DMR2 Creature Catalog - I, J & K.

Ice Wolf.

They come in three sizes (3+1, 4+1 and 5+1 HD varieties, though described generally as big as a pony), and can be trained as mounts by the kind of humanoids you'd expect. They have a frosty breath weapon (d4 damage per HD).

The AD&D Winter Wolf (MM) has 6 HD and its breath weapon scores 6-24 hp, so Ice Wolves are just the Mystaran variant. 

It might just be clumsy editing/writing, but the text describes them as huge hounds so maybe they had a different name at some point close to publication. I wonder if there's any relation to the Hounds of Kerenos as statted by Graham Staplehurst.

Jellyfish, Giant.

Giant jellyfish if you need them. I have trouble visualising a standard combat involving them vs. adventurers - even though the text makes clear they use their tentacles as an active attack.

Two types, the Marauder and the Man-o-War. The Marauder is mechanically identical to the largest (4 HD) Portuguese Man-o-War, Giant from the 1e MM, though its sting is weaker (+4 to save).

They do make it into the 2e Mystara supplement, or rather the Marauder does, joined by the Death's Head (it's got a skull pattern) and the Galley (a fast swimmer and a deadly surface combatant, which can also shoot a stream of venom).

Juggernaut.

Huge magical machines - Golems on rollers/wheels, built like house, pyramids... even statues.

Stone Juggernauts (30 HD) crush you for 10d10 hp, Wooden (25 HD) for 8d10 - this attack is 30' wide, can harm multiple targets (they are allowed save vs. dragon breath to evade). Against a single victim, no save if it hits. 

Stone juggernauts can easily crush small buildings.

They have a basic save of 4+ (Stone) or 5+ (Wood, but auto-fail vs. magical fire), and carry their treasure inside.

I like the idea of these Juggernauts being adventure sites or monster lairs rather than simply brutal opponents, running them like I might something like the Earthquake Beetle.

I know I once had plans for undead-infested Juggernauts, along Triumph of Death lines, with names expressing their themes (Puzzlebox, Skinning Parlour, Flesh Foundry, Bonemachine and Ziggurat are the only ones I can remember).

Kal-Muru (Shipbane).

Some sort of Air Elemental that haunts the seas, making mist and mischief (of the ship's crew slaying variety). A real danger to mundane sailors who lack the HD and magic weapons to have any sort of chance against them.

A minimum of 10 Kal-Muru are needed to generate a thick, obscuring sea-fog, and the more of them there are, the further it spreads. As well as being unaffected by the winds, the fog also induces confusion (save at +4 if 5 HD or more, no effect at 8 and above).

Keep them as elementals, make them undead or demonic or djinni - whatever you like.

Featured in module X8, with the Kara-kara, below.

Kara-kara.

If you think Orcs are racist, then get ready for the Kara-kara. Not only Orcs, but also a caricature of the bone-through-the-nose-cannibal-savages-of-the-tropical-isles.

X8 Drums on Fire Mountain.
Art by Brian Williams.

Even so, for a tribal humanoid with some trappings that have not well stood the passage of time, broadening of audiences, and evolution of attitudes, the Kara-kara are... okay monsters?

CC gives us a description pretty close to what you can see in the pic above, and there's the standard tribal monster notes on females, young, weapon choice/distribution and spell-casters. In this case, they're known as manwu-papas or witch doctors - preferring the reverse of Cleric spells, because they're Chaotic.

As well as being followers of a pig cult, they are also a singing people. I imagine them having pleasant voices (to human ears), far from the presumed gutturals of Orcish. The males have a battle chant which gives a non-magical boost to their Morale and hit points, and makes them equivalent to 2 HD monsters when dealing with certain effects (sleep spell is the given example). Presumably, there can be other songs.

They consider precious metals to be worthless (no good for making practical implements), but pearl and jade can be found in their treasure hoards.

They're the feature-creature of module X8, so that's their context and expanded background if you have it for reference. As far as I know, they don't turn up anywhere else.

Killer Tree.

2e says that this is the Mystaran Hangman Tree (MM2).

Which could work.

