2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Eighty-Seven

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 32 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Monsters & Treasure Volume 2.

**For those coming in, in the middle of this series I am giving you my take on OD&D during my first exposure starting in Sept of 1975. For this first part it is just the first three books of the original woodgrain box set and prior to obtaining the Greyhawk, Blackmoor and later Supplements.**

So on with the monsters - 

COCKATRICE: The Cockatrice is a less powerful but more mobile Basilisk. It turns opponents to stone by touch. The Cockatrice is able to fly. They are not intelligent.

This mythical beast was said to kill both animal and vegetable life with its gaze or its breath either one. So I added these to its powers.

BASILISK: Although this creature cannot fly, it has the power of turning to stone those whom it touches and those who meet its glance, but it in turn can be petrified by the reflection of its own eyes if the light is sufficient, and it looks at a good reflector. The Basilisk is not intelligent.

This mythical beast was said to be able to kill with deadly venom, it leaves a deadly trail of venom where ever it goes, it kills plants and creatures both. It kills by touch, by the gaze and by the sound of its voice and by its breath. I added these things and removed the turn to stone stuff.

MEDUSAE: A human-type monster with the lower body of a snake, a human torso and head, with tresses which are asps. It is able to turn those who look at its eyes to stone, while the bite of the snakes which cover its head is deadly (poison). As it is intelligent it will cleverly attempt to beguile victims into looking at it. It also is subject to the effects of its reflected glance.

In mythology Gorgons were the three sisters Stheno, Euryale and Medusa. But I kept Medusae as a type of monster and added a few details from mythology: tusks, wings, bronze claws, and scaly skin.

GORGONS: These bull-like monsters have scales of iron covering their hides and a breath which is capable of turning to stone those who are within its 6’ range.

Bitd I was mystified as to where Gygax got this as his gorgon separate from Medusae. A couple of medieval buffs in the group had some theories, but I do not remember the details anymore. It least not separate from other things I have read in the intervening years.

MANTICORES: Huge, lion-bodied monstrosities with a man’s face, horns, dragon wings, and a tail full of iron spikes. There are 24 of these spikes in a Manticore’s tail, and they can be fired 6 at a time in any one direction with the range (18”) accuracy and effect of a crossbow. Their favorite prey is man.

In mythology they had a tail of venomous spines or the tail of a scorpion and no wings. So I replaced the iron spikes with the venomous spines and kept the wings. It was said to have a triple row of teeth and ate everything including the bones. I added that  and made its bite do two dice of damage +2 Hit Points. (2d6+2)

HYDRAS: Unlike the standard mythological concept of the Hydra being a snake with many heads, these beasts are large dinosaurs with multiple heads. Because of its size and constitution, each head is represented by one hit die, and the hit die per head is generally of six pips. Thus a six-headed Hydra has six hit dice of six pips each, or 36 total points. When six hit points are scored on it one head is then killed. Hydras of five heads fight as 5th-level fighters, those with six as 6th-level fighters, and so on. A ten-headed Hydra would fight as a 10th-level fighter even when it had but one head left. Usually all of a Hydra’s heads can attack simultaneously.

I changed this back to the serpentine monster of legend, gave it back its poisonous breath and blood. I also gave it back the ability to regrow two heads in place of each one cut off. As it grows more heads it levels up and becomes a more powerful fighter. To kill it you have to cut off all the heads in the same melee round.

CHIMERAS: Combining the worst of many creatures, a Chimera has the fore-body of a great cat, the hind quarters of a goat, dragon wings, and three heads. The goat’s head can gore with its long and sharp horns, the lion’s head can tear with its great fangs, and the dragon’s head can either bite or breathe fire (but with a range of only 5” and but three dice damage).

In mythology it was lion, goat and snake or dragon with the head attached to each part of the body, but I liked this description (and the wings)and kept it mostly unchanged. I had it as the fore-body of a Lion, the trunk of a huge Goat and the hindquarters of a Dragon and it had a dragon tail and could use the tail as an attack also.

WYVERNS: These monsters are relatives of Dragons, but they are smaller and have but two legs. A Wyvern hasn’t the fearsome breath of a true Dragon, but they are equipped with a poisonous sting in their tail and poison enough to use it repeatedly. It is their primary defense, and they will use it two-thirds of the time (biting otherwise, die 5 or 6 indicates the latter). The tail is mobile and can be brought over the back to reach any opponent standing before its head.

They can still bite, and attack with the claws. It also still has wings and can fly.

Tomorrow we will be looking at Dragons in some detail.