More flumphs than you can shake a flindbar at: Let's Read the Tome of Horrors!

[HenryHankovitch]

Gorilla-Bear
You know what an owlbear is, so this shouldn't really surprise you. It's a creature with the body of a gorilla and the paws and head of a bear. Combining two strong creatures, one of whom has nasty claws and teeth, into a single monstrous beast. Creepily enough, in the fashion of many "rawr I eat you" monsters, gorilla-bears are noted to "savor the taste of goblins and elves". Eeeyugh....

I don't...this is... my head, it is full of fsck.

An owlbear actually makes sense compared to this thing. Okay, so we took the fangs and claws of a really strong creature, and put them on...a really strong creature. Whut? What was wrong with the bear in the first place?

Now...on the other hand...I like the idea of a gorilla-ish creature with big fricken claws and such. Is there a Dire Sloth statted anywhere? That would be highly entertaining.

"Oh don't worry guys, it's just one of those sloths, ha ha, what's it gonna do to AAAUUUGH MY FAAAACE OH NOOOOOOO-"

[Rappy]

Now...on the other hand...I like the idea of a gorilla-ish creature with big fricken claws and such. Is there a Dire Sloth statted anywhere? That would be highly entertaining.

"Oh don't worry guys, it's just one of those sloths, ha ha, what's it gonna do to AAAUUUGH MY FAAAACE OH NOOOOOOO-"

Yes, there is. In the appendix of this very book, actually. Which is another point in favor of having a sister thread for the appendices running at the same time.

[Steveotep]

I have the 3.0 Tome of Horrors, which credits the original designer. The kamadan was by Nick Louth.

[Rappy]

The 3.5 Tome of Horrors has the credits as well, but I rarely pay attention to them for the purposes of this thread.

[Rappy]

Only three entries today because I'm working on d20 statting projects on this forum and elsewhere, but hopefully that's better than nothing.

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Kelp Devil
In a world where every other plant has some sadistic way of killing you, the CR 8 kelp devil manages to stand out. Not by tactics (it has the old "charm monster on you, strangle you, eat you" shtick), but by its environment and sheer tenacity. Here we have a floating organism that acts like and resembles living sargassum, is resistant to most types of damage (and utterly immune to electricity), and is intelligent; sure, it's at the ogre-level of intelligence, but for a hunk of seaweed, that's impressive! Imagine vast herds of kelp devils slowly creeping across the ocean surface, creating "rafts" that inspire fear in sailors that have heard tales of people disappearing without a trace within the "Devil Weed Seas". To make things even more fun, have them form a symbiotic relationship with some weird sea life (an Eye of the Deep, perhaps?) or aquatic undead such as the lacedon, with the more mobile creatures hiding in the weed rafts while the devils charm in prey for their occupants to dismember and disperse into the raft.



Kelpie
No, not the water horse of Celtic legend. This kelpie is a CR 4 seaweed monster that can transform into, and I quote, "a beautiful human female with long flowing dark hair, emerald eyes, and milky-white skin". Once again proving that if there is a female-only monster in Dungeons and Dragons, it is either fickle or wants to kill you.

Kelpies are essentially weaker versions of the kelp devil as far as powers go, and are indeed presumed to be the progenitors of their stronger and much more epic kin.



Khargra
Essentially a big metallic maw with claws around it. These CR 4 Outsiders are essentially another variant of the "make your Fighter cry" monster trope, with a sundering bite and the ability to rend armor. They also eat ores and minerals. I guess they could be made interesting with a deeper integration into the strange ecology of the Plane of Earth, but as-is they aren't really my cup of tea.

[Toric]

Giant, Wood
Elves, only supersized! The CR 5 wood giants, also known as the Voadkyn, seem to exist just to prove that there is something out there that can out-elf the elves. They are masterful archers with resistance to enchantments, the ability to take the appearance of any humanoid or giant between 3 and 15 feet in height (the wood giants themselves are 9 feet tall, making them one of the shorter giants), and superb hiding and silent movement in spite of their size. Wood giant villages are sparsely built upon because they, and I quote "prefer to spend their time under the warmth of the day and the serenity of the night." So...yeah.

I don't believe it. Georg from Neverwinter Nights 2 was right. Swamp-elves exist. I gotta look this thing up, see if it has a Flesh to Stone SLA.

[Edit] Nope, they don't. :( Oh well, a little homebrewing and it'd be wonderful to surprise some players with.

[Rappy]

Sorry it's another small post, folks, I've overloaded myself with multiple d20 statting projects, blogging, and other things lately. In fact, I won't really apologize again because it will most likely be like this for a while. Posts in the future of this thread will most likely have only two or three (maaaaybe four from time to time) monsters in them. Anyway, here we go!

