Converting MTG cards into D&D enemies or abilities is an interesting balancing act.
You want your homebrew to be impactful and interesting, but you also have to give it the feel of the original card and its mechanics from Magic The Gathering.
In this post, I will break down how I convert Magic cards into D&D monsters with abilities to use in my sessions, and the steps for the best balance of the two games:
Step One: Align the Closest-Related Monster and its Abilities
First, I look at what would be the closest monster or ability in the 5th edition state. I can look at stats, resistances, senses, and more to compare holistically. This gives me a solid base to start with, even if I remove all of the other effects from the original D&D stat block. A blank canvas is an interesting canvas, in my opinion!
During this first step, there are two different methodologies for beginning the process: blank canvas vs. modified stat block. I’d like to break them down for you to give you more options in your custom gameplay.
Using a blank canvas to start building the state blocks for your monsters may be the best option for you if you’re creating a monster where the stat block is incredibly important and thematic. It is a method that is often overlooked when creating any type of custom monster, not just MTG-inspired monsters, because it can take a long time to craft a stat block by hand.
This is where grabbing stat arrays from another monster can be incredibly useful for saving yourself time, especially if you’re a busy DM creating monsters between the events of a hectic day. You can easily modify a stat block according to the abilities of the MTG monster to create a more balanced monster without spending a boatload of time on it.
When making spells, this decision is even more important because a lot of Magic cards have outlandish abilities that would simply blow away a D&D character. Due to this insane gap in abilities, if you start with a preexisting ability and modify the damage of the specific spell, it can be a nice starting point where you don't have to worry about absolutely decimating your characters during encounters.
Don’t skip out on this balancing act; I promise you, if you were to convert something like “Lightning Bolt” over to D&D, your players would never use anything else. Balance your custom monster’s abilities ahead of time to keep the game interesting and immersive!
Step Two: Feel Out the Power Balance
Once we have our base, I focus on what the card does in Magic, then work on converting that to D&D.
Does it draw a card? If so, typically a spell slot effect works well for this type of creature.
If the creature tramples, then it will likely be a large monster with the rampage ability.
This part of the process comes down to feeling out how powerful you want the ability or monster to be. If you want to make a monster like the seven I made in my video, focus on making them huge bosses that go crazy and also feel thematic. Or, if you want to add a different counterspell like “Mana Drain” into the game, you can give them unfair abilities like stealing the expended spell slot.
Just make sure that there are limiters on how often your players can cast these abilities. This part comes with time and practice, and joining forums and communities where you can share homebrew spells, abilities, and monsters can help to get feedback from other DMs. I still do that to this day, and it can make it a lot easier for me to build a plan.
Step Three: When All Else Fails, Use the Flavor Text
If I'm having trouble with Step 2, then my backup plan is to focus on the flavor text of the card.
Every artist gets to add their own flavor text to their MTG card if they want, which is basically a piece of storytelling lore added to the bottom of the card. If you have a favorite art for a card or a specific plane your campaign is happening in, this is a way to crank the version up to a 10.
Especially when it comes to cards, the flavor text has changed over time, meaning this method can be a lot of fun to use in the creation process. One of the monsters in the video I produced was created using this method! It’s super useful for breaking through that creation barrier when there is simply no other way for you to find an ability that is balanced and fits the card.
Intrigued? Curious? Want to Learn More about Converting MTG Cards into D&D?
If you enjoyed this article and are interested in seeing some of the monsters that I made out of the Elder Dinosaurs from the plane of Ixilan, check out the video down below. You might even get a better glimpse into my creation process!