D&D: ‘Monsters Of The Multiverse’ Preview Shows New Duergar Ability

Playable Duergar are getting some new abilities in this Monsters of the Multiverse preview. Dwarven Resilience and a hardy new feature.

Duergar have it hard in the D&D canon. In 5th Edition, Duergar were Dwarves who made their home in the deep places of the world. There, driven partially by avarice and partially by a legendary resilience, they were captured and experimented on by Mind Flayers. Some of the lucky ones were turned into living war machines.

But the Illithid “tinkering” left its mark on the Duergar. In the lore, one of their deities, Deep Duerra, stole the secrets of psionics and gifted them to the Duergar. She was said once to have dominated an entire colony of Mind Flayers, so great was her power.

Whether from divine gifts or dark experiments, all Duergar are at least a little psionic. And as we’ve seen in a new preview from Wizards of the Coast, this psionic power is at the forefront.

Monsters of the Multiverse Preview

A new ability has been spotted in a recent art reveal.

This tweet from Wizards of the Coast revealed a new, gentler-looking Duergar. Clutching a crystal staff and pausing for a moment to either smell the roses or just feel those Monday vibes, this Duergar is especially resilient. As Wizards put it, Duergar get both Dwarven Resilience and something called Psionic Fortitude.

This points at some of the changes coming in Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, which is initially releasing as part of the Rules Expansion Gift Set on January 25th. The set also includes the latest printings of Xanathar’s Guide and Tasha’s Cauldron.

Monsters of the Multiverse is the exciting new one, though. It promises new monster abilities, and more than 30 revamped playable races. We saw a preview of some of the races included before. We have a better glimpse below too.

What the Artwork Previews Reveal

But we also can see that, bare minimum, WotC is changing some of the features. The closest thing to a “Psionic Fortitude” is an ability Duergar get called Duergar Resilience which gives them resistance to poison, illusions, charm, and paralysis. Psionic Fortitude may separate these out, as they re-envision pre-Tasha’s Cauldron races. But it may be a new ability now that Psionics have a little bit more definition in D&D.

The system is already in place. You can see it in action in the Psi Warrior and Soul Knife subclasses in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Psionics aside, here’s a look at a few other things awaiting in Monsters of the Multiverse.

First up, a delighted-looking Star Spawn Grue. This makes two Star Spawn–these are monsters from the Far Realm. This one looks like he’s having a great time. Probably because he’s seen some kind of eldritch truth that forever altered his consciousness.

Then there’s a Blue Abishai. These spellcasting draconic devils are prime candidates for WotC’s reworked monster magic rules. You can find them in Monsters of the Multiverse. As 13h level casters, Blue Abishai have a number of combat spells. Many of which will presumably be transformed into spell attack abilities.

Finally, a Satyr with a colorful rainbow and a chaotic grin. Mr. Tumnus would approve. These will likely make Satyrs from Theros more official, gathering them all in one book for the ease of Adventurer’s League play.

Happy Adventuring

Author: J.R. Zambrano

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]