Monster Manual: Tarrasque to Zombie

Let's get through the rest of these, shall we? The Tarrasque is one of those campaign-destroying monsters that made its first appearance in the Monster Manual II in 1983. It is a Colossal Magical Beast with 48 HD and a CR of 20, and there is only one of them in existence. I mean, per campaign, right? I would hope that someone using the tarrasque in their game wouldn't expect everyone else to just accept that they can't use it in theirs. I certainly wouldn't consider it exclusive to someone else's game.

Anyway, the tarrasque is really, really tough to kill. It WILL hit you with its attacks (+52 is its lowest attack bonus), and it will shrug off a lot of your hits in return (AC 35 and damage reduction 25+5). Even if you do hurt it, the regeneration 40 will take care of that. Its carapace deflects all rays, lines, cones, and magic missile spells, and what it doesn't deflect will still have to get past the spell resistance of 32. And if you somehow get it down to 0 hit points, that won't do the trick. You have to drop it to -30 hit points and then use a wish or miracle spell to keep it permanently down. And spells like disintegrate and death magic only reduce it to -10. Which means it will regenerate from those attacks. Is it any wonder that this thing has a Frightful Presence ability that terrifies anyone that sees it attacking? Oh, and it can (and likely will) swallow your entire party, and good luck getting out of its stomach. It can hold eight Medium-sized creatures in its gullet. So yeah, this thing is brutal. And yes, it can still have more hit dice than 48 if the DM is feeling particularly sadistic.

Now, consider that according to this book, the tarrasque is an equal challenge to a great wyrm white dragon (CR 20). That should give you an idea of just how jacked up dragons are in this edition. Be afraid.

Moving on (as quickly as possible), we have the Tendriculos, which apparently is a new creature. It's a Huge Plant with 9 HD and a CR of 6. Much safer than the tarrasque. While it normally looks like a big pile of vegetation, it can rear up nearly 15 feet high, supporting itself with limblike vines and branches. And of course, it has a huge mouth with 'teeth' made of thorns and sharp branches. It can swallow its prey whole (up to two Large or Medium-sized creatures, or four Small ones), and when it does the prey has to make a Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 3d6 rounds, long enough for the acid inside of it to melt the prey down to digestible juice. Yuck. It's quite strong with a 28 Str and 22 Con, and it has regeneration 10 as well. And of course, you can find bigger ones, advanced to 27 HD and Gargantuan size.

The Thoqqua first appeared in the Fiend Folio in 1981. It is a Medium-sized Elemental with both the Earth and Fire subtypes. It has 3 HD and a CR of 2, and it is basically a superheated wormlike creature that burrows through solid rock looking for minerals to eat. Its touch does 2d6 fire damage automatically, and when it is actually trying to hurt you, you make a Reflex save or you catch fire, burning for 1d4 rounds. Specimens of Large size with 9 HD have been seen in the past, too. I've only used this monster once, I think.

The Titans are 1974 originals, and of course well-known from Greek mythology. They are Huge, Chaotic, Good Outsiders with 20 HD and a CR of...21?! Are you kidding me? The bloody tarrasque is only a 20, and it is a hell of a lot bigger and tougher than a titan. Even the advanced titans with 60 HD are Gargantuan in size, still smaller than the tarrasque, and I don't see the titan shaking off disintegrate spells. Sure, they case spells as either a 20th-level wizard or cleric, but come on. And yes, they have a crap-ton of spell-like abilities, far more than they ever had in earlier editions. They also have spell resistance of 25 and damage reduction of 15/+1, not to mention lots of skills and some nice combat feats. But still. No way in hell is a single titan taking out the tarrasque.

Alright, that boiled my buttocks just a wee bit. Let's move on. The Tojanida is, I think, another new creature. I had to double-check, because it's an Outsider (Water subtype), which often means 'Planescape creature'. But no, this one didn't show up in 2nd edition according to the sources I have available to me. This has three versions; Juvenile (Small, 3 HD, CR 3), Adult (Medium, 7 HD, CR 5), and Elder (Large, 15 HD, CR 9). Effectively, the Adult is a Juvenile that advanced past 6 HD, and the Elder is an Adult that advanced past 14. Elders can get up to 32 HD and Gargantuan size. They are intelligent snapping turtles, except their mouths appear to be on the top of their head rather than on the snout. They also have a claw sticking up from the back of their shell instead of a normal tail, and another claw underneath in the front. Like an octopus, they can fire off an ink cloud with a 30-foot radius; if they are out of the water, it's an ink stream that blinds the target instead. And they have immunity to acid and cold, as well as fire and electricity resistance of 20.

