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

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Designed by: Lucas Anderson, with Bum Lee, Jack Weighill, Joe Gaylord, Shacked A. Rosenthal, William Lawler, Xhango

My first review of 2023 celebrates the culture, legends, and revelry of the new year with 10 New Year’s Nemeses, the latest (and last?) book from the seasonal monster book series, Holidanger.

The creatures of 10 New Year’s Nemeses are drawn from familiar (and perhaps not so familiar) sources, such as Chinese New Year (Beast of the Zodiac), Rosh Hashanah (Roasha), classical legends (Father of Yesteryear) and general partying and merriment (and hangover regrets!)

My favorites are the creatures that focus on New Year’s Eve as a modern drunken party, personified in the Hogmanat, Resolution Devil, and Confetti Ball Golem.

The adorably mischievous Hogmanat just wants to have fun — transforming liquids into alcohol, inciting brawls, and casting Confusion and Otto’s Irresistible Dance. The Resolution Devil humorously personifies the mistakes you’ve made during these drunken revelries, and the Confetti Ball Golem counts down each round before exploding into a shower of painful thunder damage.

resolutiond evil

Unfortunately I found more disappointment than praise. Despite the solid entries and theme, most of the statblocks didn’t excite me.

The Beast of the Zodiac should have a ton of potential for variants, shapeshifting, or multi-form shenanigans. It has none of that, opting instead for a generic form with some basic attacks and spells. The fish-headed Roasha is a boringly beefy brawler, and Grianne, Lady of the Long Night, is the same god-like ice queen statblock you’ve seen in every other monster book.

And the Bonfire Dragon is just a fire dragon.

It’s also a misstep to feature so many tier three and four creatures that will rarely ever get used. One of my praises for 12 More Christmas Slays was featuring interesting monsters at Tier one and two. Over half the monsters here are CR 10 and above, including two at CR 23!

The Gaiahog is the most ridiculous. Choosing the classic shadow-searching groundhog is a fun idea, but why on earth is it adapted as a CR 18, weather-controlling, 200 hit point monstrosity?

I’ll fully admit that this book may suffer the most from sequelitis — it’s the seventh Holidanger book I’ve reviewed, and each book is increasingly weighed against its predecessors. New Year’s is a surprisingly effective theme, and I applaud most of the entries (and couldn’t think of anything missing, other than maybe a robotic or undead Dick Clark…). But many of the statblocks ultimately felt like wasted opportunities.

Pros:

  • Ten original creatures drawn from myths, legends, and modern revelry.
  • Delightful original artwork for each monster.
  • Multiple Adventure Hook ideas for each entry.

Cons:

  • Statblocks aren’t as inventive as other “Holidanger” releases.
  • Half are unnecessarily powered-up (Tier 3 and 4).

The Verdict: A New Year brings a new Holidanger release, with solid theming around time and revelry, though the statblocks aren’t quite as memorable as other holiday monster books.

A review copy of “10 New Year’s Nemeses” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

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