In 1st Edition terms, you have four “Monster
Manuals” – Monster Manuals I & II, by Gary Gygax with others; the Fiend
Folio, covering TSR UK monsters; and Deities and Demigods, by Jim Ward and Rob
Kuntz. Those are the official books.
Yet a vast array of monsters – often incredibly inventive
and interesting monsters – were put out via Dragon
magazine, whether as part of special articles, the three Creature Catalog special supplements, or the later “Dragon’s
Bestiary” column. Together, these really constitute a fifth Monster Manual-like
publication. Many monsters only ever appeared here, though some (particularly
from “Dragon’s Bestiary”) did have an afterlife. That’s a shame, and these
monsters deserve wider dissemination. Hence this series. Each time I’ll look at
a different feature or supplement or column from the pages of Dragon magazine (and maybe, in time,
from other magazines). I’ll consider each monster, record its presence in print
(as far as I know), and offer thoughts for use.
This time I’ll be covering Dragon #119’s “The Dragon’s Bestiary”, which part of an issue
focussed on druids, rangers, and forest exploration. This provided the theme
for the Bestiary – “A walk through the woods”. This “TDB” was a “various authors”
edition, though one monster was provided by Ed Greenwood, always a reliable
monster-maker.
Dragon #119, "A walk through the woods"
ANUCHUS – 1+2HD
Dog/Foxman
Print Status: Dragon only.
Comments: Super-genius neutral good demihumans feel like a whole genre of monster, and I know they grind some people’s gears. I generally like them – they give me ideas. It’s an alternative to reskinning familiar Ancestries – rather than “spinning” Dwarves in a new direction, having someone else envision and illustrate a demihuman/humanoid type can spark the imagination. The nice thing with the Anuchus is the idea that they are Ranger-heavy – 1 in 5 is a Ranger! They’re wilderness experts who tame wolf packs to protect them. If your party is in the deep woods, the idea that the allies they find are dog/foxmen with Ranger skills and pet wolves is quite a cool one. Different feel to Sylvan Elves. Arrogant, slightly distant wolfmen in the deep pine woods – your only hope of aid, but you must win their respect.
Marks: 3/5
GIANT CAPYBARA –
2+4HD Giant Animal
Print Status: Dragon only.
Comments: Not much to say, honestly. Capybara are cool, so giant ones could be decent wilderness dressing. You can always “weaponise” natural animals – a patron could pay for capybara pelts, they could be a nuisance, etc. But they’re not exciting.
Marks: 2/5
WILD HALFLING –
1-1HD Demihuman
Print Status: Also turns up in Maztica products in altered form. There’s a “race option” on DM’s Guild for 5e.
Comments: Really more of a player option, it seems to me. In their original form, these “Bramblings” are Halflings who didn’t go and settle amongst humans. They’ve kept touch with their primal roots. There’s an emphasis on druidic power. I think the entry here is overlong – about a 1.5 pages out of 8 in the whole Bestiary feature – but it’s a nice enough alternative Halfling background. One can see the potential influence not just on the Maztican “wild Halfling”, but also the Dark Sun carnivorous Halflings.
Marks: 2/5
LESHY – 3+6HD
Woodland Fae
Print Status: Also Pathfinder Bestiary Volume 3 and 5e homebrews.
Comments: A spin on Slavic folklore, which is nice. A short, long-nosed, muddy-bearded woodland being with blue skin. Nice description. Fae prankster, so your mileage may vary. (In Pathfinder, they’re fae homunculi who you can grow with the right spells etc.) The trickster spirit aspect is likely to please and bother an equal number of DMs and players, but there’s something very distinctive and rich about the image of the leshy, casting its woodland maze spell to bother players, open to negotiation to defeat local horrors, and perhaps offering a little light entertainment if that’s the table style. A key thing is that they’re dynamic, and do things. Their very ambiguity is useful – are they friends or foes? Depends! These are good, I think.
