An Ixalan Bestiary

Scales, Spikes, and Hammers

Other herbivores rely on speed, stealth, or numbers to aid their chances of survival. The hadrosaurus in Volo's Guide to Monsters is a good example of such creatures.

The Flesh-Eaters

The most feared dinosaurs are the aggressive bipedal predators that hunt other dinosaurs—none of which are averse to feeding on humanoids when they can. Despite their ferocity, flesh-eaters make excellent mounts, since they do not balk or shy away from combat. These dinosaurs include a huge variety of raptors, ranging from dog-sized creatures that hunt in packs to monsters large enough to carry an armored knight into battle. Volo's Guide to Monsters includes the deinonychus and the velociraptor to represent these dinosaurs.

Life in the Forest

The river and rain forest boast a teeming multitude of species, which make their homes everywhere from the canopy to the depths of the water. Animals live and feed in every layer of the forest, from the tops of the tallest emergent trees to the ferns, leaves, and roots reaching deep into the soil. And certain plants are just as active at hunting prey as predatory animals are.

Bats are common sights in rocky caves and jungle trees. They are considered enemies of the sun and closely associated with demons, even though most varieties are harmless. Giant bats are a more significant threat.

The forest teems with all manner of insects, spiders, and other arthropods. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water and swarm around any animal with blood. Centipedes, millipedes, roaches, and beetles crawl through the detritus and humus on the forest floor. Wasps, dragonflies, scorpions, ants, and beetles are everywhere, ranging in size from diminutive to gigantic. Swarms of insects pose a significant threat to adventurers, as do giant centipedes, giant fire beetles, giant spiders, giant wasps, and giant wolf spiders.

Many predatory plants attract food by producing smells redolent of food—whether the odor of sweet nectar or the stench of decaying meat. They then close jaw-like leaves around their prey or capture them in sticky pools of digestive juice. A few plants are even more active, lunging up from the forest canopy to grab flying dinosaurs in woody claws or tangle them in vines. Others pull up their roots and creep across the forest floor in search of good hunting grounds. Awakened shrubs, awakened trees, and various forms of fungi can represent many of these plants.

Life of the Waters

The rivers and seas of Ixalan teem with life as plentiful—and as dangerous—as that of the forests.

To ships on the Stormwreck Sea, storms are only the most prominent and visible danger. Bone-plated fish, squid, sea serpents, turtles, and whales can grow large enough to capsize a ship, pull it underwater, or smash it to flinders. The largest sharks (giant sharks) are the most feared, but even smaller sharks (hunter sharks) can be deadly alone—and are more so in schools. Their taste for blood makes them a fearsome threat to anyone at sea, especially those forced to walk the plank of a pirate ship.

The Inner Sea is less prone to storms but more crowded with reefs, rocks, and narrow straits. It is home to similar monstrous swimmers, with the addition of large saltwater crocodiles.

The waters of the Great River and all its tributaries are home to fish that serve as one of the most important food sources for other animals in the forest. These include large predatory fish, as well as churning swarms of small biting fish such as piranhas (equivalent to quippers and swarms of quippers). Enormous crocodiles lurk in the waters and bask on the riverbanks.

On the beaches and banks of the rivers and seas, crabs scuttle across the sand and birds wade in the shallow water. Trilobites are among the most common shore-dwellers, including predatory varieties as well as scavengers and filter-feeders consuming scraps they find in the sand. Use the crab or giant crab statistics in the Monster Manual for trilobites.