Animal Lords: Sneak Peak at the Bestial new Celestials in the 2025 Monster Manual

[@joel23899]

Finally a stat block for The Lorax

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

“I speak for the trees.”

[@ShinyGoldSteelix]

@@CrimsonTemplar2 "Well, I would if I understood Vietnamese"

[@DJParkesie959II]

​@@CrimsonTemplar2 "… and now I break your knees."

[@morisonwow7301]

" I speak for the trees. The trees say you've been doing some b*******"

[@Trauma284]

And I can add the forest spirit to my studio ghibli campaign idea

[@artificerprime4154]

I feel like these guys being able to cast Awaken can be a plot point in and of itself. Like a rogue Animal Lord decides to start a Planet of the Apes scenario by beefing up the intellect of the beasts on the Material Plane to cause trouble for the humanoid civilizations.

[@Marabcd315]

his name shall be Caesar

[@AwesomeWookiee]

His name is Traesar. Traesar Green.

[@Subject_Keter]

I just picture that rick and morty episode where Morty pisses off ALL the squrriels. Just imagine a chipmuck with a tiny wand of G u n.

[@andrewphillips4681]

Ape no kill Ape

[@mr.crispyfriedchicken3946]

​@@andrewphillips4681 until Ape inevitably kills Ape. Then there's no rules

[@AwesomeWookiee]

A Spider Sage in service to Lolth would also be a killer campaign BBEG. Imagine: 8 glowing eyes, a lot of failed saves against being restrained, and constant manipulations.

[@connormacdonald3061]

Animal lord who is a celestial warlock patron.

[@davidotoole2853]

I'd give that warlock the option to take either warlock, Cleric, or druid spells.

[@bukharagunboat8466]

Id lean towards a Warlock with Wild Shape. Yes, the bonus spells would come from the Druid list.

[@solar4planeta923]

Sign me up!!

[@Dethjezter]

Cat Lord is my ½Tabaxi Warlock's patron, but the Cat Lord looks like the 2e Planescape Cat Lord

[@emerynoel567]

@@Dethjezter yes please, gotta love that diterlizzi art!!!!!!!

[@clarkside4493]

As written, I see no Poison Resistance or Immunity nor Immunity to the Poisoned Condition! We Poison fans take our wins where we can get them!

[@roscoeivan8739]

The fact that wotc limited harvesting on live creatures to once forever. This Means they killed the supply of any decent poisons unless you play with specific bastions. Bastions or rogue for poisons is just another wotc ranger insult.

[@clarkside4493]

@roscoeivan8739 or you just make regular excursions for Poisons. Heck, that can even make you a quest giver for less experienced adventuring parties.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

@@roscoeivan8739 what limit? are you talking about tournament play?

[@roscoeivan8739]

@@user-wm3hu7lo1g compare the 2014 harvesting rules to 2024 harvesting rules. They added a limit of once which is fine for dead creatures but makes no sense for living ones. It deliberately makes it harder for a playstyle already under used.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

@@roscoeivan8739 I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. Which harvesting rules? Where?

[@charlesdavis9100]

This reinforces my dream of a Druidic Themed Warlock now.

[@jeremypeak8041]

I immediately thought of the panda spirit from ATLA.

[@freakvomdienst]

This. Or even the Lionturtle!

[@SahalafidN]

Me too, what a great story ark!

[@onurs6848]

Their stats can be used as a overpowered lycanthrope boss.

[@jjvh500]

The animal lord could make for a very cool "Progenitor Werewolf," for sure! And there are plenty of ways you could exlain the origins of lycanthropy with these guys. Empowering people who respect nature with the strength to defend it. Or maybe they cursing people that hunt the animal they protect. Or they've empowered, through some advanced "Awaken" spell, the animals to better fight against people.

