Middle of February already?
Here continues the 1st edition AD&D Monster Manual 2 roller-coaster re-read.
Magman.
You're going to end up fighting them because they will always try to set you on fire. The description says they're 'not really interested in fighting', but they clearly understand fear and threat as they enjoy the reaction of Primes to being burned - so fuck them.
Anyway, I'd raise their Intelligence to Average and reskin as Elemental Gnomes/Salamanders, or Dwarves/Trolls - I can picture a reclusive scholar, etching their philosophy into asbestos scrolls with boiling acid.
Mandragora.
For some reason, I have always had it in my head that the MM2 version was a non-vegetable monster with no connection with the magical root of folklore. But there it is in the first line of the description 'a mandragora is a vegetable creature'.
It's a predatory burrow-dweller that parasitizes on trees when there are no humans to strangle and 'eat' - presumably by absorbing the nutrients as the corpses decompose. They don't have the deadly shriek of folklore, but are stunned if exposed to sunlight and will not venture from their lair until sunset.
A pleasant correction/revelation after all these ignorant years. They're Low to Average Intelligence, too.
Mantis, Giant.
This is approaching 50s monster movie size and for that it gets a free pass. It gets surprise 75% of the time (is this in addition to, instead of, or even compatible with d6 surprise?) and if it stands still (presumably in its natural habitat, not just anywhere) it is 75% undetectable.
As should be expected, it's got a grab-and-bite attack.
Mantrap.
Plant. Hazard/trap. Not a monster, but that doesn't mean I hate it.
Margoyle.
Canon aside, I can never settle on whether Gargoyles are constructs, demons, elementals or their own species. Otherwise, see Basilisk, Greater.
Marid.
Their blinding water jet power is worth recycling, but otherwise this is just a Djinn/Efreet coloured in green and blue.
Maybe reskin as King or Queen of one of the elemental/faerie aquatic monsters, or even just say this is what Sea Giants are like - all the genies seem overly culturally specific without being particularly distinctive.
Mastiff, Shadow.
It becomes weaker in bright light, but in shadow it has a 40% of concealing itself so you can't fight back when it attacks.
A pack can bay, causing the classic run-away-and-drop-what-you're-holding response, and the more there are, the more difficult the save.
I like a 'Black Dog' monster, though these seem to be conventional, albeit extra-planar, animals rather than a supernatural force.
Mihstu.
Designated as an elemental, there's a whiff of the Cthulhuvian about this - it can form razor-taloned tentacles from its amorphous, misty body.
It can also 'assume a ghostly shape to scare away intruders', which opens up some narrative options.
Would make a decent entity for a Lovecraftian scenario, and I'll probably convert it to BRP at some point.
Miner.
Basically a Trapper for the wilderness adventure, with paralysing barbs on its back.
It has 10 HD and is Highly Intelligent, giving me Gamma World/ sci-fi vibes, - also a touch of the Cthulhuvian.
Minimal.
Wee little animals that are more aggressive than the normal-sized ones. They're all mammals, but there's no reason you couldn't apply the same treatment to any other mundane animals.
Apply the same scaling to any monster you think over-mighty for your table RAW.
Also, points for using a table for stats, instead of numerous individual entries.
Modron.
D&D Cosmology, eh? I liked how Modrons became clockwork/robotic/steampunk in Planescape - it really improves the Hierarch Modrons for me.
The Base Modrons are simple, weird and alien and I like that - touches of At the Mountains of Madness/ The Shadow Out of Time, and a bit of psychedelic music poster/album art.
But the Hierarches become more 'complex' by becoming more humanoid - a bit of a cop out, and they suffer the same problem as other planar monster types by being hit point sacks with spell-lists.
Mold, Russet.
As good or bad as any other mould.
It makes Vegepygmies out of you and your retainers.
Mongrelman.
Decanonised, these are just humanoids with survival skills and the possibility of blowguns.
Use instead of any of the not-particularly distinguishable humanoid monsters, maybe armed and population distributed according to their canon.
Moon Dog.
There's a much more interesting monster (good or evil) -maybe several- hidden in this entry. There are hints of a supernatural Black Dog, the Wulver, benevolent werewolf of the Shetlands, and the big-eyed dogs that help the soldier in The Tinderbox.
But because it's AD&D, this is an Upper Outer Planes super-hero - I prefer the Grim.
Light conditions affect its AC - the darker, the better - though why not best under a full moon?
Their whine, bark and lick all have beneficial dispelling or healing properties; even hanging out with one for a while will dispel charm or remove curse.
Muckdweller.
Little lizardfolk that spit muddy water in your eyes.
Like.
Mud-Man.
Quite a lot of text for a fairly minor monster only found in specific conditions - I'm going to take a guess that they originally appeared in a module.
They hurl mud, and then their whole mass, at their victims (targeting anything that can move quicker and more freely than them) - encumbering them with mud and suffocating them.
Reskin and lean into their shared consciousness - maybe splice with some of the moulds and/or oozes.
Myconid.
Chill mushroom folk, 'desiring only to work and meld in peace' - violence harshes their melding buzz - they're basically why Lawful Neutral is my favourite D&D Alignment.
Revisiting in these later years, I like them even more - though I'd base their HD and available types of spores using d6 rolls, rather than a 1 HD is this, a 2 HD is that. The effects of the Hallucinator spores table could be used for failed SAN rolls in Call of Cthulhu, if you have objections to the insanity system.
If Myconids ever decided to form up in fungus legions to attack the surface dwelling dry ones - if their desire to work and meld in peace was ever seriously threatened - they'd probably be armed with Gas Spores as artillery/mines and accompanied by Ustilagor swarms (fungi in 1e). Green slime, brown and yellow mould projectiles for that extra Mars Attacks! flavour.
Next in line - N and some others (because there's only Nereid and Narwhal)...
No comments:
Post a Comment