20 D&D Monsters You Never Knew Existed

These 20 Dungeons & Dragons monsters might be the least well-known creatures ever published in a major bestiary, and we're bringing 'em back! ▶️ More below! ⏬
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00:00 a forgotten dnd monster!
01:03 the story behind these monsters...
02:02 lame bird and epic bird
03:35 "just give it bear arms" - Gygax probably
04:05 weirdo dinosaur then sponsor!
05:04 pile o' bugs, deadly plant, and more!
07:29 wyvern fact, a cat, big bat, DEADLY bat
09:43 monsters dnd wants you to forget
11:54 shapechangers! (from the intro)
13:18 two extremely bizarre monsters
16:12 the one dnd monster you cannot kill!!
#dnd #dungeonsanddragons

[@BobWorldBuilder]

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[@kurtacus3581]

The Hound of Ill Omen is in 5e, though not as a monster stat block, its a feature of the Shadow Sorcerer subclass. I was always curious/confused as to why shadow sorcerer just get a random ability that doesnt play off of any other abilities and for some reason is a dog. It thematically just doesnt fit. Now it makes sense, its a reference to this creature. Still hate the ability, wish it was just a mark or a curse like hex/hunters mark/hexblades curse. It would make much more sense

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Yeah, same name and wolfish shape, but nothing else about them seemed similar to me so I didn't mention it

[@mnxn1734]

Technichally, it does have something in common, which is that it only affects one person for a short amount of time, and it curses them (wiht disadvantage on spell saves rather than quadruple damage of course) but I still find it weird it's a sorcerer feature given its sort of divine punisher nature, even if I love shadow sorcerer@@BobWorldBuilder

[@Pandaemoni]

I wonder if they realized they had used the name before. Same name and concept, either way, and clearly both have an origin in the Yeth Hound/Wisht Hound/Hound of Baskervilles type folklore. Fiend Folio was largely filled with creatures invented by British contributors. Which I assume explains this one "statless" monster....beloved local legend in Devonshire.

[@user-mk3gs3ue9o]

They're both more than likely reference to the black shuck, which is a black dog with red eyes commonly considered a portent of death (i.e. if you see one then you or a loved one's death is immenant) - though they have been known to attack in lore, black shucks and other similar creatures are more often passive; either a guide to the underworld or a scavenger of souls.

[@LoarvicLoarvic]

​@@Pandaemoni the Yeth Hound is also a thing in Mordekainen's Tome of Foes (or in Volo's, I don't remember)

[@ilajoie3]

The Fiend Folio is a fever dream of a book. A bunch of the monsters in the Fiend Folio were essentially homebrew from the community until they got published in the book. On that note my favorite monster has to be the Achaierai. Which can be best described as a fifteen foot tall spherical bird that can't fly on four stilt-like legs that you can chop off. If too many legs get chopped off it releases a fart so loud and smelly that you take 2d6 damage while giggling and laughing for the next three hours.

[@strawpiglet]

I love that monster. It looks so cool.

[@OceanusHelios]

That community, essentially, was across the pond. Many of the Fiend Folio monsters were homebrew monsters being played in England, Ireland, Scotland, and other places.

[@NecromancyForKids]

A lot of early monsters were designed specifically as "game fixes" to keep certain things from being too overpowered or to enforce certain mechanics. Like how they made magic-immune slimes to kill spellcasters, beasts that eat horses to counter overpowered horse breeds added to the game, and demons that appear only to attack psionic characters.

[@Lendsauk]

10:42 Aerial combat (and underwater) had nifty rules in the DMG. Page 50 in that old book youve shown on camera. Gary expected people to whip out protractors and hex grid paper to track angles. Class B meant it could turn pretty dang sharply, 120° per round, and only required 6 segments (out of 10 in a round) of time to reach full speed, 5 to reach a full stop, and the ability to hover in place. This was the same class of flight that the fly spell granted, and was usually reserved for things like bugs and sprites which are quite maneoverable vs other birds, so whoa indeed. Kinda miss the old flying speed rules in a way. They were way too specific to be of good use, but modern flying creatures are just too dang slow. A dragon can only fly 80 ft in a round? Thats not even the body length of some larger breeds. Imagining it moving only its own length over 6 seconds it feels more like a blimp than a dragon.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

The last part of your comment is so true! Well, it's all true, but I have no desire to get that mathematical at the table haha

[@zimmejoc]

Heard that and came here to type (not nearly as well as you did) what class B flying was

[@final_catalyst]

​@@zimmejoc same lol

[@jordanhubbard940]

I remember lots of RPGs had really convoluted flight and vehicle rules back then. And then there was the FASA Starship Simulator that was part of the Star Trek RPG that had this kind of mechanic.