[@nozomashii821]

This is perfect for me because a big part of my world lore is that a lot of werecreatures originate from great beasts of the past, which IS ALSO inspired by Mononoke haha, namely the great boar of the mountain is heavily inspired by Nago and is the father of wereboars and swine, wereboars stemming from a curse. Most animal types of a great ancestor, like serpents, though not all have cursed men to walk and live as they do occasionally, so no weresnakes yet. I do have weresharks.

[@guyman1570]

Oh awesome! That's such a great movie to draw inspiration from in making your lore!

[@zerdafox]

Furrys

[@nozomashii821]

@@zerdafox absolutely necessary to any dnd setting thriving

[@starscream71288]

The crazy part for me is the +19 initiative. If proficiency for monsters hasnt changed that means it has a dex score of 24 or 25. Which, in 2014 rules, makes it the monster with the 3rd highest dex out of all the 2014 monsters (could be slightly wrong, but that's what I've been able to find).

[@starscream71288]

Correction: it would be 4th highest. Forgot about the Will-o-wisp.

[@Awoken0]

@@starscream71288 From what's I've seen of the new monsters, a lot of them have had initiative buffs. The Empyrean has a +19 to initiative despite its 21 DEX. Seems like for monsters DEX and proficiency isn't the only factor for initiative.

[@Z00PG00P]

@@Awoken0Some monsters (particularly high CR ones) are also getting Initiative Expertise, so their prof bonus would be doubled

[@007ohboy]

​@starscream71288 My 20th Bladesinger Kensei Monk will whoop a Beast Lord and make them give up their celestial lunch money.😂😂 Round 1 - Haste, Bladesong punch them to activate +2 Agile Parry feature - AC = 33 so they need a natural 20 to hit Round 2 - Sword, Sword Booming Blade, Side Kick to the grill and then Bonus Action Patient Defence/Step of the Wind (Dodge/Dash). Now they need 2 20s in a row to hit me while I just wear them down round after round after round. And then after whooping their butts, She'll take them on as a student to teach them the way of the Kensei Bladesong. 😊

[@stevelycan2962]

Is it a +19? There's no plus in front of it, it's 19, as in a "static" initiative / would be a +9 if you rolled from everything that I've seen. Akin to average dye rolls 2d6 (7) in other parts of the stat block? Every monster I've seen IS proficient in initiative now though, which is neat :)

[@DavidSmith-jj7ll]

My party (I was a PC) encountered Cat Lord and was sort of a temporary patron of us at one point and it was a wonderful depth-of-the-world moment

[@tiffro]

It's so funny the campaign ideas you discuss around 14:00 -- my players are currently in an arc in a contaminated forest fighting some corrupted animal spirits (I didn't know this monster was going to exist so have homebrewed everything!). The contamination/corruption is based on your rules and lore around delerium contamination!!

[@SortKaffe]

Amazing, the dudes missed that opportunity to plug their own book

[@Subject_Keter]

It funny cuz that sounds like 5 different things i know. 😂 For me the Taint from Thaumcraft cant be beat.

[@jmartin4396]

This is very exciting for me. The Cat Lord has always been one of my favorites. This seems to give a really cool interpretation for them.

[@lesbanks1505]

This feels like the “expanded families” of monsters the D&D channel mentioned doing in this new monster manual. So, as opposed to just one version we get multiple variants.

[@phurbur]

Happy New Year! Thank you for this preview. As a new DM I'm writing my first level 1-20 campaign that involves a huge animal exodus to the Beastlands from the very beginning - with various gods supervising including Malar. I was going to homebrew my own Beast Lord from the Beastlands, a Cooshee (Elf Hound) version to make it more otherworldly. Now I can start reskinning an official Animal Lord for our campaign. Thanks again!

[@douglaspope-gz1eq]

We love you dungeon dudes! I can't wait for the next episode of Drakkenhiem I'm finally caught up with the whole series and I'm fully on board for everything you have in store for us and thanks for all the amazing videos you have given us Sebastian crowe is the best character of the series and I absolutely love Kelly as a player and individual I hope you all are having a great start to 2025

[@DungeonDudes]

Thanks so much! We’re glad you’re enjoying the content and that you’re enjoying Drakkenheim! it's Kelly, so I just wanted to say a genuine thank you :) It means a lot to hear that.

