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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 1685552" data-attributes="member: 508">A couple quick words in defense of the girallon: yes, it is just a four-armed carnivorous ape, but that's the whole point.&nbsp; The John Carter of Mars series of adventure novels, by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, featured as one of the native threats on the planet Mars (or &quot;Barsoom,&quot; as the natives referred to it) a multiarmed, carnivorous ape with white fur.&nbsp; This creature was only ever referred to as a &quot;white ape.&quot;&nbsp; I remember back before 3E officially came out, the playtest version of the Monster Manual (which at the time only included a very few new creatures) had the girallon under the name &quot;white ape&quot; (which was an add-on to the &quot;carnivorous ape&quot; entry).&nbsp; Apparently the designers decided it needed a bit more camouflage, so they named it the &quot;girallon&quot; - which, you'll note, consists of the letters of the word &quot;gorilla&quot; rearranged with an &quot;n&quot; slapped on the end.My point?&nbsp; The John Carter of Mars series has been a source of inspiration for the D&amp;D game since early on in the game's history.&nbsp; For example, the osquip is a poorly-disguised Barsoomin &quot;ulsio,&quot; a multilegged ratlike creature.&nbsp; I'm just surprised we don't have thoats, banths, and zitidars running around most D&amp;D campaigns.Although, now that I think about it, the banth (a multilegged lionlike creature) may have in part been the inspiration for such multilimbed D&amp;D felines as the displacer beast and the cantobele, and the Gamma World centisteed - a multilegged horse - may trace its ancestry to Barsoom's thoat.&nbsp; I can't recall having seen any multilegged mastodons in D&amp;D, though.Back on topic: besides the others mentioned so far, I'd like to nominate the umpleby - you know, the 8-foot pile of walking hair that gave off electrical energy in the form of static electricity...and then promptly fell asleep.Johnathan</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Richards, post: 1685552, member: 508"] A couple quick words in defense of the girallon: yes, it is just a four-armed carnivorous ape, but that's the whole point. The John Carter of Mars series of adventure novels, by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, featured as one of the native threats on the planet Mars (or "Barsoom," as the natives referred to it) a multiarmed, carnivorous ape with white fur. This creature was only ever referred to as a "white ape." I remember back before 3E officially came out, the playtest version of the [I]Monster Manual[/I] (which at the time only included a very few new creatures) had the girallon under the name "white ape" (which was an add-on to the "carnivorous ape" entry). Apparently the designers decided it needed a bit more camouflage, so they named it the "girallon" - which, you'll note, consists of the letters of the word "gorilla" rearranged with an "n" slapped on the end. My point? The John Carter of Mars series has been a source of inspiration for the D&D game since early on in the game's history. For example, the osquip is a poorly-disguised Barsoomin "ulsio," a multilegged ratlike creature. I'm just surprised we don't have thoats, banths, and zitidars running around most D&D campaigns. Although, now that I think about it, the banth (a multilegged lionlike creature) may have in part been the inspiration for such multilimbed D&D felines as the displacer beast and the cantobele, and the Gamma World centisteed - a multilegged horse - may trace its ancestry to Barsoom's thoat. I can't recall having seen any multilegged mastodons in D&D, though. Back on topic: besides the others mentioned so far, I'd like to nominate the umpleby - you know, the 8-foot pile of walking hair that gave off electrical energy in the form of static electricity...and then promptly fell asleep. Johnathan [/QUOTE]

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