Tiefling, behir, stirge, otyugh, bulette, ankheg, tarrasque...
Many of the monsters in the bestiary derive from obscure yet real-world sources (rakshasa, marid, couatl), while others I know were invented by early designers (rust monster). The ones up top, though, I couldn't nail down or find. Much the same with many of the demon names (many sound quasi-Hebrew, and it wouldn't surprise me if they were based on Jewish folklore).
Any old-schoolers care to enlighten me?
Tiefling, I've heard it said, was Wolfgang Baur's invention... I could very well be misremembering that. Auf Deutsch, "tief" means "deep" (again, could be wrong) which would make it roughly "Deepling". At least, that's how I think of it.
The Tarrasque is a monster of French origin (hence the "que" phoneme) although the myth is considerably more modest, it's still a terrible dragonthing of some sort.
Not sure about the rest.
Tiefling, behir, stirge, otyugh, bulette, ankheg, tarrasque...
Many of the monsters in the bestiary derive from obscure yet real-world sources (rakshasa, marid, couatl), while others I know were invented by early designers (rust monster). The ones up top, though, I couldn't nail down or find. Much the same with many of the demon names (many sound quasi-Hebrew, and it wouldn't surprise me if they were based on Jewish folklore).
Any old-schoolers care to enlighten me?
Well, the tarrasque comes from French legend:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TarasqueErol Otus created the ankheg:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankheg
The stirge may have been inspired by ancient Roman/Greek folklore:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strix_%28mythology%29
The name "tiefling" came from Wolfgang Baur:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiefling
I believe that the otyugh and behir were created by Gary Gygax, but don't quote me on that! ;-)
Cheers, JohnH / Wanda
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From an interview with Tim Kask, creator of the Bulette:
“I created it for two reasons. First and foremost? I had an empty page in that issue of The Dragon because a full-page ad either cancelled or was late, and I had to go to press. Now Gary and I had had several talks about creating monsters, and he had frequently encouraged me to let my imagination run wild. The umber hulk and the rust monster were fabrications (by Gary) to “explain” two plastic monsters from a bag of weird critters from the dime store that Gary had found and used in Greyhawk. (Now it would be a Dollar Store.) There was still had one that had not been taxonomically identified and defined yet that intrigued me; they called it the “bullet”. I frogged-up the name a bit. At this same time, SNL was hitting it’s stride and had become a cultural phenomenon, and the Jaws movies were just hitting their stride, and SNL ran with the “landshark” parody. People were going around going “Landshark” “Candygram” all the time as they became a temporary buzzword. No doubt influenced by some really good ” Oz oil” that was going around (statute of limitations is long expired), my excursive mind hooked them together as I imagined what a “real” (in D&D terms “real”) landshark might be. I had probably been watching a PBS program about moles or armadillos. The second reason had to do with Outdoor Adventures (or lack thereof) and a herd of hobbit ponies. But that’s another story…”
From an interview with Tim Kask, creator of the Bulette:
“I created it for two reasons. First and foremost? I had an empty page in that issue of The Dragon because a full-page ad either cancelled or was late, and I had to go to press. Now Gary and I had had several talks about creating monsters, and he had frequently encouraged me to let my imagination run wild. The umber hulk and the rust monster were fabrications (by Gary) to “explain” two plastic monsters from a bag of weird critters from the dime store that Gary had found and used in Greyhawk. (Now it would be a Dollar Store.) There was still had one that had not been taxonomically identified and defined yet that intrigued me; they called it the “bullet”. I frogged-up the name a bit. At this same time, SNL was hitting it’s stride and had become a cultural phenomenon, and the Jaws movies were just hitting their stride, and SNL ran with the “landshark” parody. People were going around going “Landshark” “Candygram” all the time as they became a temporary buzzword. No doubt influenced by some really good ” Oz oil” that was going around (statute of limitations is long expired), my excursive mind hooked them together as I imagined what a “real” (in D&D terms “real”) landshark might be. I had probably been watching a PBS program about moles or armadillos. The second reason had to do with Outdoor Adventures (or lack thereof) and a herd of hobbit ponies. But that’s another story…”
Wow, I'll never be able to use that monster again without feeling stupid...
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I knew it was made up based on one of those old plastic monsters Gygax found in a bag of dinosaurs, but I didn't know about the SNL-connection until I read this. I think it's hilarious. I remember the "landshark" jokes.
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I knew it was made up based on one of those old plastic monsters Gygax found in a bag of dinosaurs, but I didn't know about the SNL-connection until I read this. I think it's hilarious. I remember the "landshark" jokes.
A better clip is here... http://www.spike.com/video-clips/gytf2i/land-shark
Wow, I'll never be able to use that monster again without feeling stupid...
Wait, what, anyone ever used bullete as a serious monster?!
Wow, I'll never be able to use that monster again without feeling stupid...Wait, what, anyone ever used bullete as a serious monster?!
Yes! I love that monster. Though to be fair, my most prominent use was to foreshadow an even nastier monster deeper underground that a herd of bulettes was running from.
Wait, what, anyone ever used bullete as a serious monster?!Yes! I love that monster. Though to be fair, my most prominent use was to foreshadow an even nastier monster deeper underground that a herd of bulettes was running from.