[@douglaspope-gz1eq]

@@DungeonDudes I can't wait to see what Kelly's next character is going to be in season 4 I bet that you Kelly are spoiled for choices for your next character and BTW Monty all the chaos that is going to be in the next episode is all going to be because of you so thanks Monty for sacrificing your sanity for our amusement we love all of you guys

[@Adagain]

​@@DungeonDudes Oh God it's Kelly, he actually reads the comments! Nobody panic!

[@michaelrnahas4425]

I agree I can't wait for the next episode of Drakkenheim. Also inviting Ginny Di back to play Ava Blightward for the final push to put Wilhelm on the throne would be so epic

[@DungeonDudes]

It’s always been Monty and I in the comments lol. No one else.

[@stomyn]

One idea that popped in my head is that you could use this to recreate Kindred from League of Legends. You would mainly be fighting Wolf who's responsible for all of the Rend attacks while Lamb could either be riding on his back or popping in and out of existence to deliver the Radiant Ray attacks with her bow

[@AMRosa10]

You could always pair the Animal Lords with Archdruids and Treants as minibosses and their battlefield lieutenants.

[@themuzzy2020]

I’ve wanted to fold all the beastfolk PC races into a setting I’m working on for a while, but I didn’t know how to make it fit super well without the world feeling oversaturated with the amount of different sentient species present. But if I just make it a separate continent/island/kingdom ruled by these animal lords, that would work perfectly!

[@kalebscott282]

I'm so glad you guys are back! I hope you had a wonderful break. M also excited about your early access to the MM. Can't wait to see what else is in store!

[@DSpiritwolf]

What I like about these animal lords so far is how well they could work with an Oath of ancients paladins. The animal lords could be the actual the ancients your paladin swore an oath too. You could have a party of a druid, ranger and OotA paladin serving these lords by preserving nature and what not. Maybe you can even have a fey warlock associated with one? You could have a animal lord patron who wants you to stop another animal lord who only wants to embody the destruction of nature by wiping out everything. Really I just like the addition of spiritual beings that represent one of the many apsects of dnd and potentially expand the world building.

[@thomascleveland]

I hearby swear my fealty to Tony the Tiger. He who taketh a breakfast and maketh it grrrrrrrrreat.

[@josephschubert6561]

Animal Lords are Celestials, so a Celestial Warlock would also work. Though in a party with a Cleric and Paladin, the Fey Warlock might cover more bases

[@paigehellbaum5232]

15:16 - Fern Gully?? Also Monty at 19:15 - thank you!! Could not agree more.

[@Adagain]

I love anything that gives me a good stat block for powerful entities/demi gods to populate my campaigns; this is a very welcome addition to my collection!

[@trckstr2888]

I have been spending MONTHS homebrewing this exact style of monster feeling like I was basing my head against a wall trying to make it perfect, now I can finally focus on the rest of my adventure… my players might even get to play it now!

[@andrewmcmillan229]

Ring of Force Resistance will be by far the most crafted item for a high level party in the new edition. Just one rare item will give you resistance to the damage type almost all boss monsters now do, doesn’t even need attunement.

[@davidbilich1708]

Yeah what im seeing is a MUCH bigger focus on magic items in this edition.

[@levimote]

Love the creativity!! Several great ideas from a single Monster page!!!

[@jeremythornbrugh403]

I'm so excited to watch this video! Love you guys, so much! Just started watching this one, but quick note. Animal Lords are not "brand new"; they've been around for many editions! It's so exciting to see them have a 5e stat block, though! I was sad when they weren't in the Planescape book. Beastlands are the best lands!

