List of Mythic creatures

[tarchon]

The peryton ... you're close. There's an account (sorry, cant' find the ref right now) of them attacking the city of Rome in at some point in the Empire period, I believe. I was amazed when I ran into that ... until then, I thought Gary and his buddies made that one up. 'Cause, you know, it was so dumb looking.

I don't think it appears in any known classical sources - http://www.eaudrey.com/myth/peryton.htm reports:

According to a rabbi from Fez in the 1500's, an unknown Greek scholar stated that the Perytons were originally from Atlantis. (The rabbi's manuscript has also been lost.) They would fly in flocks, and attack sailors near the Strait of Gibraltar. The soldiers with Scipio encountered them, and their weapons were useless against the Perytons, although each Peryton could only kill one man each.

And http://www.hum.au.dk/romansk/borges/vakalo/zf/html/body_the_peryton.html

My gut feeling is that it's entirely post-Classical, since it sounds like it belongs to the genre of allegorical beasts of the Middle Ages (plus, people actually living in the time of Scipio would have found the whole account laughable). Really, the oldest reference I can find is in Borges' bestiary (above).

If it's in any ancient source, I'd guess something strange and obscure like Phlegon of Tralles. I might have a look around the lib if I get a chance, since it doesn't seem like anybody commenting on it on the net has bothered to ID a source.

Or... maybe buried in one of those endless volumes of Medieval "Sibylline oracles."

 

[xenoflare]

Asian myths

Garuda - I was thinking an advanced Tauric Giant Eagle/ Aasimar would work well too. Most of them should have levels in ranger with favoured enemy - naga, favoured enemy - dragons, or favoured enemy - yuan-ti, as they are supposed to be utterly ruthless when it comes to hunting evil snakes and dragons. Bout the aasimar bit.. well, suits their celestial roots, the biggest Garuda of all is after Lord Vishnu's own steed.

Nagas come from Hindu-Buddhist myth, though there are far more "good-guy" nagas than bad-guys... the Buddha himself was protected, as legends go, by the flood that the Demon King Mara summoned to drown him by the 7-headed Naga, a Cobra Prince i think, who used his multiple hooded heads to bear the brunt of the rushing water. The Sea Drake (FF) is appropriate for some Nagas as well.

The Bhuta also comes from Hindu-Buddhist myth - it's from the Fiend Folio or MM 2 i think. It's an Earth demon that steals dead flesh to animate... in Javanese myth, "Bhuta" is a generic term that applies to any sort of rakshasa demon.

Ogre Mages seem to be inspired by Japanese oni, their visuals and descriptions seems indicative of legends of fallen warriors or pride-fallen priests who have been warped by their own sin and transformed into a proud, powerful, but ultimately heretical beast.

Dragon Turtles have an antecedent in China, we call the Dragon Serpent "Xuan Wu" - the Dark Warrior of the North. He's a strong warrior who can assume human form, and is a general of the celestial host for the Jade Personage.

Ashuras (Book of Exalted Deeds) are from Hindu-Buddhist lore, a race of celestial titan-like beings who are powerful and strong in warcraft but hideous of aspect (for the males), and magically powerful and comely of aspect (for the females). They envy the Devas (not just angels, but also the Gods) for their high position and fight them in order to gain dominance over reality. In Hindu lore, the battle between Devas and Ashuras in the beginning of time resulted in the churning of the cosmic ocean of star-milk that created this universe... in Buddhist lore, the realm of the Ashuras is one step above that of us mortals - they are powerful, but cursed never to be content with their power, and their downfall shall be their greatest assets, ironically.

Finally, Hollyphants (also Book of Exalted Deeds) seem to be evocative of Ganesha, the Hindu deity who is among other things, sometimes referred to as Son of Lord Shiva. He's a god who is supremely popular in most Hindu households - there was a big hullaboo in recent years when offerings of milk placed in saucers offered to statues Lord Ganesha mysteriously disappeared on their own accord across Hindu homes all around the world. That's quite cool, my inner skeptic nonwithstanding... he's beloved as the remover of Obstacles, the aider of mortals in their daily affairs. (The Encyclopedia of Demons and Devils, i think it's by Fast Forward Entertainment, got their entry somewhat skewed, IMHO - he's so definitely not a CE ta'narri!)