Ah, the Treant. No, it's not an Ent, so please don't sue me, Tolkien estate. The Treant is a 1974 original, and of course is blatantly based on Treebeard and his cohorts from Lord of the Rings. It's a Huge Plant with 7 HD and a CR of 8 that can animate trees and trample its opponents, as well as doing double damage to objects and structures. They're also vulnerable to fire, and take half damage from piercing weapons. They are quite strong (Str 29, Con 21), and can advance to Gargantuan size and 21 HD. Fortunately, they are always neutral good, and will generally get along with druids.

Next we have the Triton. This is not a merman, although you could be excused for thinking otherwise. These are Medium-sized Water Outsiders with 3 HD and a CR of 4. The easiest way to tell them apart from merfolk is that merfolk are like Ariel in The Little Mermaid; one finned, scaled tail in place of legs. Tritons have two, one per leg. Does that make them better at swimming? Well, their swim speed is 40, while merfolk have 50, so I'm going to say 'no'. Interestingly, despite only having one tail, merfolk have a 5 ft. walking speed, while tritons have none. And unlike merfolk, tritons don't advance by character class; they advance up to 9 HD instead. They do have the ability to summon nature's ally III once per day, but otherwise don't seem to have much in the way of special abilities.

Troglodytes are an ugly, smelly race of Medium-sized Reptilian Humanoids with 2 HD and a CR of 1. They first appeared in the original Lost Caverns of Tsojconth tournament adventure by Gygax in 1976, and were included in the Monster Manual the following year. They have a special stench ability which makes people puke. So apparently, troglodytes live in high school gymnasium locker rooms. Some trogs use weapons, but most use just claws and teeth. However, despite their brutish demeanor and cutthroat society, they do advance by character class, with their favored class being cleric. Their god is Laogzed, and the domains they can select from are Chaos, Death, Destruction, and Evil. Well, that leaves 'subtle' right off the tactical table, doesn't it?

Last in the 'T' section, we have the mighty Troll. This one goes all the way back to Chainmail, of course. They are Large Giants with 6 HD and a CR of 5. The inspiration for this monster (or should I say the template, since it's directly taken from the book) is Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions, where the climactic battle is with a troll exactly like these. It has regeneration 5, so it's tough to kill, and...they advance by character class. So trogs and trolls do, but tritons don't? Interesting design choice, since tritons really don't have much going for them at all, and they're more human-looking than these two. Anyway, they don't have a favored class listed here. But their standard Int and Charisma scores are 6 and their Wisdom is 9, so I wouldn't expect them to be spellcasters except in very rare circumstances. There is a marine version of a troll called a scrag, which is basically the same as a regular troll except they only regenerate in water.

We're not done here, though; the Umber Hulk is next. This nasty beast first appeared in Greyhawk in 1975. It's a Large Aberration with 8 HD and a CR of 7. It's always chaotic evil, and it burrows as fast as it runs. It looks like a huge four-eyed cross between a gorilla and a beetle, and its eyes can have a confusion effect on anyone that looks at them. The art here is much different than in the original version, though. Thankfully, these don't have character class advancement; they can reach 24 HD and Huge size, though.

The Unicorn (which didn't make it onto Noah's ark, unfortunately) is another 1974 original, and it's a Large Magical Beast with 4 HD and a CR of 3. But since they are always chaotic good, and have a natural and permanent magic circle of evil surrounding them, of course your party isn't going to be trying to farm unicorns for XP, right?

Right?

They have a few spell-like abilities as well, and are immune to poison as well as charm and hold spells. And they can advance to 8 HD. They can't be trained as mounts, but they will, on rare occasions, allow a pure-hearted human or elven maiden to tame and ride them. If you run into a unicorn with a girl riding on top, she is not a succubus. You can trust her.