[@ziggiezaggie]

I keep thinking of the movie "The last unicorn" with the giant bull that chases the unicorns into the ocean 🌊 🦄 🐂

[@bigdream_dreambig]

This sounds like it might be good as an embodiment for the tabaxis' Cat Lord.

[@battlemack96]

Love hearing you guys riff on storytelling and reflavoring mechanics to go along with it. I really look forward to the MM doing what they say it’s gonna do, which is inspire cool stories!!

[@pykeembers1575]

When you guys first started talking about them, I thought maybe these are the ones that started lycanthropy. Perhaps it was given as a gift from these beings as they hold these creatures with such high regard that of course everyone else would enjoy turning into them as well. Clearly throughout the years that is not the case and people view lycanthropy as a curse instead. Humanoids have spurned their gifts and called them curses

[@guyman1570]

Or an antagonist had corrupted the gift into a curse somewhere in the past, and now the animal lords ask you for assistance in overturning the curse's side effects, turning it back to a gift as it once was.

[@tonisallerasquintana5905]

I think that this animal lords can also be really good options for new Celestial Warlock patrons, it would definitively give a completely new aesthetic to them and I think it could be very fun.

[@seymourfields3613]

Wow. I already wrote this as a first arc of a larger campaign. The "evil Druid" that turned against the village he once helped; after the village began to chop too greedily into the Druid's forest. I reflavored a.. Stegosaurus? Into a dire bear. And reflavored a bear into a dire bear cub. There were no survivors. TPK. it's been two years, and I'm not quite sure how to get them out of the Shadowfell. Mostly because the sessions fell apart. Scheduling.

[@zerdafox]

Lorax

[@colmbright9822]

I love this type of video from the Dudes. Take their style of breakdown classes but uses it in a format geared towards DMs and helping us run better encounters. Maybe my favorite video from the Dudes

[@CJCook664]

Love this! Their basically an updated form of the Guardinals from older editions. I actually used a guardinal as my patron for my celestial warlock when I got started in 5e, so this is great to see!

[@creditroll176]

oh my god, i love this!! my dreams druid basically has a patron, and these animal lords perfectly describe it!!

[@Olochgu]

First thing that came to my mind is that this would be awesome for either Loa/Wild Gods from World of Warcraft.

[@josephschubert6561]

There's a multi-author children's book series called "Spirit Animals." Each of the Great Beasts in that series have a totem that grants the holder a power related to the Beast. In a campaign where the animal lords are favorable or undecided about the player characters, you could have a whole pantheon of them that might choose to bestow one of the players their totem to help defeat the BBEG

[@targetdreamer257]

I could totally see reoccurring character animal lords in the form of a "trickster", a "mentor" and a "anti-hero". The players have to sort out which one is the trickster and the mentor, are they causing mischief or sage advice. Or a mentor vs anti-hero scenario in which they have to decide if the cute floofy animal is actually standing up to injustice by lowering themselves to that level of injustice or they are setting the correct tone.

[@guamae]

I've introduced Fane Guardians into my Curse of Strahd campaign... Powerful spirits that anchor the Land of the demiplane. I generally hadn't had stats for them, and homebrewed when I needed something for one encounter... But this actually seems like something I can use!

[@orgixvi3]

I'm immediately thinking of a campaign set in Bloomburrow, from MtG, with the Animal Lords playing the Calamity Beasts.

[@Mthaltomar]

Yes!

[@seymourfields3613]

Welcome back, Dudes! I hope you enjoyed your (Winter? Christmas?) break and are having a happy new year!

[@DungeonDudes]

Happy New Year to you too!

[@majorbones251]

They did it. They made the furries canon.

[@Adagain]

The furries have always been Canon, waiting at the edges of existence just beyond perception, but now that they are canonized it is clear they always were canon and we were too blind to see what was right in front of our faces.

[@guyman1570]

That's a sad day for humanity

[@leodouskyron5671]

In the second Monster Manual there was a character called “Cat Lord”. So furries have always been cannon.