Hope this helped

Yours,
shao

 

[Shadowdragon]

@tarchon - If the Peryton were invented during the time of the Roman Empire then maybe I should remove them from the list. I already have enough Greek creatures, I don't need to add in creatures from Roman mythology, especially ones that are much more modern then what I'm looking for. I wouldn't mind waiting until you've had a chance too look through the library though, if you are going to do that.

@xenoflare -

Garuda - I was thinking an advanced Tauric Giant Eagle/ Aasimar would work well too. Most of them should have levels in ranger with favoured enemy - naga, favoured enemy - dragons, or favoured enemy - yuan-ti, as they are supposed to be utterly ruthless when it comes to hunting evil snakes and dragons. Bout the aasimar bit.. well, suits their celestial roots, the biggest Garuda of all is after Lord Vishnu's own steed.

Is Tauric a type of giant eagle from another book because it isn't in the MM. Or is it a template from another book because, again, I can't find it in the MM.

You list Naga and Yuan-Ti as favoured enemies. If Naga were supposed to be good then does that make Garuda evil? Or were they both good but they just really didn't like each other? Also, are Yuan-Ti Hindu, or did you just include them as favoured enemies because I have Yuan-Ti listed under Egyptian (the only reason they're under Egyptian is because they will make great Set cultists. I don't know if there are real legends of snake-men in Egypt).

Thanks for the suggestions for Asian creatures but I don't think my campaign will be going as far east as Aisa. The furthest the PCs may go is India. I can still include Asian creatures if anyone else is going to use this list and wants Asian creatures included.

 

[Ferret]

One of the inevitables has a name from sanskrit.

Also this should help: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/List of species in fantasy fiction

 

[the Jester]

The clay golem is actually jewish.

 

[xenoflare]

@xenoflare -


Is Tauric a type of giant eagle from another book because it isn't in the MM. Or is it a template from another book because, again, I can't find it in the MM.

You list Naga and Yuan-Ti as favoured enemies. If Naga were supposed to be good then does that make Garuda evil? Or were they both good but they just really didn't like each other? Also, are Yuan-Ti Hindu, or did you just include them as favoured enemies because I have Yuan-Ti listed under Egyptian (the only reason they're under Egyptian is because they will make great Set cultists. I don't know if there are real legends of snake-men in Egypt).

Thanks for the suggestions for Asian creatures but I don't think my campaign will be going as far east as Aisa. The furthest the PCs may go is India. I can still include Asian creatures if anyone else is going to use this list and wants Asian creatures included.

Hi,

Tauric is a template from the MM2, i believe. it's like a centaur - you give two different creatures traits of each other. Garuda are half-eagle, half-man beings; over in Indonesia and Thailand, some banks and offices use him as a symbol of protection and royalty. In fact, the national airline of Indonesia is Garuda Airlines haha...

Check this out: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/karura.shtml

As regards the enmity between the Garuda and the Serpent folk, it seems that the Garuda has some legendary anti-poison qualities and in folklore is always depicted as hunting the venomous snakes who are otherwise too dangerous to hunt. In that sense, it is Heaven's way of providing a check and balance for the scaled folk... Naga and dragons are usually nature-spirits who are mostly good, but then it is the Dharma (way) of beasts and serpents to be venomous and dangerous when provoked. The site i've posted mentions that only those nagas and dragons who are given Buddhist tokens and other forms of divine sanction by the deities are off-limits to the hunting talons of the Garuda...

As regards the yuan-ti, i may have made a boo-boo. I thought they were Southeast Asian/ Indian... but then i checked my notes again and realised that their habitats are listed as rainforests and tropical jungles, but they themselves are not in anyway drawn from those mythic traditions. Sorry! Still, the Garuda likes to hunt evil dragons and serpent-folk, just in case you're interested. The yuan-ti make most excellent snake cultists, what with their subterfuge and all.. it's just that their psionic powers and poison/ acid/ camouflage in jungle stuff all seem to point towards a very Indian/ Southeast Asian feel.

