[Let’s Read] Volo’s Guide to Monsters | Dungeons & Dragons / Fantasy D20 Spotlight (2025)

Xvart

I don’t think there’s ever been a DnD monster as unnecessary as the xvart.

I’m sure you’re all aware of the hierarchy of humanoids. In OD&D, there was no mechanic for giving monsters character levels, so new humanoids had to be created to battle characters ar each possible increment of power. It went kobolds, to goblins, to hobgoblins, to gnolls, to bugbears, to orcs, to ogres, to the six types of giants we’re all familiar with. Xvarts were introduced to go all the way to the left side of that spectrum, being even weaker than kobolds. At that point, why are they even fighting humans at all? As far as I’m concerned, they’re the real heroes in this situation.

They started in the pages of Dragon as svarts, derived from the mythological svartalfar who also gave us dark elves and dwarves. By the time they were reprinted in the Fiend Folio this name had somehow mutated into xvart. Xvarts were tiny, bald, blue humanoids with absolutely no features which distinguished them from goblins and who looked a little too much like a racist caricature.

Not a lot. But just a little bit.

After a brief appearance in one of the 2e monster appendixes, they vanished from view for the most part. 4e made another crack at them in the form of the mildly more pronounceable xivart, but even that great re-inventor of monsters couldn’t muster up more than a token ‘they’re gnomes, but in the Shadowfell. And they hate tall people. I guess’.

In that context, I’m entirely okay with the fact that they’re one of those 5e monsters, like the morkoth, who are actually entirely new creatures with an old name slapped on them.

Xvarts are 3-foot-tall humanoids who dwell in forests, hills, and caves. Tribes are led by a Speaker, the brightest xvart among them, who usually stands on stilts and wears baggy robes to disguise his height. Xvarts usually get their food by hunting, but if that fails they’ll raid nearby homesteads. More established bastions of civilization have little to fear, as xvarts are for obvious reasons frightened at the prospect of encountering larger humanoids in numbers.

The God (if he can be called that) of the xvarts is a being known as Raxivort. Raxivort was once a minor fiend of some description who served the Dark Prince Graz’zt as a treasurer. Over centuries, Raxivort came to covet the hoard he watched over, and one day he made off with it and escaped to the material world. Within that hoard was an artifact called the Infinity Spindle, which held the power to transform any being who possessed it into a minor divine power. Raxivort ascended, and forged the realm of Black Sewers within Pandemonium to be his home.

Graz’zt had no need of the Spindle. It transforms its bearer into a truly minor divine entity, with even demon princes like Graz’zt having a larger spark of Godhood than what the Spindle could offer. Thus, Graz’zt decided to punish the traitor by spreading knowledge of the Infinity Spindle’s existence, and of its pathetic current holder, far and wide. Soon, Raxivort had a great many enemies, hoping to steal the source of his divine power.

Xvarts were Raxivort’s answer to this persecution. Traveling throughout the material plane, he created a multitude of miniature copies of himself, scattering them across worlds. Any spell which attempts to discover Raxivort will not identify him, but instead point the caster towards the nearest xvart. The initial wave of hunters has now subsided, but Raxivort still lays low, continuously spawning xvarts to assure his safety.

All xvarts are creations of Raxivort, having no ability or desire to reproduce. They possess all of his flaws - his greed and his urge to prove himself the smartest person in the room - and few virtues of their own, most notably a dim sense of self-awareness, which primarily serves to make them hate the numerous creatures less shoddily-made than them. Their aforementioned and perfectly rational fear of other creatures usually keeps them from acting on this anger, and so they spend much of their time dwelling in dismal and forgotten places, stewing in undirected loathing.

Xvarts worship Raxivort. It’s in their blood. When things are going badly for them, which is often, they kidnap local humanoids for sacrifice on sorry altars. Raxivort hears their prayers, but is usually too scared to come out of hiding and answer them. Occasionally, his greed overcomes his cravenness, and he answers their summons. In such cases, he appears as an eight-foot-tall xvart carrying an empty sack. He gathers up all the treasure they’ve managed to gather and vanishes again without a word or reward.

I think that that’s the funniest visual any DnD monster book has ever given me. Sad, but funny.

Raxivort is a Godling of vermin, and xvarts are made in his image. If they have any blessing from their creator, it is perhaps their innate bond with creatures such as bats and rats. They even sometimes form partnerships with wererats, although the xvarts are always the junior party in such things.

A few xvarts are exalted to become warlocks, usually after stealing an item of great value and surrendering it to their God. They’re highly revered by ordinary xvarts, but the feeling is not mutual, with warlocks preferring to hunt for more treasures to add to Raxivort’s collection rather than rule over their worthless siblings. They usually strike it out alone, but for a few devoted servants and verminous pets.

Xvarts are small chaotic evil humanoids (xvarts) of CR 1/8, with 7 hitpoints and an AC of 13. They get -1 strength and intelligence, +2 dexterity, and -2 wisdom and charisma. Xvarts add +2 to stealth, and only speak Abyssal.

As traits, xvarts have Low Cunning, allowing them to disengage as a bonus action, Overbearing Pack, giving them advantage on rolls to shove opponents while allies are within 5 ft, and Raxivort’s Tongue, allowing them to speak to all types of rats and bats. Their actions consist of a shortsword (+4, 1d6+2 piercing) and a sling (+4, 30/120, 1d4+2 bludgeoning).

Xvart speakers are identical to standard xvarts, but have +1 intelligence and an additional language, usually common or goblin.

Warlocks of Raxivort are CR 1, with 22 hitpoints and an AC of 12. They gain +1 constitution and charisma, and lose the wisdom malus. Warlocks can innately cast mage armor and detect magic, and know a smattering of other low-level warlock spells, including eldritch blast, minor illusion, prestidigitation, expeditious retreat, and invisibility.

In addition to the typical xvart traits (minus Overbearing Pack), warlocks have Raxivort’s Blessing, gaining 4 temporary hitpoints each time they reduce an enemy to 0 HP. Their only attack is a scimitar (+4, 1d6+2 slashing).

These xvarts feel pretty clearly designed to fill a specific niche. They jump out of the bushes going for your valuables, get killed, and are never mentioned again. These xvarts have no culture. They have no past, and no future. They have no children. And, of course, literally nobody cares about what xvarts used to be, meaning the directly aforementioned lore details can be used without comment. They’re perfectly empty. Maybe after the cultural deep-dives of so many monsters in chapter 1, something like this was needed. There are certainly times when an encounter you don’t have to think too much into is what’s called for.

Next time, the old xvarts may have been boring, but at least they weren’t another type of ominous dog. Tune in tomorrow to check out the fabled yeth hound! See you then!