First Look at the Sphinx of Wonder From the D&D 2024 Player's Handbook! 

Thanks for watching everyone! What monster would you like to see show up next? edit on 6/26 - I CALLED IT. LET'S GOOOOO: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v6lncsjhYRI.html

Imps can turn into a rat so an infernal mouse is not out of the question.

A sphinx of wonder based on my cat would be able to sleep through anything and be able to increase her weight tenfold, but only when she is stepping on someone's crotch.

A sphinx of wonder based on my cat would absolutely gain a bonus on surprise attacks against ankles

They kind of look like they would be at home on the Astral plane, perhaps perched on warm islands with astral color pool portals, watching the veil to the realm of dreams.

Dungeon Dad: This video is Sponsored by Wizards of the Coast. Me: *Starlord face zoom in* What?

Glad they put non-evil familiars in there for pact of the chain. We've been houseruling that for ages, haha.

A dnd warlock who made a bet with a sphinx, betting he can find his way back even if he looses his memories. For the cost of giving up his memories, ge will be guarded by this mysterious shadowy kitten, lurking in the shadows almost unseen, yet sometimes at night glistening like the stars above. After he looses his memory he is just like a stereotypical klutz of a rogue, but with incredible luck. Later on as he discovers this strange astronomical mystery, can he make his way to the celestial sphinx that gave his power?

As much as I have a hard time supporting wotc official material anymore, this is pretty dope! Congrats on the sponsorship

8:08 If it's doing that much damage, one of the party members is in for a rude awakening when they let it sit on their lap.

This is incredible! If anyone deserved to reveal a monster, it's you!

It's weird that I've never thought of a Sphinx before in terms of DnD, especially when it's so iconic. Nice to see that they're revisiting it.

I was about to make a flirty comment about how are you the most beautiful thing on screen with all the abundant kitty cat imagery and then you called Manky YOUR cat. YOUR cat?

1:49 good thing he got permission, otherwise the Pinkertons might've been sent after him

Big ups to WotC giving the realest DM and D&D content creator that sweet sweet advanced phb copy!

Congrats bro it's cool af to be the first person showing this off

The gang turn into mice by enraging a wizard and the big bad is the wizard's sphinx of wonder chasing the gang around until the spell wear off or they got out of the wizard tower. Sounds kinda funny

7:28 I mean, a small creature strong enough to wreck buildings and throw things at you sounds like it might make an interesting thing to have chase your players as they have to flee

When you mentioned the fallen bit and the shinx of wonder trying to amass arcane energy/magic, that made me think that if the ritual went awry or was fouled up with evil magic, then it my ascend into a Rakshasa. Edited for typo.

Oh man I thought this was gonna be about the Criosphinx or Hieracosphinx

Congrats on the sponsor! They are very cute and I would love to present more riddles in dungeons to a warlock with this familiar. Also wanna say the new statblock format looks neat, less wasted space on chunky red dividers and unnecessary words, it's also cool that the saves directly in the ability array and the trigger and effect of a reaction is more specific at a glance.

I completely expect for flying cat familiars with good damage to be popular for multiple reasons.

Ooooooo movin' on up! congrats on the sponsorship. It's great to know wotc is supporting great content creators like yourself

The tinfoil hat routine was Monty Python level silly, but it also had me chuckling the entire time. Well played. 😄

Congratulations on the sponsership! must be sweet to be the one to reveal it first

Going to use it as one of the factions in my city. Give it a Headband of Intellect to boost it's intelligence even higher (it was the original treasure it was guarding) and a varient Staff of the Woodlands that that can cast Awaken spell once per day. It uses the staff to amass an army of intelligent cats and is a ridiculously wealthy intelligence network that sells people's secrets for money. Early on they convinced the whole city that having a cat in the home is fashionable, so everyone from the nobility to the poor have at least one cat in the house. I have this idea that in a city fought over by criminal masterminds, dragons, aberrations, and heroes...one of the factions is a CR 1 flying housecat. I'll even have them be a reoccurring NPC for the party, where it just hangs around them when they're in town obstinately for scratches, all while sending human mercenaries to give them quests that push it's own objectives.

Hey, as an aside thanks for doing these videos. I really enjoy them and have genuinely built entire campaigns off of videos. I’m doing one now with Pale Night , and your Pale Knight idea was critical to my creative process.

