Gorgons: Gorgons, which first appeared in OD&D Vol. 2, are still metal-skinned bulls with a petrifying breath weapon, and that makes them among my all-time favourite monsters. They haven’t changed at all statistically, although their breath weapon now has a more well-defined area of effect, and a limit on the number of times it can be used in a day. The entry here is actually quite sparse, as though Gary realised that a metal-skinned bull was already rad enough. We don’t need any ecology nonsense detracting from it’s majestic awesomeness.
Gray Ooze: Gray Ooze also made its first appearance in OD&D Vol. 2. They now have a value for Number Appearing, whereas before this was blank. Thier Hit Dice has increased slightly from 3 to 3+3. Their immunities haven’t changed much, except that they are now specifically immune to all spells except those that use lightning. They are still subject to damage from normal weapons, but those weapons are now said to possibly corrode or break. They are also said to strike like snakes when attacking, which was not detailed before. I’m also really happy to see that they’ve retained their latent psychic abilities from Supplement III, and can hit anyone who uses psionics near them with a psychic crush. There’s something about psionically-powered slimes that really resonates with me.
Green Slime: There are no changes to the basics of green slime, although their relative deadliness to OD&D can depend on your interpretation of the rules. In AD&D, it takes a slime 1-4 melee rounds to turn any creature it contacts into green slime (no resurrection possible!). In OD&D, it took one turn, but the use of word turn was ambiguous in those rules. It could mean ten combat rounds, or it could mean a single round, and there’s a world of difference between the two. As usual, I will probably interpret the rules to be the most fair to the players, but it's a moot point once we get to AD&D anyway. Oh, and green slimes are specifically said to be able to sense vibrations and drop on people passing underneath, so thay are at least a little more of a threat now.
Griffon: The only change to griffons is that their Number Appearing has decreased from 2-16 to 2-12. There are also some extra details about whether their young will be present in a nest, because Gary has thrown in the option of taking them and selling them for thousands of gold pieces.
Groaning Spirit: The only mention of a Groaning Spirit in previous D&D books was in Supplement III, under the description for the Iron Flask of Tuerny the Merciless. But that reference to a demon or devil of small power has no connection to this new monster, more commonly known as the Banshee. As far as undead go they have an unusually specific origin, being the spirits of evil female elves, something we’re assured is very rare. (Although, come to think of it, that describes pretty much the entirety of dark elf civilisation. Does every female drow become a banshee after death?) They have the usual raft of undead immunities, and can’t be harmed by non-magical weapons. Their main attack is a wail that kills everything within 30 feet that doesn’t make its saving throw. An exorcise spell will kill one outright, but just for fun I’m going to check the range on that – and as I suspected, it is 10 feet, so your cleric will have to get well within that banshee’s wail to get this spell off.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Thursday, February 03, 2011
AD&D Monster Manual Part 20
Golem: There are four types of golems detailed here: flesh, stone, iron and clay. The first three were introduced in Supplement I, and the clay golem was first seen in The Strategic Review #4. Golems are still immune to non-magical weapons, but now any magical creature with hit dice equal to or greater than the golem can successfully attack it.
Clay Golem: Clay Golems begin with a significant change, as their AC worsens from 2 to 7. This makes perfect sense to me, because clay isn’t exactly renowned for its protective properties, and they really shouldn't have an AC equivalent to the Iron Golem. Their damage range has changed slightly; it was 4-32, and now it is 3-30. A 17th level lawful good cleric is now required to create one, whereas before the level was 15th and the alignment was lawful. Even so, now it is stated that a lower-level cleric can do so with the right magical item. More spells are needed for the process as well; before it was raise dead, animate object and commune, and now it is resurrection, animate objects, commune, prayer and bless. To me the lower level spells that have been added feel a bit redundant, because any cleric that is casting resurrection will have no trouble with the weaker spells. The ritual now requires a massive outlay of at least 50,000 gp, whereas before you could get away with under 20,000 gp if you were lucky (part of the costs were randomly determined).
There’s still a chance for the clay golem to be “imbued with a chaotic evil spirit” – a much more evocative description than the event had before – but instead of a flat 1% each round, it is now a cumulative chance. So your clay golem is absolutely guaranteed to go berserk eventually.
And now we come to the most controversial sentence in the entry: “Damage inflicted upon living matter by a clay golem is only repairable by means of a healing spell from a cleric of 17th or greater level.” Yes, that means what it says. If you get damaged by a clay golem, that damage is permanent until you can find a 17th level cleric to heal it. It seems incredibly unfair, and I know of a lot of people who insist that the rule must be some kind of mistake. To them I say shenanigans. Suck up that hit point damage or find a high-level cleric, because some monsters are just plain dangerous.
The golem now attacks with 11 hit dice instead of 12, but it can still cast haste upon itself (and will now automatically do so if it goes berserk). They are still immune to all weapons except those that are blunt and magical. A move earth spell will still drive them back, and now it also deals a load of damage. Whereas before a disintegrate spell just paralysed them for a round, now it slows their movement by 50% and deals damage also. In addition, the earthquake spell now affects them, paralysing them and dealing massive damage.
I think most of the changes to the Clay Golem’s stats can be attributed to someone trying to strengthen the creature’s connection to that chaotic evil spirit. They were trying to create a more powerful creature, and they did so, but the cost is a greater chance for it to be possessed. Them’s the breaks!
Flesh Golem: Flesh Golems haven’t changed at all statistically. They are given a lot more detail, though, most notably that the means of creating one is described for the first time (it’s the first time that Iron and Stone Golems get this description as well). It requires a 14th level magic-user to cast wish, polymorph any object, geas, protection from normal missiles and strength, as well as the expenditure of 40,000 gp and one month of game time. They also now have the same chance as a clay golem to go berserk, which was not present before. At least with Flesh Golems there’s a decent chance that the creator can regain control of it, which cannot be done with a Clay Golem. Otherwise they have the same immunity to normal weapons, are still slowed by fire and cold, and are healed by lightning.
Iron Golem: Iron Golems’ AC has worsened from 2 to 3, but on the plus side they are slightly faster than before, and their damage range has increased from 4-32 to 4-40. Their creation requirements are detailed, needing an 18th level magic-user to cast wish, polymorph any object, geas and cloud kill, and to spend 80,000 gp and 3 months game time. And these guys are a good investment, because they won’t go nuts like the previous two types. They are still immune to weapons of less than +3 enchantment, are slowed by lightning and healed by fire. The only change is that it is explicitly stated that they are affected by rust monsters, although there's no indication of exactly how long it takes a rust monster to destroy one.
Stone Golem: Stone Golems haven’t changed a bit statistically. To create one you need a 16th level magic-user to cast wish, polymorph any object, geas and slow, and to spend 60,000 gp and 2 months of game time. The golem can still cast a slow spell on an opponent, but only every second round instead of every round. You’ll still need a +2 weapon or better to hurt one. They are no longer slowed by fire spells, but a rock to mud spell now has the same effect. Mud to rock still heals all damage the golem has taken. More interestingly, stone to flesh makes it temporarily vulnerable to normal attacks.
And, I’m done for today. You might have noticed a lack of updates lately. That’s been partly due to the holidays, but mostly due to a general lack of interest in D&D. Without actually being able to play the game (and I haven’t for a couple of years now) it’s hard to maintain my enthusiasm. The good news is that I’m in the initial stages of getting my regular game going again, so hopefully there’s some game-play in my future.
Clay Golem: Clay Golems begin with a significant change, as their AC worsens from 2 to 7. This makes perfect sense to me, because clay isn’t exactly renowned for its protective properties, and they really shouldn't have an AC equivalent to the Iron Golem. Their damage range has changed slightly; it was 4-32, and now it is 3-30. A 17th level lawful good cleric is now required to create one, whereas before the level was 15th and the alignment was lawful. Even so, now it is stated that a lower-level cleric can do so with the right magical item. More spells are needed for the process as well; before it was raise dead, animate object and commune, and now it is resurrection, animate objects, commune, prayer and bless. To me the lower level spells that have been added feel a bit redundant, because any cleric that is casting resurrection will have no trouble with the weaker spells. The ritual now requires a massive outlay of at least 50,000 gp, whereas before you could get away with under 20,000 gp if you were lucky (part of the costs were randomly determined).
