D&D General The abandoned core monsters of D&D

[Tonguez]

I came here to mention the lost thoul. A troll ghoul hybrid is a truly terrifying monstrosity.

I was really disappointed when the AD&D Thoul was given official treatment and was just a variant green skinned hobgoblin (albeit with troll regeneration and ghouls paralysing claws). All the promise and horror of this part undead hybrid monster reduced to wretched hobgoblin bodyguard treated as an outcast by other hobgoblins.
With what they did with it, and the whole loss of mystery, I can understand why it was dropped with only the undefined original entry being remembered

 

[ilgatto]

(...)
The Martian beasts are explicitly included under "Large insect or animal", yup (even in later printings).
(...)

. Missed that.

But doesn't that still leave the various Martians in D&D-UWA?

Source: Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, Dungeons & Dragons. The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures (TSR, 1974)

In relation to this, the Thark almost made it into AD&D (as Greenman), as did the White Ape and the "the gruesome plant men of Barsoom" (as Plantman). The Fiend Factories in White Dwarf 16, 17, and 27 had a number of creatures that were considered for inclusion in the Fiend Folio but were scrapped.

E.g., WD16: "This issue I have concentrated almost entirely on creatures which were originally considered very seriously for inclusion in the Fiend Folio but which, for one reason or another, did not eventually achieve inclusion in that volume. In other words, the monsters this time survived many tests on their way towards the Folio and only just missed inclusion, so I hope you think the standard high. Of course, there is a note of sadness here - for in the end I suspect the creators of these creatures would have prefered [sic] them to have been in the Folio. I just hope there is some compensation for them in knowing that their 'miss' was very near indeed.

Source: Don Turnbull, The Fiend Factory, in: White Dwarf 16 (GW, 1979)

Illustration: Alan Hunter

Bonus Illustration: (Tim?) Bell

Also, I suppose you're looking for monsters with actual write-ups (however summary) rather than just being hinted at/left for DMs to flesh out? If not, then there's always this rather fascinating collection of monsters in D&D-GH.

Source: Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz, Dungeons & Dragons. Greyhawk (TSR, 1975)

Not familiar with D&D beyond 2E but I don't think any of these ended up as core monsters, although the "seeming Golden Dragon which is actually mobile Yellow mold" sort of made an appearance in Return to White Plume Mountain.

P.S.: OD&D write-ups for numerous Barsoom beasties mentioned in D&D-UWA are in Alarums & Excursions 18 (APA, 1976).

 

[ilgatto]

They're honestly some of the saddest monsters ever. (...)

Agreed. And even more so because:

From: here

And the illustrations didn't help either (IMHO, YMMV, and all that).

 

[JEB]

Also, I suppose you're looking for monsters with actual write-ups (however summary) rather than just being hinted at/left for DMs to flesh out?

Correct, for the purposes of this thread. That said, these references you're digging up are very interesting! The "symbiotic dragon" certainly had potential. (I also have to appreciate the pun value of "ogre jelly".)

I know the monster listing in 0e Book II ends with a section of then-playtest "other monsters", such as an early version of living statues (including a prototype iron golem) and "Robots, Golems, Androids" (one out of three made it).

 

[ilgatto]

Here’s some more blasphemy* involving attempts to describe Vance’s grue**:

Source: Erol Otus, Booty and the Beasts (FAE, 1979)

* I consider all attempts to make something of anything by Jack Vance to be blasphemy. Yes, that’s you, The Dragon 26, The Dragon 29, White Dwarf 6, and White Dwarf 58.
** Even though it was Erol Otus, who doesn’t rank too far below Jack Vance on the my Excellentest-People-Of-Ever list.

 

[ichabod]

Screw the grue, give us a wumpus.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Here’s some more blasphemy* involving attempts to describe Vance’s grue**:

View attachment 352049
Source: Erol Otus, Booty and the Beasts (FAE, 1979)

* I consider all attempts to make something of anything by Jack Vance to be blasphemy. Yes, that’s you, The Dragon 26, The Dragon 29, White Dwarf 6, and White Dwarf 58.
** Even though it was Erol Otus, who doesn’t rank too far below Jack Vance on the my Excellentest-People-Of-Ever list.

As loath as I am to ever speak ill of Erol Otus, I think the Zork grue is way more fun.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Screw the grue, give us a wumpus.

Just use the stats for a grue!

 

[JEB]

Finishing up Basic D&D with its epic finale... the Rules Cyclopedia.

There are a whopping 89 monsters on the list that were core here, and never again:

• Versions of archons, undead beholders, mountain and sea giants, gremlins, phoenixes, and poltergeists unique to Basic D&D
• The gemstone dragons: amber, crystal, jade, onyx, ruby, sapphire (not to be confused with the AD&D lineage's gem dragons)
• The Dragon Rulers: Diamond, Opal, Pearl, and the Great One
• Actaeon
• Adaptor
• Blackball
• Snow ape
• Caecilia
• Elemental ruler
• Greater efreet
• Faerie
• Grab grass
• Black hag
• Headsman
• Helion
• Horde
• Hsiao
• Hydrax
• Kryst
• Malfera
• Mystic
• Mek
• Metamorph
• Mujina
• Nuckalavee
• Lava ooze
• Planar spider
• Plasm
• Revener
• Rhagodessa
• Frost salamander
• Sasquatch
• Spectral hound
• Sporacle
• Rock/cave toad
• Water termite
• Undine
• Giant bass, giant rockfish, giant sturgeon, great whale, giant snail
• Herd animals: caribou, moose, zebra
• Generic dinosaurs: aquatic, land carnivore, land herbivore, large pterosaur, small pterosaur
• Golems: amber, bone (a.k.a. skeletal), bronze, mud, obsidian, wood, drolem
• Hydrae: flying, sea
• Lycanthropes: wereseal, wereshark, devil swine
• Drakes: colddrake, mandrake, wooddrake, and elemental drake (air/earth/fire/water)
• Gargantua: carrion crawler, gargoyle, and troll
• Phantoms: apparition, shade, vision
• Spirits: druj, odic, revenant

EDIT: After the 3.0 update, remove the "great whale" from the above list - it was a renamed "sperm whale" (from the Expert Rules) and therefore counts as a generic "whale", not a variant.

Why were these included? No deep reason this time - the Rules Cyclopedia was a compilation of all four rulesets for Basic D&D (Basic, Expert, Companion, and Master) and these monsters were in those sets. A better question - which I don't have an answer to - is why Basic D&D invested so much energy in a completely different line of monsters for its game, rather than just cribbing from the AD&D monster books.

The other question is, why has the main D&D line (AD&D onward) been so reluctant to include these Basic monsters in later core lineups? 3e tried, with the athach and nightshades, but that's pretty much been it. It's even rare to find these monsters updated in non-core books for later editions (excepting the Mystara MC in 2e, which pretty much had "update Basic D&D monsters" as its remit).

Worth noting, BTW - although not Wizards-official, the Original Adventures Reincarnated line did update a number of these monsters for 5e. (Shame those products will probably never see a PDF release.)

EDIT: @Joshua Randall noted that grab grass is in 4e; to be more specific, it's in the DMG as a trap. That still means it's not a core monster (since not in the 4e MM or MV), but figured I should note it here!

 

[ilgatto]

Screw the grue, give us a wumpus.

Easily done.

3/3 for 7E, 6/6 for later editions.