About the Inevitable that Ferret posted - yeah, the Maruts (Big CR 15 guys) are storm/ war demigods i believe, who are related to Lord Shiva. In his plague-bearer and war-monger aspect of Rudra, Lord Shiva decided to create his most powerful child with one of his lovers, Diti, an Earth Goddess. She wanted vengeance of the Thunder God Indra who had killed one of her progeny i think, and so she used magical means to either have sexual intercourse with Lord Shiva for a hundred years or remain pregnant for 100 years - the sources are a bit woozy at this point. Indra got wind of the plot however and threw a thunderbolt at Diti, and her concentration/ fetus/ or something was shattered and the uber-godling was transformed into many lesser divinites. Hence the Maruts were born from this melding of destruction, earth and thunder - very, very gung-ho and warlike folk! However, they're not mechanical in the legends, as far as i remember, but their personalities are somewhat similar - hardcore terminators who run about killing stuff that stay dead.

Got a small article here on them:

http://www.fact-index.com/m/ma/marut.html

The Avoral, Lillend, and Nymph also have their presence in Hindu myth as various celestial beings. The celestial beings known as Gandharvas and Kinnaras are half-bird, half-human demigods who serve as musicians, healers, illusionists, and protectors of children, and culture. The Gandharvas are quite close to the Avoral because they enjoy a harmony with nature and have special power over animals and beasts.. the Kinnaras are the patrons of the musical arts, much like the Lillend is a muse of inspiration. Lastly, the Nymphs, or Apsaras, are divine dancers who entertain the gods but are sometimes sent down to distract powerful humans and rishis (seers) who threaten to upset the divine order through their individual meditations. In other words, if you don't want some new Epic character to mess up the divine scene, you send a pretty girl to dance and make merry with him, then he gets all distracted from silly things like getting Epic Psionics and Epic Spells ;-P

Check this out for some references -

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/hachi-bushu.shtml

Lastly, the Juggernaut (construct from MM 2 i think) has its roots from the word "Jagganath", which is the title of Krishna, avatar of Vishnu. It means "Lord of the World" - people conduct these religious ceremonies where a massive wagon is pulled, with a large statue of Krishna on it, all across town. I think the festival is supposed to celebrate the overcoming of problems by Krishna as he runs over them, literally barrelling past them... it is supposed to be good luck to run in front of Krishna in this festival, i've heard, so people run in front to get divine favour. Problem is, in the ensuing chaos, lots of them get crushed by the wagon... which crunches and kills lotsa them. Hence, "Juggernaut" to describe a huge massive unstoppable destructive force, i think... The MM2 beastie looks like a large wagon to me! Just put a Stone Golem or something on it, and you'll be all set to go.

Hope this helps. Ta!

Yours,
shao

 

[Shadowdragon]

This is all great stuff. There are still some things that need to be sorted out though. If there is anything else missing from the list, or that should be removed from the list, or that is in the wrong place on the list, please post the corrections here.

 

[CCamfield]

This is really great, Shadowdragon! I know I'm going to be swiping your list of monsters for my own OGL Ancients purposes.

Are the catoblepas really from Greek myth? I don't recall anything involving them, but they may have come up in a historical work. Hey, now that I think of Herodotus, he describes giant ants from whom some eastern people steal gold dust. Alternatively, he said, they may have had gold mines.

I don't think that cockatrices, basilisks, elementals, hippogriffs, or stirges are from Greek myth. They didn't actually have dragons, either - some translations use "dragon" but more accurately they were giant snakes (really, really, big...). I don't remember if they could breathe fire or not.

Giant eagles? You could have giant vultures instead if you prefer... I think the animal that ate Prometheus' liver varied between those two.

The manticore, so far as I know, is medieval, not Greco-Roman. www.pantheon.org mentions it living in (coming from?) south-east Asia.

Skeletons show up in some of the old movies (Clash of the Titans? Jason and the Argonauts at least) but I don't think they actually stem from Greek myth.

