Yora's Fantasy Safari - Let's go back to hunting monsters

**Yora** · 2015-04-16, 05:42 AM (ISO 8601)

I got both the Earthdawn and Numenera monster books, and they look quite promising. I think there's enough material for weeks to come.

But now, more Forgotten Realms goodness:

The Chosen One is essentially a ghoul who causes temporary Constitution damage instead of paralysis. It doesn’t say why it is named that way, and only that chosen ones are made by the Red Wizards of Thay as servants. Very weak entry. (Variant Ghoul +1)

Crawling Claws

Crawling claws, on the other hand, are awesome. They also are the other hand, as they are created only from left hands taken from dead or even living humanoids. They don’t have any special abilities or fancyful backstory. They are just animated hands that crawl around and attack people, which is cool and fun enough by itself. Creating one is only a 3rd level spell and each claw is automatically under the command of its creator. For some reason the spell is also evil, even though nothing about it indicates why. Ah well, alignment! Never made any sense, never will.

Darkenbeasts

I am not sure where the idea of monsters being the creation of crazy wizards comes from, but it might very well have been Forgotten Realms. Darkenbeasts are somewhat reptilian and bat like monsters created from ordinary small animals by the Red Wizards. As their name hints at, darkenbeasts can not tollerate sunlight and after each ten minutes of exposure there is a 25% chance that the magic will end and the monster return back into an animal. In addition to being winged servants with a high resistance to magic, a wizard can also use a darkenbeast to store a spell for later. When the darkenbeast is near its master, he can retrieve the spell and aim it at whatever target he pleases, which destroyes the darkenbeast in the process. I think these are cooler than winged monkeys.

Deepspawn

The Deepspawn had the potential to be one of the truly iconic weird monsters of Dungeons & Dragons, but somehow it remained limited to Forgotten Realms and didn’t really make any appearance after 2nd edtition. It’s on the cover of Lost Empires of Faerûn, but I think that’s it. When I first got into D&D with the Forgotten Realms campaign setting box (the 3rd edition FRCS had not been released yet), I thought that this creature was the fourth member of the exclusive group of aboleths, beholders, and illithids. But no it’s not, which is a shame. The deepspawn is a monster with a large spherical body over 5 meters in diameter and has six long tentacles. Three of the tentacles are used as arms, while the other three end in large maws full of sharp teeth. Its eyes are all over the body. The deepspawn by itself is not a terribly dangerous fighter and has only little magic abilities that would make any difference in a fight, but is completely immune to any poison and has a high resistance to magic. Its main ability is to spawn copies of any kind of living creature it has eaten, which takes between 1 and 4 day for each spawn. As a result, a deepspawn is never encountered alone but always surrounded and protected by a considerable force of other monsters it created. While the spawning ability is a bit dubious to me, I really do like its appearance and the idea that something like that would be the mastermind of a dungeon that rules over all the lesser monsters. The deepspawn got updated in Lost Empires of Faerûn, since the stats here are pretty shoddy. Size got increased from Large to Huge (which for a 5 meter sphere with long tentacles seems more correct), Strength got increased from measly 19 to 29 and Charisma bumped up from 4 to 10, which makes much more sense for something with Intelligence and Wisdom of 17. Now that looks a lot meaner, like something of this appearance should.

Ghour

As demons go, the Ghour doesn’t seem particularly exciting or noteworthy. It’s a big creature that looks like an oversized hybrid of a minotaur and an ogre and has all the abilities of regular D&D demons. But it’s its description and context that make it shine. Ghours are most commonly found as servants of the demon lord Baphomet, who is mostly worshipped by ogres, giants, minotaurs, and the like. What makes them interesting is that these demons are not presented as monsters to be encountered on journeys into the Abyss, but instead frequently come to the material plane where they gather small armies of worshippers of their master. Fighting a gang of ogres and minotaurs is already a pretty cool setup for a mid-level range adventure, but when it turns out that they are actually led by one of these guys, I think it immediately becomes a few steps cooler. Ghours can be pretty intelligent, much more so than their average minions and even many heroes who fight them. Like most demons and devils, they also have a couple of magic powers, though in the case of a ghour, they are not too impressive. But still, casting blasphemy and teleporting around as many times as they want could really ruin peoples day.

Deep Dragon

As Dungeons & Dragons is concerned, you can never have enough dragons. In addition to the ten standard variants, there are also several ones native to the Forgotten Realms, five of which are in this book. The Deep Dragon is one of the more interesting ones. I admit, I am very easily impressed by a good picture, and this Todd Lockwood illustration is awesome. Going with Wayne Reynolds as the main artist is one of the main things that makes 3.5e feel so noticably different from early 3rd edition. Deep dragons are cool. As the name implies, these dragons are native to the Underdark. While their wings imply that they were originally from the surface, their bodies are highly adapted to living in caves, being much more slender and thinner than most types of dragons. They are also of relatively small size, similar to black and white dragons. They are also natural shapechanger, which usually is found only in good dragons and not the evil ones. From a very young age they can turn into a snake, which allows them to navigate even very small passages, and a few years later they also develop the ability to take on the shape of any type of humanoid they wish. They are also very intelligent, even for dragons, which makes them very well suited for infiltrating any underground cities. If they make alliances with any of the Underdark races, it’s usually with the drow, as the two creatures have the most in common.

Shadow Dragon

Shadow Dragons are a very unusual type of dragons and have some kind of very strong connection to the Shadow Plane. They are usually found in the Underdark and then commonly in the very most deepest region, far below the depths adventurers from the surface usually get to reach. They have a high degree of control over the darkness, allowing them to completely block all light around them or making themselves virtually invisible. Their breath weapon is particularly nasty and forces any creatures hit by it to make a rather tough saving throw or have several character levels drained. Fighting a an older shadow dragon without a death ward spell on everyone would be extremely difficult.

One of the other forms of dragons in the book is the Song Dragon, which you really could also just call a Harper Dragon. Because that’s what it is. It’s super charismatic, can transform into a beautiful human female, speaks every language, and is virtually impossible to detect as a dragon when in human form. And of course, they are completely devoted to helping people, protecting the land, and fighting evil, while hiding their true dragon nature. Don’t use Dragon Sue in your game, there is no way to do it in a way that won’t piss of your players. Fortunately people realized that and I am not aware of song dragons appearing anywhere outside this book.

