Ways to Switch Up D&D Monsters

I've been having a blast reading Descent into Avernus, the first real D&D 5e book that I honest-to-goodness bought not just for access to new game mechanics, but to have as an actual adventure module to run. One thing I admire about Wizards of the Coast's published adventures is their ability to breathe life into combat so that it always feels new. They always seem to give great variety to the types of monsters you encounter in an adventure; for example, you don't just see devil after devil when you go to the Nine Hells; you also see a gang of wereboars, a night hag with a crew of fey redcaps and a pet flesh golem, and a chariot pulled by gorgons.

Even with the devils they do put into this adventure, they use simple twists to make each one seem unique from the standard picture shown in the Monster Manual. Below is a list I've compiled showing some techniques and twists you can put on monsters (along with examples) so that players who are already familiar with all the monsters in the game can encounter new challenges, and finding yet another group of orcs won't ever get burdensome.

My List of Rituals

I love rituals. I think it's important to celebrate holidays and hold formal traditions, so as to have things to look forward to and add stability and gratitude to yearly life. Being as today is the first of October when I begin my yearly ritual of eating a bag of candy corn and a bag of creme pumpkins by as quickly as I wish, I decided to make a list of the rituals and traditions I enjoy from year to year. I'm sure as time goes by I'll come back here and update it as I remember more and make more to fill it in. As you'll notice, a lot of it has to do with food, as well as rituals to commemorate events that happened on that day years before.