the Jester
Legend
No, really.
Look, I know that the tirapheg is easily mocked and the subject of almost universal disdain, but upon reading this article, I think I have been inspired.
The tirapheg are one of the weirdest-looking monsters ever, with a strangely asymmetrical body plan, nonsensical body parts and no real justification. Here is all that the 1e Fiend Folio says regarding it, other than combat and appearance notes:
In the random wilderness encounters in the back of the book, the tirapheg appears in scrub, rough and hills terrain. It also appears on the dungeon encounter charts, naturally.
AFAIK the tirapheg has never appeared anywhere else, nor has its lore been expanded upon. In fact, I think that most gamers that are aware of it probably consider it impossible to rehabilitate the tirapheg.
But it's creepy. Oh my, its creepy... and so, why not? Sure, it's slow and easy to hit, but imagine seeing that thing shambling towards you in an enclosed area. To me, it sounds most like a Far Realm-derived aberrant creature.
Unlike most Far Realms creatures, tiraphegs aren't generally immediately hostile, and often seek to avoid conflict. I sense a sort of scientist/explorer vibe- maybe they have a sort of Prime Directive, but when certain things happen (sometimes things other beings can't even sense) they attack in order to prevent... maybe to prevent their experiments from being tampered with? Or maybe for more inscrutable reasons.
Anyway, I'm actually thinking that I might use these things in the near future. Make an epic-level 4e conversion of the tirapheg to throw at my party, just so I have an excuse to bring out my 1e Fiend Folio and/or print off and show 'em the pic I attached- said image coming from the linked article.
Look, I know that the tirapheg is easily mocked and the subject of almost universal disdain, but upon reading this article, I think I have been inspired.
The tirapheg are one of the weirdest-looking monsters ever, with a strangely asymmetrical body plan, nonsensical body parts and no real justification. Here is all that the 1e Fiend Folio says regarding it, other than combat and appearance notes:
1e Fiend Folio said:
In the random wilderness encounters in the back of the book, the tirapheg appears in scrub, rough and hills terrain. It also appears on the dungeon encounter charts, naturally.
AFAIK the tirapheg has never appeared anywhere else, nor has its lore been expanded upon. In fact, I think that most gamers that are aware of it probably consider it impossible to rehabilitate the tirapheg.
But it's creepy. Oh my, its creepy... and so, why not? Sure, it's slow and easy to hit, but imagine seeing that thing shambling towards you in an enclosed area. To me, it sounds most like a Far Realm-derived aberrant creature.
Unlike most Far Realms creatures, tiraphegs aren't generally immediately hostile, and often seek to avoid conflict. I sense a sort of scientist/explorer vibe- maybe they have a sort of Prime Directive, but when certain things happen (sometimes things other beings can't even sense) they attack in order to prevent... maybe to prevent their experiments from being tampered with? Or maybe for more inscrutable reasons.
Anyway, I'm actually thinking that I might use these things in the near future. Make an epic-level 4e conversion of the tirapheg to throw at my party, just so I have an excuse to bring out my 1e Fiend Folio and/or print off and show 'em the pic I attached- said image coming from the linked article.