Dragonkin

There isn’t much description about the Dragonkin, at least in this books, and they don’t really have any special ability other than flying. Many of them are allied with the Cult of the Dragon, an organization I believe was pretty important in 2nd edition, but never made any appearance in 3rd, as far as I am aware. The most interesting thing about them is that they very much strike me as proto-dragonborn, which became one of the player character races in 4th edition.

Dread Warrior

The Dread Warrior is a better kind of zombie, created by the Red Wizards of Thay. (Who else?) They are raised from fallen soldiers and retain some of their mind and abilities, making them more like ghouls. Not terribly creative, but ghouls with weapons and armor and some kind of military organization are pretty cool, I think. (Variant Ghoul +1)

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Monsters of Faerûn Cliche Creature Counter:

Evil Apes: 0
Variant Ghouls: 3
Demon Dogs: 0
Skeletons with Robes: 0

**hamishspence** · 2015-04-16, 06:23 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Yora

Many of them are allied with the Cult of the Dragon, an organization I believe was pretty important in 2nd edition, but never made any appearance in 3rd, as far as I am aware.

They are in the 3.0 FR Campaign Setting book, the Lords of Darkness book, Dragons of Faerun, and quite a few other things. 4e had references to them, and 5e's Tiamat adventure is about them as well as about Tiamat.

**Khedrac** · 2015-04-16, 06:44 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Yora

I am not sure where the idea of monsters being the creation of crazy wizards comes from, but it might very well have been Forgotten Realms.

Err, actually probably the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

In D&D history, the oldest I know are those in module X2 Castle Amber (remember the "magen"?)

Actually I am certainly wrong about Mary Shelley. For one thing there is the original tale of the golem (but I don't think that that is much older).
Then, I am sure that some of the tales of 1001 Nights will include monsters created by evil mages.
Etc.

In fact, I suspect that all through history, there have been tales of people creating monsters to plague others...

**Yora** · 2015-04-17, 02:26 AM (ISO 8601)

Making monsters artifically is old.

Making every monster artificial is a D&D thing, I believe. If it's not from Greek mythology and not some kind of spirit, it's usually hinted to be the work of a wizard in some book.

**BWR** · 2015-04-17, 03:39 AM (ISO 8601)

Wizards being the origin of many weird monsters is common in Mystara, including pegataurs and gnolls (or was it trolls? Either way it was one half gnome and one half one of the others).

**Yora** · 2015-04-17, 03:57 AM (ISO 8601)

Thouls. Part troll, part hobgoblin, part ghoul. But I think something weird was going on with the gnolls too.

**Yora** · 2015-04-21, 06:18 AM (ISO 8601)

Ghaunadan

The Ghaunadan is a slime creature very much unlike any other in Dungeons & Dragons. In addition to being an ooze, it also is a shapechanger that can take the form of any kind of humanoid. It is also far from mindless like other oozes and instead a highly intelligent creature. It’s slime has a paralysis effect on living creatures and it also can easily disarm enemies by pulling their weapon into its body. A ghaunadan also has a limited form of charming gaze, which gives it a significant boost to all Charisma checks against a creature it has charmed, which makes ghaunadans excelent for infilitrating humanoid cities and palaces. Ghaunadans are associated with the ancient and evil god Ghaunaur, who rules over slimes and all kind of weird Underdark creatures and is sometimes worshiped by drow. Since all his traits are basically the same in every way as those of the demon lord Juiblex, I always consider them to be actually the same being. I don’t remember seing any hint of ghaunadans in any works older than this book, so it’s quite likely that they were inspired by the Shapechangers from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, who are mostly the same thing but can also take the shape of objects and nonhumanoid creatures.

Fog Giant

I can’t really say anything about the Fog Giant, other than it’s a giant without special abilities who ranks in power between a stone giant and a frost giant, but is taller than either. But look at this picture! When this guy hits you, you’re paste!

Phaerlin Giant

The Phaerlin Giant is a creature native to the Phaerlin region of the Underdark in the Forgotten Realms, which lies under the huge Anauroch desert and was once the location of the mighty wizard empire Netheril, but is under control of the phaerimms (more on those later). Phaerlin giants look like slightly mutated stone giants and live entirely underground, which I think is a neat idea. Reminds me of grimlocks. But their stats in this book are pretty wonkey. They are probably the only creature in D&D that is size category Huge and has a Challenge Rating of 3. Like any self respecting Underdark creature they have magic resistance and being primitive and feral they can sense nearby creatures by scent. Almost 70 hit points is also nothing to laugh at, but their backs are bent so badly that they move only very slowly. And for some unexplained, but nonmagical reason, they are so terrifying that characters who fight them have to make a saving throw or suffer penalties to all their attacks and saves because of fear. This is usually an ability reserved for the most powerful beasts and inhuman abominations. Here it just seems out of place. I like the cave giant from Pathfinder a lot more.

Golems

Usually I am not a fan of more types of golems, but the Gemstone Golems are a pretty cool idea. As golems go, they are not too terrifyingly powerful. But unlike other golems, the spirits that animate them are not forced to follow any order to the letter, which prevents them from any form of initative of creative planning, making them effectively mindless. Gemstone golems have more freedom, which makes them much more difficult to control, but also enables them to act and fight much more smarter. Unlike other golems, gemstone golems don’t have any really nasty trickes up their sleeves and attack simply by punching, but can be extremely difficult to damage. They don’t have a lot of hit points, but very high armor class and any weapon that is not heavily enchanted will just bounce off doing nothing. The ruby golem is the easiest to damage, but it also just regenerates almost all damage it takes. I’m not quite sure how players would even scratch these unless they know what needs to be done to damage them and also have the required (and very expensive) weapons at hand. I probably wouldn’t use these golems, but the idea of crystal golems that look like this is cool.