[@digitaljanus]

@@leodouskyron5671 Yeah, there were at least 3-4 animal lord statblocks in 1e or 2e.

[@probablythedm1669]

200+ Animal Lord encounter, aka. *"The Furry Convention".* The doom of countless heroes and villains. 🤣😂🤣

[@iskandarthegreat0487]

I am beyond stoked for this book! Love that you guys are the first to bring it to me 😁

[@GhostlyGrimace]

Happy New Year Dudes! May yours be filled with many nat 20s!

[@majinsole8554]

Kelly immediately thinking Princess Mononoke and echoing my same thoughts upon first impression is all the validation I need 😁👺🐺 ~_~

[@Zr0din]

Do Animal Lords qualify as Arch Fey Patrons for the purpose of the a Warlock? Or not strong enough? How about a Path of the Ancients Paladin?

[@rainbowmothraleo]

They are definitely Celestial Patron

[@justinroyalty389]

They’re definitely strong enough, they’re just not Archfey

[@minnesotanose]

Im imagining this in DoD. A circle of druids summon it in order to deal with the delerium that is corrupting the surrounding area. When the players meet it its corrupted and they have to kill it or figure out how to save it. Maybe they get the quest from charlie who coincidentally is a pure version of this.

[@intrinsical]

By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!

[@asolanara]

I am currently running a Drakkenheim campaign, and I love the idea that one of these is drawn to Queen's Park Garden (an area my players have not wanted to explore), but getting caught off guard and contaminated by the delerium.

[@alirezababasafari6348]

Big fan of your contants for years, i love the monster deep dive videos, wish to see more. 😍

[@kylinsky]

My homebrew instinct tells me to make a new sub-type of beast lord, some darker aspect of nature that the other animal lords loath. A beast lord based on a parasitic wasp for instance. Imagine the party coming across a dead green dragon in its layer, horde untouched, and then to their horror, a swarm of dragon empowered giant wasps chews its way out from the carcass. Anyway, these things sound perfect for a nature themed Warlock patron. Here's hoping for a Primeval pact coming in a future UA.

[@nemean3509]

This is awesome. Just started playing a bearfolk character and will definitely be using this stat block for his king.

[@guyman1570]

Wait! Ferngully! This statblok could work as a reflavored dark spirit that was trapped in the Haxxous tree. Pure evil can exist somewhere in a natural-themed place. Or maybe it's a forbidden magic that had produced this evil spirit, etc... All sorts of ideas are possible!

[@Subject_Keter]

Animals: allows other animals to commit warcrimes Human: Exist Animals: REEEEE

[@rainbowmothraleo]

To be entirely fair, due to how Planes work, these animal lords are less actual animals and more like the idealised idea of the forces of nature that mostly exists among druids and hippies

[@Subject_Keter]

​@@rainbowmothraleo I was making fun of the idea people have where Animals are allowed to do whatever they want but some humans are like "I want to chop down some trees to make a structure to live in" *suddenly* that is illegal 😂 It this weird thing where a subset of people basically want to whip and dredge us back to the stone age cuz we need food to exist? 😂

[@SamJulesGillians]

@@Subject_Keterthe cool about the nature vs human aspect is if one respects nature it doesn’t bite back. Nature understands the circle of life and balance. It’s only when humans over take that natures like, that’d be a no from me sir.

[@mattdahm4289]

Thanks dudes! ❤

[@solar4planeta923]

I played a character that was a sentient wolf once. (Marvel SH) He was a mutant that could speak, had a hypnotic voice, and run super fast. The White Wolf made him his avatar, so he became immortal and gained the ability to manifest the size and power of the White Wolf in extremis. I love this set of entities!!