Marks: 3/5
LUPOSPHINX – 6 to
8 HD Sphinx
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: Evil dog-headed sphinxes! A nice reskin, and another evil sphinx is a fun thing. It has a magically terrifying howl, and often rules over gnolls or xvarts. This is a very distinctive type of encounter, and something fresh for players. Negotiate for secrets – answer riddles to gain mercy from someone you KNOW is untrustworthy – attack and slay a luposphinx who’s decided to strike out into the “local monstrous terror” business. Lots of ideas come up immediately. Sphinxes are interesting because they are repositories of wisdom, guardians of important locations, and so forth, and often require alternative means of handling – a more aggressive, distinctively themed sphinx gives a lot of variation on that. The pick of this Bestiary feature.
Marks: 4/5.
MUSICAL SPIRIT –
4HD Undead
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: So a Neutral Undead who teaches rare and incredible songs to those who speak to it, but whose 13th song is unlucky and causes charmed, potentially fatal dancing – that’s good. The actual ecology of the creature as described, though, is dumb. They like being paid 5000gp or a few magic items for their first twelve. Why? What are they spending money on? Given they seem to be at least semi-ghostly (they can fly, high MR, resistant to non-magical weapons), are they holding the Bag of Magic Beans you give them? A redeeming feature, though, is the idea of the monster: potentially the spirits of druids and bards who don’t want to leave the forests they protected in life. Nice way to end up with Neutral Undead.
Marks: 3/5
SASHALUS – 2+2 to
4+4HD Fungus
Print Status: Also Pathfinder homebrew.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood! Sentient and ambulatory fungus. It fires poisonous spines with randomized effects. It talks to other sashalus by limited touch-telepathy. This is a nice idea, and does immediately get me thinking. You’re hired to retrieve the spines for an alchemist. The caves you’re exploring are overrun by these, hiding amidst the ordinary fungus. These guys are the only local sentients who have seen the bad guys – but can you communicate with them? Undoubtedly one of the more interesting “fungus man” ideas from the earlier days, without being record-breaking. Very fun.
Marks: 3/5
WENDIGO – 6HD
Aberration
Print Status: 3rd Edition Fiend Folio and other 3rd Edition products.
Comments: Cannibals twisted by some form of magic to be an aberrant humanoid. Fairly quotidian – it’s a wendigo! Wendigo are thematically cool, though, so if the right tone is struck, this could be a very dangerous foe, especially for a low-level party stuck out on the taiga. They become the hunted, fleeing and setting traps and seeking by any means to escape...perhaps...taking shelter in that suspicious warm set of caves.
Marks: 2/5
WHISPERING PINES –
1-~180+HD Magical Plant
Print Status: Some 3rd Edition homebrew chat.
Comments: Magical wood under great demand from enchanting maniacs. Druids convince treants to defend them! But they can defend themselves, too, with magical leaf susurration. I’ve told you enough: either you hate them or love them. I think they’re great. Very situational, granted, but a good environmental hazard (put them on a Woodland Locale Table for your Encounter Tables, and watch players bumble in) and a decent quest objective (you need the magic wood for a very good cause! Good luck convincing the grumpy Treant...OR Bad Magic Man wants the wood! YOU MUST SAVE THE FOREST!).
Marks: 4/5
WOOD GIANT – 7+7HD
Giant
Print Status: Also 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium and Manual (as Voadkyn), and numerous other 2nd Edition products.
Comments: These are fairly cool – chaotic good giants (the only dedicated CG type, I think) who aren’t super tall (averaging 9’), are very sneaky, and can polymorph into a variety of humanoids. I really like the idea, though the entry here doesn’t spark as many immediate ideas as some others. They might polymorph to join a group – that’s a good seed. They’re good but flighty and frivolous and like feasting – you might need their help but need to get their attention first. Decent with a lot of potential.
Marks: 3/5
WOOD GOLEM – 9HD
Golem
Print Status: Also Kobold Press’ Creature Codex for 5th Edition.