The Thayan Golem is a special kind of human sizes clay golem. It’s basically a terracotta archer. Unlike many other creatures in this book, the Challenge Rating for this one isn’t set too low, but much too high. This looks more like CR 4, not 8. As constructs it takes magic weapons to damage them, but it can also be done if you just hit them really hard. Their resistance to magic is also pretty low and not a huge problem. As seems tradition with this book, they have one completely random immunity, which is that they can not be harmed by the magic missile spell. I’m sure that will come up a lot in actual play. Obviously, these golems are made by the Red Wizards of Thay.

Green Warder

The Green Warder is a living plant, though I would probably make it a fey instead. But treants are also plants in D&D, so yeah. Green warders can be found in the great forest Cormanthor, where they used to be used as guardians by the elves of the great ancient city Myth Drannor. They are exceptionally well suited for that task, and given the great magical power of Myth Drannor, I wouldn’t be surprised if these creatures were created through magic. A green warder consists of leafy vines that are grown to roughly the shape of a tall elf and are relatively smart, though somewhat simple minded creatures. They are not very strong or tough and their claws do only little damage, but obviously they are extremely good at hiding themselves among plants. They also have some very useful magic abilities. They can use the sleep and confusion spells to neutralize intruders, but any time a creature successfully resists these it becomes increasingly more resistant against them for the rest of the day. So simply spamming these spells over and over until an intruder drops isn’t going to work. They also can set up alarm spells which create a loud birdcall whenever an intruder steps into the warded area, allerting the green warders and elven sentinels nearby. Green warders aren’t really dangerous, but as support troops for elven or other woodland armies they can be really effective additions.

Groundlings

Groundlings are another magical creation, but this time not by the Red Wizards of Thay, but by the Zhentarim. While the Zhentarim are controlled by the priests of Bane, who create all those Bane creatures shown earlier, groundlings are created in the main stronghold of a rival faction within the Zhentarim. They are still the same gang, though. A groundling is a badgerlike creature created through magic from a dwarf. And I think the illustration does a good job of showing that relationship. Supposedly Zhentarim wizards create them to hunt down their enemies, but groundlings are not really very dangerous and I don’t see how they would be a useful resource for Zhentarim leaders, who have a lot more dangerous minions in their ranks. Still, I quite like the look and think there could be something interesting done with them. They are probably from some kind of adventure, where they have a bit more context.

Draegloth

The Dreagloth is what The Tygre described as “the aftermath of a Black Metal album cover”. A draegloth is a specific type of half-demon created from a drow priestess of Lolth and a glabrezu demon (which is a 5 meter tall giant with four arms and a dog face). And it looks exactly as you’d expect it. A two and a half meter giant drow with four arms and a somehwat doglike face. A draegloth is violent and savage, but actually highly intelligent just like its parents, and gains most of the immunities from either side. I think they first appeared in the seventh or eighth Drizzt novel, but I hadn’t seen any picture of one until this one. And it absolutely kicks ass. A draegloth is like a blend of Wolverine and Blanka, just as pure and bloodthirsty incarnation of violence. I actually quite liked the War of the Spiderqueen novels and I think the draegloth Jeggred was one of the coolest characters. With the rest of the characters all being archwizards and high priestesses, they often underestimated him and dismissed him as stupid. But draegloths aren’t stupid or unaware of the finer details of intrigue that go on around them. They just don’t care (which is not the term I used in the post on my website) about anything and exist only for carnage.

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Since this thread is about monster that could be interesting to use in unusual ways you don't commonly see with generic standard monsters, any thoughts you might have on them would be very appreciated. I'd really live to hear other peoples thought on what about those critters seems interesting and original, and how they could be used in creative ways.

**hamishspence** · 2015-04-21, 06:26 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Yora

Groundlings are another magical creation, but this time not by the Red Wizards of Thay, but by the Zhentarim. While the Zhentarim are controlled by the priests of Bane, who create all those Bane creatures shown earlier, groundlings are created in the main stronghold of a rival faction within the Zhentarim. They are still the same gang, though. A groundling is a badgerlike creature created through magic from a dwarf. And I think the illustration does a good job of showing that relationship. Supposedly Zhentarim wizards create them to hunt down their enemies, but groundlings are not really very dangerous and I don’t see how they would be a useful resource for Zhentarim leaders, who have a lot more dangerous minions in their ranks. Still, I quite like the look and think there could be something interesting done with them. They are probably from some kind of adventure, where they have a bit more context.

I remember them from a short story in Realms of Valor - the protagonist, the young son of a highwayman, rescues his father and Prince Azoun from them - and parleys this into his father's agreement that he not have to carry on the family business.

He then goes on to star in one of the Harpers series of novels - Ring of Winter.

**Yora** · 2015-05-05, 05:26 AM (ISO 8601)

Helmed Horror

The Helmed Horror is probably one of my favorite monsters of my favorite monster book. I first saw these guys in Baldur’s Gate back in ’99, and they were terrifyingly strong. Good times. On first glance, the helmed horror is simply an animated suit of armor. But like many monsters in this book, it’s made into something much more interesting by giving it a small handful of magic abilities. Compared to true golems, it is relatively weak. But golems in Dungeons & Dragons are absolute terror beasts, so this guy is still amazingly dangerous. The main ability of a helmed horror is that it can make the blade of any weapon it holds burst into flame, covered in magic ice, or charged with lightining. It really only increases its damage by 1d6 points of damage, but it’s still an impressive looking effect that immediately tells everyone they mean business. They can also see any invisible creatures, which makes them great guardians for wizards. In addition to being made of full plate armor and difficult to hit, they are also have all the immunities of constructs and are enchanted to be completely immune to three specific spells. Usually those will be classic attack spells like fireball or lightning bolt, and while casting a spell that affects everything in a large area on a single enemy is not particularly effective, there aren’t that many other spells that can really hurt helmed horrors to begin with. As constructs, they are already immune to almost all illusions, enchantments, and necromancy spells. Disabling a helmed horror other than by hacking it to pieces is quite the challenge. Fot added fun, it also has the spells air walk and feather fall, which make it almost impossible to use the terrain against it. Pits and barriers won’t stop it at all, and even though being a heavy suit of armor, a helmed horror is just as fast as any ordinary human. It’s a ****ing Terminator.