[@AudeKhatru]

Imagine the Bison Animal Lord and the Wolf Animal Lord. The Wolf Lord thinks that the Wolf is beneficial to the Bison, because they make the herd stronger, by killing the weak. The Bison Lord believes in protecting all of the herd. Now imagine an adventuring party that meets the Bison Lord (Sage) who asks for their help. When they help the Bison Lord, they anger the Wolf Lord who sees them as upsetting the balance of nature. The Eagle Lord agrees with the Wolf Lord, but the Elk Lord agrees with Bison Lord, and on and on and on.

[@Erthshade]

What I'm reminded of while the Dudes were talking about campaign ideas: the Four Lords series of Trials from Final Fantasy 14. In the quest line you learn that these Four Lords, animals who grow over 100 years old become kami, also occasionally become overcome with their aramitama... obsessive, destructive impulses and regrets that build up over the years. The player is tasked with knocking some sense back into them, one at a time.

[@crankysmurf]

Animal lords goes back to 1E with the Cat Lord. 3E even had them as prestige class.

[@lesbanks1505]

So now it’s not just a single Cat Lord, but a Lord for whichever animal we want. These new stats and abilities are formidable! I’d still grant them the option of a humanoid form (with some minor animal trait) to do covert espionage in humanoid spaces.

[@crankysmurf]

@@lesbanks1505 Multiple animal lords existed since 2E. They are essentially quasi-deities but not as powerful as true deities.

[@syrupchugger421]

That's a really cool trio BBEG for a team. Cool summary. Thank yall

[@JLandroid]

Monty, I LOVED that bit at the end about nature as brutal and uncaring. Your take on the constructed human moralism of the balance of nature is a thoughtful one. I think a whole campaign could be built around both concepts of nature.

[@CidYoroki]

My friends and me are playing a princess Mononoke x Phantasia style campaign right now. These monsters are a godsend. 😁

[@Rodrigo_Vega]

I always thought animals were really shafted by D&D. I like some grounded, wilderness adventures, but in these last few editions animals are SO weak. Like any shmoe with a sword can kill a lion or a bear no problem. It's silly. These high-level animal monsters would go really well with some added options for higher tier, corrections or templates for common animals with a bit more of a punch to act as their "minions" or just in case anyone is inteterested in doing some wilderness encounters than are not a monstruous something or elemental other.

[@adamantineshining]

We really need some animal monster designs done by someone who knows why we needed armoured hounds & special spears to hunt wild boar tbh!

[@Soulessdeeds]

Feels like ages since YT recommended a video from you guys.

[@Wintermute909]

@ 19:00 that is a great point! Some nature documentaries are more terrifying than the Alien films! (The assasin bug who plasters its body with dead ants so it can walk into the ant nursery with impunity (the pheromones trick the ants into "seeing" just another ant) seem demonic from a certain point of view.

[@alastairwhite1248]

The animal lords were in the 2e planescape setting, in the beastlands. Glad to see them back.

[@MrValentineful]

These are old-school. This is quite a bit of a more vague take, but it's still cool. These are clearly based on the Guardinals. Check in on their lore if you want a good read. I have used them as incredible threats to evil parties.

[@Valandar2]

Sorry, but they VERY MUCH predate Guardinals. In the Monster Manual II of 1st Edition was the Cat Lord, and then 2nd Edition added the other Animal Lords. Guardinals were a 3rd ed thing.

[@MrValentineful]

@Valandar2 yup, that was after Ed Greenwood started writing for TSR. They were his brain child. Just because they hadn't gained the Guardinal name yet doesn't mean that's not what they are. Over a decade ago, I had a conversation about them with Ed himself about the topic. That's the entire reason that I commented.

[@rainbowmothraleo]

​@@Valandar2guardinals were in 2e

[@mathieust-gelais9297]

My last celestial warlock had Kharash the stalker for patron. I took inspiration from him to make a ranger style bladelock. Tonne of fun.

[@judemiller]

I like the ideas floated near the video's end about nature destabilizing itself. IRL the emergence of trees caused a mass extinction due to the climate changes they caused.