The celestial tressym

Based on my 4 cats, each Sphinx of Wonders would be: Mitch (Female, looks like a Ragamuffin): A Sphinx that pass the "Holier than Thou" vibe, gracious, sometimes likes to be by herself, but wouldn't mind anyone approaching her, and sometimes very demanding, also has a motherly or older sister vibe, since she's the oldest here. She also enjoys being outside, but never leaving the limits of the house. Her stats would have a higher focus on Intelligence and Dexterity and probably would be an sorcerer. Mona(Male, Tuxedo Cat): Second oldest, a Sphinx that is robust, but quite agile as well, he also was missing for like 3 or 4 months before reappearing again at home, since his name is based on Morgana from P5, he probably would be Rogue content, and to corroborate that, he is the only one that pulls the food bowl from the other cats when we haven't filled his bowl yet, he also hits the other cats sometimes, specially the orange ones. His stats would be focused on Dexterity and Strenght. Amendoim(Male, Tabby Orange): Twins with Paçoca, he is a CHONKY Sphinx, likes to play with the toys and sister, he also loves to steal erasers and toilet papers to play with them as well, he is quite destructive, especially to the paper rolls, and quite clumsy too, he also is the one that tends to be on the receiving end of Mona's slaps. He strikes me as a Tank, focusing on Defense and Charisma. Paçoca(Female, Tabby Orange): Twins with Amendoim, unlike her brother, she is quite slim and gracious as well, but so deadly with her tiny claws that are as sharp as blades, she also doesn't talk too much, unlike her brother again, but overall she's chill, sometimes she plays but not too much, she also has quite the death stare, looking like she wants to off you at any given moment. She definitely would be an Assassin focusing on Attack and Dexterity.

My sphynx of wonder would be quiet, patient and really fed up with kids but still look out for them lol

Advances in Sphinx technology require the right equipment. I'm glad to see you have the proper protective headgear ❤

Dude...WotC sponsor? 😱 Congrats!!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Also, Manky Fighting/Fairy type confirmed. This is a cute little addition, and I will never say no to any Warlock pact expansions. I could see this fitting into so many places, and your ideas kind of fill up the spectrum I was already piecing together in my brain. My only other thought was that it would be interesting to consider what would happpen to sphinxes whose deities have died or been removed from the pantheon. I feel like I'd want them to turn into prankster/poltergeist-y cats with a celestial spark...that maybe an unwitting party member could unlock and bring back to life on accident 😁 Metaphysically, the idea would be that these former sphinxes carry some divine whisper or echo of their former patron, so it could resonate or trigger when the right kinds of things happen. Thanks, DD! Keep it up 👏🏽

Dad: leap in Sphinx based technology. Me: Sphinx Tech… fuck that’s actually a good tech startup name.

I once raid somewhere that there are wolf bodied and raven winged sphinxes but I never heard of that anywhere else, could be a new cold area variant if there are going to be more new sphinxes. Especial since dogs and cats are often depicted as enemies and the raven as a bad symbol or omen where as eagles are often a symbol of good.

Major props to the artist. Got me to give an audible, "oh f*** yeah!" when I saw it

I like the idea of these little cats inheriting some of their (possible) creators quirks, just on a smaller scale - gifters of day-to-day little wisdoms, who can't help themselves, but talk in riddles and test their owners patience. Maybe they even protect some objects of power, too! It's just that those artifacts are cool looking feathers, their favourite mug and a sunny spot in the house. True celestial power were love for life and friends we made along the way, something like that :)

The idea of a sphinx of wonder attempting to become a greater sphinx and becoming corrupted in the process makes me think of it as a potential origin for manticores, or perhaps an explanation for why some sphinxes are monstrosities while others are celestials; both types exist but the monstrosity variants are the ones that originally were something else like a sphinx of wonder that tried turning themselves into a "greater" sphinx.

In now need to make a character with this as a familiar and give it Danny devitos voice

This is so cool that they let you reveal a monster since that makes more sense for your channel unlike everybody else on RU-vid getting a subclass

I have 2 cats; a tabby british shorthair named Jorik (a corruption of the russian word for glutton) and a scottish "fold"(recessive his ears are normal) Named Mordan (a corruption of the russian word for (animal) face/snout). The scottish would have a lot of physical strength and hp, especially on his bite attack, the tabby would be extremely fast and extra slash damage on his claw attack. Try guessing why.