Hybsil

The Hybsil is one of the rare fey creatures in D&D 3rd edition, which for some reason never got much love beond the dryad, nymph, pixie, and satyr. Hybsils look like a small deer with the upper body of a small human or halfling with short antlers on their head. Though individually they are quite weak and vulnerable, they usually live in groups of several dozens and their high speed combined with their reliance on bows and arrows can make them formidable opponents. They also have the magical abilities to move without leaving any tracks and to greatly increase the distance of their jumps, which makes them amazingly well suited for ambushs. For emergencies, they also have a few magical sleep arrows they get from pixies, which can knock out many enemies instantly. They are also lead by druids and have their own rangers and sorcerers, which makes things a lot more complicated for any potential attackers. Picking a fight with any hybsils in their forest homes is much more dangerous than it looks from seeing just one or two of these small creatures.

Leucrotta

The Leucrotta is a dangerous predator based on sketchy descriptions of hyenas by the Romans. This creature simply runs with it and is exactly what was described. It has the body of an antelope, the tail of a lion, and the head of a badger, It is as large as a horse and has jaws that can even bite through armor. Leucrottas are intelligent creature and completely evil and violent. They simply live for killing. Quite surprisingly to many people, they also can talk and are very capable of immitating the voice of other animals and even people. These guys are some really viscious murder machines and that they are very able at climbing and jumping doesn’t make things better for anyone.

Malaugrym

The Malaugrym are a race of alien shapeshifters from another dimension who travel through the shadow plane to reach the world of Toril. They resemble in some way both beholders and grells, but are almost always encountered in the guise of a human or other humanoid creature. However, if they want to they can take the shape of pretty much anything. Other than that they have no really remarkable abilities, but are often high level wizards or rogues. To be frank, their description here sucks. These are clearly enemies from some novel, who probably have a complex and interesting background, but the creature presented here really is just a shapechanger that can change into anything.

Nishruu

A Nishruu is a mistlike creature that feeds on magic. While intelligent, they do not talk and can not be mentally controlled in any way. Any spell targeted at them has no effect and simply makes them grow larger and when it is in contact with magic items it drains or temporarily disables them. When they come into contact with a spellcaster, the spellcaster loses prepared spells ever round. The only thing that can really hurt them are fire and cold spells, which it can not absorb. The idea is quite interesting, but fighting them is probably going to get very frustrating for players. Slaying one would likely require a small expedition and trying lots of different methods, but I don’t see how they could slay one as a regular wandering monster in a dungeon if they don’t already know what can kill it. Still, as the centerpiece of an adventure a nishruu might be a pretty interesting opponent.

Peryton

The Peryton is one of the truly bizarre creatures in D&D, and it won’t be a surprise to anyone that it originally appeared in the Fiend Folio (though with all the weird stuff in that book, it doesn’t really stand out much). I think it’s actually a creature from Greek myth, and a hyper-violent intelligent bird monster seems just the kind of critter they would love. Fits right next to harpies, sirens, and erinyes. A peryton is a large eagle with the head of a wolf and the antlers of a stag. It hates everything and only wants to kill and take the heart from its victims. It’s not particularly interesting, but probably can make for a nice addition to any adventure.

Phaerim

The Phaerimm are the Forgotten Realms reply to the Greyhawk weirdness that is beholders, mind flayers, and aboleths. These huge flying worms not only look bizarre, they are also extremely intelligent and powerful sorcerers. They appeared way back in the book FR13: Anauroch, but only became really relevant in late 2nd edition. They are the ancient enemy that destroyed the wizard empire Netheril by turning its land into the Anauroch desert, forcing the Netherese to flee to all corners of the world. While the Netherese were a pretty big deal, I wouldn’t be surprises if many Forgotten Realms fans have never heard of them. Native to the Underdark, they are a race of evil overlords who even enslave mind flayers and beholders within their domain. Fortunately, one of their enemies created a magical barrier that trapped the phaerimm in a large section of the Underdark, which know about matches the area of the Anauroch desert on the surface above.

Genasi

Like tieflings and aasimar, Genasi are humanoids who are descended from magical creatures from other worlds. Instead of demons or angels, the ancestors of genasi are usually genies or other somewhat humanoid elemental creatures. Genasi first appeared in the Planescape book Planewalker’s Handbook, but to my knowledge the setting never really did much with them. I think probably because it focused much more on the dozens of heavens and hells, while the elemental planes always played a relatively minor role. For reasons completely unknown to me, genasi were picked up a few years later in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting book for 3rd edition, even though they didn’t really have any role in this setting before. While they never were huge, genasi really were mostly Forgotten Realms creatures in 3rd edition, but got even more appearances in 4th. There really isn’t much to say about them. They have a small bonus to one ability score which is compensated by an equal penalty to another score, and they get a laughable tiny bonus to resist spells of their element and a single spell they can cast one per day. Crunch-wise they completely suck, but I really love the idea of people who have the blood of spirits in their ancestry which comes from the elements instead from angels or demons. And while the illustration in this book is pretty bad, there are plenty of really great ones in other books.

Tanarruk and Fey’ri

The book also has two unique types of tieflings. The Fey’ri and the Tanarruk. Both are connected to the fortress Hellgate Keep, which makes me strongly suspect that they are from the same adventure or novel. The Fey’ri are the descendants of an ancient elven family that tried to increase the magical strength of their bloodline by interbreeding with succubuses. It worked, and the first generations resulted in half-fiend elves, with their later offspring being fey’ri tieflings. Eventually the demonic elves where discovered and mostly destroyed, but a few survived and disappeared for centuries. And now they are back. Fey’ri mostly have the abilities of both elves and tieflings, but also can change their shape to appear like normal elves and have a few additional magic powers, which vary by individual. I personally really like these guys. Evil demonic elves! I can’t really defend my position here, because every single element seems totally cliched and overdone. But they don’t only work as substitute emo-vampires, but also as really cool decadent Sword & Sorcery warlocks.