RAW, the Killer Tree is a 6 HD monster with 4 grabbing attacks, followed by a 3d6 bite - a lot less subtle and Tolkien-adjacent than the Hangman Tree. And look at that maw.

Kna.

I'm fairly sure these are the BECMI/Mystaran analogue of the Locathah, though the Kna are orange rather than yellow, ride Mashers (the higher HD version in the M section) rather than giant eels, are enormously strong if their +5 to damage is not a typo (it's in AC9 earlier, but there's no comment on Strength or a damage bonus when they appear in 2e) and are 10 to 12 feet tall. 

I'm not specifically saying that the Locathah (or the wider aquatic tribal humanoid monster family) are boring, but this really feels like someone decided they could do with a zhuzhing-up.

Apart from that +5 damage in the statblock, there are no mechanics - the text is pure flavour; culture, technology, habitat, that there are both peaceful traders and ship-wrecking pirates amongst them. It is this that makes it (for me) a monster worth thinking about.

They can't breathe air, which I think is an interesting touch. Intermediaries or magic if you want to trade with them (maybe the Aquatic Elves are really keen for the Kna to join the community of intelligent humanoids and that's why they make and trade potions of water breathing).

2e tells us that Kna is pronounced NAH, that the wrecker-pirates call themselves uyagh and the Kna have a special body/sign language (in addition to a spoken one) that can get across basic concepts. Some details on family and tribal composition (including tame sea animals/monsters), claw and bite damage, infravision, half damage from blunt weapons (rubbery skin), +1 save vs. normal fire, how long they survive out of water (2d4 rounds). And that they're the sworn and ancient enemy of the Kopru (next monster). 

We also learn that Kna blood is an ingredient in potions of water breathing, which could put those Aquatic Elves mentioned earlier in a whole different light - the haughty, magic-using Elves taking a blood tithe from the beings they see as primitive brutes, perhaps, and the uyagh are those who would not submit (or survivors seeking revenge).

Yeah. I like the Kna.

Kopru.

Described as amphibians, but maybe just amphibious (and restricted to hot springs and tropical swamps): facial tentacles around a sphincter mouth, humanoid torso, clawed arms, three fluke-like tails instead of legs. They will bite you for 1d4 hp, but can also crush you in the coils of all three tails for 3d6 (doesn't specify if this is auto-damage/constriction).

Their signature weapon is a powerful charm - save vs. death ray (which means it's an easier save than vs. spells, unless I'm mistaken) or you are now completely loyal to the Kopru; it can read your thoughts and knows your memories, as well as direct you at any distance. Not only that but you will work in their interests even without direct orders, and will also carry on as normally as you can to disguise your allegiance. 

Fortunately, if you make your save (or throw off control - check each month; or apply dispel magic etc; or kill the controller) you are no longer subject to charm from that Kopru or the rest of the same group (this is not further defined).

They're one of the feature-creatures of X1 Isle of Dread, and one of way of reading things is that the (two? three?) Kopru you encounter are the only ones left.

I've always felt the Kopru were conceptually and/or thematically in the same kind of monster category as Mind Flayers, and not just because of the facial tentacles (as a matter of fact both the CC Kopru and the MM Mind Flayer have 8+4 HD, checking now). 2e goes as far as to venture that kopru are related to mind flayers as mermen are related to humans.

Also, compare with the Kappa (Dragon Warriors rpg & Golden Dragon gamebooks).

2e gives them a claw/claw/bite and more detailed tail(s) attack. The charm is further defined to include the victim being completely unaware that they are being controlled, and the effect is permanent until dispelled. Some notes on families/eggs, that they are female led, that their charm-related mind-reading is possibly a vestige of their past psionic ability at the height of their civilisation.

Kraken.

What it lacks in intelligence and special abilities in comparison to the 1e MM2 Kraken, it makes up for with 64 HD and almost 1000' of tentacular monstrosity. 

You need to score 60 hp to sever one of its tentacles.

Quite awesome. Definitely eats sperm whales; probably also Dragon Turtles.

DMR2 Creature Catalog - B to C.