I think with dire boar and dire lion, a dire bull might be appropriate. Jason had to plow a field with two big bulls that were fire-breathing, and both Heracles and Theseus had to deal with bulls.

When Heracles fought the Hydra, a crab tried to interfere on the hydra's behalf. Must have been giant, or Large anyway.

Sciron the robber was supposed to have asked people to stop and wash his feet, and when they did so, he'd kick them off the cliff to the water, where a giant turtle would eat them.

 

[Remathilis]

@Remathilis


Is this the D&D Elf, or is it more of the fairy-like elf?

Celtic Elves are very close to the Norse Alfen, mostly due to the Norse Bringing them over. My source says these inspired Tolkien.

Where are the D20 stats for these creatures, are there any?

Check the Tome of Horrors, IIRC.

Aren't these Norse, or are there Celtic equivelants?

Trow were a race of amphibious ugly monsters closely related to the Scandanavian Troll. Ogres were tall men of the hills, kinda like Jack in the Beanstalk's giant or perhaps Grendel and Co.

This list is just for mythic creatures. Real animals are a whole other kettel of fish.

Understood, but lots of real animals had mythic qualities, like witches who took the form of cats, ravens being the messangers of Odin/Woden, and dogs sensing the dead.

 

[Shadowdragon]

@remathilis - Animals with mythic abilites are usually rare or unique cases. Since I'm including Dire animals I may include normal animals with mythic abilites. Got a list?

@CCamfield -

This is really great, Shadowdragon! I know I'm going to be swiping your list of monsters for my own OGL Ancients purposes.

You are welcome to use it. I just wish something similar had been inlcuded in the OGL Ancients book.

Are the catoblepas really from Greek myth? I don't recall anything involving them, but they may have come up in a historical work. Hey, now that I think of Herodotus, he describes giant ants from whom some eastern people steal gold dust. Alternatively, he said, they may have had gold mines.

Catoblepas' (catoblepi?) were often mistaken for the D20 version of the Gorgon (metal skinned mull that head breath that could turn people to stone, oe kill them outright) in greek mythology. I don't know if the original catoblepas came from Greece. If anyone knows where this creature actually came from please let us know.

I don't think that cockatrices, basilisks, elementals, hippogriffs, or stirges are from Greek myth. They didn't actually have dragons, either - some translations use "dragon" but more accurately they were giant snakes (really, really, big...). I don't remember if they could breathe fire or not.

Cockatrices and Basalisks are two names for the same creature. I'm fairly certain it came from Greek mythology. Elementals, at least the ones from the MM, are modern versions of ancient Greek elementals (salamander = fire, Sylph = air, gnome = earth, and I forget what = water). I just decided to use the more modern version, since only the Sylph is the same as the D20 Sylph. The others don't have D20 stats, or have stats that make them very different creatures. Hippogriffs were created when a Griffon mated with a Mare. I only found references for them in Greek mythology, but they may have come from Persian or Assyrian mythology (both of which also have Griffins). Someone told me that something like the Stirge existed in Greek mythology, some kind of vampiric bird or something. I can't find a name so I kept Stirge. As for Dragons, I think you're right. I think I may just replace Dragons with the Linnorm (from MM2) and the Sea Drake (from FF).

Giant eagles? You could have giant vultures instead if you prefer... I think the animal that ate Prometheus' liver varied between those two.

There are no stats for a Giant Vulture as far as I know. They would just end up being the same thing.

The manticore, so far as I know, is medieval, not Greco-Roman. www.pantheon.org mentions it living in (coming from?) south-east Asia.

My campaign wont be going as far as Asia. I think I saw some references to Manticore in Greek mythology (can't remember where though) which is why I stuck them under Greek. Since it looks like other will be using this list I may have to add Asian creatures.

I think with dire boar and dire lion, a dire bull might be appropriate. Jason had to plow a field with two big bulls that were fire-breathing, and both Heracles and Theseus had to deal with bulls.

Are there stats for a Dire bull anywhere? If not I may have to come up with some stats for one.

Sciron the robber was supposed to have asked people to stop and wash his feet, and when they did so, he'd kick them off the cliff to the water, where a giant turtle would eat them.

Where is this, Greece?