I love using the bullete to terrify halfling PCs. Nom nom nom. I had one ask what he could see about the monster, I drew a giant mouth with feet.
AND
The bullete was the inspiration for a xorn-stone spell to force burrowing creatures to the surface. By the time the spell was done, it worked only on elementals who "phased" through the rock, but that's what you get by thinking logically about HOW magic works...
I knew it was made up based on one of those old plastic monsters Gygax found in a bag of dinosaurs,
When I was a kid, I had several bags of those assorted plastic monsters that would become D&D monsters, and held on to them long enough to notice that they became D&D monsters. I wish I still had them. I would love to be able to find them again. Does anyone know if they are still being manufactured?
By the way: I have a metric !!!!-load of plastic dinosaurs and animals that are roughly scale to D&D minis. Even those that aren't scale are incredibly useful, especially horses (once you can get them to stand!).
The bullete was the inspiration for a xorn-stone spell to force burrowing creatures to the surface. By the time the spell was done, it worked only on elementals who "phased" through the rock, but that's what you get by thinking logically about HOW magic works...
That sounds like a terrifically fun spell!
On a sidenote, your quote tags are a bit messed up. You've got me quoted for the statement that Drejk said. :)
Wait, what, anyone ever used bullete as a serious monster?!
Depends what you mean with serious. My players will freak out and run when they see the slightest hint of Bulettes....and that's a good thing.
Wow, I'll never be able to use that monster again without feeling stupid...Wait, what, anyone ever used bullete as a serious monster?!
Sometime within the past year (last October, I think), I had a cyclops oracle and war party all using the oracle's earth glide and riding bulettes to ambush the the PCs. Too bad for the cyclopes they ran into an underground wall of force and warned the party.
I love bulettes. I use them as serious monsters. Why wouldn't you? Large, earth-digging predator. They have a very Tremors (the movie) feel to them.
I knew it was made up based on one of those old plastic monsters Gygax found in a bag of dinosaurs,When I was a kid, I had several bags of those assorted plastic monsters that would become D&D monsters, and held on to them long enough to notice that they became D&D monsters. I wish I still had them. I would love to be able to find them again. Does anyone know if they are still being manufactured?
By the way: I have a metric !!!!-load of plastic dinosaurs and animals that are roughly scale to D&D minis. Even those that aren't scale are incredibly useful, especially horses (once you can get them to stand!).
Unless it got completly lost I have good old rust monster somewhere in house. I got it long before I heard of RPGs. Only years later I had learned that Garry Gygax was inspired by the same figurine...
To Bulette I react to it as some of the players react to Owlbear (which I personaly like quite much - thanks to D&D arcade game where they one of the common monsters in early parts of the game).
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Wait, what, anyone ever used bullete as a serious monster?!
I dig the bulette. I used one in an adventure inspired by The Relic that turned out to be really awesome. A "statue" of a heretofore unknown monster was on display in a museum and the party was invited sans weapons and armor to the exhibit. A crazed mystic from the monster's homeland snuck into the museum and freed the bullete from its petrified slumber, leaving the party to fight it with equipment pulled from the museum's various displays while trying to rescue the wealthy socialites attempting to flee the beast.
Wow, I'll never be able to use that monster again without feeling stupid...Wait, what, anyone ever used bullete as a serious monster?!
I actually tried to two weeks ago. Its fluff says that it likes to eat halflings, so the only sensible thing to do was to have it charge the Halfling Sorcerer. Who proceeded to critically hit it with a Shocking Grasp, drew the triple damage Critical Hit card from the Gamemastery Guide, and immediately slew it on turn one of combat.
And now it will forever be a joke monster to my players.
Wow, I'll never be able to use that monster again without feeling stupid...Wait, what, anyone ever used bullete as a serious monster?!I actually tried to two weeks ago. Its fluff says that it likes to eat halflings, so the only sensible thing to do was to have it charge the Halfling Sorcerer. Who proceeded to critically hit it with a Shocking Grasp, drew the triple damage Critical Hit card from the Gamemastery Guide, and immediately slew it on turn one of combat.
And now it will forever be a joke monster to my players.
Just out of curiosity, do your monsters use the critical hit cards too? Besides, not sure what about that makes it a joke and not an awesome (and lucky) move on the part of the sorcerer.
Bulette: 81 hp. Shocking grasp: 5d6 damage IF he's 5th-level or higher. Triple damage: 18d6. Average damage for that is 63 and max damage is 108, so he was up there on his roll.
All in all, none of that says "joke monster" to me.
The bulette used to be much more terrifying than it is now. Over the years transitioning from AD&D to Pathfinder, PCs have gotten a huge powerup, as have many other kinds of monsters, but the bulette has stayed relatively static. It has powered up as well, but probably an order of magnitude less than PCs have.
When I was a kid, I had several bags of those assorted plastic monsters that would become D&D monsters, and held on to them long enough to notice that they became D&D monsters. I wish I still had them. I would love to be able to find them again. Does anyone know if they are still being manufactured?
I'd like to know this, too. Of all the wacky little plastic monsters I had, I remember the rust monster and bulette best. OK, that and the turtle-crab-insect man. I think I still have them somewhere...