There’s still a chance for the clay golem to be “imbued with a chaotic evil spirit” – a much more evocative description than the event had before – but instead of a flat 1% each round, it is now a cumulative chance. So your clay golem is absolutely guaranteed to go berserk eventually.
And now we come to the most controversial sentence in the entry: “Damage inflicted upon living matter by a clay golem is only repairable by means of a healing spell from a cleric of 17th or greater level.” Yes, that means what it says. If you get damaged by a clay golem, that damage is permanent until you can find a 17th level cleric to heal it. It seems incredibly unfair, and I know of a lot of people who insist that the rule must be some kind of mistake. To them I say shenanigans. Suck up that hit point damage or find a high-level cleric, because some monsters are just plain dangerous.
The golem now attacks with 11 hit dice instead of 12, but it can still cast haste upon itself (and will now automatically do so if it goes berserk). They are still immune to all weapons except those that are blunt and magical. A move earth spell will still drive them back, and now it also deals a load of damage. Whereas before a disintegrate spell just paralysed them for a round, now it slows their movement by 50% and deals damage also. In addition, the earthquake spell now affects them, paralysing them and dealing massive damage.
I think most of the changes to the Clay Golem’s stats can be attributed to someone trying to strengthen the creature’s connection to that chaotic evil spirit. They were trying to create a more powerful creature, and they did so, but the cost is a greater chance for it to be possessed. Them’s the breaks!
Flesh Golem: Flesh Golems haven’t changed at all statistically. They are given a lot more detail, though, most notably that the means of creating one is described for the first time (it’s the first time that Iron and Stone Golems get this description as well). It requires a 14th level magic-user to cast wish, polymorph any object, geas, protection from normal missiles and strength, as well as the expenditure of 40,000 gp and one month of game time. They also now have the same chance as a clay golem to go berserk, which was not present before. At least with Flesh Golems there’s a decent chance that the creator can regain control of it, which cannot be done with a Clay Golem. Otherwise they have the same immunity to normal weapons, are still slowed by fire and cold, and are healed by lightning.
Iron Golem: Iron Golems’ AC has worsened from 2 to 3, but on the plus side they are slightly faster than before, and their damage range has increased from 4-32 to 4-40. Their creation requirements are detailed, needing an 18th level magic-user to cast wish, polymorph any object, geas and cloud kill, and to spend 80,000 gp and 3 months game time. And these guys are a good investment, because they won’t go nuts like the previous two types. They are still immune to weapons of less than +3 enchantment, are slowed by lightning and healed by fire. The only change is that it is explicitly stated that they are affected by rust monsters, although there's no indication of exactly how long it takes a rust monster to destroy one.
Stone Golem: Stone Golems haven’t changed a bit statistically. To create one you need a 16th level magic-user to cast wish, polymorph any object, geas and slow, and to spend 60,000 gp and 2 months of game time. The golem can still cast a slow spell on an opponent, but only every second round instead of every round. You’ll still need a +2 weapon or better to hurt one. They are no longer slowed by fire spells, but a rock to mud spell now has the same effect. Mud to rock still heals all damage the golem has taken. More interestingly, stone to flesh makes it temporarily vulnerable to normal attacks.
And, I’m done for today. You might have noticed a lack of updates lately. That’s been partly due to the holidays, but mostly due to a general lack of interest in D&D. Without actually being able to play the game (and I haven’t for a couple of years now) it’s hard to maintain my enthusiasm. The good news is that I’m in the initial stages of getting my regular game going again, so hopefully there’s some game-play in my future.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
AD&D Monster Manual part 19
Gnoll: Although these guys haven’t changed very much at all statistically, just about everything else in their entry is new. We learn that they live in loosely organised bands that occasionally form together to fight a common foe. They have leaders and chieftains with extra hit points, and also travel with their females and young (meaning that they procreate in the usual fashion). There’s no mention of them being a cross between gnomes and trolls here, as there was in OD&D. Gnolls are said to use trolls and hyenadons as guards. As weapons they favour battle axes, morning stars and two-handed swords. Although strong, they’re lazy. They only live for about 35 years. And most importantly, we get the first physical description of them as hyena-headed humanoids.
I’m still going with the gnome/troll hybrid idea in my game, as nothing given here contradicts it. I suppose that was the ancient origin of the race, and they were able to breed true despite their artificial beginnings.
Gnome: Again, while gnomes are unchanged statistically they receive a whole lot more detail than they had in OD&D. There’s a long breakdown of the NPC types that will accompany large bands, and it should be noted here that gnomes can become Fighters or Clerics. Gnomes typically use short swords, clubs and spears, and the description of their armour as leather covered in rings or studs is the first mention in the game of studded leather, or possibly ring mail. Their lairs are now often guarded by badgers, giant badgers, or wolverines. They still get pretty much the same special abilities as dwarves. There are also rumours of gnome magic-users, which I guess foreshadows their ability to become illusionists. They have brown skin, white hair, and live to about 600.
That gnomes are described here as having PC classes is pretty significant. They haven't yet been presented as a PC race in D&D to this point, and this is the first inkling that they'll get the full treatment in the AD&D Player's Handbook.
Giant Goat: So far, Giant Goats have only appeared in the wilderness encounter tables from Supplement III. They get stats here for the first time, and their main thing is that they deal a lot of damage, even more so when they charge. They can be tamed in rare cases and used as steeds, which is pretty cool. I kind of like the idea of having bugbears ride around on these things, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for any races that are said to hang out with giant goats. When I get to the inevitable goat-headed humanoids, I'll probably have them mounted on the giant goats.
Goblin: Like all the humanoids, goblins get a lot more detail than they did in OD&D. There’s the usual description of leaders and chieftains, but the assertion in OD&D that every goblin tribe has a king is unfortunately not present. They are said to ride huge wolves, though, which is always something I’ve loved about goblins. They have females and young, which distances them from their fairy tale origins significantly, I feel. We learn that they are decent miners, and can note unusual construction 25% of the time, like dwarves. Their skin ranges from yellow to red, and they only live for about 50 years.
So in the early stages of my campaign, every goblin tribe’s leader will be claiming to be king of the goblin race. By this point, it seems that won’t be the case, so I guess one of them won out. An article in an issue of The Dragon had an off-hand mention of the Goblin Wars, so I’m going to tie these together. The Goblin Wars, fought between many different tribes of goblins, started decades before the beginning of the campaign, and will end with a single goblin king at around the point I incorporate the Monster Manual.
I’m still going with the gnome/troll hybrid idea in my game, as nothing given here contradicts it. I suppose that was the ancient origin of the race, and they were able to breed true despite their artificial beginnings.
Gnome: Again, while gnomes are unchanged statistically they receive a whole lot more detail than they had in OD&D. There’s a long breakdown of the NPC types that will accompany large bands, and it should be noted here that gnomes can become Fighters or Clerics. Gnomes typically use short swords, clubs and spears, and the description of their armour as leather covered in rings or studs is the first mention in the game of studded leather, or possibly ring mail. Their lairs are now often guarded by badgers, giant badgers, or wolverines. They still get pretty much the same special abilities as dwarves. There are also rumours of gnome magic-users, which I guess foreshadows their ability to become illusionists. They have brown skin, white hair, and live to about 600.
That gnomes are described here as having PC classes is pretty significant. They haven't yet been presented as a PC race in D&D to this point, and this is the first inkling that they'll get the full treatment in the AD&D Player's Handbook.
