Why bother with a kelpie miniature?
Saying that 5th edition D&D doesn’t use kelpies much is an understatement. So why bother with a kelpie mini? Well, if you’re a dungeon master and you like European mythology, they are a fun addition. If not, they provide a rare opportunity to use a plant, although I genuinely have no idea why the kelpie is even classified as a Plant in this edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Aquatic plants are even more rare, so there’s that as well. Shapeshifting plants are also rare. So there are definitely some unique options to be had with kelpies. Plus, many of your players probably haven’t come across a kelpie before, so it’s something new for them to deal with.
What about this mini?
This unpainted plastic miniature is from Reaper Miniatures, from the two pack Kelpies #77275. The sculpt is by Patrick Keith and is quite a nice one, blending the kelpies and the seaweeds nicely together. It was a delight to paint and looks good with little effort. More importantly though, it is the right size- kelpies are medium-sized creatures and this miniature fits perfectly on a medium base.
How useful is this mini, really?
Kelpies are included in exactly 1 published Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition book: Tales From The Yawning Portal. Unless you are running that particular adventure, you are probably fine not getting this miniature. On the other hand, I quite like kelpies, and in my homebrew world, they get used much more often than Wizards of the Coast publications use them. It’s odd, since their history in Dungeons and Dragons is old and long, but for whatever reason they seem to have largely fallen out of favour. Such is life. I like them, so I use them.
But why are you doing this?
As usual for these videos, my aim is to provide good views of the miniature and sizing information about it. As I already said, the kelpie has a medium base size and that’s the correct size. Also, as usual I would like to thank wildlife artist Sherrie York, authority on reduction linocut artistry, for kindly allowing me to use one of her masterworks, Shivano Sunset, as the backdrop for the minis.