WOTC watching the lore speculations like "write that down, we need this done by February"

WotC knows who you are? That's neat. Congratulations getting your hands on this cool cat, and, as always, my compliments on your video quality

Now this is a monster truly up my ally as a DM and a D&D player. I LOVE these kinds of things so I am all for this! Thank you Dungeon Dad for something amazing!

My cat Djinn unfortunately passed away last year, but I'd like to think that he'd be a Djinn like Sphinx of wonder. Perhaps he'd be a dark as space is (he was a black cat) and once a century cast wish for anyone he deemed worthy of it.

10:46 Non-magic users in 2014 5e can pick up a familiar using either Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate, hence that line in the Monster Manual. As far as awarding one in lieu of treasure, there's a rule for that in the 2014 DMG (pg 231) that lets you give out feats, including one of the above two, as a reward as well!

I want to see one of these team up with a Faerie Dragon.

Oh, I am immediately adding these to my game. While I am not using a sphinx in my campaign, they will be meeting a lamassu, which is a similar type of celestial, good beings made to protect areas, like the sphinx. There WILL be sphinxes of wonder (sphinx of wonders?) That patrol the area near the temple the lamassu guards. But maybe some of them dislike their position and are bored! Wish for adventure!

My cat as a sphinx would have a bite attack that it can only use out of combat, particularly when being showed affection, and once in combat it can only run away

Congratulations on the win getting a new monster. Keep them coming. You help so many with your ideas and stat blocks.

The fact I instantly guessed sphinx from the thumbnail is something I am very mildly proud of 😂

Interesting that the art has the symbol for air on its forehead. Its a nice lil design touch

Love this creature already! Gave an NPC I came up w last year a “fae cat” familiar that looks almost identical to this except it had no wings. I’m definitely changing that into a sphinx of wonder now though!

Woah!! Would love it if you covered other mythical creatures, maybe like Norse ?

My cat-inspired Sphinx would be a rogue, who manages to paw his way into all sorts of unusual locales.

17:33 Maybe next week you can talk about the mind goblin :^)

the idea of a warlock with a pact with its own familiar on a journey to recover a stolen artifact

My man, congrats on the sponsor! That means a lot about your consistent quality!

I absolutely LOVE that intro, such a great job!

@DungeonDad, I agree that there may be a new family of Sphinxes. Did you notice that this new sphinx has the alchemical symbol for air on its forehead? With that, we can only assume that there will be a water, fire, and earth too!

Your intro visual was amazing. That alone earned my subscription!!

One of these babies based on my cat would have some sort of Stealth bonus. Maybe expertise like a rogue, and a particular fondness for rogues probably

That chase sequence killed me... But also likely happened just as depicted

A strange but cute little sphinx. Also yeah I agree with you on sphinxes being celestials, its just weird that a creature connected to gods so deeply is just a monstrosity. And a theory of mine about the new sphinx is that it might have something to do with the plane of air because the symbol on its forehead is the alchemical symbol for well, air. I guess we will have to wait and see.

I would love to hear more about those sphinx’ that are from history, the one in the forest might be the one that catches my attention.

A sphinx of wonder based on my cat would be blasting your face with a darkness spell, then zipping away to hide in a corner until you left. And honestly that could be an entertaining (and infuriating) monster to use.

Congratulations on the exclusive! You deserve the recognition, because you've got dedication and a genuine love for this game. Keep on with the good work!

We played around with an intelligent cat PC before. The cat took levels in sorcerer. Weird to balance a super low STR, tiny Size...And the fact they had to use mage hand all the time, for everything...But it was fun.

A Sphinx of Wonder based on my cat would give bonuses to distracting any NPC by rolling over in front of them and being adorable. He would also require a certain amount of attention during the day or risk him screaming in the middle of the night and costing the party their rest.

AYO, IS THIS A CANON LA GRAN GATA FROM THE UNSLEEPING CITY???

Sounds like they're overhauling Warlock familiars, giving Celestial Warlocks a little buddy of their own.

Awwww, your cat sounds wonderful! And I don't just mean in the sphinx-of-wonder meaning of the word: what a sweetie he must be. 🥰

Both of my cats would be able to turn into ooze when they're done being held lmao 😂

Forgive this wild hare of a request, but could you do a video on the jackalope, skvader and wolpertinger?

