Ex-D&D dev creates Elden Ring’s Malenia for fans to add to their campaign
DexertoAny Dungeon Masters who hate their players can unleash Malenia, the Blade of Miquella from Elden Ring, onto their D&D 5E group.
The concept of starting out famous fictional beings to Dungeons & Dragons rules has been around since the dawn of the game, with fans bringing everything from Star Trek’s Klingons, Gambit from the X-Men, and Dr. Frasier Crane into the realm of fantasy.
Indeed, the developers of D&D used to get into trouble for including licensed materials in their books, leading to lawsuits, as they adapted characters from The Lord of the Rings and the Cthulhu Mythos when they didn’t have the rights.
Luckily, you can find fan-created stats for pretty much anything online, with no fear of Wizards of the Coast’s lawyers beating down your door. This means you can add pretty much anything into your D&D 5E game.
An unofficial stat D&D 5E stat block for Malenia has been made
Former D&D designer Dan Dillon shared on Twitter/X their D&D 5E stats for Malenia, the Blade of Miquella, the infamously difficult boss from Elden Ring.
Malenia uses a version of the Mythic rules introduced in Mythic Odysseys of Theros, as when you defeat her, she transforms into her second phase: the Goddess of Rot, restoring her health and giving her new abilities.
As a Challenge Rating 21 creature, Malenia is intended to be a threat to the strongest possible characters in the game, though she’s not going to be quite as fearsome as she is in Elden Ring, as she’ll be facing 4-6 people, instead of one or two.
While Malenia can perform lots of Actions and Reactions, she lacks Legendary Actions or Lair Actions. These would help her keep up with the action economy that D&D 5E is notorious for, as players have the ability to outpace most foes at high levels, thanks to the sheer number of things they can do each turn.
Still, Malenia is a powerful foe, thanks to her self-healing attacks and status effects. It would be a great enemy to throw out against some FromSoftware fans, especially those playing the official Dark Souls RPG that uses the D&D 5E rules.
