’ve discussed…

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This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Forty Five on 16th August, 2023. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Owlbears are what could be called a B-level celebrity in D&D. They don’t get much recognition outside of players and fans of the game, but to anyone familiar with D&D, the owlbear is an instantly recognizable name and creature. The Owlbear also has the distinction of being one of the oldest monsters in D&D. It didn’t quite get in on the ground floor with the original edition, but it was in place for the Greyhawk supplement for original D&D in 1975. Since then, it’s become a staple monster of the brand. The first book published for an edition that focused on monsters, whether it’s called the…

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This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Forty One on 14th June, 2023. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Kruthiks are an odd bunch. D&D is always generally set in a late medieval or early renaissance feeling setting, occasionally verging into the age of steam for technology when you’re talking about Eberron, but it usually stays firmly in the realm of fantasy. Which makes Kruthiks a little odd in a meta sense. Species of burrowing, oversized, insect-like creatures with swarming behavior and a loose hive mind are not a new trope by any means, but they’re usually placed in science fiction tales, often when the story needs an enemy numerous, alien, and unintelligent enough that the good guys can indiscriminately destroy them without guilt. Another…

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This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Thirty Nine on 10th May, 2023. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. Tortles have a surprisingly long history with D&D. But like Shifters and Warforged, their origins are linked to alternate settings and they’re usually brought into mainstream D&D during a second or third “wave” of content additions. Quick refresher for those who forgot their D&D real-world history. During the first and second edition of D&D, there was the main publication out of TSR, officially called “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.” The reason that was emphasized was to separate it from “Basic Dungeons and Dragons.” Basic was a parallel publication that used most of the same bones of D&D, but the details differed. The two most obvious differences were…

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This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Thirty Eight on 26th April, 2023. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. As we’ve mentioned before, unlike with a lot of modern fantasy media like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, Dragons in D&D are fully sapient, thinking beings. That has given rise to several dragons who made names for themselves for various reasons. Icingdeath, which is the name I’m using because his real name sounds like someone sneezing into a kazoo, is a dragon made famous from the Drizz’t novels. Ashardalon [ash-AR-dah-lawn] is a red dragon with a terrifying multiversal reputation. Silvara is a Silver dragon whose life and fate were tied in directly to the War of the Lance and the heroes from Dragonlance. Themberchaud is…

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This article was first broadcast in Episode Two Hundred and Thirty Seven on 22nd March, 2023. Note: This article was adapted from an episode script, and so there may be parts that don’t flow well when read, because they were initially designed for broadcast. In D&D, trolls are something of an unsung victory of the brand. In almost all modern fantasy series, trolls have mostly the same appearance and behavior; they’re larger than humans, usually by several feet; they have wiry bodies covered in skin that looks diseased, loose, oddly colored, or all of the above; they aren’t that intelligent; and they try to eat anything and anyone they come across. Almost no one thinks D&D invented trolls, and technically they are correct. Trolls exist in multiple mythologies and myths throughout history. However, D&D’s particular brand of troll didn’t come directly from any myth. Most people’s next thought would be…

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Liches, ironically, have been around for a very long time in D&D. It’s ironic because that’s the whole point; liches are very powerful magic users who are usually after immortality. But they don’t want to sell their soul to anyone except themselves to get that never ending existence. They also tend to cause trouble for everyone else around as a side effect of that ambition. When we they’ve been around for a very long time, we’re not kidding; there are few creatures that have been written down in the rules longer. The first lich creature was described in the Greyhawk supplement for Original D&D, put out in 1975. They were only described as “the skeletal monsters are of magical origin, each Lich formerly being a very powerful Magic-User or Magic-User/Cleric in life, and now alive only by means of great spells and will, because of being in some way disturbed.”…

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Thessalar is a minor figure in the grand scheme of things, but his popularity got a slight boost a few years ago, albeit indirectly. A huge, amorphous monster appeared toward the end of Stranger Things season 1 and in the trailers for Stranger Things season 2. Given how much Stranger Things leaned on D&D for story elements and naming conventions, fans of the series and D&D immediately began to guess what the monster was or would be called. With no clues from the cast or writers, the internet as a whole eventually went with “thessalhydra.” And then a lot of people only familiar with 4th and 5th edition D&D went, “a what”? By the way, the creature from stranger things was eventually dubbed a mind flayer, but that’s not important right now. The thessalhyrda is a monster out of 1st edition. It originally appeared in the second monster manual. Like…

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Like so many things, Graz’zt is fine as long as you’re a man. Graz’zt is a figure that can be very problematic in D&D. Certainly using him in a campaign in any way that’s true to lore and doesn’t just have him as an adversary to fight can raise some eyebrows or cause a lot of uncomfortable squirming in players. The demon lord is not new, but he wasn’t there from the very beginning like Orcus or Demogorgon. Graz’zt was, however, a Gary Gygax original for better or worse. Gygax also said in an interview that “Graz-it” was the pronunciation, so sorry to everyone who liked the “grazt” version.  The demon lord first appeared in a module for first edition D&D called “The lost Caverns of Tsojconth [SOJ-kanth]”. It was labeled as adventure “S4” and published in 1982, though the published version was a clean up and rewrite of Gygax’s…

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