Wizards of the Coast has released a new Dungeons and Dragons monster compendium, populated by creatures created by children. As part of a partnership with gaming charity Extra Life, Wizards gathered ideas and drawings from children at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital to turn into official DnD monsters. The compendium is available on D&DBeyond for $5.95 (£4.73).
There are six new monsters in ‘Misplaced Monsters: Volume One’, with challenge ratings ranging from five to ten. Each monster comes with a stat block and two pieces of art – a more traditional D&D illustration and the original drawing that inspired the monster.
The creatures’ powers and descriptions are also faithful to the kids’ original concepts. Coral is a unicorn-esque Fey creature who, as well as blowing magical bubbles, is fond of cookies. Dandylion is a green lion who sprouts seed pods from his tail, while Rain is a cat-like creature with hooves and fiery wings that hangs out in the clouds. There’s a junkyard guardian called Scrapper, as well as a shapeshifting dragon named Seth. And then there’s Sheldon, an enormous, blueberry-loving dragon found in the Wildspace of Spelljammer.
This isn’t the first time Wizards of the Coast has partnered with Extra Life. Magic: The Gathering published two MTG Secret Lair drops to raise money for Extra Life in 2021 and 2022. These, too, were based on children’s drawings. Wizards’ relationship with the charity stretches back even further, with the 2021 Secret Lair page explaining the company had, at the time, raised over $3 million for the charity since 2015.
All proceeds from Misplaced Monsters: Volume One will go to Seattle Children’s Hospital and Seattle Children’s Autism Centre. Wizards of the Coast has been criticised in the past for fundraising for these organisations, however.
This is because Seattle Children’s Autism Centre still offers Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) therapy to autistic children. A common but increasingly controversial form of therapy, ABA focuses on training autistic children (often, historically, through punishment) to behave more like neurotypical children, regardless of their individual needs.
You can learn more about ABA and different ways to support the autistic community through autistic-led charities such as The Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
For more D&D content, our DnD classes and DnD races guide can help you get started on your next DnD character build. Be sure to check out the DnD 2023 release schedule for upcoming releases, too.
Source: Wargamer