The tanarruk are creations of the demon rulers of Hellgate Keep, who bred them from lesser demons and orcs. Despite their much more savage look, they are actually smarter than normal orcs and a lot tougher. As a nasty surprise, they have a very high resistance against fire and also some immunity to magic, which makes them really well suited as shock troopers to charge at enemy wizards.

**Solaris** · 2015-05-05, 10:34 PM (ISO 8601)

Perytons were in the 1st Edition Monster Manual. If Wikipedia is to be believed, they come from Jorge Luis Borges's Book of Imaginary Beings. I thought they came from Greek mythology, too, but evidently not.

**Yora** · 2015-05-07, 06:20 AM (ISO 8601)

And here is the last one:

Sharn

The phaerimm were weird, but the Sharn are even weirder. They are large black creatures with three eyeless heads and three arms that each end in three hands with three fingers and an eye in each palm. Like that phaerimm, they are powerful sorcerers but also clerics and they can create three small portals through which they can stick their hands to cast spells at targets behind walls, around corners, or similar situations. To make things worse, sharn are always under the effect of the haste spell, which under the rules version of this book allows them to cast two spells every round. Not surprisingly, these creatures are so alien that they are immune to any magic that manipulates their minds or changes their bodies. A somewhat unusual quirk is that no magic can change the shape of another creature to look like a sharn. Why that is the case seems to be simply an oddity of the universe. While the sharn are both very weird and alien, they are thankfully not really evil and they also hate the phaerimm. In fact it was the sharn who created the magical barrier that trapped the phaerimm under the Anauroch desert. These guys are some really trippy stuff. They first appeared with the phaerimm in the sourcebook Anauroch, which I didn’t know was actually written by Ed Greenwood himself. It’s strange that they have such a tiny presence in the Forgotten Realms. I only ever saw them in this monster book and the Return of the Archwizards novels, which are about the return of the Netherese Empire from the Plane of Shadow, which got the phaerimm all rilled up.

Siv

The Sivs are a race of frog people similar to the classic bullywugs, but also very different. While bullywugs are primitive savages, the sivs are as smart as humans and usually Lawful Evil, and even have training as monks. I’m not sure if there’s a kung-fu toad style. They also have the ability to run on the surface of water, which is very kung-fu indeed. It all looks like a quite intriguing idea, but sadly there isn’t really any useful description to how they behave and what they want.

Tall Mouther

The Tall Mouther is classic old-school D&D weirdness. It’s a big head with a big maw and six arms, covered in blue fur. Otherwise it’s a bit like an ogre and especially loves to eat halflings.

Tomb Tapper

The Tomb Tapper is one of the more mysterious creatures of the Forgotten Realms. They are huge golems that resemble humans, but have no face. Instead their large mouth is in the center of their stomach and they don’t have any eyes at all. Tomb Tappers only exist to search for and collect magic items. They are usually found deep underground where they are digging into ancient tombs and subterranean ruins. Not only are they incredibly strong and very smart, they are also almost impossible to hurt with all but the most strongly enchanted weapons and can sense their environment perfectly in total darkness. They were originally created by the wizards of Netheril to fight against the phaerimm and destroying nonhumanoid spellcasters (including mind flayers, aboleths, and so on) is the one thing that has a higher priority for them than collecting magic treasures. Rumor has it that the tomb tapper take all the magic items they find to a single location deep below the Anauroch desert, which very well might be the greatest treasure hord and collection of magic in the whole world.

Tyrantfog Zombie

Remember all the Bane monsters at the start of this book? Here’s more! The former high priest of Bane and later high priest of Banes son Xvim created the Tyrantfog Zombies as a means to destroy the rival clerics of the new god Cyric, many of which had been priests of Bane before. Once touched by a strange green fog, they would fall ill and die. Then they would rise as zombielike undead that continue to spread the magical fog through the world. Thankfully the fog that flows from their mouths and holes in their rotting bodies does not have the power to create more tyrantfog zombies but only drains the strength from living creatures that get too close to them. When injured by the claws of the tyrantfog zombie, they spread a terrible disease that can permanently cripple anyone who gets infected, even if they survive it.

Beasts of Xvim

The Beasts of Xvim are another creation of Xvims high priest. They are normal animals that get magically transformed to get bigger, stronger, and utterly evil. They are always black with green glowing eyes and glowing green mist coming from their mouths. Once created, these beasts have to kill living people and devour their souls. (Demon Dog +1)

Curst

The Cursts are once mortal warriors who had been killed by the forces of the death god Myrkul while inside zones of wild magic douring the Time of Troubles, when the gods of the Forgotten Realms walked the world in physical for and spread lots of chaos and destruction. The curst are undead and somewhat insane, and also almost impossible to destroy. As long as the head remains, the rest of the body can magically grow back. They are not evil, but their insanity still makes them a serious threat.

--

Monsters of Faerûn Cliche Creature Counter:

Evil Apes: 0
Variant Ghouls: 3
Demon Dogs: 1
Skeletons with Robes: 0

Fantasy Safari Score:

Evil Apes: 18
Variant Ghouls: 19
Demon Dogs: 16
Skeletons with Robes: 9

**Yora** · 2015-05-27, 03:00 PM (ISO 8601)

Came upon another nice collection of creatures, so I felt like doing another entry:

I reviewed Spears of the Dawn a few weeks ago, and it’s a nice little setting I recommend to anyone with interest in non-European influenced fantasy campaigns. I also really love the new classes and magic system based on Basic D&D that work much better for spellcasters in a Sword & Sorcery setting than standard clerics and wizards. But in addition to all that, Spears of the Dawn also has a short and very nice collection of monsters, which made me want to make another Fantasy Safari post.

As part of the funding campaign, all the art from the book was given away freely, which is always very nice when doing this series.

Spears of the Dawn

Spears of the Dawn by Sine Nomine Publishing, 2013; 11 pages of monsters.

