So I was reading through the Monster Manual, trying to get a better handle on the new feel of the monsters in the setting. I started reading about these creatures called foulspawn--basically what's left of a human who has been mutated by the corruptive emminations of the Far Realm. The lowest of these are these small wretched creatures with spines down their backs, big white orbs for eyes and a hideous bloody smile full of small spikey teeth. They lair in small loose clans in old abandoned buildings. They're called grues.
As in...it's dark, if you continue onward it's likely you'll be eaten by a grue.
How cool is that? I love it. And it's totally buried in there. No advertisement of it at all. That's just a big chunk of nerdy goodness. I may have been wrong about the Monster Manual. There's some fun stuff in there after all.
Zork
As in...it's dark, if you continue onward it's likely you'll be eaten by a grue.I've heard this line before, but where is it from?
Probably from the Zork series. Though I miss the Elemental Grues nasty critters.
I hadn't gotten that far in my MM yet, but does anyone else find it ironic that on the day we see an uber restrictive GSL someone notices that WotC is using someone else's trademarked (or at least I'd assume it was trademarked) monster name in their work? :)
I hadn't gotten that far in my MM yet, but does anyone else find it ironic that on the day we see an uber restrictive GSL someone notices that WotC is using someone else's trademarked (or at least I'd assume it was trademarked) monster name in their work? :)
The trademark might have expired already. Though it is funny :) Although, when you think about it, D&D's taken a lot from many different sources over the years and put its own spin on them...
Creative Director
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Grues have been a part of D&D since 1st edition, actually. There were four elemental grues in the 1st edition Monster Manual 2. They got picked up in 3rd edition, I believe, in Complete Arcane. They were pretty nifty little evil elemental monsters.
Sounds like the 4E incarnation has nothing to do with the past few decades of D&D tradition though, which is a shame...
Grues have been a part of D&D since 1st edition, actually. There were four elemental grues in the 1st edition Monster Manual 2. They got picked up in 3rd edition, I believe, in Complete Arcane. They were pretty nifty little evil elemental monsters.
I love a good grue in my pants!
I'm almost 100% certain I've seen grues in a previous edition of DnD, though I'll be damned if I could tell you which edition/book.
Edit: Ninja'd by Jacobs!
Grues were mentioned on an NBC primetime show. They are dead to me.
I love a good grue in my pants!
And here I thought you were just happy to see me.
Grues have been a part of D&D since 1st edition, actually. There were four elemental grues in the 1st edition Monster Manual 2. They got picked up in 3rd edition, I believe, in Complete Arcane. They were pretty nifty little evil elemental monsters.I love a good grue in my pants!
Was it grue for you, too?
'course I remember what a grue is, since I played most of those Zork games, but for anyone who doesn't know:
From Wikipedia:
A grue is a fictional predator from the Zork series of interactive fiction games by Infocom. The word grue was first used in modern times as a fictional predator from Jack Vance's Dying Earth universe. Vance probably took the name from an archaic/dialectal English verb derived from a Scandinavian word meaning to feel horror, shudder (OED), now most commonly encountered in the word "gruesome".
Grues got turned into elementals? Ugh. That's just sounds dumb.
I dunno. Maybe they were cool like crazy, but I'll take my bug-eyed slimy albino monster hiding under the attic to yet another flavor of mephit, which is what the elemental grue comes across as. Then again, people could sell me.
I'm just saying I like the new Far Realm mutant schtick a lot better on the face of it...and that art. That thing is just repellant! I love it!
I hadn't gotten that far in my MM yet, but does anyone else find it ironic that on the day we see an uber restrictive GSL someone notices that WotC is using someone else's trademarked (or at least I'd assume it was trademarked) monster name in their work? :)
Would surprise me in the slightest.
I hadn't gotten that far in my MM yet, but does anyone else find it ironic that on the day we see an uber restrictive GSL someone notices that WotC is using someone else's trademarked (or at least I'd assume it was trademarked) monster name in their work? :)
Grues are another legacy of Jack Vance's Dying Earth books (from whence came Vancian spell casting).
I doubt there are any trademark rights tied to the name.