Monster Monday - Vegepygmy

As Gary Con draws closer, I continue to look at Gary's monsters and their impact in the RPG world. Today, we talk about the vegepygmy. They first appeared in Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. To put it mildly, vegepygmies are a strange Gygaxian concoction.

They are one of few monsters with multiple HD listings (from 1-6 in Monster Manual II.) They are intelligent(ish), and form "regional bands, living by scavenging and hunting" (MMII p 124.) Vegepygmies are "born" through a russet mold killing a "character." (We will dive into that in a moment.) They generally have pigmentation similar to their environment, and can be found underground or in deep forests.

Let's talk about the reproduction cycle of the vegepygmy. They can replicate through "russet mold or propagating buds from their bodies." This seems odd, even for a Gygaxian ecology. Typically molds and oozes make more of themselves by "eating" people. And what happens when a russet mold eats a non-character? Say a rust monster wanders up to that yummy looking "rust" and gets spored. Does that make a vegepygmy? (See below for the answer.)

Vegepygmies, for all of their strangeness, are a great megadungeon faction. With two types of reproduction, and a built in trap (russet mold,) they can hold territory well. I would personally make them adversarial to the myconids of your dungeon. (And that just happened in Mord Mar.)

The great dragon, Tibalis, has taken a liking to the vegepygmy tribe near his volcanic lair. He allows them to stay, in exchange for any metal items they scavenge from their prey. The vegepygmies in return have been taught magical spells: comprehend languages, push, and spider climb. Each group of five has one such spellcaster present.

A russet mold infected a rust monster, which spawned a new type of vegepygmy. This one looks the same as the others in its band, but it hungers for the metal that people wear. Its attacks act like a rust monster, rusting metal. The sub-chief of the band recognizes this unique trait, and keeps this rustypygmy nearby in case of attacks from orcs or other humanoids.

A splinter group of vegepygmies has been chased away from its band, due to their blue coloration. These vegepygmies have developed a form of telepathy, and are searching for warriors to destroy their former band-mates.

Thump-pound-thump lost his way in a large cavern. It desperately wants to get home, and is searching for a way to communicate that to a group of dwarves when the group stumbles across the scene.

Vegepygmies are a great addition to a gonzo game. They can be made to work in other places, but lose some of their luster moving to conform with the other creatures in the world around them.

Artwork used under license from Headless Hydra. Artist: Bruno Balixa

Archetypes of Megadungeons

When Matt asked me in the interview about what megadungeon I would recommend, I stated Grande Temple of Jing. But, there are many types of megadungeons. They all feel and play differently. So, that information may be inaccurate for some people. I would like to go through a few of the megadungeon archetypes and help people find what kind of megadungeon they may be looking for.

Image from my copy of Rob Kuntz's El Raja Key

It hangs on my wall and is beautiful.

1. The Underworld Megadungeon: This is the "classic" megadungeon. When people talk about megadungeons, these are the first that come to mind. Castle Greyhawk (Ruins or Zagyg), Undermountain, and Dwimmermount fall into this category.
These megadungeons are the original type of megadungeon. From The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures: "Before it is possible to conduct a campaign of adventures in the mazey dungeons, it is necessary for the referee to sit down with pencil in hand and draw these labyrinths on graph paper. Unquestionably this will require a great deal of time and effort and imagination. The dungeons should look something like the example given below, with numerous levels which sprawl in all directions, not necessarily stacked neatly above each other in a straight line." (pg 3) Gygax continues to talk about the concept until page 8.

 2. The Funhouse Megadungeon: A funhouse megadungeon is like a circus. You never know what's next. It could be a full zoo of every creature in every monster book (like World's Largest Dungeon.) It could be the personal playground of a trickster god (like Grande Temple of Jing.) It could be a spoof on a famous dungeon (WG7 Castle Greyhawk.)

3. The Story Megadungeon: A story megadungeon revolves around a plot line to delve the dungeon. Often, these are megadungeons only in the sense that most of the action takes place in the same dungeon, and they advance through many levels. Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk and Expedition to Undermountain are examples of this. To a lesser degree, Castle Whiterock follows this paradigm.

4. The Beer-and-Pretzels Megadungeon: These megadungeons are a lot like movies. They have sets and set-pieces, and, characters and, a lot of action. Games within Beer-and-Pretzels megadungons tend to be episodic. Go in, get the treasure, get out. No real exploring, just a goal and a fight. Rappan Athuk fits this category for me.

