Where is the cyclops?

[frankthedm]

The brand chosen is very appropriate.

wotc thought of it first...

 

[pawsplay]

I recall the D&D Expert set had a cyclops. I always found it odd that one did not appear in the MM... but a one-eyed giant would be an oddity anyway, and might even make more sense as a monstrous humanoid. Giants in D&D are kind of magical and weird, but they all look basically like people of some kind. Perhaps even abberations? The athach made it as one, on a technicality.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

The athach made it as one, on a technicality.

Third arm?

Best Nigel Powers voice:
Blimey, you're a tripod.

 

[Nyaricus]

Giants in D&D are kind of magical and weird, but they all look basically like people of some kind.

[nitpick1]Giants in D&D are roughly, more-or-less associated with Nordic Giants, which were all tied to the elements (hence the magic nature). There were Storm giants, fire giants, frost giants, water giants, cliff giants, etc, all in Nordic Mythology. The Desert Giant is sort of akin to... Anakim, I beleive is the name, which were biblical giants who killed humans. The most well noted of these was Goliath, who was slain by a boy named David.[/nitpick]

Perhaps even abberations? The athach made it as one, on a technicality.

[nitpick2]Athachs in Celtic Mythology were one-legged (right under it's trunk) one-armed (protruded from the center of it's trunk), one-eyed creatures (cyclopean, IOWs) with a tuft of spiky hair on their ead (which, IIRC correctly, they could kill people with by stabbing, although I might be associating them with a unicorn or something ) who weren't true giants in the sense of the word at all; simply very large and odd looking and dangerous. I dunno how D&D managed to make them have an extra arm on it's (two-legged, two-eyed) body, but it's not like the traditional ones at all.

So, yes, aberration actually works in this case, and IMO, WotC got it right.[/nitpick2]

cheers,
--N

 

[Ripzerai]

There are Cyclopes in a recent issue of Dragon (don't recall the # offhand),

That would be the cyclopeans, from Dragon #323.

 

[Dross]

Athachs in Celtic Mythology were one-legged (right under it's trunk) one-armed (protruded from the center of it's trunk), one-eyed creatures (cyclopean, IOWs) with a tuft of spiky hair on their ead (which, IIRC correctly, they could kill people with by stabbing, although I might be associating them with a unicorn or something ) who weren't true giants in the sense of the word at all; simply very large and odd looking and dangerous. I dunno how D&D managed to make them have an extra arm on it's (two-legged, two-eyed) body, but it's not like the traditional ones at all.

I remember TSR having something like this in one of their MM/FF/Dragon/Other monster books for 1st edition.

 

[Ripzerai]

I remember TSR having something like this in one of their MM/FF/Dragon/Other monster books for 1st edition.

The fachan was a one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged monster statted in both the Celts Campaign Sourcebook and the Forgotten Realms Monstrous Compendium II.

The doc c'o'c was a one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged spirit described in Oriental Adventures and the Kara-Tur Monstrous Compendium.

The fachan seems the same as the Celtic monster Nyaricus has read about under the name athach.

The three-armed athach first appeared in the D&D Master Set, by Frank Mentzer.

 

[Nyaricus]

The fachan was a one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged monster statted in both the Celts Campaign Sourcebook and the Forgotten Realms Monstrous Compendium II.

The doc c'o'c was a one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged spirit described in Oriental Adventures and the Kara-Tur Monstrous Compendium.

The fachan seems the same as the Celtic monster Nyaricus has read about under the name athach.

The three-armed athach first appeared in the D&D Master Set, by Frank Mentzer.

Ah, I forgot to mention that; the fachan and the athach were infact the same beast (very minor varience, in actuality) but were two different naems for it.

Lemme dig out my notes here...

Okay, the Fachan, the Athach and the Direach were all infact the same creature in Celtic folklore/mythology (what have you) but for some reason had different names (likely different cultures' names for the same critter; Welsh, Scottish, Irish et al).

So, yeah. They were all the same

Oh, and yes, it was cyclopean. One eyed.

Info taken from the Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology.

cheers,
--N

 

[Kristivas]

frankthedm is the smartest guy here.

 

[tsadkiel]

That would be the cyclopeans, from Dragon #323.

What are they like? I'm planning on a cyclops race for my Greek-tinged homebrew, and am wondering if it's worth tracking down the issue.