Comments: These are almost quotidian and “fine”, but a moment’s reflection renders them quite cool. Druids want construct protectors – naturally enough – and equally naturally turn to the materials of nature, creating guardians from the woods they protect. Of course, you could lightly reskin this...into, say, a wicker man! An evil pseudo-druid might well do such a thing to protect his dark cult on a remote island. The entry also includes proper instructions for making one in-game, and that’s always useful for a hook. Oh...you can also make one from the shell of a dead treant, and it becomes AC0 11HD. The ways spells affect the Golem are well imagined and described. Not an immediately compelling idea, but quite exciting upon consideration.
Marks: 4/5
Conclusion
A good bestiary, though very specific for biome. Definitely worth adding to your 1e game, or converting for 5e.
Print Status: Dragon only.
Comments: Super-genius neutral good demihumans feel like a whole genre of monster, and I know they grind some people’s gears. I generally like them – they give me ideas. It’s an alternative to reskinning familiar Ancestries – rather than “spinning” Dwarves in a new direction, having someone else envision and illustrate a demihuman/humanoid type can spark the imagination. The nice thing with the Anuchus is the idea that they are Ranger-heavy – 1 in 5 is a Ranger! They’re wilderness experts who tame wolf packs to protect them. If your party is in the deep woods, the idea that the allies they find are dog/foxmen with Ranger skills and pet wolves is quite a cool one. Different feel to Sylvan Elves. Arrogant, slightly distant wolfmen in the deep pine woods – your only hope of aid, but you must win their respect.
Marks: 3/5
Print Status: Dragon only.
Comments: Not much to say, honestly. Capybara are cool, so giant ones could be decent wilderness dressing. You can always “weaponise” natural animals – a patron could pay for capybara pelts, they could be a nuisance, etc. But they’re not exciting.
Marks: 2/5
Print Status: Also turns up in Maztica products in altered form. There’s a “race option” on DM’s Guild for 5e.
Comments: Really more of a player option, it seems to me. In their original form, these “Bramblings” are Halflings who didn’t go and settle amongst humans. They’ve kept touch with their primal roots. There’s an emphasis on druidic power. I think the entry here is overlong – about a 1.5 pages out of 8 in the whole Bestiary feature – but it’s a nice enough alternative Halfling background. One can see the potential influence not just on the Maztican “wild Halfling”, but also the Dark Sun carnivorous Halflings.
Marks: 2/5
Print Status: Also Pathfinder Bestiary Volume 3 and 5e homebrews.
Comments: A spin on Slavic folklore, which is nice. A short, long-nosed, muddy-bearded woodland being with blue skin. Nice description. Fae prankster, so your mileage may vary. (In Pathfinder, they’re fae homunculi who you can grow with the right spells etc.) The trickster spirit aspect is likely to please and bother an equal number of DMs and players, but there’s something very distinctive and rich about the image of the leshy, casting its woodland maze spell to bother players, open to negotiation to defeat local horrors, and perhaps offering a little light entertainment if that’s the table style. A key thing is that they’re dynamic, and do things. Their very ambiguity is useful – are they friends or foes? Depends! These are good, I think.
Marks: 3/5
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: Evil dog-headed sphinxes! A nice reskin, and another evil sphinx is a fun thing. It has a magically terrifying howl, and often rules over gnolls or xvarts. This is a very distinctive type of encounter, and something fresh for players. Negotiate for secrets – answer riddles to gain mercy from someone you KNOW is untrustworthy – attack and slay a luposphinx who’s decided to strike out into the “local monstrous terror” business. Lots of ideas come up immediately. Sphinxes are interesting because they are repositories of wisdom, guardians of important locations, and so forth, and often require alternative means of handling – a more aggressive, distinctively themed sphinx gives a lot of variation on that. The pick of this Bestiary feature.
Marks: 4/5.
