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Tarrok of Halruaa
Acolyte
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Feb 2011 : 17:34:21
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| Mine would be a shambling mound. I have loved those minions of Moander ever since Alias released the remnants of the god from the ruins of Yulash! The thought of being corrupted by a minion of Moander and having a plant grow inside me makes me shiver! |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2011 : 21:06:44
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Ah kirre!! I once ran a campaign that had a heavy focus on feline creatures due to the initial stage centering on a water-filled tomb of a phaeroh's mistress out of Dungeon magazine. I adapted it to my world, and after one of the players stole a statue from the shrine to Bast (the deceased was a priestess of her and a cat-lover) and was subsequently cursed, the party ended up trying to free a Cat Lord (who was a servant of Bast) from a nasty wizard doing experiments in controlling felines and mixing different types to create the ultimate hunting beasts.
The cast of critters included displacers, shadow cats, hellcats, a kirre, griffons, tressyms, nonafels, wemics, and eveb some weretigers. I even had a manticore, tomb leopard(undead) and some ordinary cheetahs. Suffice it to say, my players never wanted to go near another cat again, LOL!! |
The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.
"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491
"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs
Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469
My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188
Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u |
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Synthalus
Learned Scribe
USA
170 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2011 : 20:38:53
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| Vargouille Are awesome ! |
"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."
— H.P. Lovecraft (The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories) |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2011 : 04:20:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Alystra Illianniis
I've always liked pennengallans- vampires with a twist!!
I'm the same. In fact, they've got quite an established culture in my DRAGONLANCE campaigns. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Synthalus
Learned Scribe
USA
170 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2011 : 20:26:47
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Retriever
The retriever is a construct in the 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game though some prior sources denote it as a demon. It resembles an enormous metallic spider, with a body the size of an ox and eight 14-foot-long (4.3 m) legs. Its back and head are interlaced with dozens of glossy metal plates arranged in a jagged fashion. It is black in color, and has six eyes and a pair of mandibles.
Retrievers are constructed (typically by evil mages, warlords or demons) to find, capture or recapture lost or desired objects, runaway slaves, wanted criminals, or such. When ordered to find such a thing, it does to unerringly, both doing it without question and somehow knowing exactly where the to-be-retrieved thing is and how to retrieve it. In order for this to work, however, the master has to have either seen or touched the item/being to be retrieved.
If, by any chance and for whatever reason, the Retriever has to challenge what it has to retrieve, it is capable of doing so. From its eyes, it is capable of firing four different eye weapons; fire, frost, electricity and petrification. It can also attack with its four front-most claws. The Retriever usually weakens its foes first using its fire/frost/electricity eye weapons and its claws, before switching to petrification to immobilize the prey. It then picks them up and places them in the mouth, and takes them back to their master. Added to this fearsome offense is a strong defense. Retrievers are highly resistant to magic, most forms of energy attacks, and have a high number of hit points.
Retrievers are apparently unable to speak. They are chaotic evil in alignment.
Retrievers first appeared in the first edition Fiend Folio (1981), later appearing in the Fiend Folio Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1992), Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix II (1995), and both versions of the third edition Monster Manual (2000, 2003).
I have been killed more times by these stupid things so many times its not funny. by far one of the nastiest monsters ever devised.
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"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."
— H.P. Lovecraft (The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories) |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8035 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2011 : 21:43:35
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Well, there's always mimics, purple worms, slimies, and stuff like rotgrubs.
Though I personally consider these sorts of the beasties to be more like "traps" than "monsters". |
[/Ayrik] |
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Tamsar
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
141 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2011 : 22:08:18
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Manbearpig.
By Manbearpig I mean Manscorpion. I just find them......icky. Spiders, not a problem, ditto snakes. There is just something about them. Personally I blame Clash of the Titans (The Original), those scorpions freaked my young self out, (read horribly fascinated) and the thought of some human/scorpion monstrous hybrid nasty. They are a great monster for mid level pc's and just scale so well with a few well placed character levels. such a versatile and underused monster IMO. I remember the look of awe on the pc;s faces when one of the few times I DM'd they were getting stomped by an Ancient Blue Dragon , who stirred up a nest and got absolutely annihilated by an angry horde of Tlin. Discretion being the better part of valour, the PC's skiddadled and left the Blue Wyrm to its grisly fate. Needless to say the PC;s gave that stretch of desert a wide berth ( unfortunately not wide enough) :evil DM chuckle: Did they ever make it into 3.0 or 3.5 officially i had to do a home brew conversion which, I've sadly lost. Manscorpion vs. Drider now that's a cool match up :D |
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8035 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2011 : 22:19:23
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| Hollywood has actually made manscorpions kinda cool. They were quite significant in some ancient Mystara lore, though they've suffered demotion to mere monster entry. Scorpionfolk are part of WoC's D&D d20 OGL SRD (lol @ tricronyms), so it's quite likely that some third-party publication has/will develop them into a manly fearsome race. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 04:20:16
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| @ Tamsar- if you think those are cool, you'd LOVE my version of Lolth. take a drider, manscorpion, and Ophidian and mix them together, and you get the idea. Spider bod, scorpion tail and pincers, drow uppers, and snake fangs, eyes, and scales. Oh yes, she's deadly.... |
The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.
