Monster Monday - Chimera

Today I will be spotlighting the chimera. The chimera, as a D&D monster originally appeared in Monsters & Treasure (Book II of the OD&D rules set.) Gary Gygax described them as: "Combining the worst of many creatures, a Chimera has the forebody of a great cat, the hind quarters of a goat, dragon wings, and three heads. The goat's head can gore with its long and sharp horns, the lion's head can tear with its great fangs, and the dragon's head can either bite or breath fire (but with a range of only 5" and but three dice damage)." - taken from page 10 of the WotC reprint.

Picture taken from

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chimera_Picture.jpg

But, the chimera has much deeper roots than 1974. The chimera was originally a Greek myth, with a snake head (as its tail) instead of a dragon. It was killed by Bellerophon and Pegasus.
The chimera has been in every edition of D&D, always appearing in the earliest versions. But, from what I can tell, they almost never show up in adventures. They only appeared in Bloodstone Pass (1E) and Rise of Tiamat (5E.) I am sure that they show up in other publishers' works, but I don't have a list.
(EDIT: A chimera was also in Hall of the Fire Giant King, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits.)
(2nd EDIT: Mark Hughes was nice enough to do some further research and found the chimera in B4, CM6, X3, and X4.)

Using the S&W version, the chimera has one special attack, its fire breath. It deals 3d8, up to 50' and 3 times per day. The dragon head can alternately bite (3d4.) Coupling that with 2 claws (1d3), 2 goat horns (1d4), and a lion bite (2d4), you have a hit point grinder.

Chimera, being part dragon, lust and horde treasure. Particularly, gold. They are alpha-level predators, and solitary in their actions. Some describe them as nomadic (specifically in Cormanthor, a forest somewhere in the Forgotten Realms.) Most are territorial. Having examples of both nomadic and territorial chimeras makes them very versatile opponents.

I actually haven't placed a chimera in Mord Mar. Yet. Silver Bulette placed one in our last release, The Orb of Undying Discord. We had a statue that would become a chimera when the artifact was placed in its mouth. Designed for 1-3rd level characters, we set it up so the party would have several rounds to damage the creature before it could respond.

Three goats in a small village have died giving birth. This in itself is a bad omen, but the kids were malformed. One was still-borne with a lion's head, one with a dragon's head, and one with a snake's head. The villagers rely on the goats for milk, cheese, and meat. They want the curse lifted, and are willing to trade the Earth Crystal in exchange for the curse being broken.

A single survivor of the king's patrol to the south of his lands swears that a "three-headed monstrosity that dove from the sky, and breathes death in fire." Knowing that his guards are not enough to handle a creature of legend, the king offers something every brigand and ne'er-do-well dreams of, a personal, royal favor.

A known chimera lives in the Copse Forest. The king hires the party to destroy the foul beast. But, upon encountering the three-headed monstrosity, it is found to be good, as evidenced by the silver dragon head. Do the adventurers kill the unique beast for its and the king's treasure, or do they become enemies of the exposed evil king?

As the last hook brings up, the chimera is ripe for mutation. You can connect them thematically to almost any place or group or location. A white dragon for a frozen tundra, a bronze dragon as an ancient guardian of the dead. Even reverting to the mythological chimera for a Lord of Lies adventure would work. The possibilities are endless.

Monster Monday: A Little Late

Monster Monday is late. It happens. Why is not important (my brother's boat broke down, and I spent 3 hours trying to help him). On to the RPG goodness.

I want to expound on last week's topic, the word monster. More specifically, I want to put a "monster" into a campaign. As most of you know, I'm working on a mega-dungeon called Mord Mar. Outside of the dungeon is a swamp, with Stonemire as a possible base of operations. In a fantasy world, there should be some famous creatures in the wilderness that people avoid the territories of. It's time my swamp had some of these:

Nobback: a 15 foot long gator, who is known to seek out anything larger than herself in her territory. About a generation ago, the old timers say that Nobback ate a chimera.