The Vampire Spawn is a creature created by a vampire; it's a Medium-sized Undead with 4 HD and a CR of 4. It's got the standard vampiric powers that we're all familiar with, as well as the weaknesses. I think. Let's see...charm, energy drain, blood drain, undead immunities, gaseous form, spider climb, fast healing...well, it doesn't say that sunlight fries them like a potato skin, but come on. The description does say they are bound to their coffins and to the soil of their graves, so it's got to be just as vulnerable as its sire. It would be silly for the spawn to be unaffected by the stuff that nukes its sire. They don't have any advancement stats, though, which is interesting.

Next we have the Vargouille, a Small Evil Outsider with 1 HD and a CR of 2 that first appeared in the Monster Manual II. It looks like a hideous, distorted human head suspended from leathery wings, with writhing tendrils in place of its hair and burning green eyes. While it does have a poisonous bite, it can also let out a bone-chilling shriek that paralyzes with fear those who hear it and fail a Fortitude save, right up until it attacks them or leaves. If you are paralyzed by a vargouille, be afraid. I mean, obviously you're paralyzed with fear, but you know what I mean. The vargouille can kiss a paralyzed target which slowly transforms the victim into another vargouille, and it doesn't take a lot of time; less than a day, in fact. You can interrupt the transformation with sunlight (daylight spell works), but that only stops the transformation; reversing it requires a remove disease spell as well. These guys only advance to 3 HD.

Up next is the Wight, another original 1974 monster that is most familiar from the Tolkien corpus. It's a Medium-sized Undead with 4 HD and a CR of 3, and it's another energy drainer that creates new wights by slaying humans. Pretty straightforward; they are usually the first energy-drainers encountered by adventurers, so they are a nice introduction to how that mechanic works. They can advance to 8 HD, remaining Medium-sized.

The Will-o'-Wisp comes from Greyhawk and myths from various lands. It's an evil globe of vapor that glows like a torch. It's a Small Air Aberration with 9 HD and a CR of 6, and it's very difficult to hit (AC 29), not to mention immune to most spells and naturally invisible if it so chooses. Their attack is a shocking touch that does 2d8 damage, and they have a 29 Dex. They can advance to 18 HD, and can be found in a string of up to 4 of them at the same time. They feed on the emotions of panic, horror, and death, so they love luring travelers into deadly peril and feeding off their suffering. Nasty.

Then we have the Winter Wolf, a Large Cold Magical Beast with 6 HD and a CR of 5 that first appeared in the original Monster Manual. Not much to say about them, really; they're wolves with a cold breath weapon. They advance to 18 HD and Huge size, and they're found anywhere cold or underground.

The Worg is a Medium-sized Magical Beast that also first showed up in the Monster Manual. It's a Medium-sized Magical Beast with 4 HD and a CR of 2. Like the winter wolf, it's always neutral evil, and it can advance up to 12 HD and Large size. It doesn't really have any special abilities; it's just a big, nasty wolf. They can often be found as goblin mounts, though, which makes them extra fun.

We're entering the home stretch now. Wraiths are another 1974 original; they are Medium-sized Incorporeal Undead with 5 HD and a CR of 5. They are not, however, energy drainers; instead, their touch does permanent Con drain, and if they drain you to 0 Con you die and become a new wraith almost instantly (1d4 rounds). Wraiths discomfit any animals nearby, so that's a good early warning system. They are powerless in daylight, but they can advance to 10 HD.

The Wyvern is a Huge Dragon with 7 HD and a CR of 6; it's a 1974 original. In fact, it goes back to Chainmail. They aren't nearly as bright or as dangerous as real dragons, although they do have a poison sting that does temporary Con damage, and they can snatch smaller creatures in their claws and automatically deal damage and sting until the victim is dead and ready-to-eat. They can advance to 21 HD and Gargantuan size. I remember these from the first Baldur's Gate game, where they were the first 'dragon' encountered by the party (real dragons were too powerful for the first game, and only appeared in Baldur's Gate II).

