Monster Manual: Dragon Turtle to Ettin

Alright, we continue on with the rest of the 'D' section of monsters, as well as the critters starting with 'E'. That's a lot of pages, so I'm going to dive right in.

First up, the Dragon Turtle. Another original 1974 monster, the dragon turtle is a Huge aquatic Dragon  that looks like a cross between a dragon and a turtle. No surprise there. They have 12 HD and a CR of 9. They bite at +18 to hit and do 4d6+8 damage, as well as having claw attacks. But they don't get all the other special dragon abilities like tail slap and such. They do have a breath weapon, though: A cloud of superheated steam doing 20d6 damage. Ouch. They are also big enough to capsize small boats, and they can advance to 36 HD (Gargantuan size).

Next is the Dragonne, which made its debut in the original Monster Manual in 1977. This one looks like a cross between a lion and a brass dragon. It's a Large Magical Beast with 9 HD and a CR of 7. It's got wings, so it flies (poorly), and its best attack is its terrifying roar that weakens those who hear it (Will save or lose half your Str score) and deafens anyone within 30 feet. They live in deserts and hills, as well as being found underground. Advanced dragonnes are Huge with up to 27 HD.

The Drider first appeared in the classic Queen of the Demonweb Pits module (Q1) in 1980. Here they are Large Aberrations with 6 HD and a CR of 7. Driders are formed from drow elves that fail a test given to them by their goddess, Lolth. They are bloated spider-centaur creatures, but they can have character classes. Even the ones that aren't casters still have spell-like abilities, and they all have a poisonous bite and spell resistance 14. But they prefer to use their weapons which they retain from their time as drow.

Dryads are much nicer than driders, and they're original 1974 creatures. Here they are Medium-sized Fey with 2 HD and a CR of 1. They are found in forests, of course, and to the surprise of no one, the basic dryad has a Cha score of 18. Other than that, though, they aren't much in terms of combat ability. But they do have some spell-like abilities involving trees and charming people. They're bound to their trees, though, and if taken more than 300 yards from their tree they will die within a day. They can advance to 4 HD.

Next up is the hardy Dwarf. Medium-sized Humanoid, of course...with the Dwarf subtype, in case you weren't aware. These are dwarves just like in the Player's Handbook, although there are several subraces mentioned here. Hill dwarves are the basic PH dwarf; deep dwarves and mountain dwarves, like the hill dwarves, have a CR of 1/2. Derro and duergar (the evil dwarves) have a CR of 1 due to their extra abilities such as spell resistance (derro) and spell-like abilities (duergar). All dwarves have fighter as their favored class.

And that's it for the 'D' section, which took two and a half posts to cover. There were only five remaining monsters in this section, so we're up to 106. But there's more, so let's jump right into the 'E' section, starting with...

Elementals! These go all the way back beyond D&D to Chainmail rules in 1971! Air, Earth, Fire, and Water varieties are listed here, and six different versions for each: Small (2 HD, CR 1), Medium (4 HD, CR 3), Large (8 HD, CR 5), Huge (16 HD, CR 7), Greater (also Huge, 21 HD, CR 9) and Elder (still Huge, 24 HD, CR 11). That's 24 monsters right there, so our running total is going to take a big jump. All Air elementals have a whirlwind ability that does variable damage based on the elemental's size. Earth elementals have earth mastery, which gives them benefits to attacking ground-based opponents. Fire elementals slam into their opponents, setting them on fire unless they make a Reflex save. And water elementals gain bonuses to attack waterborne opponents, as well as extinguishing all open flames with a touch. They can also turn themselves into a whirlpool much like the air elemental's whirlwind, except that it works in water, obviously.

Next, we have the elves. Again, same as elves in the Player's Handbook. However, there are subraces again, all of which have a CR of 1/2 except for the drow, which has a CR of 1. The subraces are half-elf, aquatic, drow, gray, wild, and wood elves. And the...regular elf, I guess. All elves have wizard as their favored class, but wild elves prefer to be sorcerers and barbarians, while wood elves are more comfortable as rangers. And aquatic elves favor the fighter class. And female drow favor the cleric class. So...regular elves and male drow are the only ones that actually have wizard as their favored class. Not sure they proof-read that section too well.

Then we have the Ethereal Filcher, which to my knowledge is a new beast. It's a Medium-size Aberration with 5 HD and a CR of 3. They are...weird looking. Very weird. I'll just quote the description, which doesn't really do the artwork justice. "A filcher...is 4 1/2 feet tall and has a baglike body, with a thick neck and a bulbous head. It has four long arms, and a single leg that ends in a prehensile foot. It is pearly gray overall with metallic blue and turquoise markings." Yeah, that's bizarre, alright. The art makes it easier to visualize it, but it's still bloody weird.

Anyway, their big deal is that they aren't fighters; they're thieves. They wait on the Ethereal Plane until a likely victim appears on the Prime Plane. Then it shifts to the Prime and snatches an item, immediately retreating back to the Ethereal Plane before the victim can respond. This is more of a nuisance monster. They can advance to 15 HD, though, growing to Large size, which would make them a bit more of a threat. Maybe. Their single bite attack is pretty pathetic regardless of how big they are.

On the other hand, the Ethereal Marauder is much less cautious and sneaky. This is a Medium-Size Magical Beast that also appears to be original to this edition. This creature has 2 HD and a CR of 3. I'm not sure why, since it's only ability is its ethereal jaunt. It's a bipedal lizard/dinosaur critter with a triangular, mandibled mouth and lots of sharp teeth. Like the filcher, they are a hit-and-run creature, but they aren't stopping by to steal; they're hunting prey. And like the filcher, they can get up to 15 HD and Large size, which makes them much more of a threat.

Ettercaps first appeared in the original Fiend Folio in 1981. They are Medium-size Aberrations with 5 HD and a CR of 4. They hang out with spiders. Big, nasty spiders. And they have a poisonous bite and a web. It's not a web spell; it's an Extraordinary ability, and it works like a net against targets Medium-size or smaller. They're very agile (Dex 17), and good at climbing. They can advance to 15 HD and Large size, which is a common theme in the last few monsters.

Finally, we have the Ettin. The two-headed, Large Giant with 10 HD and a CR of 5. Rather wimpy, really. But then, they aren't that impressive except for the two heads part. Their AC isn't very high at 18; their Str is 23, but the rest of their abilities aren't much to write home about; and they use both their weapons simultaneously with no penalty because each head controls a weapon separately. They live in cold and temperate hills and mountains, and...they advance according to character class? Okay, then. No favored class is given, so we'll just have to assume that most of them are fighters and barbarians, since that 6 Int isn't going to help them cast spells.

And that's it; we've gotten to page 90, and we've added another 34 monsters in the 'E' section thanks to an abundance of elementals, bringing us to a total of 135. Not bad. Next time...the 'F' monsters.