Giant Goat: So far, Giant Goats have only appeared in the wilderness encounter tables from Supplement III. They get stats here for the first time, and their main thing is that they deal a lot of damage, even more so when they charge. They can be tamed in rare cases and used as steeds, which is pretty cool. I kind of like the idea of having bugbears ride around on these things, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for any races that are said to hang out with giant goats. When I get to the inevitable goat-headed humanoids, I'll probably have them mounted on the giant goats.
Goblin: Like all the humanoids, goblins get a lot more detail than they did in OD&D. There’s the usual description of leaders and chieftains, but the assertion in OD&D that every goblin tribe has a king is unfortunately not present. They are said to ride huge wolves, though, which is always something I’ve loved about goblins. They have females and young, which distances them from their fairy tale origins significantly, I feel. We learn that they are decent miners, and can note unusual construction 25% of the time, like dwarves. Their skin ranges from yellow to red, and they only live for about 50 years.
So in the early stages of my campaign, every goblin tribe’s leader will be claiming to be king of the goblin race. By this point, it seems that won’t be the case, so I guess one of them won out. An article in an issue of The Dragon had an off-hand mention of the Goblin Wars, so I’m going to tie these together. The Goblin Wars, fought between many different tribes of goblins, started decades before the beginning of the campaign, and will end with a single goblin king at around the point I incorporate the Monster Manual.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Merry Christmas, all
This one is for commentor Dwight Divine, who was looking for the Christmas message on the back cover of The Dragon #11. Here it is! A hearty 'merry Christmas' from the crew at TSR circa 1978, and a hearty BAH HUMBUG from me.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
AD&D Monster Manual part 18
Giants: There are six types of giants detailed in the Monster Manual: Cloud Giants, Fire Giants, Frost Giants, Hill Giants, Stone Giants and Storm Giants. The first five debuted in OD&D, while Storm Giants were first seen in Supplement I.
The first thing that leaps to my attention is that giants are said to have Strength scores ranging from 19 to 25. This is the first time we have seen mention of ability scores greater than 18. I don’t think these scores get detailed until the Player’s Handbook, but they're factored into the giants' stats in a vague sort of fashion.
There’s a method given here for determining the stats of young giants. You simply roll percentile dice, and the percentage rolled is how close to fully grown the giant is. Their hit points and damage are adjusted by the percentage rolled. This seems like a good enough solution to work for just about any monster, and I’m going to use it for monsters where this stuff is not already detailed (i.e. dragons have the whole age category thing going on, so I wouldn’t do it for them).
Giants have gotten poorer on average, it seems. In OD&D, a giant always carried with it a sack containing 1000 to 6000 gold pieces. Now they carry 1000 to 6000 coins, which could be anything from copper to silver to gold to platinum.
Cloud Giant: Cloud Giants are now encountered in smaller groups than they were in OD&D, have a better Armor Class, move faster, and have just a few more hit points on average. In OD&D they were either Neutral or Chaotic, but now they are Neutral with either good or evil tendencies.
Giants were pretty sparsely detailed in OD&D, so we get a lot of new info here. Firstly, we learn that some Cloud Giants actually live on clouds, which cements them as being inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk. In OD&D all giants had a chance to have pets, those being hydras, bears and wolves. These pets have now been individualised for each type of giant, and Cloud Giants get spotted lions. A specific range and damage are provided for the giant’s stone throwing ability, and they can now catch any large stones hurled at them (this applies to all the other giants as well). While previously Cloud Giants had been said to have a keen sense of smell, that has now been translated into a mechanical bonus, as they are very hard to surprise. And logically, given that 10% of Cloud Giants live in the sky, they can now levitate themselves. We also get a physical description for Cloud Giants; they have blue skin and silver hair.
Fire Giant: Fire Giants have a slightly better Armor Class, but are otherwise statistically similar. Neutral or Chaotic in OD&D, they are now Lawful Evil. They are still immune to fire (and this includes red dragon breath, so I’d extend it to pretty much any fire there is). Their pets of choice are hell hounds. They have black skin and red beards.
Frost Giant: Frost Giants have a very small amount of extra hit points, and their alignment has changed from Neutral or Chaotic to Chaotic Evil. They are also a little shorter on average (15’ instead of 18’). They keep winter wolves as pets. They’re immune to all cold attacks, including dragon breath, just like they were in OD&D. They have dead white skin and blue or yellow beards.
Hill Giant: Hill Giants now appear in greater numbers, and get a couple of extra hit points. They’re also a little shorter on average than they were (10½ feet instead of 12). As guards they keep dire wolves, giant lizards, or ogres. These guys are coloured pretty much like humans, and that’s basically what they are – very big dumb humans with clubs.
Stone Giant: Stone Giants have gotten a major boost to Armor Class – from 4 to 0. It looks like the ‘Stone’ part is starting to apply literally. They could be Neutral or Chaotic in OD&D, but now their alignment is listed as Neutral. Like most of the other giants, they’ve shrunk on average, from 15 feet tom 12 feet tall. They keep cave bears as pets. In OD&D Stone Giants used the heavy catapult rules for stone throwing, as opposed to the regular catapult that all the other giants used. Here they’ve retained their rock-throwing proficiency, getting a better range and damage than everyone else. They’re also better at catching rocks than the others as well. And I like how they are described as playful, like they throw rocks at people just for kicks (it reminds me of the Stone Giant scene from The Hobbit, actually). They have gray-brown skin that helps them blend into rocky surroundings, but aren’t given a surprise bonus or anything for it.
Storm Giant: Storm Giants are now encountered in smaller groups, but they have a better Armor Class and a few more hit points. Their alignment has changed from Lawful to Chaotic Good. They’re shorter on average than they were, going from 24 feet to 21 feet. They keep rocs and griffons as pets, and may even use a roc as a mount. Some storm giants live underwater, and they may have sea lions. Surprisingly, storm giants couldn’t cast lightning bolts in OD&D – but here they can summon an 8d6 bolt once per day. They also get some other new abilities: levitate, predict weather, call lightning, control winds and weather summoning (some of these replace the giant’s old Control Weather ability, which I guess is a spell that doesn’t have that name or doesn't exist in AD&D). They’re now immune to electrical attacks. Physically, they have green or purple skin, with green, blue or purple hair.
The first thing that leaps to my attention is that giants are said to have Strength scores ranging from 19 to 25. This is the first time we have seen mention of ability scores greater than 18. I don’t think these scores get detailed until the Player’s Handbook, but they're factored into the giants' stats in a vague sort of fashion.
There’s a method given here for determining the stats of young giants. You simply roll percentile dice, and the percentage rolled is how close to fully grown the giant is. Their hit points and damage are adjusted by the percentage rolled. This seems like a good enough solution to work for just about any monster, and I’m going to use it for monsters where this stuff is not already detailed (i.e. dragons have the whole age category thing going on, so I wouldn’t do it for them).
Giants have gotten poorer on average, it seems. In OD&D, a giant always carried with it a sack containing 1000 to 6000 gold pieces. Now they carry 1000 to 6000 coins, which could be anything from copper to silver to gold to platinum.
Cloud Giant: Cloud Giants are now encountered in smaller groups than they were in OD&D, have a better Armor Class, move faster, and have just a few more hit points on average. In OD&D they were either Neutral or Chaotic, but now they are Neutral with either good or evil tendencies.
Giants were pretty sparsely detailed in OD&D, so we get a lot of new info here. Firstly, we learn that some Cloud Giants actually live on clouds, which cements them as being inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk. In OD&D all giants had a chance to have pets, those being hydras, bears and wolves. These pets have now been individualised for each type of giant, and Cloud Giants get spotted lions. A specific range and damage are provided for the giant’s stone throwing ability, and they can now catch any large stones hurled at them (this applies to all the other giants as well). While previously Cloud Giants had been said to have a keen sense of smell, that has now been translated into a mechanical bonus, as they are very hard to surprise. And logically, given that 10% of Cloud Giants live in the sky, they can now levitate themselves. We also get a physical description for Cloud Giants; they have blue skin and silver hair.