[@orlando72az]

Anyone else remember or miss (I do) weapon speeds? Made having daggers more of a viable option for players.

[@Drakoni23]

Maybe the Magnesium Spirits weren't seen again because they succeeded in their return home. Good for them :) Lots of fun, weird ideas.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I like that idea!

[@MrJerks93]

Insert Poochie scene from the Simpsons.

[@brandongarcia2929]

Man, thork hunting would be a great low-level adventure. The party gets a request to bring back as many as they can, intact and undamaged, before they migrate. The better the condition, the higher the payout. So the party is discouraged from huddling just outside the range of the boiling spray and killing it with arrows or javelins, as each successful attack damages a section of feathers. Treat the spray like a breath weapon with recharge, and an average of a possible 16 damage per turn would be deadly for most 2nd level characters, and a good number of 3rd level ones. Add a high AC for the metal coating, a low number of hot points (hollow bones and all), and a fat payout for clever party members, and this would be a great way for players to get some extra gold if they're running low

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Basically a good "dragon" fight for a low level party!

[@alexbarrett3832]

The fiend folio is mostly made up of monsters which were submitted to a column in white dwarf by various readers. So while a few of the creatures were picked up in more official D&D books and found their way into the later editions, there may be rights issues with the ones that didn't get used more widely. It might be unclear whether the rights go to the original person who submitted them, their heirs (it was a long time ago), Games Workshop, or TSR/WotC.

[@johnbalk6091]

It was also published by TSR UK. Hence, the spelling of some words that include a U. which most, if not all Americans, don't use.

[@johnbalk6091]

It was also published by TSR UK. Hence, the spelling of some words that include a U. which most, if not all Americans, don't use.

[@alexbarrett3832]

@@johnbalk6091 i discovered the other day, thanks to D&D, that American's also spell "Grey" as "Gray" . I was trying to find a mini for the "Gray Render" monster, and nothing was coming up, since they were all listed with the American spelling! I must have read it spelt that way in the MM, but never noticed somehow!

[@rikshepherd9724]

I think most of us who submitted monsters to The Fiend Factory implicitly gave up any rights we might have had. It was actually a surprise to find that there was going to be a book rather than just appearing in WD. I think I got a free copy of Fiend Folio, but I couldn't swear to it.

[@alexbarrett3832]

@@rikshepherd9724 Very cool. It must have been great to see your creations in print. What did you contribute?

[@Stormer13]

Bob out here trying to steal Dungeon Dad's job. Also, I love Bob's "okay, this next monster is weird" comment right after talking about a wasp with a human face and Fearow from Pokemon, both of whom have massive body horror mechanics.

[@Justin-gt9ni]

Segments are smaller sections of rounds. I believe that you can find out exactly what they are in the 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide.

[@jdsull]

1 Turn = 10 minutes. 1 Round = 1/10 Turn / 1 minute 1 Segment = 1/10 Round / 6 seconds Characters rolled a d10 for initiative and the result was the round segment they were able to act. This could really affect spell casters who's spell might take 6 segments to cast but rolled an 8 for initiative so their spell would not go of until the 4th segment of the next round.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I'll take your word for it!

[@Lendsauk]

Segments are discussed in several places in the original rules and have comflicting and confusing rules about them, which is why most people ignore them. I only bother with them when looking at spells, and if a character is trying to do something before the magic happens in the same round, which serves to make certain spells like sleep which only have a one segment casting time stronger and harder to interrupt. As far as the 1d10 thing, it also mentions elsewhere to use the d6, since you're not going to wait that long into the one minute melee round before you act even in the worst cases. Conflicting information, makes it difficult!

