Tag Archives: Monsters

Centaurs

Centaurs are pretty wild.

On the subject of centaurs, the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons says “Centaurs will be found in hidden glens. It is there that both their females and young are and where their treasure is hidden.”

OD&D also states “At worst these creatures are semi-intelligent“. B/X is pretty much in agreement and says they are “somewhat intelligent“. In both cases they seem closer to animal than man.

I realise that in a FRPG not everything has to follow the rules of nature or indeed make sense. But personally I just can’t get my head round the fact that they might reproduce, or indeed how. I’m more likely to have them be magical or divine creatures. Created as arboreal protectors by the Lord of the Forest or possibly chaotic liminal beings formed at the meeting of our world and the mystical.

Anyway… Centaurs. How do you do yours?

TSR Treats

Picked up these tasty TSR treats from DriveThruRPG for much cheapness recently. They were so cheap in fact, that I didn’t have to think twice. INSTA-BUY! And they only took a week to arrive from ordering… and that’s with 2nd class mail! That’s quite a service, considering they’re print-on-demand.

I’ve always had a fascination with Hommlet as it was the first module that I played back-in-the-day. Even after all these years, I can still remember the wondrous feeling I had exploring this ‘other world’. So it’s cool to finally get a hard copy without handing over out a small fortune. Hopefully there’s still some magic in there somewhere.

I’d never seen a Fiend Folio in the wild until last year, and I was surprised at how fantastic the interior art was. It’s got to be the best looking old-school monster manual. I knew I’d have to get my hands on my very own before too long. I’m going to enjoy perusing this tome of terror!

Monster leech swallows giant worm

The Giant Red Leech… have grown so big that they no longer simply suck blood but now actively hunt giant blue worms and suck them down like spaghetti. The new footage shows the leech detecting a worm’s trail and following the scent like a sniffer dog. When it encounters its prey it quickly latches on and moves its lips up and down the iridescent blue body. “It was either searching for an end to grab, or was working out whether it was too big to eat” said documentary director Paul Williams. “When it found an end it started to suck. It was incredible.”

I’m not sure what freaks me out the most… the sniffing, the swiftness or the slurping. Witness the horror for yourself:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/embed/smpEmbed.html?playlist=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fiplayer%2Fplaylist%2Fp027f9q0&title=Wonders%20of%20the%20Monsoon%3A%20Strange%20Castaways%3A%20Monster%20leech%20swallows%20giant%20worm&product=iplayer

Living statues

“…the practice of self-mummification, a gruesome process where monks from certain traditions prepare themselves to not decay after death through a combination of diet and consumption of poisonous herbs and embalming fluid.”

Possible origin story of living statues?

https://www.iflscience.com/technology/ct-scans-reveal-mummy-inside-statue/