Most megadungeons fit into multiple categories on this list, but here's where I feel each of the megadungeons in my physical collections fall:

Underworld
B4: The Lost City
Castle of the Mad Archmage
Castle Zagyg
Dwimmermount
Undermountain

Funhouse
Grande Temple of Jing
Lich Dungeon
The Emerald Spire
WG7: Castle Greyhawk
World's Largest Dungeon (and City?)

Story Megadungeon
Castle Whiterock
The Expedition Series from 3.X (Greyhawk, Undermountain)
The Temple of Elemental Evil

Beer-and-Pretzels
Barrowmaze (There's a 5E version in the link!)
Rappan Athuk

Monster Monday - Gelatinous Cube

As I type this up, I am waiting for my interview with OSGR. The guys over there have been kind to me, highlighting my blog a few weeks ago, and now doing that interview. But, that's not why we are here today. Today, it's monsters. Specifically the Jello Mold Gelatinous Cube.

Artwork by Scott Hershberger, used under license

As I was doing my research for this, I noticed that wikipedia mentions them in the OD&D boxed set. I didn't see them in there. They are mentioned in Greyhawk, however. Here's Gary's description (pg 39-40):

"As the name implies, these monsters are shaped very much like cubes, typically being about 10’ per side so as to be able to sweep clean of all living materials (as well as dead cells) the floor and walls of the labyrinthine dungeon passages. Any flesh which comes in contact with a Gelatinous Cube becomes anesthetized unless a saving throw vs. paralyzation is made. The touch also causes 2–8 points of damage as the creature seeks to dissolve and devour flesh. These creatures are subject to normal weapons and fire, but lightning, cold, paralyzation, fear, and polymorph attacks do not harm them. Many ’Cubes have rich treasures within their semi-transparent bodies, for they pick up metallic and otherwise non-digestible objects in their rounds, and these items often remain within the body for long periods of time before being redeposited."

That last sentence is the most interesting to me. It gives a legitimate reason why a ring or other item may be on the floor randomly.

As we move forward in time, we find the gelatinous cube holds its position as chief dungeon clean-up through editions. It appears in the 1E Monster Manual, 2E's Monstrous Compendium, the Monstrous Manual (under the heading Oozes, Slimes and Jellies, where it remains through 5E,) and in Monster Manuals for 3rd, 4th and 5th edition. It appears in Holmes and BECMI. The gelatinous cube has established itself firmly in all editions.

The appeal of the gelatinous cube is easy to see. A nearly invisible block of jello moves through corridors cleaning up everything in its path. They are difficult to see, dangerous and potentially hold treasure well above their pay grade. Coupled with their dangerous paralyzation attack, gelatinous cubes are fun to fight. 

But, I barely ever remember fighting one. I have fought a few in Undermountain. I am betting the DMs placed them there, though. I'm sure there are some published, and would love it if the readers would tell me where. 

Mord Mar's history of gelatinous cubes is a bit different. They were actually made by the dwarves to keep the city and sewers clean. They were discovered through an alchemical process, and the machine that makes them is still operational. Or maybe, its operational again. Either way, threats continue to spew forth in the old city.

As the party continues down a corridor, they find a trail of coins, haphazardly strewn about. Soon they stumble across a belt buckle, buttons, a dagger, an axe and finally a suit of plate armor. A cliff shears the end of the corridor shortly after the armor. At the bottom is a gelatinous cube that has been unable to leave the pit. The cube encompasses the whole ground level of the pit, and is difficult to detect, with penalties for the PCs being distracted (by climbing.) {I told you I found that sentence interesting.}

An ooze druid created his own lair deep within a dungeon. Entering through a normal cave, it looks like a huge cavern, with a sickly green tint. In actuality, the druid has anchored several gelatinous cubes in place, creating "walls" for his labyrinth.

Gnolls, with some help from an ogre mage, managed to trap a gelatinous cube in the ceiling of their complex. They fashioned a trap (tripwire, pressure plate or lever) that drops the cube onto the occupants of the room or corridor.

Gelatinous cubes are mindless creatures that live and move only to eat. This fact makes them different than most other encounters. When designing with a gelatinous cube in mind, always remember they often act like living traps. This makes them more of a memorable encounter than one just slurping down a hallway.

Undermountain

Earlier this week, a FB post asked what was the best D&D supplement people ever bought. I answered with "Undermountain." Another poster asked me why. I gave a short answer,
"It was a mammoth resource. I have probably played or run 20 campaigns inside of it." I promised to expand on that explanation.