[@FrostSpike]

@@jdsull AD&D 1e used a d6 for initiative (and the initial surprise roll). It was AD&D 2e that used a d10 for base initiative (with the lowest roll winning). Weapon speeds and spell casting times (and other modifiers) were, optionally, added to these rolls to get the segment on which the character actually acts (though 2e dumped the term "segment" from the vernacular).

[@SunBane67]

@@jdsull dont forget abt adding the speed of the weapon to the segment number lol. Love ad&d 1e I always felt that it had a charm not present in 5e

[@bradcraig6676]

A very entertaining trip down memory lane! As someone who was a player and DM throughout the AD&D era, I can say that although everyone had the fiend folio, those monsters were almost never used, because all the cool ones were just too powerful, and it was rare that a character or party survived to 9th level. The FF monsters were almost comically lethal, and on top of that the game itself was also far more lethal in the AD&D era. It was generally assumed that the FF was for higher level adventurers who had already bested all the foes in the MM, but in practice it mostly just sat on the shelf. Some choice art, though.

[@dylanhyatt5705]

The 'Fiend Folio' was awesome - it really allowed me to jazz up the adventures. The Sussurus was my favourite.

[@ZenDoggie]

The Fiend Folio was my favorite supplement as a kid. I loved the artwork and the monsters were truly awesome. Thanks!

[@farshaddailami4549]

I remember these! When I bought FF (in the 80s), I would thumb through it and try to figure out where to use some of these beasts. Some of the FF entries came from published modules (the weirdest ones from modules like Expedition to the Barrier Peaks). Great stuff!

[@dreamsleever]

The Shadow Sorcerer in 5E summons a Hound of Ill Omen! Some of these might work really well in DCC or Shadowdark!

[@eclectic_nerd]

I always love obscure and weird monsters. So much fun to play around with, and build stats for.

[@CthulhusDream]

Just started the video, but two of my favorite forgotten beasties are the "wolf in sheep's clothing" and quaraphon

[@joeloftus6148]

What an awesome video! More like this, please! Forgotten planes, forgotten magic items, forgotten villains, there are so many possibilities that you can create an entire series.

[@howardkingston7901]

Segment is 6 Seconds 10 of them make up a combat Round(1 minute) it was a 'unit of time measurment' in 1E Great video Bob when the Fiend Folio was published the Monsters came from the early White Dwarf Magazine's Fiend Factory and many of them didn't get into this volume so there are even weirder one's 'out there'

[@trollge3712]

Its weird that the enveloper gains the targets alignment too. Does it become a perfect replica of the person with the same personality and no memory of ever being an enveloper?

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

Doombat makes for an interesting idea to bring back at least. Maybe granting it's scream an INT save (does make it likely Artificers or Wizards will make it admittedly but) but keeping this silencing effect plus maybe Disadvantage would be an interesting spin on an encounter.

[@workingstiffdiogenes2195]

I've always said there are no bad monsters (well, there are a few) just monsters that are wrong for your campaign. The Displacer beast and Umber Hulk belong in a sci-fi setting, and maybe the Enveloper along with them. The Cockatrice and Giant Boar belong in a medieval campaign, etc.

[@koboldlord]

Great video Bob, thank you for this gift! I love monsters, the more the merrier. You may be interested to know that Frog God Games, under the "Sword and Wizardry" label released the book Tome of Horrors for 3.5 and Tome of Horrors Complete for Pathfinder 1E where a few of these monsters were converted. I own a copy of the 3.5 one and thus stats for the clubneck, gorrilla bear and eye killer. It's a great resource for Old School monsters. Thanks again for this one!

[@JestaKilla]

I have converted many of these to 5e. I've used a bunch in various editions, too- I helped run a tournament for a gaming club where the BBEG was an enveloper; I used a guardian familiar, sheet phantoms, CIFALs, and witherstenches in 5e. I love the old Fiend Folio! EDIT: Oh, and my tirapheg lore involves them being tortured by agents of Torog until they are reshaped.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Well done keeping these monsters around!

[@Thagomizer]

I just keep them around by sticking with 2e. Much less work that way.