Fire Giant: Fire Giants have a slightly better Armor Class, but are otherwise statistically similar. Neutral or Chaotic in OD&D, they are now Lawful Evil. They are still immune to fire (and this includes red dragon breath, so I’d extend it to pretty much any fire there is). Their pets of choice are hell hounds. They have black skin and red beards.
Frost Giant: Frost Giants have a very small amount of extra hit points, and their alignment has changed from Neutral or Chaotic to Chaotic Evil. They are also a little shorter on average (15’ instead of 18’). They keep winter wolves as pets. They’re immune to all cold attacks, including dragon breath, just like they were in OD&D. They have dead white skin and blue or yellow beards.
Hill Giant: Hill Giants now appear in greater numbers, and get a couple of extra hit points. They’re also a little shorter on average than they were (10½ feet instead of 12). As guards they keep dire wolves, giant lizards, or ogres. These guys are coloured pretty much like humans, and that’s basically what they are – very big dumb humans with clubs.
Stone Giant: Stone Giants have gotten a major boost to Armor Class – from 4 to 0. It looks like the ‘Stone’ part is starting to apply literally. They could be Neutral or Chaotic in OD&D, but now their alignment is listed as Neutral. Like most of the other giants, they’ve shrunk on average, from 15 feet tom 12 feet tall. They keep cave bears as pets. In OD&D Stone Giants used the heavy catapult rules for stone throwing, as opposed to the regular catapult that all the other giants used. Here they’ve retained their rock-throwing proficiency, getting a better range and damage than everyone else. They’re also better at catching rocks than the others as well. And I like how they are described as playful, like they throw rocks at people just for kicks (it reminds me of the Stone Giant scene from The Hobbit, actually). They have gray-brown skin that helps them blend into rocky surroundings, but aren’t given a surprise bonus or anything for it.
Storm Giant: Storm Giants are now encountered in smaller groups, but they have a better Armor Class and a few more hit points. Their alignment has changed from Lawful to Chaotic Good. They’re shorter on average than they were, going from 24 feet to 21 feet. They keep rocs and griffons as pets, and may even use a roc as a mount. Some storm giants live underwater, and they may have sea lions. Surprisingly, storm giants couldn’t cast lightning bolts in OD&D – but here they can summon an 8d6 bolt once per day. They also get some other new abilities: levitate, predict weather, call lightning, control winds and weather summoning (some of these replace the giant’s old Control Weather ability, which I guess is a spell that doesn’t have that name or doesn't exist in AD&D). They’re now immune to electrical attacks. Physically, they have green or purple skin, with green, blue or purple hair.
Monday, December 06, 2010
AD&D Monster Manual part 17
Giant Gar: Gar were first mentioned in OD&D as companions for Nixies. And I tell you, the stats here make any encounter with Nixies a darn sight deadlier. Giant Gars can also swallow opponents whole on an attack roll of 20, with a 5% chance per round that the swallowed character will die.
Gargoyles: Gargoyles first appeared in OD&D. Statistically, there are a few minor changes, but nothing noteworthy. They're still super-aggressive, even more so than before - instead of a 75% chance, they now have a 90% chance to attack anything they meet. And now they like to torture their prey to death, so gargoyles aren't getting any more pleasant as the game progresses.
Kapaocinths get a mention. They were introduced in Supplement II, along with a whole host of other superfluous aquatic variations of already existing monsters. We learn that they dwell in caves in shallow waters.
Gas Spores: It's another 'gotcha' monster designed by Gary to trick his players. A gas spore is a mindless floating sphere that resembles a beholder. If struck, it explodes and deals 6d6 damage to anyone within 20 feet. That's the part I remember. What I never knew is that if one touches you, it injects you with tiny 'rhizomes' that grow throughout your body and kill you unless you get a cure disease within 24 hours. If you die, your body sprouts a lot of baby gas spores. Awesome - I love monsters that turn the PCs into more monsters.
Gas spores are very cool, but their effectiveness has waned over the years, because every player's first instict upon seeing a beholder now is to think that it's a gas spore. That's probably their best use now - to lull players into a false sense of security before you unleash the real beholders on them.
Gelatinous Cube: Gelatinous Cubes were first mentioned in OD&D, but they didn't get stats until Supplement I. They now get a greater chance to surprise opponents, and their 'anesthetizing' power now gets a duration. Cubes used to be immune to cold, but now if they fail a save vs. a cold attack they take 1d4 damage and are slowed. They also get explicit immunity to sleep and hold spells now. Oh, and the aquatic Gelatinous Cubes mentioned in Supplement II are not to be seen here.
Ghast: I'm kind of shocked that Ghasts are making their first appearance here. A ghast is like a ghoul, but tougher. It has more hit dice, and the same paralysing touch (that even works on elves). Their main ability is their stench, which causes anyone who fails a save vs. poison to attack at -2. They have the standard undead immunities, but cold iron weapons deal double damage to them. They are also said to be often used as slaves by demons, so I wonder if they have some sort of demonic pedigree. Demons are the only other monsters I can think of that are affected by cold iron.
Ghost: Ghosts first appeared in The Strategic Review #3. They are basically the same monster, with a few minor tweaks. Characters of over 9th level are no longer immune to their aging attack, though those of over 8th get a +2 to their saving throw. And whereas before 5th level clerics were immune, now it is 6th level clerics. They can also now be struck by silver weapons when semi-materialised, though they only deal half damage. And they can only be hit by spells from an ethereal caster.
Ghoul: Ghouls first appeared in OD&D, and they are so rad that all Gary had to change was their bite damage (from 1d4 to 1d6). The more I read, though, the more I become convinced that ghouls are not 'dead' in the way that other undead are. They feel more to me like humans warped and twisted by their corpse-feeding tendencies.
Lacedons, the aquatic ghouls mentioned in Supplement II, are also present.
Gargoyles: Gargoyles first appeared in OD&D. Statistically, there are a few minor changes, but nothing noteworthy. They're still super-aggressive, even more so than before - instead of a 75% chance, they now have a 90% chance to attack anything they meet. And now they like to torture their prey to death, so gargoyles aren't getting any more pleasant as the game progresses.
Kapaocinths get a mention. They were introduced in Supplement II, along with a whole host of other superfluous aquatic variations of already existing monsters. We learn that they dwell in caves in shallow waters.
Gas Spores: It's another 'gotcha' monster designed by Gary to trick his players. A gas spore is a mindless floating sphere that resembles a beholder. If struck, it explodes and deals 6d6 damage to anyone within 20 feet. That's the part I remember. What I never knew is that if one touches you, it injects you with tiny 'rhizomes' that grow throughout your body and kill you unless you get a cure disease within 24 hours. If you die, your body sprouts a lot of baby gas spores. Awesome - I love monsters that turn the PCs into more monsters.
Gas spores are very cool, but their effectiveness has waned over the years, because every player's first instict upon seeing a beholder now is to think that it's a gas spore. That's probably their best use now - to lull players into a false sense of security before you unleash the real beholders on them.
Gelatinous Cube: Gelatinous Cubes were first mentioned in OD&D, but they didn't get stats until Supplement I. They now get a greater chance to surprise opponents, and their 'anesthetizing' power now gets a duration. Cubes used to be immune to cold, but now if they fail a save vs. a cold attack they take 1d4 damage and are slowed. They also get explicit immunity to sleep and hold spells now. Oh, and the aquatic Gelatinous Cubes mentioned in Supplement II are not to be seen here.
Ghast: I'm kind of shocked that Ghasts are making their first appearance here. A ghast is like a ghoul, but tougher. It has more hit dice, and the same paralysing touch (that even works on elves). Their main ability is their stench, which causes anyone who fails a save vs. poison to attack at -2. They have the standard undead immunities, but cold iron weapons deal double damage to them. They are also said to be often used as slaves by demons, so I wonder if they have some sort of demonic pedigree. Demons are the only other monsters I can think of that are affected by cold iron.