Eloko

Eloko are a race of tiny people who look just like humans but have grass instead of hair and wear clothes made from leafs. However, there is nothing endearing about these little guys, as they like to eat humans. Lone hunters are a welcome meal for groups of eloko, but they have a particular taste for the flesh of women. Before they reveal themselves to their prey, they make their presence known by the ringing of tiny bells, which have the ability to cloud the thoughts of any human to the point where they will simply stand around motionless while being devoured alive. If someone can resist the mind numbning ringing of their small bells, eloko are still much more dangerous than their small size makes them look and a single one fights about as well as a fully grown crocodile. In groups they can be a real threat to small parties of adventurers.

Eternal

The Eternal are probably my favorite monster of Spears of the Dawn and the major antagonists of the setting. When their evil kingdom was facing defeat by the five other realms of the Three Lands, they turned to dark magic to make themselves immortal. After their death, a magic ritual made their bodies return to a state of unlife, where they need to neither eat, drink, sleep, or even breath. Nor do they bleed and they are impossibly to truly destroy. Stabbing wounds don’t harm them at all and the only way to really harm them is to break their bones or chop off their limbs. While they are able to exist deep in the deserts or underground without any food or water forever and can not be killed by weapons, their unliving nature also makes them unable to heal as they are still corpses. The only way to restore their mangled bodies after suffering the effects of injuries, blasting sand, and the blazing sun is to feed on human flesh. And that already tells you pretty much everything you need to know to understand why they are such a terrifying menace on the Three Lands. They are a lot like vampires in many ways, but also distinctively different creatures. They do not have to feed on humans, but if they do not the ravages of time and the environment quickly take a heavy toll on their dead flesh. They are not harmed by sunlight and in fact nothing can really destroy them. The only way to deal with them permanently is to decapitate them so they are unable to feed and heal their injuries, but even when burned to ash and their bones are ground to dust, their immortal spirits remain, unable to gain a new body or truly die. And like vampires, many eternal sorcerers know the old rituals and can raise the corpses of their enemies to be their slaves forever. Spears of the Dawn is an interesting setting in itself, but the Eternal are what really is selling it to me. They are somewhat similar to an idea I had for my Ancient Lands settings, and I got a whole number of new ideas I want to include from the Eternal.

Fanged Apes

Old friend, we meet again! The Fanged Ape is Spears of the Dawns version of the Evil Ape. The stats of fanged apes are just like those of any other big apes you’ll come across with no special ability whatsoever other than being as smart as people. But Crawford managed to given even these generic brutes a bit of a new interesting twist by describing them as sometimes raiding human villages in the night to steal children in their sleep to eat. That’s already a lot more sinister. One group lives in the mountains and likes to ambush human hunters and warriors with rockfalls. A great example of how a good monster really isn’t about looks or abilities, but it’s almost entirely their behavior that makes them interesting and frightening. Remember the apes from Princess Mononoke? These guys could easily be portrayed as just as creepy, without the sympathy for their plight.

Ghost

Ghosts of the Three Lands are mostly like you’re used to from any other settings. They are the restless souls of the dead who linger on as incorporeal spirits. While they are not exceptionally strong, they are difficult to hit even with magical weapons and their touch drains the life force from the living who dare get too close to them. But there are a few new ideas for them too. Destroying a ghost is relatively easy if you can hit it and avoid its touch, as simply dealing enough damage with magic weapons and spells will force them to depart to their afterlife. Ghost always haunt the place of their death and never move far away from it, but most disappear after sunrise and only returning at nightfall. However, there are many exceptions to that rule and some ghost can fight even in the sunlight, take possession of corpses, or even make their own bodies out of earth or wood to attack any who draw their rage.

Giant

The Giants of the Three Lands look very much like large humans with perfectly black skin, but are believe to be in fact immortal spirit who were each created by the gods at the dawn of the world. They are all highly cultured and wear rich clothes and jewelry and each one of them is a great warrior and craftsman. Since they are few in number and become fewer with every one that is slain, most giants are solitary, but many have large numbers of human servants and slaves. They are believed to be the first children of the gods and most despise humans for being both so much weaker and still being favored by the gods. The houses of these giants are often dangerous mazes full of traps to kill human intruders, and even if the giant is dead, its home can hold many wonderous treasures that are not found for many generations.

An Ilomba is a spirit that serves the gods of the underworld and has the form of a snake. They seek out witches or priests to become their assistants in leading worshipers of the underworld gods and offer them many magical gifts. When bound together, both the ilomba and its master are invulnerable to normal weapons, but if one of them dies, they both die. The master also gains the magical powers of a low-level sorcerer. In turn, the ilomba gains the ability to perfectly assume the appearance and voice of its master, which allows him to seemingly be in two places at once and decieve any who might spy on him to discover the leader of the cult. While this all sounds pretty nice for the master, I also notice that this doesn’t mean that he is really in charge. He has no real power over the ilomba and the snake can just as well impersonate him before his own followers or deliberately leave hints of his involvment with any crimes it wants to blame on him. The bond between master and ilomba can only be severed by the ilomba and if the master would try to kill the snake he would also die himself. Since the ilomba is a devious evil spirit from the underworld itself, I can’t really see how anyone making a deal with it wouldn’t get screwed over in the end. This creature is less than a quarter of a page and only five sentences of description, yet it’s one of the most intriguing monsters I’ve come across in all the many monster books I’ve read.

The Kishi is another malevolent spirit who appears as a very handsome young human man with a rich mane of hair. However, it has two faces and when it attacks it turns its head around to reveal the face of a hyena on the other side and strikes with its long fangs. Looking just at the stats, it doesn’t have any special abilities. It either attacks with a weapon when posing as a human, or with its fangs. The only difference is the amount of damage it deals. However, a kishi always tries to disguise its true nature until right before it attacks to eat an unsuspecting human it manages to catch alone. They often appear like lone but charming travelers who seem like pleasant company on the road, or present themselves as young noblemen from distant lands or exotic entertainers. But no matter their disguise, their real goal is always to separate people from a crowd to devour them. Kishi are a lot like werewolves but instead of turning into a beast at night and being regular people at day, they are always on the hunt and actually much more dangerous as they are able to lure their victims into traps. Again, just a quarter of a page of stats and description, but a great setup for an adventure or even a mini campaign. Werewolf stories will be familiar to all players, but when the monster is actually fully in control of itself at all time, things get shaken up quite a lot. People disappearing and bloody remains being found in dark corners could be almost anything and a charming young men who mingles with the rich and beautiful might quite likely the last person the players would suspect.

