Dungeons and Dragons has all kinds of great monsters, and many, like the Vampire or the Werewolf, have their origins rooted in old folklore. But if you’d rather DnD paid heed to more modern mythology, you might be interested to learn about Curious Cryptids, a D&D 5e supplement by Gelatinous Cubicles that had its Kickstarter launch on Tuesday.
A softcover book or pdf of DnD monsters, containing descriptions and stat blocks for (at least) 19 creatures from popular cryptozoology, Curious Cryptids also promises a page of rich lore and plot hooks for each of its beasties. These include well-known North American cryptids, such as the Chupacabra, sasquatch, and mothman, which apparently range in power from very squishable (CR 1/8) to rather deadly (CR 14). The Kickstarter says each monster has been playtested and refined to be fun for players and DMs both, and the creators claim to have “years of monster design experience”.
Alongside the text, the Curious Cryptids book also features “stylized sketches to help bring [its monsters] to life” and the book as a whole is designed to “be reminiscent of a cryptid hunter’s personal field notes”.
Curious Cryptids met its (fairly humble) funding goal of $1554 / £1335 within eight hours, and now numerous stretch goals are planned, including new cryptids, artwork, monster variants, and rules for a cryptid hunter D&D background.
To secure a digital copy of Curious Cryptids, backers will have to pledge $9, and the physical softcover book is at the $17 mark. Three backers, who pledged $150 or more, have already bought up the top, request-a-cryptid tier, allowing them to choose their own additional cryptid to appear in the book.
Curious Cryptids is the first Kickstarter project by Gelatinous Cubicle, a three-person D&D 5e homebrewing group from Florida. It’s worth checking out just for the book’s ‘eerie’ trailer. The crowdfunder will run until September 13, and backers are expected to receive their rewards in December 2022.