When I moved from Holmes Basic to AD&D 1e, the first book I was able to buy was the Fiend Folio, and this was after working a summer at the Youth Conservation Camp in Minong Basin, Wisconsin. The first book I could access was the Dungeon Master’s Guide, because I had players who were better off than I was. If you are wondering why “Make Monsters Mysterious” resonates so powerfully with me, in those days I was operating for about two years without a proper monster book and only sporadic access to the DMG and Player’s Handbook. I had literally copied out the material I needed like a medieval scribe, and like the scribes of yore, thing weren’t always transcribed correctly! The DMG contained an appendix of statistics from the Monster Manual. Without the Monster Manual, trying to figure out what some of these creatures were was challenging. Eventually, I was able to obtain the Monster Manual and learn that a roper was not actually a horse-like predator with lariat-like snout-tentacles!
I’ve been asked to convert the original Monster Manual in a manner similar to my conversion of the Fiend Folio. I am going to do this a bit differently, though, and just try to stick to the essence of creatures without referring to the text of the original work in some cases. This is, in part, because of my plans to create a monster book in the upcoming year. For fun, where I was wildly off on imagining some creatures before I got an actual Monster Manual, I will try to stat out my teenaged ideas as well.
My plan is to give statistics for roughly three monsters per post.
Here we go.
Aerial Servant: I feel that the invisible companion spell, on pages 173-174 of the DCC core rulebook, more than adequately covers this entry.
These giant arthropods are built like a nightmare cross between a centipede and a praying mantis. They burrow beneath the ground, lying in wait with only their antennae exposed. They are able to sense the subtle tremors of creatures moving upon the land, up to 500 feet away, and burst upward from their shallow tunnels when something suitably large comes near. Attacking in this way, an anhkheg almost always gains a surprise round, although a DC 20 Intelligence check negates this, as may other circumstances as determined by the judge.
An anhkheg which hits the same target with both mantis-like claws grasps the target, doing an automatic 2d4 damage each round and gaining a +4 bonus to bite the grasped target. A successful DC q5 Strength check or Mighty Deed can free the victim.
An anhkheg can spit a glob of powerful stomach acid once every 1d4 rounds. This targets a single creature, which must succeed in a DC 12 Reflex save or suffer 4d4 damage. There is a 1 in 4 chance that a single dose of this acid can be taken from a slain anhkheg’s stomach with a successful Handle Poison check. Alchemists and similar characters are considered trained in this check, and a glass container must be available to store the acid in.
Giant Ant: Giant ants are covered on pages 294-395 of the core rulebook. 1 in 7 groups of giant ants has a special ability, as indicated below (roll 1d4):
(1) Jumping: Some ants are capable of using their two rear sets of legs together in order to jump. A giant ant with this quality can jump up to 20 feet forward and 10 feet upward.
(2) Spraying: These ants can spray a stream of formic acid from their abdomens. Giant ants can make a ranged attack roll, spraying up to 30 feet, with a +2 bonus to hit for 116 damage.
(3) Trap-Jaws: These ants do not let go once they bite, automatically doing normal bite damage each round after the initial bite. In addition to the damage, characters bit by these ants are considered to be grappling with them (a DC 15 Strength check can force the jaws apart). The jaws remain clamped fast (and the character remains grappled) even after the ant is killed.
(4) Venom: These ants are poisonous. In addition to damage, the bites require a DC 15 Fort save to avoid suffering 1d6 points of Stamina damage for 1d4 rounds.
This entry uses material from this post. You will note that I toned down the original.
Ape: The Cyclopedia of Common Animals covers a plethora of ape types.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, and not a member of my Patreon, you may be forgiven for wondering just what the Cyclopedia of Common Animals is. It is just what it says on the tin, with over 500 statblocks for everything from areas infested by gnats or mosquitoes to the largest of dinosaurs. Domesticated animals of all types are included, lots of venomous critters (like spiders and snaked), game stats for illnesses transmitted by ticks and mosquitoes, stats for rabies, and the like.
Whether you are looking for a giant banana spider, a honey badger, a giant shrew, or that chicken your 0-level farmer is carrying around, there is a good chance that you can find it in the Cyclopedia.
This horrifying flightless bird has a thick, sharp beak which it can wield with deadly force as well as sharp-clawed legs which can eviscerate opponents. They are large enough to be ridden by humanoids wearing nothing heavier than chaimail, and have been domesticated in some dark corners of the world.
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