Ghost: Ghosts first appeared in The Strategic Review #3. They are basically the same monster, with a few minor tweaks. Characters of over 9th level are no longer immune to their aging attack, though those of over 8th get a +2 to their saving throw. And whereas before 5th level clerics were immune, now it is 6th level clerics. They can also now be struck by silver weapons when semi-materialised, though they only deal half damage. And they can only be hit by spells from an ethereal caster.
Ghoul: Ghouls first appeared in OD&D, and they are so rad that all Gary had to change was their bite damage (from 1d4 to 1d6). The more I read, though, the more I become convinced that ghouls are not 'dead' in the way that other undead are. They feel more to me like humans warped and twisted by their corpse-feeding tendencies.
Lacedons, the aquatic ghouls mentioned in Supplement II, are also present.
Friday, December 03, 2010
AD&D Monster Manual part 16
Flightless Bird: Honestly, I’m disappointed. Gary went to the trouble to differentiate Asian and African Elephants, but he’s lumped emus and ostriches together. Anyway, flightless birds first appeared in Supplement III on the wilderness encounter tables, but this is the first time they get stats. Actually, I was wrong about Gary above, because ostriches get 3 hit dice, emus get 2, and rheas get 1. They’re non-aggressive and will run away, but might peck you if cornered.
You know, I’m not so sure about that non-aggressive bit. I’ve been around emus that have become acclimatised to tourists, and they’re pushy bastards. Especially so if you’ve got a handful of chips.
Giant Frog: There are three types of giant frogs detailed here: the regular sort, killer frogs, and poisonous frogs. The regular sort first appeared in Supplement II. Statistically they have changed very little – just their bite damage, which has gone from a flat 1-10 to a different range based on how many hit dice it has. A lot of space is devoted to their average sizes and weights, because they’re used to determine whether the frog can drag its prey with its tongue and swallow it whole. The tongue works much the same as it did in OD&D, drawing its prey in for a bite attack. But now the bite deals maximum damage. And to top it off, they can swallow their prey whole on a roll of 20, and any victim so caught has 3 rounds to get out before dying. Their leap ability has been decreased in distance, but they now get a bonus to surprise. All in all, these guys have gotten a pretty serious upgrade in deadliness.
Killer frogs are smaller, but they have teeth and talons, and love to eat people. And each other apparently, as they’re cannibals. These guys are said to be specially bred mutants, which fits very well with the Temple of the Frog scenario from Supplement II. I guess the killer frogs there flourish even after the temple gets put out of business.
Poisonous frogs are exactly that – smaller frogs that secrete a weak poison from the skin. Not too weak, because the poison is fatal – you just get a bonus to the saving throw.
Violet Fungi: It’s another new monster. They’re purple mushrooms that hide in with shriekers (the mushrooms that make a loud noise when you approach). If you get too close they flail about with tentacles. If these tentacles hit they supposedly rot flesh in a single melee round, but nothing is said about what effect this has. Instant death? Or is it the same as mummy rot? I’d be inclined to support the latter, less deadly version.
I'm not really sure what the purpose of hiding them with shriekers is. Once players have figured out what shriekers are, they tend to stay away, and if they don't go near the big mushrooms the violet fungi can't do much of anything.
You know, I’m not so sure about that non-aggressive bit. I’ve been around emus that have become acclimatised to tourists, and they’re pushy bastards. Especially so if you’ve got a handful of chips.
Giant Frog: There are three types of giant frogs detailed here: the regular sort, killer frogs, and poisonous frogs. The regular sort first appeared in Supplement II. Statistically they have changed very little – just their bite damage, which has gone from a flat 1-10 to a different range based on how many hit dice it has. A lot of space is devoted to their average sizes and weights, because they’re used to determine whether the frog can drag its prey with its tongue and swallow it whole. The tongue works much the same as it did in OD&D, drawing its prey in for a bite attack. But now the bite deals maximum damage. And to top it off, they can swallow their prey whole on a roll of 20, and any victim so caught has 3 rounds to get out before dying. Their leap ability has been decreased in distance, but they now get a bonus to surprise. All in all, these guys have gotten a pretty serious upgrade in deadliness.
Killer frogs are smaller, but they have teeth and talons, and love to eat people. And each other apparently, as they’re cannibals. These guys are said to be specially bred mutants, which fits very well with the Temple of the Frog scenario from Supplement II. I guess the killer frogs there flourish even after the temple gets put out of business.
Poisonous frogs are exactly that – smaller frogs that secrete a weak poison from the skin. Not too weak, because the poison is fatal – you just get a bonus to the saving throw.
Violet Fungi: It’s another new monster. They’re purple mushrooms that hide in with shriekers (the mushrooms that make a loud noise when you approach). If you get too close they flail about with tentacles. If these tentacles hit they supposedly rot flesh in a single melee round, but nothing is said about what effect this has. Instant death? Or is it the same as mummy rot? I’d be inclined to support the latter, less deadly version.
I'm not really sure what the purpose of hiding them with shriekers is. Once players have figured out what shriekers are, they tend to stay away, and if they don't go near the big mushrooms the violet fungi can't do much of anything.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
AD&D Monster Manual part 15
Elephants: Elephants first appeared in the wilderness encounter tables in Supplement III. These are the plain old Earth variety, though ever-thorough Gary provides different stats for Asian and African Elephants (which doesn’t amount to more than a hit dice of difference). These guys are brutal death machines, though. I don’t know what a real elephant does in a fight, but I doubt he’s goring people with his tusks, trampling them, and grabbing someone else with his trunk and squeezing them to death. But this is D&D, where every animal must double as a potential monster. And in true Gygaxian fashion (and not without real-world precedent) you can sell their tusks on the market.
Elves: Their Number Appearing stat has decreased, so it looks like the elven population is thinning out, but otherwise their stats are the same. The high-level NPCs that can be encountered with a group of elves have been greatly expanded on. It’s said that they use Giant Eagles as guards for their lairs, which is new. A breakdown of the typical weapons they carry is provided, and it’s mostly swords and bows. Some bands have female fighters mounted on unicorns, which is pretty cool. We also learn that elves live for about a dozen centuries.
Aquatic elves are detailed. They first appeared in Supplement II, and have barely changed at all from there.
Drow Elves. Yes, this is their first appearance. They are presented here as legendary dwellers beneath the earth, with black skin and evil disposition. They’re said to be weak fighters and strong magic-users. So yeah, it’s at about this point that I’ll start to seed clues about the drow in my campaign.
Grey Elves, also known as faerie, live in the meadows and are aloof bastards. And here we get the first ability score bonus in the game, as these guys get a +1 to Intelligence. They ride around on hippogriffs and griffons. Some have silver hair and amber eyes. Others have golden hair and violet eyes, and these are the ones called faeries. They’re just elves but better, basically.
Half-elves are treated in some detail. They can now become multi-classed as fighter/magic-user/clerics, which I don’t think was possible in OD&D, unless I’m misreading the rules. We also learn that they can live for 250 years.
Wood elves are also called sylvan elves. Like Grey Elves they get an ability score bonus – this time it’s a +1 to strength – but they can’t have an Intelligence higher than 17. They pal around with giant owls and lynxes.
Poor old high elves don’t get an entry. But given that they’re the default setting, they’ll be along soon enough in the Player’s Handbook.
Ettins: I’m shocked to find out that Ettins are appearing here for the first time ever. An ettin is a dirty big giant with two heads. That’s their only distinguishing feature, and it makes them hard to surprise, but this is probably more of a role-playing monster than an interesting combat encounter. Anything you can do in a combat with ettins can already be accomplished with ogres or hill giants. The real fun with ettins is in role-playing their multiple heads arguing and such. They are said to be closely related to orcs.