Leopard Cultist

Leopard Cultists are shapechangers very similar to werewolves and are humans who can transform into leopards to prey on other people. But unlike werewolves, leopard cultists are not the result of a curse or disease, but actually worshippers of leopards and their strength who love turning into a beast and welcome it. They are almost never alone and can appear in quite large groups and are always on the hunt for human prey as sacrifices for their beast gods. Simple cultists are merely somewhat mad humans who dress as leopards to hunt for other people in the night with claw-like knives, but the true initiates can turn into real leopards. This is an adventure that writes itself. First a village appears to have a growing problem with leopards and ask adventurers for help, who then discover that it’s really a mad cult who hunt people in animal disguise and sacrifices. But just when it seems the situation is about to get under control, another big twist reveals that some of them are not just mad but can actually become leopards. This makes the old generic European werewolf look rather bland and boring by comparison.

I thought this would be super short, but actually I think I need to split this up into two parts. For just 11 pages, this is really remarkable. Almost everything that is not a normal animal is worth talking about.

**Talakeal** · 2015-05-27, 03:38 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Yora

I was looking at the monster list of the 5th edition Monster Manual, and I can say right out that I'll never be convering that one. 90% of the entiries are bland standard stuff you see in every edition monster manual, every retroclone, and even most other western fantasy RPGs. The other 10% are just terrible:

Azer
Cockatrice
Darkmantle
Flumph
Galeb Duhr
Hook Horror
Intellect Devourer
Jackalwere
Magmin
Nothic
Piercer
Scarecrow
Shield Guardian
Water Weird
Xorn

Why Galeb Duhr, Magmin, and Xorn? Those are the most bland and pointless things in the history of D&D. While are they still around?

The only creatures I think are nonstandard and interesting are grell, myconid, and thri-kreen. Which of course are all over 30 years old.

I would say cockatrices are a pretty dang generic monster. Also, I really have a soft spot for xorn, hook horros, and intellect devourers as they all scream D&D to me. As for the other stuff, yah, I have no idea why it would be in the first book. Maybe they needed them to introduce a variety in creature types or abilities?

**Yora** · 2015-05-28, 08:05 AM (ISO 8601)

The Moatia are a race of short old men with yellow skin who walk with a limping gait. All of them are powerful sorcerers who live alone deep within the forests and warn away any intruders with markposts made from bones. They are often wicked and cruel, but are also very skilled healers who have medicine and powders to cure any ailment in existance. They never provide services for free though, and the prices they demand can be very steep or appaling. Moatia don’t use any weapons or attack with their hands, but fight entirely with their magic. They remind me quite a lot of central European witches in their behavior and role.

The Night Men are a race of humans from outside the Three Lands, but all of them are savage and deformed, but almost nothing is known about them other than that they sometimes cross the river at night and raid villages on the southern border. When they attack, they always do so in large hordes, and are usually led by a very powerful sorcerer or shaman. These raiders destroy villages and take large numbers of captives, which they take back to their jungles to be sacrificed in ancient ruined temples. Some people think that they are evil spirits or actually animals that have been transformed into human-like shapes.

The Obia is a spirit in the shape of a large leopard or jackal that serves sorcerers and witches as a guardian or to abduct people and bring them to them. Either to become their wives or for other unspeakable purposes. An obia can grasp a victims in its mouth without hurting them and then run off into the night at very great speed leaving barely any traces. Only the greatest hunters have any chance of tracking them down and find the place where the victims are held. Defeating the sorcerer and his obia guardian is a whole different story altogether.

The Rompo is a large beast that looks like a huge starved rodent and feeds on human corpses. Like ghouls, they often make their lairs in old tombs or cemetaries, feeding on the remains of those burried there and slaying any travelers or explorers that come to store their bodies to be eaten later. When investigating the disappearance of people near an old tomb, there is a good chance of finding the rompos food stores before encountering the beast itself. Rompos are very smart and while they don’t speak human languages, they sometimes gather in large groups on graveyeards. The howling of a group of rompo at night has a hypnotic effect on any humans nearby, which makes them especially dangerous.

The Sasabonsam are a race of winged men with red hair who often abduct people by snatching them up into the air and carrying them to their dark temples as sacrifices to their bat gods. Few people have ever seen these lairs of the sasabonsam and returned to tell of them, but often these creatures are led by an evil sorcerer or a moatia. Seems to me like a lot of monsters in the Three Lands like to abduct people and carry them to a hidden lair. I wonder if that is a common theme in West African myth.

Umthali

Can’t really have a desert heroic fantasy setting without snakemen, do you? Umthali fulfill this role in the Three Lands. They are the distant descendants of humans and intelligent snakes from the early days of the world and serve the dark gods of the underworld but were driven out by the gods and their human followers. Normal umthali warriors are not special in any way, having basically the same abilities like humans. They are lead by very powerful shamans, though. Like the yuan-ti from Dungeons & Dragons, umthali have many different shapes with some of them appearing almost human, While the serpentmen of Robert Howard had the ability to change their shape to that of specific humans, these creatures here seem to be straight copies of the Yuan-ti. I would have loved to see some new ideas for them, especially given the strength of many other creatures of the setting.

Walking Corpse

A Walking Corpse is in many ways like a zombie, but it’s merely dead and not a rotting husk of a man. Shamans can create them, but only from bodies that have not been burried yet, as the souls of these have already departed into the afterlife. When a walking corpse is destroyed, its spirit still survives and lingers on, but the book doesn’t say what would become of them.

Witches are people with a natural ability of sorcery. They can curse others simply through the force of their will and it might take many years until their powers are revealed even to themselves. Often witches of a given area come together and meet in their dreams, and the leaders of these groups are often very powerful sorcerers. Many witches are not evil, but their powers only allow them bring harm upon others and can’t be used to do any good other than hurting those who threaten their villages and families. These magic abilities can be removed by spells that can break powerful curses, but only if the witch truly desires to do be rid of the powers. Otherwise they quickly return.