Print Status: Only in Dragon.
Comments: So a Neutral Undead who teaches rare and incredible songs to those who speak to it, but whose 13th song is unlucky and causes charmed, potentially fatal dancing – that’s good. The actual ecology of the creature as described, though, is dumb. They like being paid 5000gp or a few magic items for their first twelve. Why? What are they spending money on? Given they seem to be at least semi-ghostly (they can fly, high MR, resistant to non-magical weapons), are they holding the Bag of Magic Beans you give them? A redeeming feature, though, is the idea of the monster: potentially the spirits of druids and bards who don’t want to leave the forests they protected in life. Nice way to end up with Neutral Undead.
Marks: 3/5
Print Status: Also Pathfinder homebrew.
Comments: By Ed Greenwood! Sentient and ambulatory fungus. It fires poisonous spines with randomized effects. It talks to other sashalus by limited touch-telepathy. This is a nice idea, and does immediately get me thinking. You’re hired to retrieve the spines for an alchemist. The caves you’re exploring are overrun by these, hiding amidst the ordinary fungus. These guys are the only local sentients who have seen the bad guys – but can you communicate with them? Undoubtedly one of the more interesting “fungus man” ideas from the earlier days, without being record-breaking. Very fun.
Marks: 3/5
Print Status: 3rd Edition Fiend Folio and other 3rd Edition products.
Comments: Cannibals twisted by some form of magic to be an aberrant humanoid. Fairly quotidian – it’s a wendigo! Wendigo are thematically cool, though, so if the right tone is struck, this could be a very dangerous foe, especially for a low-level party stuck out on the taiga. They become the hunted, fleeing and setting traps and seeking by any means to escape...perhaps...taking shelter in that suspicious warm set of caves.
Marks: 2/5
Print Status: Some 3rd Edition homebrew chat.
Comments: Magical wood under great demand from enchanting maniacs. Druids convince treants to defend them! But they can defend themselves, too, with magical leaf susurration. I’ve told you enough: either you hate them or love them. I think they’re great. Very situational, granted, but a good environmental hazard (put them on a Woodland Locale Table for your Encounter Tables, and watch players bumble in) and a decent quest objective (you need the magic wood for a very good cause! Good luck convincing the grumpy Treant...OR Bad Magic Man wants the wood! YOU MUST SAVE THE FOREST!).
Marks: 4/5
Print Status: Also 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium and Manual (as Voadkyn), and numerous other 2nd Edition products.
Comments: These are fairly cool – chaotic good giants (the only dedicated CG type, I think) who aren’t super tall (averaging 9’), are very sneaky, and can polymorph into a variety of humanoids. I really like the idea, though the entry here doesn’t spark as many immediate ideas as some others. They might polymorph to join a group – that’s a good seed. They’re good but flighty and frivolous and like feasting – you might need their help but need to get their attention first. Decent with a lot of potential.
Marks: 3/5
Print Status: Also Kobold Press’ Creature Codex for 5th Edition.
Comments: These are almost quotidian and “fine”, but a moment’s reflection renders them quite cool. Druids want construct protectors – naturally enough – and equally naturally turn to the materials of nature, creating guardians from the woods they protect. Of course, you could lightly reskin this...into, say, a wicker man! An evil pseudo-druid might well do such a thing to protect his dark cult on a remote island. The entry also includes proper instructions for making one in-game, and that’s always useful for a hook. Oh...you can also make one from the shell of a dead treant, and it becomes AC0 11HD. The ways spells affect the Golem are well imagined and described. Not an immediately compelling idea, but quite exciting upon consideration.
Marks: 4/5
A good bestiary, though very specific for biome. Definitely worth adding to your 1e game, or converting for 5e.
I like the whispering pines. A rumour about those could be thrown at a player wishing to make a wizard staff.
ReplyDeleteYeah. It has a great dynamic, doesn't it, where it's a legitimate target for players, but also dangerous and morally compromised.
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