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Killmoulis
This CR 1/6 Fey is said to be possibly "distantly related to brownies and other small, helpful fey". And I'd hope it's only a distant relation, as the poor thing resembles a monkey with a carrot crafted onto its face. Other than its above-par Spell Resistance (15) and telepathy range (100 feet), there's not that much interesting about the killmoulis as far as crunch goes. Fluff-wise, though...it's about as same. They're "deeds for feeds" brownie-types, but with some alteration, they could be made rather interesting.



Korred
Pygmy satyrs with prehensile hair. That's...so absurd it wheels around and becomes rather epic. Oh, and actually manages to get weirder. The korreds have a paralyzing laugh, cast spells related to earth and rocks (including animate objects limited to rocks), throw rocks, and carry scissors into combat because they always have to keep their hair in check. Yeah...just...wow. If you want a low-CR (4 in this case) Fey encounter your players will never, ever forget, go with the korred.

[Deca]

Korred
Pygmy satyrs with prehensile hair. That's...so absurd it wheels around and becomes rather epic. Oh, and actually manages to get weirder. The korreds have a paralyzing laugh, cast spells related to earth and rocks (including animate objects limited to rocks), throw rocks, and carry scissors into combat because they always have to keep their hair in check. Yeah...just...wow. If you want a low-CR (4 in this case) Fey encounter your players will never, ever forget, go with the korred.

The Korred clearly fights with scissors just in case they have to use it against any paper the PC's might use to counter it's rock magic.

[Volthawk]

I just got a copy of this, and yeah, it's kinda funny.

Korred
Pygmy satyrs with prehensile hair. That's...so absurd it wheels around and becomes rather epic. Oh, and actually manages to get weirder. The korreds have a paralyzing laugh, cast spells related to earth and rocks (including animate objects limited to rocks), throw rocks, and carry scissors into combat because they always have to keep their hair in check. Yeah...just...wow. If you want a low-CR (4 in this case) Fey encounter your players will never, ever forget, go with the korred.

The shears are even statted out. And my copy says Animate Hair, not Animate Objects.

[Rappy]

And my copy says Animate Hair, not Animate Objects.

Yeah, there is an Animate Hair special quality. But look under spell-like abilities as well:

At will-animate objects (rock only)

[BobVosh]

The Korred clearly fights with scissors just in case they have to use it against any paper the PC's might use to counter it's rock magic.

Awww, I was going to say that.

Animate hair? Hmm. Does it actually give a failure based on using the hair that the scissors are needed? Or is it suppose to be a critical failure means they need to trim it...Curious and curiouser.

[Rappy]

Animate hair? Hmm. Does it actually give a failure based on using the hair that the scissors are needed? Or is it suppose to be a critical failure means they need to trim it...Curious and curiouser.

Animate Hair is essentially a limited animate rope spell, with hair instead of rope and limitations such as only being able to tangle up creatures of a certain size.

The hair cutting is purely fluff, no crunch attached, but it might be fun to intermix the two facets...no idea how, though.

[Thurbane]

And my copy says Animate Hair, not Animate Objects.

Animate hair?

[Rappy]

Animate hair?

That fellow...actually looks disturbingly like what I imagine the korred in the Tome of Horrors would look like if it was polymorphed into a human.

[Thurbane]

After seeing that ad, I was always hoping for an Animate Beard racial feat for Dwarves!

[Coidzor]

And cue subrace of dwarves with prehensile beards in 5.

Cue subrace of beards with prehensile dwarves in 6.

[Rappy]

Land Lamprey
Does exactly what it says on the tin...it's a lamprey. On land. Wee. *Feigns cheering*.



Lava Child
Resembling what I can only call a chubby azer with a face that indicates a few Intelligence points too few (even though they have an Intelligence score of 10, their face just...doesn't convey it, let's just leave it at that), lava children are CR 3 Humanoids with the Earth and Fire subtypes whose origin lies deep beneath the earth. They are described as a reclusive race whose dealings with the outside world are restricted to interactions with fire elementals and the magmin...in other words, they're another clean-slate race for you to put your own campaign ideas onto. It is worthy of note that while lava children are weak to both Air and Water spells, they make up for that by being immune to Earth spells and metal. Any attacks by metal. Or metal objects. Pretty much, the lava child is one of those creatures that is designed to make your non-casters cry themselves to sleep.

[Reynard]

How do lava children cope with wooden weapons?

If they're can be hurt by them, and not by metal weapons, I may start to cry.

[Rappy]

There's no specific mention for or against wooden weaponry in the entry for the lava child, at least not that I noticed (I may have missed it, but..eh).

