Another Greenwood monster! The
wingless wonder is adorably goofy, and although it appeared later on in the Menzoberranzan boxed set (according to the Forgotten Realms wiki), it never achieved anywhere close to the level of fame that the equally adorably goofy flumph got. I actually used a wingless wonder in a 5e game of mine. The players didn’t get a good look at it, as it was kept behind a high fence, but I enlarged the size of its anti-magic field to a 5-foot radius. The druid got close to the wall while the wonder was bumbling against it, and when it was close enough that the druid was within the radius, I described it as if the druid’s connection to the world was momentarily severed. Freaked the player out. Fun times. So yeah, I have to create this one for Level Up. Although I am going with the larger antimagic radius instead of the thin layer the description says, just for my own nostalgia. Sorry if you expecting it to be 100% accurate to the original.
The writeup in Dragon #40 is just for the monster, but the Menzoberranzan set included an interesting detail: some wonders were either actually once wizards from Netheril who deliberately transformed themselves into wonders in order to escape the destruction of their lands, or are the victims of drow magic used to imprison and humiliate certain individuals. Even more strangely, some of these wonders are able to transform back to humanoid form at will, while others are stuck. They could use magic, but only like a
wand of wonder--completely random and usually just weird. How very bizarre! I’m not quite up to making a “were-wonder,” because that’s
too silly, but the cursed wonder makes for an interesting monster variant.
This monster was a bit difficult to find the CR for. It’s basically harmless, has a very low AC, is immune to magic, regenerates, and has a
very nasty death scream. The o5e DMG puts this monster at a CR of 1/2, so I’m going with that.
(By the way, I'd like the thank the Level Up team for putting the monster making rules
in the monster book where they belong.)
Artist: Brad Parker
Wingless Wonder
Dragon’s Bestiary, Dragon Magazine #40
Created by Ed Greenwood
Wingless wonders are ungainly, four-feet-tall, egg-shaped creatures that stand on two clumsy legs. They have stubby, flipper-like arms that constantly flap like chicken wings. Nine long, sticky tentacles adorn the top of their heads. Their eyes are large, watery, and almost cartoonish in appearance. Wonders have blue-green peach-fuzz skin with lavender bellies, and they “blush” when angry or excited. Their mouths are small and difficult to see when closed. The only sounds a wonder can make is a high-pitched chittering.
Curious Critters. Wingless wonders spend much of their time examining everything around them. Mostly they do so to see if it’s something that can be eaten, but because they also find many things to be extremely interesting. They are particularly attracted to red, purple, or shiny objects and to gemstones of all sorts. Whenever they find something interesting, they poke at it with their tentacles for a bit, then try to eat it.
Poor Parents. Wingless wonders are hermaphroditic and whenever two meet, they mate. The process involves intertwining their tentacles for a few minutes. Usually both end up carrying an infant after such an event. The infant, encased in a rubbery egg, is expelled a few months later, and then hatches within an hour. The parent takes no care of the egg and wanders away, completely oblivious to its fate.
Kind of Useless. Wingless wonders have toxic flesh which causes nausea or worse when consumed, its skin and even bones rot away very quickly, and their antimagic field ends immediately upon its death. And despite their curiosity and mild-mannered behavior, they have no ability to care for anything for any length of time, making them poor pets.
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana check, the characters can learn the following:
DC 10. The wingless wonder is surrounded by an antimagic aura, and as such, is impervious to magical harm and regenerates quickly from normal injuries. It releases a horrific psychic scream upon dying which is capable of killing those who are near to it.
DC 15. The wingless wonder is a nearly harmless creature that consumes primarily fruit, nuts, tiny animals, and gemstones. However, its tentacles are very sticky and it will grab on to anyone who tries to harm it. It is rumored that the creature’s proper name is “alkada,” but nobody ever calls it that.
DC 20. A few very rare wingless wonders are actually humanoids, mostly spellcasters, who had been transformed by fell magic.
Wingless Wonder Encounters
Terrain: caverns forest, grassland, hills, tundra
CR 1/2: 1d4 wingless wonders.
Treasure: 3 agate gemstones (10 gp each), 2 quartz gemstone (10 gp each), 1 citrine gemstone (50 gp), 1 garnet (100 gp), 1d6 fake glass gems (5 sp each). All gemstones are found in the creatures’ stomachs.
Signs
1. Scat that has a gemstone in it.
2. An egg. It’s just about to hatch! (The egg also radiates antimagic to a 1-foot radius.)
3. A severed tentacle; it was cut off by a creature that had been grappled by a wonder.
4. High-pitched chittering in the distance.
Behavior
1. Wandering around aimlessly, occasionally bumping into walls.
2. Playing with some colorful gemstones (or bits of colorful glass) it had found.
3. Eating the fruit off a tree.
4. Grappling a humanoid who got too close.
Wingless Wonder
Small aberration
Challenge 1/2 (50 XP)
AC 9 (natural armor)
HP 13 (3d6+3)
Speed 20 ft.
STR 8 (-1)
DEX 7 (-2)
CON 12 (+1)
INT 4 (-3)
WIS 12 (+1)
CHA 6 (-2)
Proficiency +2
Maneuver DC +0
Damage Resistances fire
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, grappled, restrained, stunned
Senses tremorsense 30 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages —
Antimagic Field. The wingless wonder is surrounded by an area of antimagic in a 5-foot radius sphere. While in this sphere, spells and magical effects are suppressed, conjured creatures temporarily vanish, and magic items function as if they were mundane objects, although artifacts continue to function. The wingless wonder cannot suppress this ability. The field sheds dim light to a 5-foot radius.
Poor Vision. The wingless wonder has disadvantage on Perception checks that rely on vision.
Regeneration. The wingless wonder regenerates 5 hit points at the start of its turn as long as it has at least 1 hit point. If the wonder takes fire damage, this trait doesn’t function on its next turn.
Sticky Tentacles. Attempts to escape from the wonder’s grapple are made at disadvantage.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one grappled target.
Hit: 1 (1d4-1) piercing damage.
Tentacle Grab. Melee Weapon Attack: +1 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 1 (1d4-1) bludgeoning damage and the target is grappled (escape DC 10). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the wonder can’t attack another creature.
Reactions
Dying Scream. When the wonder is reduced to 0 hit point, it emits a powerful blast of psionic energy. Each creature within 15 feet of the wonder must make a DC 11 Intelligence saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one, and is confused for 1 minute. The wonder then dies.
Combat
Wingless wonders only fight if attacked, and will trundle away from opponents as soon as it takes fire damage.
Variant: Transformed Wonder
Certain evil-minded people have developed spells designed to polymorph a creature into the form of a wingless wonder. These spells are used primarily when the victim is a spellcaster someone who would be useful later on but too much trouble to keep around otherwise. As wingless wonders are very difficult to kill and all but helpless, it is fairly easy to keep them corralled. Of course, many of these wonders still manage to escape into the wild.
A transformed wonder has an Intelligence score of 8 (-1), can understand (but not speak) one language, and it loses the Antimagic Field trait and gains the following trait and action:
Variable Antimagic Field. The wingless wonder is surrounded by an area of antimagic in a 5-foot radius sphere. While in this sphere, spells and magical effects are suppressed, conjured creatures temporarily vanish, and magic items function as if they were mundane objects, although artifacts continue to function. The field sheds dim light to a 5-foot radius. When the wingless wonder uses its Chaos Magic trait, the Antimagic Field is suppressed until the start of its next turn.
Chaos Magic (Recharge 5-6). The transformed wonder creates a random magical effect. Roll in the table under
wand of wonder in Trials and Treasures to determine the effect.