[@gestaltshakerexplosion7230]

The funniest thing about this video was their campaign/roleplaying suggestion. Why is that? It perfectly describes what a RANGER SHOULD BE. Fighter(maximum civilization)------------------Ranger (Bridge in between)-------------------Druids(Nature Absolute)

[@lunatickgeo]

I have always had a favorite in the Cat Lord, does the Animal Lord subsume the Cat Lord or is the Cat Lord still its own thing?

[@lesbanks1505]

This feels like the “expanded family” concept the D&D channel’s latest vid mentioned doing in this new Monster Manual. All they need is an optional humanoid form with a minor animal trait. Stat-wise, they’re comparatively formidable.

[@lunatickgeo]

@@lesbanks1505 I think I remember something in the Forgotten Realms that the Cat Lord is something that is passed on. Someone is chosen to be the next Cat Lord or something like that

[@YawdroGaming]

Yep, I like it! It looks like all of the monsters are getting buffed to match the power creep by the players. Players have been bragging about how many cool things they've been getting without considering the world might be getting a lot more dangerous too! I might be close to switching my table over to the new version once this new book drops.

[@jameswhite3043]

Doesn't seem buffed enough--still not enough hit points. In my previous campaign, boss monsters vs 14th level characters needed about 500-600 hit points to survive more than 3 rounds.

[@sambro6657]

Use this as a alternate way to include the wild hunt in d and d. But since in 2024 gnolls are fiends it’s the animal lords wild hunt against the forces of yeenoghu.

[@fallenjedi3015]

This reminds me of something I saw in the 2E Planescape supplement "On Hallowed Ground" about the Animal Lords. Basically, imagine the absurdity of encounter the Worm Lord, a quasipower representing all that is worm 😆

[@quillogist2875]

Very cool. I like it and always wanted an animal lord write up.

[@WTH13SERIOUSLY]

I think the most compelling idea here would be to have these as disturbed spirits that you have fight or subdue and restore the balance for them to become peaceful again. Getting strong ATLA vibes with Hei Bei

[@dgrimesii]

Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on the new monsters and CR system. With the amount of 3rd party monster books out there, I really need to understand how to integrate into the 2024 rules.

[@nicholassando4243]

Oooh sneak peak

[@michaeljohnson957]

Time to show the rainforest who’s boss!

[@TimeOfKaos]

You want a story, here's a fast story about a corrupted animal lord for 14th level players. Long ago, the Silver Wolf roamed the Misty Mountains, a divine guardian of balance and protector of the wilds. With his shimmering silver coat and glowing golden eyes, he was revered by druids, rangers, and wanderers alike. Tales spoke of his howl restoring life to dying forests and driving away darkness. His name, Eryndor, became synonymous with hope and harmony. But peace never lasts. In the shadow of the mountains, a dark cult devoted to Shar, the goddess of darkness and loss, plotted to desecrate Eryndor's sanctity. The cult, led by the archpriest Malgrath the Shadowbinder, sought to enslave the wolf god to their will. Through a vile ritual fueled by blood sacrifices and ancient dark magic, they lured Eryndor into their trap. A shard of Shar's essence pierced his divine soul, twisting him into a monstrous version of himself. Eryndor’s once-silver fur turned black as coal, his golden eyes now burned with a malevolent purple glow, and his noble howl became a cry of despair that echoed through the mountain valleys, summoning storms of shadow. The corrupted god, now called Dusksoul, became the cult’s greatest weapon, protecting their stronghold in the depths of the Misty Mountains. The once-thriving forests around the mountains withered under Dusksoul's influence, turning into a desolate wasteland where only the corrupted survived. As you can see, many options for the adventurers to resolve this kind of problem. Hope you like it.

