A fun new section in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything – the latest Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook – is titled “Parleying with Monsters,” and contains tips and tricks for dealing with creatures outside of combat. As D&D involves more than just battling ferocious dragons, this is a welcome feature that allows players to hone in on roleplay and other creative methods within their campaigns.
Parleying with monsters in D&D involves offering them something. This can be a tangible item, a service, or something as simple as reciting a good story. Sometimes all a beast desires is a good meal, and some sapient creatures even prefer a good chat over drawing weapons, which is good news for Bards and other D&D players with high Charisma. Certain skills like Arcana or Survival can be put to use in determining a creature’s history or preferences – a refreshing change of pace from the Athletics, Stealth, and Perception skills that are more commonly used.
In a Screen Rant interview with D&D’s Lead Rules Designer Jeremy Crawford, he explains that the goal with this feature is mostly just to show how fun negotiating with creatures can be. Players can improve their chances of a successful encounter via proficient social interactions and clever roleplay. The DM can consider granting players advantages on any ability checks they make with a creature if they give it something it wants. Below is a list of different types of Monsters, the skills that are most useful for parlaying with them in parentheses, and a couple examples from the book of things each type of D&D monster may desire. The DC for a relevant ability check equals 10+ the creature’s challenge rating.
D&D Skills & Items For Parlaying With Monsters Properly
- Aberrations (Arcana) – An organ of a rare creature or flattery and obsequiousness
- Beasts (Animal Handling, Nature, Survival) – Fresh meat or a soothing melody
- Celestials (Arcana, Religion) – Reciting the tale of a heroic figure or a holy relic
- Constructs (Arcana) – Oil to apply to the Construct’s joints or Adamantine components
- Dragon (Arcana, History, Nature) Gold, gems, or an antique passed down at least three generations
- Elemental (Arcana, Nature) Performing a dance from its home plane or finding a way for the Elemental to return home or to another desired region in D&D
- Fey (Arcana, Nature) – The memory of a party member’s first kiss or reciting a sublime poem
- Fiend (Arcana, Religion) – The soul of a party member or a desecrated holy object
- Giant (History) – A strong, working animal or multiple barrels of ale
- Humanoid (History) – Challenging them to a friendly contest such as dancing, singing or drinking or giving them information on a foe’s secrets or weaknesses
- Monstrosity (Nature, Survival) – the creature’s favorite food or driving off its rival
- Ooze (Arcana, Survival) – a vial of putrid liquids or a cloth bearing a noxious odor
- Plant (Nature, Survival) – a pound of mulch or clearing out invasive vegetation in the creature’s territory
- Undead (Arcana, Religion) – A vial of blood or completing a task the creature was unable to finish while alive. This could also be a great scenario to tie in Haunted region elements from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
These are just a few examples of a wide variety of boons players can offer different monsters, and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything lists a few more for each type. Players shouldn’t feel limited to just what’s in the book as Dungeons & Dragons campaigns can be as creative and as open-minded as each DM will allow. In the same breath, DMs can very well choose not implement these optional features, especially if they have a beefed up baddie that they’re excited for their players to fight.