Floating Eye: These guys are much the same as they were in Supplement II – fish that hypnotise large prey, wait for a big fish to eat the helpless prey, then feed off the scraps. One of the many hazards of underwater exploration, I guess.
Eye of the Deep: Another new monster, the Eye of the Deep is an underwater beholder. It’s power is considerably less, though, as it only has a few effects to cast from its eyes. The central eye emits a dazzling cone, the eyestalks cast hold person and hold monster, and both stalks together can create illusions. They’re just like beholders in temperament, being aggressive and hateful. Like underwater Daleks.
Elves: Their Number Appearing stat has decreased, so it looks like the elven population is thinning out, but otherwise their stats are the same. The high-level NPCs that can be encountered with a group of elves have been greatly expanded on. It’s said that they use Giant Eagles as guards for their lairs, which is new. A breakdown of the typical weapons they carry is provided, and it’s mostly swords and bows. Some bands have female fighters mounted on unicorns, which is pretty cool. We also learn that elves live for about a dozen centuries.
Aquatic elves are detailed. They first appeared in Supplement II, and have barely changed at all from there.
Drow Elves. Yes, this is their first appearance. They are presented here as legendary dwellers beneath the earth, with black skin and evil disposition. They’re said to be weak fighters and strong magic-users. So yeah, it’s at about this point that I’ll start to seed clues about the drow in my campaign.
Grey Elves, also known as faerie, live in the meadows and are aloof bastards. And here we get the first ability score bonus in the game, as these guys get a +1 to Intelligence. They ride around on hippogriffs and griffons. Some have silver hair and amber eyes. Others have golden hair and violet eyes, and these are the ones called faeries. They’re just elves but better, basically.
Half-elves are treated in some detail. They can now become multi-classed as fighter/magic-user/clerics, which I don’t think was possible in OD&D, unless I’m misreading the rules. We also learn that they can live for 250 years.
Wood elves are also called sylvan elves. Like Grey Elves they get an ability score bonus – this time it’s a +1 to strength – but they can’t have an Intelligence higher than 17. They pal around with giant owls and lynxes.
Poor old high elves don’t get an entry. But given that they’re the default setting, they’ll be along soon enough in the Player’s Handbook.
Ettins: I’m shocked to find out that Ettins are appearing here for the first time ever. An ettin is a dirty big giant with two heads. That’s their only distinguishing feature, and it makes them hard to surprise, but this is probably more of a role-playing monster than an interesting combat encounter. Anything you can do in a combat with ettins can already be accomplished with ogres or hill giants. The real fun with ettins is in role-playing their multiple heads arguing and such. They are said to be closely related to orcs.
Floating Eye: These guys are much the same as they were in Supplement II – fish that hypnotise large prey, wait for a big fish to eat the helpless prey, then feed off the scraps. One of the many hazards of underwater exploration, I guess.
Eye of the Deep: Another new monster, the Eye of the Deep is an underwater beholder. It’s power is considerably less, though, as it only has a few effects to cast from its eyes. The central eye emits a dazzling cone, the eyestalks cast hold person and hold monster, and both stalks together can create illusions. They’re just like beholders in temperament, being aggressive and hateful. Like underwater Daleks.
Monday, November 29, 2010
AD&D Monster Manual part 14
Giant Eagles: As far as I can tell, this is the first appearance of Giant Eagles in D&D. These are big buggers, with a 20’ wingspan. They live in the mountains, and get a whole lot of special abilities. They’re only surprised in their lairs or at night. They can make dive attacks with a bonus to hit and double claw damage. They even have their own language, and can speak telepathically (probably handy when the only thing you have to make sounds with is a beak, though it never seemed to stop my grandpa’s cockatoo). Even though they’re neutral, they tend to ignore good creatures and attack hostile evil creatures, and they get on well with certain elves and dwarves.
Ear Seekers: It’s another new monster, and the latest example of the D&D arms race in action. Quite a few classic D&D monsters were created by Gary to directly counter tactics employed by players in his game, and this is one of them. Ear seekers are small insectoids that live in wood, and they like to lay their eggs in warm places. Like your ear. Of course when the eggs hatch the larvae will eat the surrounding flesh, which kills the host 90% of the time (I’m surprised that survival chance is there, actually). The eggs can be destroyed with a cure disease spell, but there’s nothing to indicate whether a PC will notice the eggs being laid in his ear. I’d be inclined to err on the side of mercy here.
It’s not mentioned in the description here, but the primary purpose for ear seekers was to stop PCs listening at doors all the time. Who wants to press their ear up against a wooden door when there could be an ear seeker just ready to climb on in there?
Eel: There are three varieties of Eel described here: Electric, Giant and Weed. Giant Eels and Weed Eels made their debut in Supplement II. There’s been some obvious retooling here, though, because in Supplement II the Giant Eels had an electric shock attack. Now the Giant Eel doesn’t have that attack, but the Electric Eel does. So in a way all three types have already appeared, at least in spirit.
Electric eels are new as I mentioned above, and their sole interesting feature is their electric attack.
Honestly, the Giant Eel might as well be a totally new monster. It has gone from 1+4 hit dice to 5 hit dice, and none of the other stats match up at all. It’s just a big brute with a bite attack, basically.
Weed Eels are fairly similar to their original appearance. They’re still found in large numbers, living in a network of tunnels. In Supplement II they had an absurd bite that automatically killed the target struck. Gary has fixed that nonsense right up, giving them a poisonous bite, save or die of course. They’re still deadly, but now it’s within the parameters of the game rules.
Efreeti: These fire-based genies first appeared in OD&D, and they haven’t changed a great deal here. Their Armor Class has improved from 3 to 2. In OD&D their alignment tended towards Chaotic, but here they are Neutral, with Lawful Evil tendencies. They now specifically are said to come from the Elemental Plane of Fire, whereas OD&D said they live in the fabled City of Brass. That citadel is now located in the Plane of Fire, said to be ruled by a Sultan served by all sorts of nobles (pashas, deys, amirs, valis, maliks, etc.). I’ll have to look up those titles to get a suitably middle-eastern flavour into my Efreeti. They can also travel the Material, Elemental and Astral Planes, though I question if that means they can go through any of the Elemental Planes without hindrance. Surely the Plane of Water would cause an Efreet some trouble.
An Efreeti can still captured and forced to serve for 1,001 days, but the capturer can trade that in for three wishes instead (of course, the efreeti will try and twist the wish as far as possible). As well as the newfound ability to grant wishes, they now get a number of new spell-like abilities: detect magic, enlarge, polymorph self, produce flame and pyrotechnics. They are also specifically said to be immune to normal fire, and less affected by magical fire. Believe it or not, this wasn’t mentioned as part of their entry in OD&D. They can also communicate with any creature telepathically, which seems to be kind of a given so far for natives of the Planes. Oh, and they can’t carry as much as they could before.
Elemental: Elementals first appeared in OD&D, and the same four types appear here: Air, Earth, Fire and Water. Now that the D&D cosmology has been worked out, they are dutifully located in their respective Elemental Planes. Their description here as ‘strong but relatively stupid’, and the presence of more intelligent elemental type monsters, makes me wonder about the actual nature of the basic elementals. I had always thought of them as the dominant force in their home planes, but perhaps they are more like wild animals or destructive forces, nuisances or slaves for the Djinni and Efreeti.
The first big difference is with the number of elementals someone can summon in a day. In OD&D, only one of each type can be summoned per day; and that’s overall, not per character. If your opponent summons a Fire Elemental, then stiff cheddar, because you won’t be able to do so until the next day. AD&D has made things much more lenient. Each character can summon one elemental of each type per day (regardless of what other characters have done). In addition, there are three different means by which to summon elementals (with a spell, a staff, or another summoning device). You can summon multiples of the same type of elemental, so long as you use different means. So if you’ve got a summon elemental spell, a staff of elemental summoning and a brazier of elemental summoning you can bring in three fire elementals if you want. (To be honest, I preferred the OD&D way. It was less complicated and has a lovely arcane air about it.)
