A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The v3.5 account places troglodytes in underground groups that include noncombatants and accompanying monitor lizards. They speak Draconic. Ambushes begin with concealed javelin attacks before close combat, while a losing group may retreat into hiding. Their changing skin colour helps concealment among rocks and in caverns. Anger or fear prompts a glandular secretion that sickens nearby susceptible creatures; poison immunity prevents that effect in these rules.
Tony DiTerlizzi recalls using a Western Whiptail photograph for scale placement and pattern in his 1993 Monstrous Manual illustration. This describes that artist’s reference process, rather than a fictional evolutionary ancestor.
First appearances & development
D&D’s troglodyte is a reptilian being, distinct from a generic historical term for cave dwellers. The inspected account covers the 1993 illustration’s development and the v3.5 rules reproduction. Earlier books and later encounter revisions are not treated as though their complete entries were newly read.
Canon & continuity
The licensed SRD reproduction provides group composition, language, ambush tactics and secretion rules. DiTerlizzi’s firsthand retrospective supplies the specific scale reference for his artwork. It does not establish that the same real lizard informed every later design.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
System Reference Document v3.5: Troglodyte
Older rules, through the licensed reproduction.
- 02
Monstrous Manual
Illustration process documented in the artist’s later account.
Family, evolution & connections
Western whiptail
DiTerlizzi used a western-whiptail photograph for scale placement and pattern in his 1993 Troglodyte artwork.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- ReferenceTroglodyte — v3.5 SRDResearch access: 2026-10-05
- OfficialDiTerlizzi — Part 7Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
