Monster Manual: "C"

I forgot to update my monster count yesterday, so there were 10 more 'B' monsters, making our running total 28 so far.

Alright, we're on to the 'C' monsters, some of which are A+ opponents. First up is a classic: The carrion crawler. Another creature that made its debut in the 1975 Greyhawk supplement, the carrion crawler is well-known to gamers. Here, it's a Large Aberration with 3 HD, 8 tentacle attacks that all paralyze their targets, and a CR of 4. They are underground monsters, and can be advanced to 9 HD (which makes them Huge). Scary as hell for a low-level party, a TPK in the making. Once you're third or fourth level, though, these things are butter for your hot knives.

Now we get celestials. Eight of them, in fact. They're all Outsiders, of course. I'm not going to go over them all in detail, but there are lantern archons (CR 2, 1 HD), Hound archons (CR 4, 6 HD), Avorals (CR 9, 7 HD, lots of spells), Ghaele (CR 13, 10 HD), Trumpet archons (CR 14, 12 HD), astral devas (CR 14, 12 HD as well), Planetars (CR 16, 14 HD) and the almighty Solars (CR 19, 22 HD). Some of these originally appeared in Dragon Magazine before being added to the Monster Manual II. In particular, I recall the solar being an absolute terror for combat; it was functionally a minor deity, capable of wiping out an entire party of 20th-level adventurers without breaking a sweat. This thing could solo the tarrasque in three rounds. Now...according to the CR system, a party of four 19th-level characters should be challenged by a solar. Either they nerfed the living hell out of it, or this edition gets really silly at high levels of play; you aren't playing the Fellowship of the Ring, you're playing the Justice League.

Centaurs are an original, 1974 monster from the boxed set. Here they are Large Monstrous Humanoids with 4 HD and a CR of 3. No special abilities to speak of; they're found in temperate forests, can live in tribes of up to about 200 or so, and like using greatclubs and lances to beat people with. Fortunately, they are neutral good (usually), so most parties should have no trouble at least talking to them and possibly getting some assistance of some sort.

The chaos beast is, I think, new. Wait, no, it's not. It's a Planescape monster from the Planes of Chaos boxed set from 1994. It's an Outsider, and you'll never guess what its alignment and subtype are. 8 Hit Dice and a CR of 7, this creature has good spell resistance of 15, is immune to critical hits and any sort of transformation attack, and has something called 'corporeal instability'. This means that when it hits you, you make a Fortitude save or you become a gigantic amoeba, basically. You can't carry anything, any armor or even clothing drops your Dex by 4, and your speed is reduced to 10 feet or 1/4 your normal speed. You're also in constant pain, so you can't cast spells or use magic items, and can't focus to attack anything deliberately, taking a -4 on attacks. And every round you stay in this state costs you one point of Wisdom...permanently. Once you're at zero, you're a chaos beast yourself. The only spells that will fix this are restoration, heal, and greater restoration, and you'll need extra restoration spells to get your Wisdom back. This thing is nasty. And it can advance to 24 HD and become a Large chaos beast, so it's even tough to take down. Be afraid.

The chimera is a 1974 original, a Large Magical Beast with 9 HD and a CR of 7. Yeah, I'd much rather take on a chimera than a friggin' chaos beast. Sure, the chimera has two bite attacks and a breath weapon, but at least it doesn't turn you into a chimera through excruciating pain. These can advance to 27 HD as a Huge monster. Interestingly, their breath weapon, which comes from their dragon head, is variable...because the dragon head's color is variable. The only thing for sure is that it's an evil dragon head, but it could be black, blue, green, red or white. The damage and saving throw don't change, but the type of weapon and its shape does. So, that's a nice update.

Ooh, the choker. And this one is another Mystaran creature, appearing in the Mystaran Monstrous Compendium Appendix in 1994. This is a Small Aberration with 3 HD and a CR of 2. They hide in underground settings and have really long legs and arms which they use as tentacles to choke out their prey from ambush. And they are very, very fast. Not in terms of running speed, but in reflexes; they get an extra partial action each round as if they were hasted. Fun little beast, and they can get up to 12 HD and Medium-size.

The Chuul is a new monster, a Large Aberration that looks like...well, it's a massive crab-like thing with insect and serpent traits mixed in. It's very tough to hurt (AC 22), has 11 HD and a CR of 7. Again, still better than a chaos beast. These things can grab you with their claws and squeeze you really hard, as well as paralyze you before they eat you. That would suck. Oh, and they are aquatic, so you might not notice it right away if it's submerged. They are themselves immune to paralysis as well as poison. And they're mean and nasty. They collect trophies from their kills, so even though they can't use weapons and armor, you'll find some in their lairs along with the skulls of the unarmed victims. Like I said, mean and nasty.

The cloaker first appeared way back in module A2, Secret of the Slavers' Stockade, and was added to the Monster Manual II as well. Here it's a Large Aberration, 6 HD and a CR of 5, which flies faster than you can run and will engulf you and bite you to death. Oh, and they have a 21 Str to make sure they squeeze you real good. It also emits a dangerous moan that has differing effects on the target. And since they are underground, there are lots of shadows for them to not only hide in, but manipulate as well, using them to duplicate a mirror image or a silent image spell. Isn't that fun? Huge species can be found with up to 18 HD as well.

The cockatrice is a 1974 original, and of course comes from medieval legends. It used to look like a pretty ordinary rooster, but now it's much uglier, being a combination of a lizard, a rooster, and a bat. Yuck. They're small Magical Beasts with 5 HD and a CR of 3, and they were charter members of that ever-popular group of monsters that turn you to stone, this time with a melee attack. They can get up to 15 HD and Medium-size, and that would not be a fun fight.

The couatl first showed up in 1976's Eldritch Wizardry along with a slew of other monsters that used the new psionics rules of the day. Here, it's a Large Outside (lawful and good) with 8 HD and a CR of 10. They've got spells, psionics, poison, and just for fun they can constrict you to death. They're also ethereal when they feel like it, and communicate telepathically. Oh, they're gorgeous, shining, winged snakes about 12 feet long and weighing 1800 pounds. Did I mention they're lawful good? Because it's a really good thing they are lawful good. They're found in warm forests, aka jungles, and they can get up to 27 HD and Huge size for special occasions.

And that takes us to the end of the 'C' section. No, no baby was born here. Thanks to the large number of celestials, we added 17 more monsters to our total, bringing us to a mere 45. But next we get to the 'D' monsters, and I know from experience that 'D' is always the biggest section of a Monster Manual. Demons, devils, dinosaurs, and dragons, oh my.