Note: I don't have personal familiarity with the in-game origin of all the monsters, so I'll largely pass over that. A surprisingly significant number appeared in the early X modules Isle of Dread and Castle Amber, and there are numerous contributions from the Mystara Gazetteer and Creature Crucible ranges (though whether these were first appearances, I don't know).

Reminder that * indicates the monster is new to DMR2, wherever it started out from.

Baldandar*.

Protean entity from German literature via Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings (wherein also the Peryton).

For the game, it's an evil humanoid with sleep poison claws/fangs and considerable powers of illusion. Often masquerades as a Dragon or Magic-User. Can also shapechange (you and it) and possess (magic jar), as well as fly and turn invisible.

A good stand-in for all manner of villainous enchanters, including the Oni.

With females that get hormonal when child-bearing/rearing and shift alignment from Evil to Neutral in 2e.

Banshee, Lesser.

These are your basic banshee. Their signature wail causes damage rather than kills outright. Described as haunting families and warning/mourning deaths.

That they are not necessarily the spirit of the deceased they look like, nor that the deceased is restless in their grave, appeals to me.

It says that they're not undead (in AC9 it's under Monsters and Other Fantastical Creatures), but who are they really fooling?  They're even immune to sleep, charm, and hold, and they don't have anything much of the faerie tradition about them, either.

Apart from the differing ideas of various creators, I wonder if there was a desire/need for undead-a-likes in game that RAW wouldn't TPK lower level parties, or that wouldn't just be wiped away by clerical Turning before they got to show off their cool abilities.

Bargda.

Diseased, misshapen, goat-headed ogre/troll/giants with iron-shod clubs. Hate everyone except for monstrous humanoids that they lead on raids. Antagonists. Villains. Bosses. Chaos monsters out of Warhammer (Nurglesque, even) and RQ.

Mechanics for the Dexterity-sapping disease their bite carries.

2e makes it clear that they are actually suffering from the disease they carry, as well as having no digestive enzymes of their own - and needing to infect food with the disease in order to feed themselves! 

This is cool and creepy, and would be worth giving to someone/thing else if you didn't want to use the Bargda RAW.

DMR2 specifies that they are not found in Lost World areas, so make the Bargda grumpy, misanthropic and overall Neutral, and frame them as the unfortunate (doomed and dying) protectors/shepherds of those very Lost Worlds and all the monsters therein.

Beetle, Earthquake.

AC -6 (+15 AAC) and 40 HD, this is approximately the Jinshin-Mushi of Japanese folklore scaled up to Tarrasque-tier threat.

Head of a Black Dragon, beetle body, spider legs. Causes an earthquake (@ 25th level - but this is BECMI/RC) wherever it goes burrowing. Only uses its breath weapon once a week and when it's at half hp, but that's still a possible 160 points of acid damage.

It regenerates 3 hp per day.

Looking at daily regeneration and weekly breath weapon, I'd use the Earthquake Beetle as a Colossal foe (using On the Shoulders of Colossus, for example, or do a quick search of the blogs for something) and make a whole adventure about tracking, diverting, harrying and only maybe about actually killing it. 

If it comes up as a random encounter, use it to reshape the campaign rather than as a TPK. This kind of monster I don't think is very interesting to go at just with spells and swords.

Beholder, Aquatic.

Local/system variant of the Eye of the Deep and has 13 HD vs. 10-12 and a 2d10 vs. 1d6 bite, as well as giving actual numbers to disable its eyes. Its dazzling eye attack paralyses rather than stuns, and its eyestalks cast charm person and hold monster, rather than both hold spells.

Regrows lost eyes in d4 days vs. 1 week for the Eye of the Deep.

Just use the Eye of the Deep if you want to keep 2e canon, though I think its charm ability opens up more interesting possibilities.

Bhut.

In Hinduism, a restless and usually malevolent ghost; in either CC, it's another of those 'not undead even though it clearly is'. Even in 2e, they are still hazily classified as being 'a bit like' lycanthropes and undead.

One of the better illos in the CC, imo.

My comment above (Banshee, Lesser) re. summary execution of unused interesting undead by Clerics probably applies here - cannot be Turned, but have all undead immunities as well as being very stealthy and difficult to hear.

