But here, Gary had a chance to create something new, something all his own. With some notable exceptions, a large chunk of the early DnD monster canon are stock fantasy creatures: Goblins, Orcs, Giants, dragons, Undead. Well, I can't speak from knowing, but if I had to guess, these were exercises in Gary stretching his creative muscles and creating something new. It's interesting, but I'm not sure about the design goals. It seems like the design drive overall is for things that don't deal much damage, haven't that much of an AC, are really mean and nasty in ambush situations, and have an arsenal of ways to unseat, debilitate, inconvenience and hinder you. Kuo-Toans have, well, sticky shields weird harpoons, etc, and Jermalaine are almost entirely focussed on ambush and capture. These guys are all about unseating you an sprawling you on the ground. And remember, AD&D surprise rules are brutal.ĭerro are weird little buggers to say the least of it- using mainly repeating crossbows with a damage poison, a few eccentric un-balancing polearms, a weirdo throwing club that also unbalances you, and a minority of armour-punching picks. ![]() ![]() Going through things like later monster manuals, I've noticed something very interesting about some of Gygax's (Oh, maybe not all him! So perhaps common thinking of later humanod designs) later humanoid creations- Drow, Derro, Duergar, Kuo-Toa,Jermalaine- these little guys are much fiddlier than early monsters, and they're far more given to various forms of putting gum in your hair and inconveniencing you.ĭrow use short swords and daggers, are all incredibly stealthy due to their cloaks and boots, can see you before you see them, spam darkness and faerie fire, riddle you with sleep darts, and can almost indefinitely drop more of those darkness spells and scram if things don't go your way.
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