Jesse writes: вЂњTheyвЂ™re essentially the flamekin race as seen in an older MtG set, Lorwyn / ShadowmoorвЂќ. While if we look at the beautiful art of the Lavakin Brawler, we can see that sheвЂ™s solid, and made of magma, not flames.

The one problem about that is this: looking at the rules provided over at, the Fire Elemental feels like theyвЂ™re pure, intangible fire. So, my 1st idea was to think I could simply create a Fire Elemental Monk monster race. SheвЂ™s also a вЂњCommonвЂќ rarity so sheвЂ™s not an epic-level threat (which I know little of since my campaigns usually get abandoned by the time the characters reach level 4). Lastly, the flavor text makes me feel like sheвЂ™s more of a Monk than a Fighter. When she attacks, she gets stronger if there are more elementals present. Warrior was an NPC class back in 3.5, which complicates things just a bit, but again itвЂ™s just a name. So, for the sake of balance IвЂ™ll try to stick to official D&D 5e material as much as I can, or to things found on D&D Beyond.Д¬reature type: SheвЂ™s an Elemental Warrior, so IвЂ™ll see if I can stick to the 5e elemental rules for her class. The problem with homebrew, however, is that things are not always balanced. A quick Google search also indicates that many people have already taken the pain to create a homebrew Brawler class. ThereвЂ™s no official Brawler class in D&D 5e, but there was a great one in Pathfinder 1e вЂ“ which was mostly a mix between a fighter and a monk. вЂњKinвЂќ indicates that sheвЂ™s part of a race of lava people (who also hold the secret to a white fabric immune to fire and heat).Д«rawler indicates her class. Second, I got the art of the card directly from the artistвЂ™s twitter, which I am using without his permission. LetвЂ™s look at the MtG M20 card first, and de-construct it:

There are some pre-existing magma monsters in a lot of TTRPGs already but I want to make sure I make this Lava-kun unique. So, as I sit here in my favorite cafГ©, over-caffeinated and ready to design this new creature, I realize that I have a lot of 5e reading to do (which is something I quite enjoy doing anyways). After playing with the Lavakin Brawler MtG card in the draft, I felt like it could be a playable character, or at least an NPC for D&D 5e. Two years ago, for a few Pathfinder games I played a Brawler that I miss very much (you can find out all about Antoine here). Is the one card that helped me get 5 victories in my first (and best) M20 Ranked Draft over on MtG Arena (which you can watch here) and so it instantly won a spot in my heart.

This text is divided into three parts: Inspiration, Design, Stats. When Wizards of the Coast officially put out a book, officially merging their two coolest universes together officially: MtG and D&D. Click em! Something neat has happened in the past, Quick note: This article is chock-full of links, which offer a lot more depth.

Playable monster races 5e