A bit like the Rakshasa (MM), they are vulnerable to blessed weapons, and their habits are similar to the Huecuva's (masquerade as normal folks, then get all monstrous and bitey after dark). They even have an aura that spoils detect and know spells.

Extra points for a freezing bite that causes numbness.

Brain Collector.

From my initial exposure to the Brain Collector via the bare stats in the BECMI Master DM's monster jam, I imagined it as a local/system variant of the Mind Flayer with logical adjustments for a system without psionics. 

While it works well enough as an eldritch horror (extra-planar crab with tentacles and brain removal habits), it could also work as a gruesome speciality Magic-User (NPC only, or not).

Ugly-looking spud from 2e Mystara

It stores stolen brains in internal cranial pockets, causing its head to bulge up in lumps. This would be quite an evocative image for a more humanoid Mind Flayer variation, and possibly you'd want to mechanically account for attacking the brain-pods (first hit on a nat 20, followed by Called Shot or something).

Obviously, could be reskinned as Mi-Go. Or as a brain-swallowing Beholder-kin.

2e further defines their alienness: they do not have hostile intentions as such but they don't see humans etc. as anything more than receptacles from which brains can be extracted.

Brownie*.

There's no mechanics in what is one of the longer descriptions in the book - though it's mainly a recapitulation of what you'd possibly already know from folklore and fairy-tales.

The CC Brownie only gets invisibility compared to the 1e MM Brownie's spell-list of seven, only one of which is not shared between AD&D and BECMI/RC.

Brownie, Redcap*.

A similar amount of text as the other Brownie, but more in the way of practical info for getting into scraps with it.

Suitably faerie and folkloric enough for me - wouldn't be so out of place in DragonWarriors. 

Cat, Great.

Bekkah, Cheetah, Jaguar, Lynx, Spotted Lion and Wildcat. 

While there are some special abilities to tell them apart (Bekkah's roar, Cheetah's movement rate, general rake attacks and surprise), I'm tempted to say Just Use Bears, or the Great Cats or the Wolf from the Basic set/RC as templates.

The Bekkah is a giant black panther with 12 HD and a terrifying roar (a bit like the Androsphinx and the Dragonne, of course). Beyond this, it's clearly your pulpy Man Eater/Jungle God monster - a cryptid, maybe, to challenge Great Hunters of All Hues and None (Nehwon Ghouls and Bone Men of Carcosa). Are they from something (I mean, other than possibly a module or magazine article)?

The CC Lynx is almost identical to the 1e MM Lynx, Giant, but lacks the Very Intelligent tag. Was it just a near-direct port, system to system, and lost the 'Giant' in transition?

There's a difference of 1 hit point between CC and 1e MM Jaguar, and 2 potential points of bite damage between the respective Spotted Lions.

The Wild Cat from 1e MM2 is a slightly more formidable beast than the CC version, but both are capable of slaying a 1st level character as per their reputation.

Cay Man.

Intelligent, 1' tall, 2 HD - otherwise unremarkable tribal humanoids.

Though I think their small size and comparable HD in relation to their much bigger Lizard Man cousins probably does merit a remark of some kind.

Chameleon Man.

They're more like Blink Men, being able to teleport up to 120' instantaneously and without embarrassing/fatal consequences. Can't attack in the same round as teleporting, but you could decide otherwise for your version; can't carry much weight either, so they don't wear armour.

7' tall, spindly, gangling and awkward with tiger-like stripes of red, blue, green, brown, orange, black and white. Which also aren't characteristics of chameleons, as far as I'm aware.

From the 1e Fiend Folio, looking to mix it up

Otherwise they're your standard D&D tribal humanoids, but they put me in mind of the Qullan from the Fiend Folio - probably because of their patterned skin - and I'd look at mashing the two together to come up with something.

I also think they'd make a good addition/alternative to the vari-hued inhabitants of Carcosa.

Chevall.

A Centaur that's a Werehorse that hates Wolves, opposes Werewolves and champions Horses. They're capable of injuring Werewolves in AD&D by dint of their 7 HD, and also by being 'silver/magic to hit' more generally.