The Xill is a lawful evil Medium-sized Outsider with 5 HD and a CR of 6; they first appeared in the original Fiend Folio. They are four-armed, red-scaled quasi-reptiles that can slip between the Ethereal Plane and the Prime quite quickly, making it tough to fight them. And they are another implanting creature, laying their eggs inside paralyzed creatures. When the eggs hatch in 90 days, they eat the host from the inside out. Unfortunately, the xill can continually bite to keep the host paralyzed, so you get to spend three months anticipating a particularly gruesome fate. Nasty, nasty, nasty. And while they do advance to 15 HD and Large size, they can also get character classes; their clerics can choose from the Evil, Law, Strength, and Travel domains.

The Xorn first appeared in the Monster Manual, and its primary purpose appears to have been to have a monster starting with 'X' in the book. Xorns are Outsiders with the Earth subtype, and here there are three versions: Minor (Small, 3 HD, CR 3), Average (Medium, 7 HD, CR 6), and Elder (Large, 15 HD, CR 8). Like the tojanida, this is another case of advancing to a new age level. Elders can get up to 45 HD and Huge size. Otherwise, xorns are basically the same, with the same special abilities and the only real difference being the additional feats, improved skills and ability scores. They all burrow through the ground scavenging for precious metals and minerals, which means they will attack characters carrying such delicacies. They are all immune to fire and cold, and have electricity resistance 10. They also take only half damage from slashing weapons, and can look in all directions thanks to their strategically-placed eyes. Xorn are interesting opponents, since they really don't care about the characters as they don't eat meat. And they can be negotiated with, although if you're carrying a lot of 'food', they might not bother.

Almost done. The Yeth Hound first appeared in the Monster Manual II. It's a neutral evil Medium-sized Outsider with 3 HD and a CR of 3. It's primary ability is its Bay, which panics creatures within a 300-foot spread who fail a Will save. And they can fly as the spell cast by an 11th-level sorcerer. Otherwise, they advance to 9 HD and Large size, and they're mean and vicious. Not much else to say, really.

There's a bit more to say about the Yrthak, though. This is a Huge Magical Beast with 12 HD and a CR of 9. This might be the last original creature in this edition, as I see no evidence of its prior existence. The Yrthak looks like a weird dragon with no eyes and a fin on its back. Its horn emits a sonic lance that does 6d6 points of damage to a target within 60 feet. And it's a ranged touch attack, so armor ain't gonna help. If it fires this lance at the ground, it creates an explosion of shattered stone, doing 2d6 points of piercing damage to everyone within 10 feet of the explosion. Note that the lance can only be used every other round. Surprisingly, they are actually vulnerable to sonic attacks themselves. Mating season must be an absolute nightmare. These guys can advance to 36 HD and Gargantuan size.

Ah, next up we have the Yuan-Ti, the snake-men cultists who descended from humans that mingled their bloodlines with snakes in the distant past. These are not nice people, period. They first appeared in the classic I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City module, and later in the Monster Manual II. They are Monstrous Humanoids, and there are three types here: Purebloods (Medium, 6 HD, CR 5), Halfbloods (Medium, 7 HD, CR 5), and Abominations (Large, 9 HD, CR 7). The purebloods look the most human; the abominations are mostly snake. They all have spell-like abilities and psionics, as well as spell resistance 16. Their psionic abilities vary, but the spell-like abilities are all the same. However, only yuan-ti with human heads get the spell-like abilities. And they all advance as character classes, with ranger being the favored class for purebloods and halfbloods. Abominations favor the cleric class, and their deity, Merrshaulk, offers them the Chaos, Evil, Destruction, and...Plant domains? Plant? For chaotic evil snake cultists? The hell?

Let's finish off with the Zombies. These are 1974 originals, of course. Like the skeleton, we have seven varieties here, all based on size. Tiny ones have half a hit die, while Colossal ones have 48. CRs range from 1/6 for Tiny zombies to 12 for Colossal ones. They aren't really effective in combat unless there are a bunch of them, since they are so slow they only get partial actions, meaning they can either attack, or they can move; they can't do both in the same round. And they all have an AC of 11, making them real easy to hit. Still, a 96-HD Colossal zombie will certainly get your attention, and take a while to take down.

And that's going to wrap up the regular monster listings. The appendices will cover animals and vermin, as well as the new templates. But for now, we got through 37 monster listings today, bringing our running total to 379. There'd better be a lot of animals and vermin coming up if we're going to get that 500 total. We shall see.