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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5504358" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Magazine Issue 227: March 1996part 2/8The dragon's bestiary: Quelle surprise, more darkdwelling monsters. Will they actually help the ecology down there make more sense, or just be more horrors to kill? Bainligor are moderately badass flightless bat-people. They come in huge numbers, and their stats scale up a lot, but are relatively slow, so they are not ones you want to stick around and fight the whole horde of. Still, at least they're more interesting and negotiable with than Gibberlings. Good luck to your dwarven communities if a horde attacks them. Giant scarab beetles nom dung and undead, thus serving a vital ecological role in the underdark, and quite possibly in keeping spawning undead from taking over the world in general. They might also eat you if you get in their way though, so sticking around to say thanks isn't the best idea. Like denzelian, it's good to have them there. Carapace is another gross organic thingy that grows all over you and grants you powers, but also gradually consumes you. Are you willing to make that sacrifice? If you don't have a good cleric around, it will be the end of you, but you've got a good chance of taking down plenty of enemies with you. Darkness Elementals are of course made of negative energy, This means they can blind you, but are vulnerable to magical light. The usual negative energy = Eeevil rule is in full force here. So we still need positive energy ones to complete the symmetry, but all the para and quasiplanes are long since dealt with in the magazine. They'll have to start making up new planes if they want to do more of these. Fireweed is like brown mold, only far less dangerous. Plant it in a volcanic region and it'll grow quickly and render the area inhabitable in the process. Another one that's more flavour and ecological filling in than combat encounter. Glouras are whimsical fae with quite powerful charming capabilities, and the willingness to use that power to assemble harems of slaves who will defend their mistress to the death. You may well have to fight your own buddies again. Be ready with those dispels Whispering Moths are another ecology filler, serving the role of bats or bees in spreading seeds and fungi spores. They're not harmless though, and are especially likely to be a pain for surface adventurers, as like regular moths, they're drawn to light. If you can keep your head and toast a whole swarm in one go, you'll get a truly ridiculous amount of experience.  Blue ring octopi are another of the few good guys down there. Like svirfneblin, they survive by caution and co-operation, hiding and fighting only if they have to. You may well meet some if you get turned into an aboleth slave, which can lead to making new friends when you break out. I think that sounds like a pretty decent plotline, don't you. Vampire squid are illithid's weapons of choice in spreading their reach to the waters of the underdark, kicking the asses of aboleth & kuo-toa. They're another one that has a strong implied plotline connected to them, with interesting issues of morality and sacrifices for freedom raised. This is proving a very interesting collection of monsters indeed. Albino Wyrms have relatively low HD for dragons, and no particular magical abilities, but are pretty tough still. They're also of dubious sanity, so they're probably not that effective really, and may get stuck in one area as they age (which can't help) Not a very interesting way to end an otherwise pretty good article.</blockquote>

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