Critical Role Campaign 4 may have fixed my least favorite D&D monster

Dungeons & Dragons is a weird creative space. In theory, it provides a white canvas where the imagination of Dungeon Masters and players can paint any kind of picture. However, D&D also has a five-decade history of campaign settings, monsters, magic systems, established non-player characters, and general lore. Even the best creative minds have a hard time trying to unshackle themselves completely from this massive landscape of references, meaning that a lot of “new” content for D&D is a reiteration of sampled tracks. Sometimes you get things that sound as good as “Gangsta’s Paradise,” other times you cringe like when listening to “All Summer Long.”