Big Bads: Creatures & Curios – Monsters & Magic Items for 5E

More things to fight. More things to find.

Big Bads: Creatures & Curios is a beautifully produced hardcover bestiary and magic-item compendium for the 2014 edition of 5th Edition, giving Game Masters a hefty new supply of monsters and magical treasures to drop into their campaigns.

Inside you'll find 100+ creatures spanning every creature type and challenge ratings across all levels of play, alongside 100+ magic items ranging from common curiosities to powerful artifacts.

Need a creature for tonight's encounter? Treasure your players haven't already memorized? Something unexpectedly adorable that may still be capable of setting things on fire?

There's probably something in here.

Meet the Big Bads

The creature collection brings together monsters from across Hit Point Press's history, with options for adventuring parties throughout their careers.

Among them you'll meet:

The Abezrogest — a poisonous, otherworldly creature

The Flamtarn — an adorable little flame-critter

The Battleshee — a haunting undead creature

And plenty more waiting for whichever unfortunate adventurers open the wrong door.

With 100+ creatures, every creature type represented, and challenge ratings spanning all levels of play, the book gives GMs a library of encounters they can pull from throughout a campaign.

Discover the Curios

Then there are the things your adventurers will inevitably pick up.

The book includes 100+ new magic items across all rarities, from small curiosities to artifacts capable of having a considerably larger effect on your story.

Discover items like:

Blindfold of Justice — a magical item concerned with the truth behind a face

Ring of Bee Secrets — because apparently the bees know things

Fang of Woe — carved from the tooth of a fallen god and considerably less whimsical than the bee ring

The range gives GMs treasures for different characters, levels, and moments rather than another collection where everything feels destined for the final three sessions of a campaign.

Built for the GM's Toolbox

Creatures & Curios isn't a campaign or adventure you need to run from beginning to end.

It's a reference book you can raid whenever your game needs something new.

Build encounters with creatures appropriate for different levels of play.

Reward exploration with magic items your players may not have encountered before.

Use the random roll tables when you'd rather let the dice decide what's waiting around the corner—or inside the treasure chest.

Borrow what you need. Drop a single creature or item into an existing campaign without needing to adopt an entirely new setting.

What’s Inside

100+ creatures

Challenge ratings spanning all levels of play

Every creature type represented

100+ magic items

Items across all rarities, from common items to artifacts

Random roll tables for selecting creatures and curios

Creatures and items collected from across Hit Point Press's history

Quick-reference organization designed for use at the table

Why We Love It

It's useful immediately. You don't need to begin another campaign to use it. Open the book, find something interesting, and put it in the game you're already running.

It covers both sides of the encounter. Give your players something unexpected to fight—and then something equally unexpected to discover afterward.

There's personality here. A Flamtarn, a Battleshee, a god-tooth weapon, and a ring containing bee secrets can all occupy the same book. We appreciate that range.

Random tables make it fun to browse. They're useful for quick preparation, but also provide an excellent opportunity to let chance introduce something you wouldn't have chosen yourself.

Book Details

Title: Big Bads: Creatures & Curios
Format: Hardcover
Dimensions: 9.25" × 6.25" × .75"
System: 5th Edition fantasy roleplaying
Designed for: 5e 2014; compatible with 5e 2024
Type: Bestiary & magic item compendium
Creatures: 100+
Creature types: All types represented
Challenge ratings: Across all levels of play
Magic items: 100+
Rarities: Common through artifact
Includes: Random roll tables
Publisher: Hit Point Press

Please note: Big Bads: Creatures & Curios is a Game Master resource for the 2014 edition of 5th Edition, containing creatures and magic items to incorporate into your own games. It is not a standalone tabletop RPG or campaign.

About Hit Point Press

Hit Point Press creates tabletop games, settings, adventures, and accessories built around imaginative worlds and collaborative storytelling. Their books and game aids give players and Game Masters new creatures, characters, settings, mechanics, and wonderfully strange things to bring to the table.

The monster is terrifying. We're more concerned about what the bees know.