[@adhd_and_d]

I think this is an update to the 2nd edition animal lords in the Planescape Monsterous Compendium. Some of the powers are similar but they did make them more tanky in 5e. Only 122 hp but I think pcs didn’t do quite as much damage back then either. I’m glad to see them back. (They are beautifully illustrated Tony DiTerlizzi the guy who created the visual style for Planescape 2e)

[@srmillard]

does the MM give any lore for animal lords? like what do they do, what’s their purpose? weird that they’re celestials. Yes to the idea of using them as a patron

[@adamantineshining]

It sounds like it does - they mentioned the Animal Lords having lore in passing a few times. And they're Celestials because they're from the Beastlands, which is said in the video (its one of the Good-aligned Outer Planes).

[@FlurOchi]

Already thinking up a story for 6 animal lords that have council of sorts and each animal has an environment they keep an eye on. One or two of the lords can go rogue and you need to stop them only for a greater corrupting influence to be found ( either within the lords council or not). So far for the lords I have; Forager: Stag - Forest, Frog - Swamp Hunter: Rabbit - Alpine, Wolf - Arctic Sage: Lion - Plains, Vulture - Saharan Frog could be interesting to flavor to a poison based lord which the others don't have resistances to.

[@readypixelone]

I just created a patheon for one of my Tabaxi players because what I could find on the cat lord just wasn't doing it, so this is going to be perfect!

[@lumencordis4261]

For anybody who’s read the Monstress series, these animal lords would be a great way to bring the Ancients onto the tabletop!

[@rainbowcrash6990]

Happy New Year, Dudes!

[@Trethan3266]

What??!!! I was just planning a campaign that involved the Beast Lords, that’s so so so cool

[@JamesIIIPearson]

This immediately got me to dream up 4 elemental Celestials which have been called down by a corrupted druid! The druid was already the bbeg of my campaign and they have completed a ritual to summon these guardians to the world. 2 have been corrupted, 1 has felt the falsehood, 1 cares not for why they are here. The group can choose to: learn from them. fight them to save the region, capture some of their power for the greater fight, or ignore them and hope nothing too bad happens🤞

[@CooperAATE]

Nice, these seem fun!

[@Marabcd315]

Im running Descent Into Avernus and the main thing I'm thinking here is that just givng Lulu the Animal Lord's stats when she transforms into her mammoth form would probably be decent way to show that Lulu and Zariel as a team did not mess around

[@jonathanhaynes9914]

I remember the Cat Lord from first.

[@lesbanks1505]

AD&D original! Now he’s got a whole crew!

[@rainbowmothraleo]

​@@lesbanks1505 not now, in 2e

[@nlaborde3256]

“That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!" "Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide!"

[@L337P1R4735]

Dudes, make this into a CELESTIAL PATRON!

[@HorizonOfHope]

How I would use these: The party must choose their own way in a moral dilemma. An expanding city, led by high level wizards, filled with impoverished people expands beyond its walls and starts to clear more wilderness. These Animal Lords lead a violent resistance on behalf of the natural world. The players have to choose who to support. Neither side is evil, each is fighting for a reasonable cause, each would make a great case to the players.

[@alexbrooks231]

So just the choose your own adventure version of Princess Mononoke just replace industrialism with magic I can get behind that

[@HorizonOfHope]

@ Having never seen the movie… sure?

[@GeekyTenikiDnDFan-l1j]

I will be using this as a champion of Bast in my 3.5 campaign at some point. I looooove it!!!

[@nathanaelpoole1369]

Tabaxi and other beast folk species talk of the being that awoke them from beasts in ages past. A not-god, but an immortal guardian, a fey pact patron.

[@WolfCry791]

How could you forget Ferngully?!

[@kacyrupp4644]

I know you guys aren't trying to toot your own horn, but this thing seems to fit in drakkenheim for the druid arc so good. Help with ideas for making it come true for my druid player who is kinda feeling left out without a faction.

[@jasonhawkins6798]

I’m already considering how to add this in somewhere to my nature themed slice of life mini campaign

[@grahamward7]

Thank you! Princess Mononoke is one of the best fantasy movies of all.