"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491
"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs
Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469
My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188
Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8035 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 04:38:09
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Yuanti-headed arachnoscorpion octauroid things ... hmmm. Mix-n-match monsters! Awesome idea!quote:
Elfinblade
It's a toss up between the classic Beholder, Illithid or Minotaur for me.
Floaty levitating bull/minotaur heads with horns, eyestalks, and mouth-tentacles. They gaze off some psionic and magic (and anti-magic) powers from their eyestalks, then roar and charge in for a big headbutt, bite onto your skull, hold on tight, and start sucking out brains. |
[/Ayrik] |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 05:01:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Alystra Illianniis
@ Tamsar- if you think those are cool, you'd LOVE my version of Lolth. take a drider, manscorpion, and Ophidian and mix them together, and you get the idea. Spider bod, scorpion tail and pincers, drow uppers, and snake fangs, eyes, and scales. Oh yes, she's deadly....
This is scratching me right where I itch, Alystra. Any chance you've detailed this version of Lolth anywhere?
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 06:04:01
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I had started to, but never got around to finishing her. I'll have to dig out the relevant pages with her description and crunchy bits that I wrote up. I can, however, provide a bit of lore I have at the ready describing one of her temples. These should give some idea of what I was going for. Plus, giving her the snake attributes (not really yuan-ti, but sort of like Cobra Commander in later episodes of the old GI Joe cartoon) made the snake-whips make more sense, and gave me just the excuse I needed to add a scorpion-tail whip to their arsenal.
"Green and red fairie fire lined the pillars and arches of the great chapel, while a small, solitary figure polished a huge obsidian statue in its center. The statue was in the shape of some monstrous female, with the lower body of a spider, a scorpion’s arched tail, and the face of an elven woman with serpentine features and fangs. The small ebon-skinned boy had climbed up onto the statue’s back to reach higher up; he was wiping dust from its face when he heard footsteps echoing through the huge round chamber."
"So he followed her back down to the temple, with Shiallin and the others right behind them. He entered fearfully, gazing around at the massive statue in the center. He had always hated that statue, with its hideous body of a spider, scorpion tail and pincers, and serpent-countenanced drow. It had always frightened him to see it during the family’s services on holy days, and now it reminded him of Shelatchka.
The priestesses dragged the silently shrieking Jezdin to the stone altar, its black marble surface stained with large splotches of dark reddish-brown, a testament to past victims, and released his arms only to tie them to the spider-shaped face of the table. The stone was held up by two large bronze scorpions, while enchanted manacles formed from living vipers coiled restlessly at each of the four pairs of ‘legs’ that made the altar’s ends. The priestesses placed his hands and feet within the writhing coils, which snapped tight the moment he was inside them; the heads sank their fangs into his flesh, to inject a venom which made him weak and lethargic.
He watched as they shed their clothes; then one of them lit a brazier on each side of the statue, and they all began chanting in a language he did not know, but the sound of which made his blood run cold. It was only after the horrendous transformation was complete that he was released from his bonds; he leaped up to stand on the table, his cold black gaze falling on the priestesses, filled with hate. He bared his dripping fangs, and reared back on the two hind pairs of legs, slashing out with the front-most pair at one of the junior clerics. She started to shout a spell of protection, but was skewered by the sharp talons of his spindly legs, and fell to the floor in a heap, blood running across the holy circle toward the boy's feet."
@ Arik- Octauroid? I'm not sure what you mean, Arik. I had basically given her the poison/venomous creatures domain, which turned her into the goddess of all things that sting or bite with poison. Snakes, scorpions, spiders (of course), even poison frogs or fish- anything with a natural toxin that people find icky.
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The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.
"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491
"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs
Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469
My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188
Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8035 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 06:21:25
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| Er, my badly invented word. Meant to refer to "eight-legged centaur-like creature". |
[/Ayrik] |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 07:37:07
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Shadow dragons. They are formidable, ruthless, dark, stealthy, agile, and...... can fly. |
Every beginning has an end. |
Edited by - Dennis on 16 Feb 2011 07:37:59 |
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Asharak
Learned Scribe
France
272 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 10:48:59
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kobolds, hundreds kobolds, kobolds everywhere...  |
"Soyez réalistes : demandez l'impossible"
Sorry for my English... it's not my native tongue. |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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Quale
Master of Realmslore
1757 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 18:04:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Arik
Hollywood has actually made manscorpions kinda cool. They were quite significant in some ancient Mystara lore, though they've suffered demotion to mere monster entry.
They have a cool origin story in Greyhawk, involving Tharidzun and Sulm. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8035 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 18:20:18
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| Odd, kobold-punting is a popular pastime in my group as well. It's even evolved into a competitive dwarven sport. Of course we use classic yippy Gygax kobolds, not the modern variety. They're just barely enough of a threat that you can't turn your back on 'em, plus they multiply like fruitflies and get bold when their numbers are vast. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8035 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 19:09:52
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I'm somehow reminded of a weird gnomish alchemist class I once read about ... greatly skilled at the manufacture and deployment of impplosive devices (these all incorporate reluctant imps encumbered with brisance).
Exploding kobolds sound almost like old skool Krynn draconians. Do they detonate when struck or when killed? (There is technically a difference, as it's theoretically possible for a kobold to survive an attack.) |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 16 Feb 2011 19:11:36 |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2011 : 21:52:57
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| CHICK-EN KICKER, I believe!!! |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out
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Favorite monsters?
