Monsters in Karilan, Part I (A - D)

Monsters in Karilan, Part I (A - D)

I have always liked the “[monster name] in Eberron” and “[monster name] in Faerun” snippets from the Monster Manual III-V. All settings are different, and even when they use the same content, the context might be different. For example, even such staple monsters as drow differ significantly between the established D&D settings. Here I am going to describe the role of particular monsters in my campaign setting, their place in the world. This series of posts will cover the monsters that I've already posted on the blog. Those that are not mentioned either do not exist, or have no difference between the standard flavour and the setting-specific one, or have nothing to be said about. The monster posts that will be written in the future will have a short "[monster name] in Karilan" blurb.

Sorcery: Sound Spells V

Sorcery: Sound Spells V

GURPS Sorcery: Sound Spells is out! The coauthor who helped yours truly in writing it also has a great blog, I suggest checking it out (it's mostly about OSR though). The supplement is my first foray into writing, and I want to thank not only my coauthor, but also my gaming group, my readers and supporters, the editors, and other SJGames staff members that I was dealing with. I hope that I will get a chance to write another similar small supplement in the future. Of course, all the spells that are printed in the supplement have been changed and polished. The old versions were purged from the blog. Let's commemorate this with a batch of new sound spells! Hearing Protection should be useful when fighting banshees and sound sorcerers. Muffle is a boon for thieves. Noise Amplification is a bane of thieves. Sonic Scream is a signature move of one of the most forgettable Mortal Kombat characters.

Psionics: Additional Anti-Psi Abilities

Psionics: Additional Anti-Psi Abilities

I don't think that this power's scope is broad, but I still managed to squeeze in a couple of new abilities.

Monster: Giant Praying Mantis

Monster: Giant Praying Mantis

At last, we have the last monster from the Monster Manual for D&D 3.5 converted to GURPS. I can't believe that I actually had the patience to do this. Of course, many of the previous conversions have flaws and mistakes, but I fix them when I find them. What to do next? I have some ideas. Either the rest of the magic items from the Dungeon Master's Guide, or extra monsters that were requested (mind flayer-related ones), or a post that describes the role the monsters play in my homebrew setting, or maybe I will finally try to write up some occupational templates.

Monsters: Giant Beetles

Monsters: Giant Beetles

Now, the three giant beetles - the giant bombardier beetle, the giant fire beetle, and the stag beetle. Nothing extraordinary, but the fire beetles are very useful to adventurers for their glands that can be removed to provide illumination equivalent to a torch for 1d days.

Monsters: Giant Ants

Monsters: Giant Ants

We're still missing some vermin from the Monster Manual. This post details the giant ants.

Monsters: Yuan-Ti

Monsters: Yuan-Ti

The yuan-ti are psionic snakelike humanoids of various degrees of snakiness. The following post details only the yuan-ti from the Monster Manual, but there are several extra varieties in other supplements.

Monster: Yrthak

Monster: Yrthak

I've always liked the yrthaks. They are flying, blind reptiles that navigate via sonar and can launch explosive sonic rays. A good alternative to the wyvern.

Monster: Yeth Hound

Monster: Yeth Hound

Yeth hounds are one of those monsters that most never even heard about. I've never seen them mentioned anywhere or brought up in any conversation online.

Monster: Xorn

Monster: Xorn

Xorns are creatures from the Elemental Plane of Earth that subsist on precious metals and minerals. They can smell these substances. A very interesting body morphology.

Monster: Xill

Monster: Xill

Xills are four-armed humanoid outsiders that lurk on the Ethereal Plane and attack unwary prey on the other planes.

Monsters: Wraiths

Monsters: Wraiths

D&D wraiths are very different from GURPS Magic wraiths. These ones are just undead spirits that are only slightly different from the spectres. Dread wraiths, on the other hand, have an interesting lifesense ability.

Monsters: Zombies

Monsters: Zombies

Here we have the sample zombies from the Monster Manual made by applying the zombie lens to the appropriate templates.

Monster: Winter Wolf

Monster: Winter Wolf

Winter wolves are slightly more interesting, powerful, and intelligent than the worgs.

Monster: Worg

Monster: Worg

I've always overlooked the worgs. I thought that they are just sentient dire wolves. Now that I've looked at the statblock closer I found out that they are just sentient almost-dire wolves. The only interesting thing about them is that they have their own language.

Monster: Will-o'-wisp

Monster: Will-o'-wisp

Will-o'-wisps are cruel beings that feed on terror and death. I am happy to finally get a chance to use the new communication traits from GURPS Template Toolkit 2: Races.

Monster: Wight

Monster: Wight

Wights are simple, but malevolent undead creatures that hate the living and can drain the lifeforce of their victims.

Monster: Vargouille

Monster: Vargouille

The vargouille is a low-tier extraplanar monster that probably will only be a challenge if summoned in large groups. However, their ability to trigger Fright Checks and turn creatures into vargouilles might be inconvenient.

Lens/Monsters: Vampires

Lens/Monsters: Vampires

Oh boy, I was dreading this one. Vampires from the Monster Manual are quite different from the ones from the Basic Set or GURPS Horror. They have a wide variety of abilities and weaknesses that require a great deal of preparation from the adventurers to slay them properly. Still, the lens that I made is slightly different from the template described in the Monster Manual. This post features the vampire lens, two sample vampire NPCs from the Monster Manual, and the weaker vampire spawn.