Spiketooth: a huge boar, the size of a horse. Said to have a taste for goblin meat. Spiketooth generally stays to the west end of the swamp (near the goblin homes).

Zielony: a great wyrm green dragon who roosts in an abandoned temple at the south end of the swamp. She generally leaves Stonemire alone, but will occasionally harass merchants for things of interest.

Garbanzo: a weeping willow treant. Garbanzo is usually friendly with humanoids it crosses paths with, but sometimes it takes offense to small things.

Scales: a giant viper that traverses the swamp. Believed to actually be several snakes, all over 10 feet long.

Grumbleskin: a hill giant that lives near the mountain. He has made a lot of money by ambushing adventurers and caravans.

Monster Monday: Green Dragons

It's another Monday and a holiday to boot. To all of the service members who lost their lives: words cannot express the gratitude that I have for your sacrifice. May your families endure well in your absence, and you drink in Valhala (or Heaven). You are not forgotten. Dad, enjoy the Great Rest.

*EDIT* After working the long weekend, I wasn't able to finish this on Monday, so Monster Tuesday today!

That said, on to the RPG stuff! There has been a challenge thrown for designing a green dragon's lair, so, green dragons are my topic this week. Dragons are an interesting dichotomy in 1e/OSR. They are the flagship monster, but "relatively" weak for their stature.

HPs are not what makes a dragon the flagship monster though. They are iconic, intelligent, and deadly. Dragons being iconic doesn't really need to be explained. If it really does, google St George, Beowulf, Dragon's Lair, Dragonslayer, or even Never Ending Story. They have been in the social consciousness for 100s of years, if not longer.

Intelligence is an attribute that I think most GMs overlook. Green dragons have an intelligence of "average to very" according to the 1e MM. Average intelligence means that they will stay out of harms way if possible, attack weak party members (aka wizards), retreat when being beaten, have escape routes, etc. Dragons should always use intelligent options when available. This makes a huge difference in difficulty.

The fear aura makes an adult dragon an awesome foe for low level (less than 6th level) party (this isn't in S&W as far as I can tell, but the contest specifies a version of D&D.) The breath weapon is what truly makes dragons dangerous. 3 x day a dragon can breathe damage equal to its HPs (save for half). In my dragon's case that's 72. That's a LOT of HP of damage. 2 salvos like that, and most parties are done, even if they make the save! And, in 1e, dragons can breathe round after round. Dragons can also choose to use three melee attacks per round: 2 claws (1d6 each) and a bite (2d10).

Now that the nuts and bolts are out of the way, let's move on to personality. For my adventure, I have been researching how green dragons should be role-played. There's not a lot on the subject for 1e, so I have room to play around. Here's what we know from the Monster Manual:

• The innate cowardice of dragonkind is shown by the fact most can be subdued.
•  Dragons’ egoistic nature makes them subject to flattery
• Greed and avarice are major motivating factors in all but the loftiest of dragons
• they are subject to manipulation by very clever persons or the prospect of actual treasure and the promise of more forthcoming.
• ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil
• They are very nasty tempered and thoroughly evil.

What I see is that green dragons are vain, cowardly, greedy, mean and evil. But, they have a clear goal: get more loot. As green dragons are lawful evil, they will adhere to a bargain struck, but will attempt to exploit loopholes as they see fit.
With that much information, I can finally develop a personality template for the dragon I'm currently calling Bertha:
Bertha will converse with interlopers, as she has an ego that needs to be fed.  This can also gain her information on the intruders, treasure hoards, and other potential information.
If she is insulted, Bertha will attack. She is willing to strike a bargain, even with weaker creatures, if they can further her agenda. The weak creatures had better offer something extraordinary to enter into the bargain, though.
Bertha's lair is set up for her to retreat to a high, safe location if her "guests" begin to overwhelm her. She can even leave through a large vent in the ceiling. I intend her to be able to be a recurring threat.

Does this sound like what a green dragon should be to you?