Elementals now don’t attack automatically if their summoner loses concentration; it’s changed to a 75% chance. If the elemental doesn’t attack it just goes back to its home plane. Even if it does, it now only goes on the rampage for 3 turns before taking its bat and going home. There’s one awesome new touch, in that an opposing caster can try and wrest control of an elemental away with a dispel magic spell. It’s very risky, though, because if the attempt fails the elemental gets much stronger, and if it gets out of control it will come right for the guy who cast the dispel magic. Even so, it’s so cool I don’t think I could resist trying it.
Elementals are still only affected by weapons of +2 or greater, as introduced in Supplement I. And like in that Supplement, they can also be hit by creatures of 4 hit dice or more, or those with magical ability. That ‘magical ability’ is clarified here, to include monsters with paralysis, poison, acid, breath weapons, and those who are only hit by magic weapons.
Air Elemental: Their damage range has increased from 2-16 to 2-20. They still get combat bonuses when attacking from the air. In OD&D that bonus was a +1 to damage, but now they get a +1 to attack and a +2 to damage. The effect of their whirlwind attack has been greatly clarified. In OD&D it simply ‘swept away’ creatures of under 2 hit dice, with no explanation of what that meant. Now the ‘swept away’ effect works on creatures of up to 3 hit dice, and kills them outright. It deals damage to all other non-flying creatures, which was also not specified in OD&D. There’s also a new rule about the lessened effectiveness of whirlwinds that aren’t able to achieve their full height.
We also discover that there are more intelligent varieties of air elemental that possess special abilities beyond those given above. It’s possible that this is a reference to djinn, but I doubt it. They are also said to have a queen with great power and magical ability.
Earth Elemental: Earth Elementals are still restricted from passing through water, but at least now it is said that they can tunnel underneath. As before they score less damage to creatures who aren’t on the ground, though the penalty is expressed differently (before the number of dice rolled was cut, now there is a -2 penalty to each roll). Otherwise they’re the same. The only piece of new information is that they supposedly have an enormous ‘boss’ on the Elemental Plane of Earth. Yes, a boss.
Fire Elemental: These guys haven’t changed a bit. Apparently, their leader on the Elemental Plane of Fire is known as the Tyrant.
Water Elemental: First up, let it be known that you can now summon a Water Elemental from a barrel of ale. Little else has changed, and their leader is supposedly a god-like king. But man, Ale Elementals. I've found my favourite obscure bit of rules trivia for AD&D.
Ear Seekers: It’s another new monster, and the latest example of the D&D arms race in action. Quite a few classic D&D monsters were created by Gary to directly counter tactics employed by players in his game, and this is one of them. Ear seekers are small insectoids that live in wood, and they like to lay their eggs in warm places. Like your ear. Of course when the eggs hatch the larvae will eat the surrounding flesh, which kills the host 90% of the time (I’m surprised that survival chance is there, actually). The eggs can be destroyed with a cure disease spell, but there’s nothing to indicate whether a PC will notice the eggs being laid in his ear. I’d be inclined to err on the side of mercy here.
It’s not mentioned in the description here, but the primary purpose for ear seekers was to stop PCs listening at doors all the time. Who wants to press their ear up against a wooden door when there could be an ear seeker just ready to climb on in there?
Eel: There are three varieties of Eel described here: Electric, Giant and Weed. Giant Eels and Weed Eels made their debut in Supplement II. There’s been some obvious retooling here, though, because in Supplement II the Giant Eels had an electric shock attack. Now the Giant Eel doesn’t have that attack, but the Electric Eel does. So in a way all three types have already appeared, at least in spirit.
Electric eels are new as I mentioned above, and their sole interesting feature is their electric attack.
Honestly, the Giant Eel might as well be a totally new monster. It has gone from 1+4 hit dice to 5 hit dice, and none of the other stats match up at all. It’s just a big brute with a bite attack, basically.
Weed Eels are fairly similar to their original appearance. They’re still found in large numbers, living in a network of tunnels. In Supplement II they had an absurd bite that automatically killed the target struck. Gary has fixed that nonsense right up, giving them a poisonous bite, save or die of course. They’re still deadly, but now it’s within the parameters of the game rules.
Efreeti: These fire-based genies first appeared in OD&D, and they haven’t changed a great deal here. Their Armor Class has improved from 3 to 2. In OD&D their alignment tended towards Chaotic, but here they are Neutral, with Lawful Evil tendencies. They now specifically are said to come from the Elemental Plane of Fire, whereas OD&D said they live in the fabled City of Brass. That citadel is now located in the Plane of Fire, said to be ruled by a Sultan served by all sorts of nobles (pashas, deys, amirs, valis, maliks, etc.). I’ll have to look up those titles to get a suitably middle-eastern flavour into my Efreeti. They can also travel the Material, Elemental and Astral Planes, though I question if that means they can go through any of the Elemental Planes without hindrance. Surely the Plane of Water would cause an Efreet some trouble.
An Efreeti can still captured and forced to serve for 1,001 days, but the capturer can trade that in for three wishes instead (of course, the efreeti will try and twist the wish as far as possible). As well as the newfound ability to grant wishes, they now get a number of new spell-like abilities: detect magic, enlarge, polymorph self, produce flame and pyrotechnics. They are also specifically said to be immune to normal fire, and less affected by magical fire. Believe it or not, this wasn’t mentioned as part of their entry in OD&D. They can also communicate with any creature telepathically, which seems to be kind of a given so far for natives of the Planes. Oh, and they can’t carry as much as they could before.
Elemental: Elementals first appeared in OD&D, and the same four types appear here: Air, Earth, Fire and Water. Now that the D&D cosmology has been worked out, they are dutifully located in their respective Elemental Planes. Their description here as ‘strong but relatively stupid’, and the presence of more intelligent elemental type monsters, makes me wonder about the actual nature of the basic elementals. I had always thought of them as the dominant force in their home planes, but perhaps they are more like wild animals or destructive forces, nuisances or slaves for the Djinni and Efreeti.
The first big difference is with the number of elementals someone can summon in a day. In OD&D, only one of each type can be summoned per day; and that’s overall, not per character. If your opponent summons a Fire Elemental, then stiff cheddar, because you won’t be able to do so until the next day. AD&D has made things much more lenient. Each character can summon one elemental of each type per day (regardless of what other characters have done). In addition, there are three different means by which to summon elementals (with a spell, a staff, or another summoning device). You can summon multiples of the same type of elemental, so long as you use different means. So if you’ve got a summon elemental spell, a staff of elemental summoning and a brazier of elemental summoning you can bring in three fire elementals if you want. (To be honest, I preferred the OD&D way. It was less complicated and has a lovely arcane air about it.)
Elementals now don’t attack automatically if their summoner loses concentration; it’s changed to a 75% chance. If the elemental doesn’t attack it just goes back to its home plane. Even if it does, it now only goes on the rampage for 3 turns before taking its bat and going home. There’s one awesome new touch, in that an opposing caster can try and wrest control of an elemental away with a dispel magic spell. It’s very risky, though, because if the attempt fails the elemental gets much stronger, and if it gets out of control it will come right for the guy who cast the dispel magic. Even so, it’s so cool I don’t think I could resist trying it.
Elementals are still only affected by weapons of +2 or greater, as introduced in Supplement I. And like in that Supplement, they can also be hit by creatures of 4 hit dice or more, or those with magical ability. That ‘magical ability’ is clarified here, to include monsters with paralysis, poison, acid, breath weapons, and those who are only hit by magic weapons.