Slight stat variations between forms, including Morale - which seems unintuitive to me.

They were an important faction in a Neolithic/Proto-Celtic campaign setting I started sketching in the distant past, though I can't remember many details.

I'd consider bringing them down to Centaur/Horse stats for inclusion in a lower powered game, or keep those stats and make them much rarer/more legendary.

Choker*.

A fairly bare stat block and no additional mechanics in the description, but this is one of my favourite monsters from the book - a spindly stretchy cartilaginous humanoid with a baby-sized body that strangles you and cuts you up to eat. 

Specifies it preys on Dwarfs (and, by logical extension, the other subterranean peoples) - it's originally from Dwarves of Rockhome, I think, with a charming/creepy illo by Stephen Fabian. 

In CC it has a movement rate Through Rock; while this is updated to Burrowing (combined with squeezing through small spaces) in 2e, you could choose to make the Choker more of an elemental, a ghost/undead, or have a rudimentary phasing ability (like the Vilstrak?).

RAW, it has 3 Intelligence, but I think of them as being closer to Human-level. Also, check out the inhabitants/antagonists of The Broadsword by Laird Barron for something horrible that could be developed from the base creature. 

Coltpixy*.

Size-changing faerie horse, able to turn invisible. 

I don't need a separate monster entry to tell me this, could have just been a paragraph in Tall Tales of the Wee Folk or any of the entries of the faerie folk that might ride them.

In 2e, it gets an Elf-like resistance to sleep and charm. Fair enough.

Crone of Chaos.

It's got a bit of an uninspiring name - you could call it Junior Hag, in the right setting. It puts me in mind of the monsters submitted to Out of the Pit in Warlock magazine, having the scent of juvenilia about it - though I mean that as an observation rather than a criticism (and notwithstanding the imagination of various grown-ass men down the years and editions).

Usually encountered disguised by an illusion. Tends towards the sylvan humanoid beauty model, and the text could imply this is the extent of its illusory ability, but why not a pile of treasure or a particularly tempting roast beef sandwich?

It can sustain the illusion while it's attacking (once per round), either by using animal control (no-save control of d6 normal or giant animals; it isn't specified if this is only for that round or until dispelled) or daggers of sorcery (d6 ghostly flying daggers that attack as 1 HD monsters for normal damage + weakness, and can be attacked by characters in turn - again, it isn't specified if this is only for that round, or if this is cumulative - resulting in vast swarms of daggers).

It's spell-like abilities are natural powers (including the one with Sorcery in the title), but can be detected and dispelled like magic. This feels a bit pointless and makes me wonder if there is a prototype for this monster, possibly in another system, from (science) fiction or using psionics - does anyone out there know?

Apart from a brief physical description (it's a crone), there's not much non-mechanical detail in the text - which makes it easier to think on how the abilities could transfer. 

In 2e, we learn that they procreate with, then devour male humanoids. They can have male and female offspring; the former are devoured, the latter are abandoned and it's hoped that they'll be brought up as changelings. Not terribly original, but planting them firmly in the faerie/folklore realm.

Reskin as non-crones - sylvan and aquatic protector/predator; specialist Magic User NPC; rogue AI/security bot. Those daggers could be anything you like, even living things. Options for 'male crones' that survive mum's appetite.

Cryion.

These are the Tran from Alan Dean Foster's Icerigger (1976), though their fantasy-dress is chiropteran/  noctillionine/ pteropine rather than feline. Claws adapted to work as ice-skates, aided by wings-as-sails.

The Tran inhabit an entirely frozen planet, while the Cryion dwell in your fantasy world, so use seasonally frozen waterways as much as any plains of ice.

There's some detail on their nomadic society, based around groups of 10-40 (called mnelds and there are no other made-up words in the entry, which seems like a missed opportunity for naming various arche- and sub-types), and great gatherings every 3 years. Otherwise, they're another fantasy tribal humanoid - so shamans, 1st to 5th level.

Despite my enjoyment of the novel, and frosty wastes being one of my favourite settings, I'm Neutral Indifferent towards Cryions.

I like the illo.