I'm imagining a lot of "Buster, can you scout ahead?" paired with a Bartleby-esque "I would prefer not to"

This baby would look SWEET painted on the side of a van....

Watching all these new Players Handbook videos coming out has given me an idea for my first character. A himbo Abyssal Tiefling that’s a celestial warlock. I’ll take the Eldritch invocation that lets you pick two pacts and take pact of the blade and pact of the chain. Get the Sphinx of Wonder as a familiar that is there because my character is really stupid and needs an intelligent being to keep him from getting himself killed. Definitely leaning into the himbo aspect and making him really hot and kind but constantly running straight into battle without much thought.

Weird flavoring but you can also seeing as it is considered a celestial free flavor it as some kind of cat or even a transom that was a good kitty and maybe passed away after living a very good life or dying heroically and thus got turned into a celestial familiar I mean we already have flying cats but it could be a good flavor choice

Of course I've immediately added "cat burglars" to my campaign ideas document. The stray cats in are being lead by a sphinx of wonder and are stealing valuables from all over the city, growing progressively bolder over time. Motivation? Shinies are pretty and outwitting humans is fun! Of course, the sphinx isn't attached enough over their slowly growing hoard to risk their own life for it, but they would toy with anyone who found their hidey hole until such a time as they realise they don't stand a chance and will scamper off, leaving the loot behind

I've gotta admit it was a genius move on wotc's part to send out different bits to different youtubers to preview! (Standard disclaimer: I'm not a fan of wotc, especially the fiasco 6 months ago.......but I can still like something when they do it right)

Fuck yeah new dungeon dad!

I'm right in the middle of writing a one shot for lvl 2 characters where the party is exploring a recently uncovered pyramid and this might just be the thing. Maybe 2 Sphinx of Wonder at the end with a bunch of cats, that give them a riddle after all the fighting. Thanks a bunch for all your hard work :)

"Much to the sha-jrin of your party members" Never has such a typo been spoken aloud.

Thank you for giving me all the tools i need to make add Garfield to my D&D setting's pantheon. I do however find it a little unfortunate that this little floofball doesn't have AI-nightmare-hands the way the Moon Dog does... Oh, i just realized the perfect foil for them...

If you're contemplating a fallen sphynx trying to ascend itself, one good refference for it going very wrong would be Spelljammers Astrosphynx. A huge sphynx with a head who's flesh is invisible so it looks like a skull, and that skull can shoot chain lightning from it's eye sockets. Also it's insane and is constantly screaming unhinged riddles like "What does a cat have in common with The Spelljammer besides Triangles?"

Me before watching the video: Oh, nice, you made a new monster? "This episode brought to you by the wizards of the coast." OOOOHHH... well, that changes things.

Also congrats on being able to reveal this! This is so cool.

WTF man I literally just finished a custom sphinx boss fight for my D&D game and then I log onto RU-vid and find this! What timing! I can't wait to watch this.

You need to do the Obsidian Dragon its so unknown

as someone who's doing a session zero of a new campaign tomorrow (at the time of posting this comment), I look forward to scraping all these videos for new old monsters to use to fuck with my players

CONGRATULATIONS @DUNGEONDAD!!!🎉🎊🎆 I'm really happy for you that Wizards Of The Coast did a collaboration with you. Dont be modest YOU ARE AWESOME and you know it. For the next creature could you do either "The Prince Of Frost" or "The Cat Lord" (Now I want his stats block after This video 😅).

A sphinx based on my cat would make a DC 15 Wisdom save every time it rolled initiative. On a fail it enters a Barbarian’s rage, but must attack the nearest target, friend or foe.

"Radiant toe-beans" was worth the video!

The sphinx has always been my favorite go to.

subscribed! shout out to WOTC for letting me discover new content creators this way. love this little guy (the sphynx, that is, not the creator, though he's pretty good, too).

This must be one of your best episodes ever. Congrats.

Celestial Warlock with a flying Space kitty?!

I still hope you can do Atropus justice, because if anyone can transform one of the most horrifying creatures, and arguably the most terrifying Elder Evil, into a nightmarish envounter, it is you. :)

Always great content from Dungeon Dad!!

I would love to see you do a video o n the Lamia varriations or perhaps come up with one of your own!

that intro is always so fucking cool