Air Elemental: Their damage range has increased from 2-16 to 2-20. They still get combat bonuses when attacking from the air. In OD&D that bonus was a +1 to damage, but now they get a +1 to attack and a +2 to damage. The effect of their whirlwind attack has been greatly clarified. In OD&D it simply ‘swept away’ creatures of under 2 hit dice, with no explanation of what that meant. Now the ‘swept away’ effect works on creatures of up to 3 hit dice, and kills them outright. It deals damage to all other non-flying creatures, which was also not specified in OD&D. There’s also a new rule about the lessened effectiveness of whirlwinds that aren’t able to achieve their full height.
We also discover that there are more intelligent varieties of air elemental that possess special abilities beyond those given above. It’s possible that this is a reference to djinn, but I doubt it. They are also said to have a queen with great power and magical ability.
Earth Elemental: Earth Elementals are still restricted from passing through water, but at least now it is said that they can tunnel underneath. As before they score less damage to creatures who aren’t on the ground, though the penalty is expressed differently (before the number of dice rolled was cut, now there is a -2 penalty to each roll). Otherwise they’re the same. The only piece of new information is that they supposedly have an enormous ‘boss’ on the Elemental Plane of Earth. Yes, a boss.
Fire Elemental: These guys haven’t changed a bit. Apparently, their leader on the Elemental Plane of Fire is known as the Tyrant.
Water Elemental: First up, let it be known that you can now summon a Water Elemental from a barrel of ale. Little else has changed, and their leader is supposedly a god-like king. But man, Ale Elementals. I've found my favourite obscure bit of rules trivia for AD&D.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
AD&D Monster Manual part 13
Dragonne: Hey, a new monster! These guys are a cross between a brass dragon and a lion. Their origins aren’t explained here, but I suppose a wizard did it. It’s a shame the dragon involved here isn’t the Bronze variety, because we’ve already established that they transform into other animals for a lark. Perhaps brass dragons do the same sometimes, and mate with lions while doing so? It’s noted that Dragonnes can speak the languages of Brass Dragons and Sphinxes, so perhaps the crossbreed is with those two species, and not lions after all? I think that’s a much more interesting possibility
These guys are pretty tough critters (9 hit dice) and their major attack is a roar which can weaken or deafen itheir prey. They have an Armor Class listed as 6/2, which goes unexplained in the text. Perhaps they have an AC of 6 for their lion parts, and 2 for their dragon parts?
Finally, I find the pronunciation for these guys problematic at the table. I’ve always said it like Dragon, with a greater emphasis on the second syllable. Dra-GON instead of DRA-gon. It sounds a little silly to be honest, and could cause confusion at the table. But I've never actually used one, so it hasn't come up.
Dragon Turtle: Yay! I love Dragon Turtles. They first appeared in OD&D Vol. 3, in the section for underwater encounters. I don’t think they’ve appeared since then, but I could be wrong. Their Armor Class has now improved from 2 to 0. Their Hit Dice range has increased from 11-13 to 12-14. They still have the same cloud of steam breath weapon, but now it’s dimension are more like a cloud than the red dragon’s cone. Previously they could always capsize ships, but now they have a percentile chance based on the ship’s size. Other than that they are the same, and we also get some info on their colouration and learn that they have their own language.
Dryad: Dryads first appeared in OD&D, as beautiful tree sprites with a penchant for enchanting charismatic men. A few significant things have changed about them, beginning with a drop in their Armor Class from 5 to 9, which is very steep. They are still confined to the area around their specific tree, but that area has increased from 24” to 36” (remember that the “ symbol in D&D does not refer to inches, but tens of feet). They now get the ability to use dimension door to return to their tree, which they didn’t have before. Their 50% magic resistance is also new. They still have the same charm ability, but now will generally only use it on men with a high Charisma (16+), and there’s a chance that said victim could return after 1-4 years instead of being gone forever.
Perhaps the older Dryads were a different variety, with a more bark-like appearance to account for their higher AC? The new variety aren’t yet so attuned to their trees, and so they can move farther away and use other trees to travel.
Dwarf: Dwarves first appeared in OD&D, both as a monster and player character race. They haven’t changed much at all here. It’s interesting to note that they can become psionic – that was not possible under the psionics rules in Supplement III. They get a greater range of high level characters when encountered in large numbers, and their choice of weapons and armour is described in greater detail (it’s mostly axes and hammers, but there’s a surprisingly large percentage that wield swords). They now get a +1 to attacks against goblins, orcs and hobgoblins, which I believe is new. They still get a defensive bonus against Giants and Ogres and the like, but whereas before it was expressed as them taking half damage from blows, now their attackers suffer a -4 penalty to hit. Otherwise, things are much the same as they were in OD&D. (Note, though, that a lot of things have changed from the article on Dwarves in The Dragon #3. I had explained that with the discovery of a ritual by which the dwarves strengthened their ties to their ancient bloodlines, but I guess that either the ritual only affected a limited number of dwarves, or it wore off eventually.)
There is also some extra detail on Mountain Dwarves (with Hill Dwarves being the default type). Generally they are bigger, get an extra hit point, and use fewer crossbows and more spears.
These guys are pretty tough critters (9 hit dice) and their major attack is a roar which can weaken or deafen itheir prey. They have an Armor Class listed as 6/2, which goes unexplained in the text. Perhaps they have an AC of 6 for their lion parts, and 2 for their dragon parts?
Finally, I find the pronunciation for these guys problematic at the table. I’ve always said it like Dragon, with a greater emphasis on the second syllable. Dra-GON instead of DRA-gon. It sounds a little silly to be honest, and could cause confusion at the table. But I've never actually used one, so it hasn't come up.
Dragon Turtle: Yay! I love Dragon Turtles. They first appeared in OD&D Vol. 3, in the section for underwater encounters. I don’t think they’ve appeared since then, but I could be wrong. Their Armor Class has now improved from 2 to 0. Their Hit Dice range has increased from 11-13 to 12-14. They still have the same cloud of steam breath weapon, but now it’s dimension are more like a cloud than the red dragon’s cone. Previously they could always capsize ships, but now they have a percentile chance based on the ship’s size. Other than that they are the same, and we also get some info on their colouration and learn that they have their own language.
Dryad: Dryads first appeared in OD&D, as beautiful tree sprites with a penchant for enchanting charismatic men. A few significant things have changed about them, beginning with a drop in their Armor Class from 5 to 9, which is very steep. They are still confined to the area around their specific tree, but that area has increased from 24” to 36” (remember that the “ symbol in D&D does not refer to inches, but tens of feet). They now get the ability to use dimension door to return to their tree, which they didn’t have before. Their 50% magic resistance is also new. They still have the same charm ability, but now will generally only use it on men with a high Charisma (16+), and there’s a chance that said victim could return after 1-4 years instead of being gone forever.
Perhaps the older Dryads were a different variety, with a more bark-like appearance to account for their higher AC? The new variety aren’t yet so attuned to their trees, and so they can move farther away and use other trees to travel.
Dwarf: Dwarves first appeared in OD&D, both as a monster and player character race. They haven’t changed much at all here. It’s interesting to note that they can become psionic – that was not possible under the psionics rules in Supplement III. They get a greater range of high level characters when encountered in large numbers, and their choice of weapons and armour is described in greater detail (it’s mostly axes and hammers, but there’s a surprisingly large percentage that wield swords). They now get a +1 to attacks against goblins, orcs and hobgoblins, which I believe is new. They still get a defensive bonus against Giants and Ogres and the like, but whereas before it was expressed as them taking half damage from blows, now their attackers suffer a -4 penalty to hit. Otherwise, things are much the same as they were in OD&D. (Note, though, that a lot of things have changed from the article on Dwarves in The Dragon #3. I had explained that with the discovery of a ritual by which the dwarves strengthened their ties to their ancient bloodlines, but I guess that either the ritual only affected a limited number of dwarves, or it wore off eventually.)
There is also some extra detail on Mountain Dwarves (with Hill Dwarves being the default type). Generally they are bigger, get an extra hit point, and use fewer crossbows and more spears.
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