Part 1 of 2. We scratch the surface of the Abyss and discover Chris doesn’t like organized chaos and doesn’t like the TV show Stranger Things (probably for the second or third time). Wes soothes his wrathful soul with the cure for demons (and also a reasonable defense of the TV show Stranger Things.)
The lights are still on here at Monster Manual Mash, but before we let the goblins back out of their bags, Wes has gone rogue and would like to elucidate on the finer points of the “Find Familiar” Spell.
Chaotic Goblin Unions, Hipster Necromancers, and Villainous Heads of Note
The Lithuanian flag, bad people who do good things, and a sorta-black-if-you-squint knight.
Quick detour before tackling the Ds, this episode is our angriest yet.
Fancy biting hats, reverse Bat-Man, and also regular bats.
Sheep keeping, flat earthers by nature, and hot pokers.
This episode is all hands.
Back from the dead, the Monster Manual Mash digs into the annals of history to give you our episode recorded in front of a live audience at Sadleir House back in November. We get heckled and fact-checked in REAL TIME, just like you always wanted!
Part snake, part bird, all snake-bird. The Coatl is a nice guy patron.
A neurotic monstrosity for your modern mascot needs.
Half manta ray, half old coat, all gimmick.
Sentience settled, Japanese Bug Fights, and the golf ball maker’s apprentice.
Putting a hat on a hat, echidnas aren’t just small ant-eaters, and Bellerophon was totally a PC.
Party monsters, noble poison victims, and a human butt on top of a horse butt.
BEHOLD! The Carrion Crawler!
Dungeon Slug, Dungeon Slug, Dungeon Slug, and Pepsi.
Bad tattoos, angsty teens, and sexy devils.
Hobbes’ Leviathan, poisonous frogs, and gross faces you want to punch.
Land-sharks, dollar stores, and power rangers.
Military Muppets, monster rehab centers, and high speed gobo-Darwinism.
Wes knows a thing or two about tree oil, the whole forest actively hates you, and these peas are really big, as far as peas go.
Finally got that out of my system. Chris justifies his hand tattoo with crazy talk, special guest Karol talks Cacodemon copyright, and Wes describes his experience of the ideal Beholder encounter (screaming, lasers).
The first potential dud is narrowly avoided by turning everything into weasels, demonstrating advanced eel knowledge, and cutting out some cardboard dragons.
Bad smelling chickens, how to generate rats, and an idea that enslaves you by thinking about it.
Misogynistic biology, professional mourners, and, while ghosts are real, we’d really like you not to think about them.
Metal-based racism, fire worship and sexy elves trying not to be sexy.
9 AM is a bad time to watch Tremors, giant ants might actually be marmots, and a tree coming out of your neck HAS to mean something.
This rug was made for smothering, and that’s just what it’ll do. We talk chairs who think they’re cows, magic as advertising, and the nefarious implications of Pixar’s Cars.
Myth, history, human psyche, crunchy numbers and bad improv: these are the tools Chris and Wes use every week to dredge meaning and knowledge from every page of the Dungeons and Dragons official Monster Manual, all to help you run the most memorable game sessions ever.
Wes and Chris talk muscly, feathery, Abrahamic HUNKS. With the right setup, you can use them right out of the box, but have you considered covering them in eyes or making them look like a giant wheel?
BEHOLD! The Aboleth!
D&D’s favorite mind-controlling fish blob. Wes is all for it, but Chris thinks it’s a hot mess. Is it Lovecraft-ian enough? What are “globsters”? And, have you ever seen an exploding whale?
We are no one in particular, and we pick apart every entry in the Dungeons and Dragons monster manual, drawing from history, mythology, arm-chair psychology, pop culture and our own improv to figure out what makes each one tick.
What do bird people from the elemental plane of air have to do with Buddhism, Romulans, and the planet Jupiter? Maybe if you LISTENED you would know, ok?
NOTE: We botched the quality of the recording so it sounds tinny. Wes fixes some of it part way through but, it is what it is. Rather than rerecord and lose the spontaneity and energy of our conversation, we are asking you to grin and bear it this time around. Don’t be precious. Sorry. Sorry. We get better!