My initial statement is true. Undermountain is mammoth. 4 poster sized maps in the first boxed set. I love those poster maps. They immediately invoke a feeling of infinite space to explore. The terrain varies: water, worked passages, caverns, pyramids and ziggarauts can all be found on those maps. Even the city-within-a-dungeon Skullport is there.

Next, I want to take a second to talk about the Monstrous Compendiums. I loved those things. TSR executed them wrong, but they were still amazing. Why didn't they charge an extra $1-2 and print them on heavier paper? With only 1 monster to a page? That's why they excelled. They could be moved around and put into binders with your maps and notes. Undermountain came with 8 pages of those glorious Monstrous Compendium pages. The Elder Orb Beholder has even become iconic of the larger D&D universe. The other monsters within are strange, unique and evocative of the dungeon. Seeing those monsters all those years ago showed me how monsters could be more than cannon-fodder. They could be part of the lore of the dungeon itself (cough Xanathar cough.)

The books in the boxed set are the least inspiring for me. Campaign Guide does a good enough job of explaining how to run a megadungeon, but they are less evocative than other works in D&D. About 200 set encounters and six or so adventures seemed less than what should have been with those giant maps. But, the point was to give DMs the power to make Undermountain their own. It was just too much open space. Even notes like "Orcs control NE corner of level 1" or "this space is great for a hidden treasure and opponent" would have given new DMs a direction.

What I love the most about Undermountain is the Cards that came with the box. Eight of them: Pit Traps (1-3),Treasure Tables, Smash Traps, Snares and Lures, Dungeon Dressing, and Magical Doors all have their own reference cards. These short descriptions were more memorable to me as a fledgling DM than all of the splash and flair of the maps.
"Creatures passing through this door are instantly gated to a specific or random location . . ." How can a sentence like that not get you thinking about possibilities to put the players in.
I have never been very good at designing traps. Maybe these cards are why. A full five of eight are dedicated to traps, with the "doors" card having 1/3 of a side of traps as well. That's a lot of traps. And, unlike Grimtooth, these traps were (almost) fair.

I owe a lot of my D&D career to finding and loving Undermountain. Without it I would have never found other great dungeons. I would have never picked up Rappan Athuk, Castle Zagyg or Barrowmaze or the Grande Temple of Jing. Hell, I may have given up on D&D a long time ago if Undermountain didn't exist.

Monster Monday - Rust Monster

Art from Fat Goblin, used under license

Never doing damage, the rust monster still strikes terror into the heart of the bravest warrior. Instead of biting and clawing, the monster rusts weapons and armor away. The rust monster is a creature that many of us grognards cut our teeth on. My earliest memory of this creature is from Frank Mentzer's Basic (Red) D&D boxed set. It featured in the solo adventure in the Player's Guide.

Rust monsters are almost as old as the game itself. The rust monster first appeared in the Greyhawk Supplement for OD&D. Gygax said: "RUST MONSTERS: These seemingly inoffensive creatures are the bane of metal with a ferrous content, for as their name implies they have the effect of rust upon such substances, and this happens nearly instantaneously. Any hits by or upon a Rust Monster cause even magical weapons to rust and fall to flakes. Armor is affected in a like manner. The creature is very fast, being attracted to the smell of the iron-based metals, and when alone it will devour the rust it has caused." (Greyhawk, pg 39.) They have appeared in every edition of the game since: Mentzer's Basic (mentioned above), Monster Manual (AD&D), Monstrous Compendium (AD&D 2E), Monster Manual (3 and 3.5), Monster Manual 2 (4E), and Monster Manual (5E).

Here are the Swords & Wizardry stats for rust monsters:

HD: 5

AC: 2 (17)

Attacks: 2 antennae

Save: 12

Alignment: neutral

Number Encountered: 1-2

CR/XP: 5/240

Rust monsters are fast, but not deadly by themselves. In different editions they wavered between eating ferrous metals only and eating any metal (gold, silver, etc.) To best challenge a party with rust monsters, they need to be paired with something else. 

The great wizard Peln Fearlash wished solitude. To facilitate this, he created a trap at his front door. Three harpies reside in the antechamber. Their crooning activates a sliding door that releases rust monsters into the room.

An anis hag deep in the forest keeps a rust monster as a pet to get rid of the pesky warriors gear that she cannot cook. 

The ogres in Darkmoon Keep breed rust monsters and release them into the forest around their keep. They have not mastered metallurgy, but have found a way to even the odds.

The man-apes of the southern jungles worship a mammoth rust monster as a god.

Giant rock weasels have made their burrow inside of a rust monster carcass. This close contact has caused their claws to gain the ability to rust metal, just like a rust monster.