I'd go with the personal interpretation of "sure, you made it flinch a bit, but now your weapon's on fire. What now, idiot?"

[Thurbane]

In 1E, the Lava Child's schtick was forcing fighters to use non-metal weapons, like clubs & quarterstaves. There was a neat little full page pic in the 1E FF of a Lizard King stabbing his trident right through one, and it just looking back at him with it's idiotic grin...

[Rappy]

In 1E, the Lava Child's schtick was forcing fighters to use non-metal weapons, like clubs & quarterstaves. There was a neat little full page pic in the 1E FF of a Lizard King stabbing his trident right through one, and it just looking back at him with it's idiotic grin...

Well, while the Lizard King isn't in the Tome of Horrors, the non-metal weapons note and the idiotic grin are kept intact.

So two out of three isn't bad.

[afroakuma]

I really hope this series continues when you find the time. It's a fun read.

[BobVosh]

So punching a lava child is better than poking it with metal bits...yay for D&D.

[Rappy]

So punching a lava child is better than poking it with metal bits...yay for D&D.

Aww, but why would you ever want to punch something with a face like this?

Spoiler

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I really hope this series continues when you find the time. It's a fun read.

Ask and ye shall receive.

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Leech, Giant
Unsurprisingly, this CR 2 vermin is a human-sized leech. I imagine it would be fun to team them up with a leechwalker, just for the squick factor it would surely produce in your PCs. Anyway, before we move on from this rather unimportant creature, some things to note:

• You have a 50/50 chance as to whether or not the giant leech that's suctioning itself to your face is giving you filth fever. Lovely.
• The giant leech may have one of the strangest ability damage powers ever; it deals 1d4 Constitution damage, and...leaves as soon as it's siphoned out 4 points of Constitution. So this could literally be a 1-round hit and run monster if it is really lucky with the die roll.
• A pound of salt deals 1d4 damage to a giant leech. Just store the bags by your 10-foot pole, I guess.

Leprechaun
As far as crunch and fluff go, the leprechaun is just like any other low-CR (4, in this case) "tricksy fey". They like pranks, they're pick-pockets, they have spell-like abilities geared toward making you want to strangle them slowly and painfully, and have Perform (Comedy) as one of the skills they put ranks in. The image, on the other hand....I love the image. It's from a somwhat skewed "looking down on the wee man" perspective, and it's noticable that the leprechaun has a knife hidden behind his back. It makes me wonder how much of their "prankster' nature is truly a cover for the fact that they are (in my personal bubble) really murderous thieves and assassins?



Livestone
Livestones are oozes with the power to shift themselves into a form that is as hard as (and indeed resembles) stone. They were, according to lore, a plague unleashed upon the surface world by the dwarves that dug too deep into the earth. Well...it's no Balrog, but eh, it is a rather nasty thing to unearth. The truly horrifying thing about the livestone is that it can engulf someone and then solidify to instantly crush that person within its now stony body. It's thankfully not an insta-kill attack, but still has the double whammy of dealing copious amounts of damage for a CR 6 creature and being a terrifying prospect to a claustrophobic like myself.



Lurker Above
Imagine, if you will, a giant cloaker. A giant cloaker that, while not possessing any special powers such as the cloaker's moaning or shadow capabilities, does have the capability to smother someone in its girth, slowly suffocating them to death. That, in a nutshell, is the CR 7 Aberration known as the lurker above. This is another monster that isn't exactly a massively exciting creature, although it does have a curious note in its fluff:

Mating habits among lurkers is unknown to sages as no two of these creatures have ever been encountered together.

Why they even wanted to bring up mating habits is beyond me...

[Eldan]

Why wouldn't you want to bring up mating habits? As an ecologist I can tell you that they are often one of the most interesting things about unusual critters!

[Rappy]

Why wouldn't you want to bring up mating habits? As an ecologist I can tell you that they are often one of the most interesting things about unusual critters!

True, but that's literally a third of the limited fluff they get, and it comes out of nowhere.

[Mulletmanalive]

Yay! An update!

I know its a couple of days after the fact but yay!

[Deca]

The Livestone is actually pretty nice. The Lava Child looks like it has no mind, but is instead a vacant shell inhabitated by strange things unknown to mortal kind.

Seriously, I can't stop looking at it's freakish idiot grin.

[afroakuma]

Surprised lurkers aren't more popular, honestly; they were always classic cavern monsters in earlier editions. I love 'em.

You're setting a bad precedent, Rappy, cause you know I'm just going to keep asking now.

[Reynard]

Aww, but why would you ever want to punch something with a face like this?

Spoiler

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It looks like a sex-pest. 'Rubs' in the corner makes it even creepier.