I am really surprised at how much great stuff is here on so very few pages. It’s almost two great monsters on every single page. Even really great monster books don’t come anywhere near to this. The monsters are also all really extremely minimalistic in their mechanics. With the rules being one of the many B/X clones, the stat block consist only of nine numbers and the description is just the appearance of the creature and a brief summary of what it does with almost no word spend on any specific rules as they are so straightforward that they don’t really need any more elaboration. Probably one of my favorite monster collections I’ve read so far.

**Yora** · 2015-05-30, 12:44 PM (ISO 8601)

Anyone want me to copy my other posts here?

**Talakeal** · 2015-05-30, 01:11 PM (ISO 8601)

I dont quite follow your first sentance in the walking dead entry about them being merely dead rather than the rotting husk of a man. Could you please elaborate?

Other than that great review! I look forward to more in the future.

**Kriton** · 2015-05-31, 06:38 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Yora

The Phygorax is fascinating, being an undead fish. The spines on its back drain life energy, but it can not use them to attack. Instead it creates illusions that trick other creatures into touching it. Any creature that dies from this energy drain transforms into a phygorax itself. I wonder if the name is actually a Greek word that has a meaning or just some cool sounding letters.

Though I'm sure we could try to jam some meaning in "phygorax", I think it's just a word that sounds Greek.

**Yora** · 2015-05-31, 06:50 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Talakeal

I dont quite follow your first sentance in the walking dead entry about them being merely dead rather than the rotting husk of a man. Could you please elaborate?

I think I misread that and mixed it up a bit with the Eternal. They actually are pretty much regular zombies. The only real difference is that the body is inhabited by its original soul and the soul can only die once. Now that it has returned to the world of the living, destroying the body does not get the soul back into the afterlife. Sadly, there is no mention of what happens to the soul after the body is no longer usable. Could be a ghost, but it doesn't say that.

**TheCountAlucard** · 2015-05-31, 07:22 AM (ISO 8601)

Maybe it persists on in the same fashion as a "destroyed" Eternal.

**Talakeal** · 2015-06-03, 01:44 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Yora

I think I misread that and mixed it up a bit with the Eternal. They actually are pretty much regular zombies. The only real difference is that the body is inhabited by its original soul and the soul can only die once. Now that it has returned to the world of the living, destroying the body does not get the soul back into the afterlife. Sadly, there is no mention of what happens to the soul after the body is no longer usable. Could be a ghost, but it doesn't say that.

Ok, that clears it up, thanks.

I do have a slightly off topic question though; I have gone back and read your entire blog (good stuff btw, thank you for writing it) and I see you talking about your Ancient Lands setting all the time, but I still don't quite get what it is for.

Maybe I am missing some context or a skipped over an introductory post, but what is the setting for? Is it a campaign setting for your group? Are you planning on publishing it as a generic campaign setting for anyone to use? Or is it going to be the backdrop for a game system / fiction series you are working?

It seems to be a really cool setting, and I am just curious what form it is eventually going to take.

**Yora** · 2015-06-03, 01:51 PM (ISO 8601)

All of the above.

It's my home campaign setting and I want to do a clean writeup and put it up as a free pdf. And I also a a good number for ideas that don't work as rpg adventures, which I might write as stories instead.

I'm in the middle of overhauling pretty much all of it right now (though keeping probably 90% of the content I already have), so it's a bit chaotic and cluttered.

**Yora** · 2015-06-06, 03:01 AM (ISO 8601)

Everything is trying to kill you!

And by that I mean everything!!! In D&D, nothing is safe!

Statues? Trying to kill you!

Caryatid Column (Fiend Folio, 1981)

Decorative Armor? Trying to kill you!

Helmed Horror (Monstrous Compendium Annual Vol. 1, 1994)

Mushrooms are trying to kill you!

Violet Fungus (Monster Manual, 1977)

That treasure chest? Trying to kill you!

Mimic (Monster Manual, 1977)

Coins? Trying to kill you!

Lock Lurker (Monstrous Compendium Annual Vol. 1, 1994)

Your sword? Trying to kill you!

Xaver (Monstrous Compendium Annual Vol. 1, 1994)

Your friends? Those are not your friends! They are trying to kill you!

Doppelganger (Monster Manual, 1977)

Stalagmites are killing you!

Roper (Monster Manual, 1977)

Stalagtites are killing you!

Piercer (Monster Manual, 1977)

A rock? Trying to kill you!

Bowler

That cloak on the wall? Trying to kill you!

Cloaker (Monster Manual II, 1983)

The Wall is also trying to kill you.

Stunjelly (Fiend Folio, 1981)

As is the floor.

Trapper (Monster Manual , 1977)

And the ceiling.

Lurker (Monster Manual, 1977)

The hallway? Trying to kill you!

Greater Mimic (Ruins of Undermountain II, 1994)

That bridge? Trying to kill you, too!

Spanner (Fiend Folio, 1981)

The water? Trying to kill you!

Aballin (Fiend Folio Appendix, 1992)

Snow is also trying to kill you!

Snowflake Ooze (Monster Manual III, 2004)

That lovely oasis in the desert? Trying to Kill you!

Dune Trapper (Monstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix I, 1992)

Your pets? Trying to kill you!

Beasts of Xvim (Monsters of Faerûn, 2001)

Bunny on a tree stump? Trying to kill you!

Wolf-in-Sheep’s-Clothing (Monster Manual II, 1983)

Tumbleweed? Trying to kill you!

Plague Brush (Fiend Folio, 2003)

Sea weed? Trying to kill you!

Kelp Angler (Fiend Folio, 2003)

Flowers too!

Death Blossoms (Monster Manual III, 2004)

And those garden plants want to especially kll you!

Topiary Guardians (Monster Manual III, 2004)

Trust no one! Trust nothing! Set everything on fire! Kill it! Kill everything before it kills you!
I'd attack that Gazeebo too!

**TheCountAlucard** · 2015-06-06, 10:01 AM (ISO 8601)

I'd attack that Gazeebo too!

Just takes one animate object spell.

**Inevitability** · 2015-06-07, 10:20 AM (ISO 8601)