Monster Manual, "B"

We begin with the 'B' monsters, starting with...the Barghest. This one goes way back, and was in fact the very first new official monster for the 1st edition AD&D game, appearing in Dragon #26 shortly after the release of the Dungeon Masters Guide in 1979. In this edition, barghests are lawful evil Outsiders with 6 HD, an AC of 18, and a CR of 4. They only advance to 8 HD; after that, they become a greater barghest with more advancement options and plenty of hit dice (9 to start). The greater ones can shapeshift between a goblin form and a wolf form. They have spell-like abilities that absolutely are not psionic in nature even though you can't tell the difference. Oh, and they advance by eating the corpses of their victims, gaining hit dice with every 8 HD or levels of their victim. Yes, your eighth-level bard will do wonders for the hungry barghest's growth spurt. So don't get eaten.

Next is the basilisk, a classic monster that appeared in the original boxed set in 1974. Of course, this is also a legendary creature from Greek and Roman myth; it's the classic petrifying monster, one of the two most terrifying attack forms in older editions of D&D (can you guess what the other one is?). Basilisks come with a CR of 5, 6 hit dice, and a gaze that turns you to stone. They can advance to 18 HD and reach Large size. Oh, they're Magical Beasts.

The behir made its debut in 1982 in module S4, The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, and made it into the Monster Manual II the following year. It's a 9-HD Huge Magical Beast that looks like an insane wizard's experiment to meld a dragon and a centipede together. Be grateful it only uses six of those claws. It's got an electrical breath weapon, and it is also the very first monster we find with details on how many creatures it can swallow whole. That's handy to know. They live anywhere, and have a CR of 8, so they are not pushover monsters.

Next up...here we go. The beholder. This was first introduced back in the original Greyhawk supplement to D&D back in 1975. Everyone knows what a beholder is by now; floating eye with ten eyestalks, each of which launches a nasty spell-like effect. They have 11 HD, an AC of 20, and the highest CR so far at 13. Oh, and they also have Flyby Attack and Shot on the Run to make things even more fun.

The belker made its debut back in 1998 in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium III; it's an evil...smoke elemental, I guess? Anyway, they are Large Elementals, with 7 HD and a CR of only 6.They're tough to hit despite their size, with an AC of 22, being made of...well, smoke. It's hard to connect with smoke when swinging a sword.

The blink dog is another Greyhawk original; they're teleporting dogs that are both intelligent and lawful good. They're pack animals with 4 HD, a CR of 2, and natural blink and dimension door abilities. Pretty straightforward.

The bodak is another S4 original along with the behir, It's a medium-sized undead that can kill you by staring at you. My mother had that power once. They have 9 HD, a CR of 8, and lots of resistances aside from the whole 'being undead' thing.

The bugbear is our third Greyhawk monster. Medium-sized Humanoid, 3 HD, a CR of 2, and they use weapons. Everyone who plays D&D knows what a bugbear is. They're tribal, but they only live underground. I think that's a switch; I could be wrong, but I thought bugbears had previously been found in different terrains. Ah, well.

The bulette first appeared all the way back in Dragon #1 in 1976, before making its official debut in the Monster Manual the following year. It's a Huge Beast, tough to hurt (AC 22) with 9 HD and a 27 Str to make sure it hurts you. They can advance all the way to Gargantuan size with 27 HD, and they can sense movement while burrowing through the dirt. Oh, and a CR of 7.

And...that's it for the 'B' section! Nice. I'm feeling a bit rushed tonight, but I'll come back next time with the 'C' monsters. It's quite the list.

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