This review has been sponsored by the publisher. Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Support my work by using affiliate links for shopping and pledging via Patreon.

Designed by: Lucas Anderson, Bum Lee, Daniel King, Jack Weighill, Jonathan Swadley, Sharkside, Aaryan Balu, Sebastian Yūe

Do you believe in love? Do you believe it’s true? Huey Lewis and the News sure do, and the seasonal monster booklet 10 Hazards of Love is makin’ me believe it too.

Like the previous holiday monster books I’ve reviewed by this team (10 Monsters of Midsummer and 12 Christmas Slays), the hazards of love include several cheeky monster ideas inspired by funny holiday themes, such as a Chocolate Golem, a Wine Elemental, and a gigantic Beating Heart, along with some famous (and not so famous) celestial and fey creatures themed around love and passion.

The CR 14 Beating Heart includes legendary actions, lair actions, and regional effects. It can summon blood elementals (water elementals), heighten emotions, heal allies (and charmed enemies), and use its heartbeat attack to wreck havoc through charming, frightening, and stunning attacks.

The Chocolate Golem (CR 4-8) is a hilarious mash-up of chocolate and candy treats, wielding a chocolate-covered pretzel rod, and capable of smothering enemies in restraining chocolate with its Death by Chocolate attack. I love that it partially melts if attacked by a certain amount of fire damage, and three different statblocks are provided.

Half of these creatures feature legendary actions, which love to see. Legendary actions help balance the action economy back in the monster’s favor, especially if they’re typically found by themselves, or as bosses of an entourage, as with the Queen Bee. The CR 7 Queen Bee can use all three legendary actions to exude a 120-ft pheromone burst, forcing anyone who fails a WIS save to protect the queen and attack their allies.

wine elemental

Every creature features a fun original art design (from what I can tell) and three adventure hooks that showcase a variety of encounter ideas. For example, the Wine Elementals could explode in a tavern, could be purchased from a traveling merchant, or could be found (and captured) from a magical vineyard.

I’m satisfied that none of the monsters fall into the trap of using seduction, which can very easily turn into sexual harassments and assault, and most of us don’t want that in our D&D games. The monster book includes a disclaimer at the beginning, gently reminding DMs that the charm condition is not the same as mind control.

On the other hand, the supplement relies on too many celestials and fey creatures as mythical love creatures. I’m more than happy with The Sovereign as a Cupid-type fey archer with a variety of magical arrows. But we also get celestial magpies, Freyja the goddess of love, a fey wolf named Nymeris, and a hopelessly generic Sappho Angel.

I would’ve preferred a few more uses of classic Valentine’s Day tropes and more recognizable love-themed concepts, such as roses, heart-shaped boxes, weddings, and steamy romance novels. Maybe some kind of Fabio-creature, or a frustrating goblinoid inspired by overcrowded restaurants? And surly something could be made of sappy love songs? I do believe in the power of love, but I also appreciate a good joke, and there’s plenty more to be told.

Pros:

  • Love-themed monsters that avoid seduction tropes.
  • Fun statblocks with interesting abilities, and plenty of Legendary Actions.
  • Printable postcards that showcase the lovely creature art.

Cons:

  • Overreliance on celestial and fey creatures to fit the love theme.

The Verdict: From Chocolate Golems to Wine Elementals, 10 Hazards of Love includes creative creatures with interesting statblocks that thankfully reach beyond seduction and succubi.

This review has been sponsored by the publisher Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

Support my work by using affiliate links for shopping and pledging via Patreon.