[@loup1262]

Stymphalian birds are probably the inspiration for the Thork. I know at least Shadowrun has them

[@Greyhelm]

THIS. This is why I watch BobWorldBuilder, I love this video. Truth be told, I recognized some of these monsters from my "old" days of first edition of DnD.

[@digitaljanus]

Wow, I own the Fiend Folio but haven't read it in years, and the only monster that I remembered was the nonafel. (My own obscure FF monster of choice is the aleax, who is sent by the gods to punish hubris, and is an exact clone of its target but with super regeneration powers.) Great video Bob!

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

I remember the aleax from the 3e _Book of Exalted Deeds_ as a template, it was pretty legit.

[@shaundenehy4681]

The fun days of D&D where you came to the game with 5 characters.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Sounds like a DCC funnel :D

[@trikepilot101]

It was far more "horror survival" than "action adventure."

[@howirunit2033]

1. The 1E Fiend Folio is the best monster book bar none. I will be taking no questions on this matter. 2. I used an adaptation of the Cifal in a 3e campaign I ran about 17 years ago. 3. Was the adherer ever reprinted? Because I used them even more recently. Great video!

[@richardcampbell4506]

I love the Doombqt, but would use it as an environmental effect that impacts a final boss battle. I would keep the no save but introduce the effect slowly. So as the characters approach the Boss lair they hear ear piercing sounds that slowly impact their ability to talk to each other as they get closer. It never stops them talking but their words become broken and slurred preventing them from forming the syllables needed for spells. Then the characters have the choice of battling without verbal spells, trying to silence or kill the bats to remove the effect or something else bizarre and ridiculous (I know my group too well) great monster.

[@bernadmanny]

The Magnesium Spirit sounds like it could be the inspiration for the Weeping Angels, which are some truly creepy monsters.

[@OnslaughtSix]

15:19 AD&D 1e has turn segments. Look up weapon speed factor, and I think spells were also affected. Basically, if you used certsin weapons or spells they would take several turn segments to go off, so you would decide to act on segment 1 and then the actual thing you did would resole on segment 4 (for example). It was complicated and most people didnt use it, but IMO it could be incorporated into a modern game easily.

[@TheSoling27]

Still playing AD&D - the segment is 6seconds -- a full round being 10 seg. aka I minute. Initiative rolls determined the segment you acted on in that minute (i.e your action) -- because it was theatre of the mind movement was obscure - and not really relevant to combat. casting times & actions as discussed were added to the intiative roll - to determine when they went off.. and multiple attacks happened on your initiative roll , and on the last segment. lots of math but it works well. which is why initiative in AD&D is rolled every round.. changes the tactics drastically

[@Thagomizer]

I think 2e did away with segments entirely.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Ooof yeah sounds a little too finicky for me

[@OceanusHelios]

@@BobWorldBuilder It wasn't finicky. The game then is not the game we have now. It was a simulation of combat for hardocre nerds and the rules were designed to be credible and realistic. A "Hit" roll wasn't just a single hit but an entire flurry of swings, parries, dodges, etc. That dice roll was for an entire round or ten segments of seings, misses, scrapes, etc. Words were fast and so it took seconds to say words. Fights were not fast because the enemy was fighting back and trying to stay alive too so was also dodging and swinging. Dice rolls were meant to reflect the summation of actions. With video game head space...people thought of the rolls as one single hit at a time rather than a synopsis of what happened during that time period. Spell casters were all glass canons so they had to pick and choose the exact moment to get a spell out. Inititiative was group intitiative. Everything was presumed to be happening at once. Yes it was turn based combat, in practice, but in the simulation of it, it was way to RESOLVE what happens, rather than to describe the minutia of events. When the term round is used, it was in the same way as what happens in a round of the sport of boxing. A hard spell was like hitting the enemy with that Sunday Punch! If spells were interrupted? They failed, fizzled, and spent the slot. Segments were necessary therefore so that a caster could wait for that safe opening and seize the day. I'm a 1E player from back in the day. Now I'm trying to learn 5E and it is an entire world of changes to the game. The monsters were truly horrifying. They were so horrifying that my players didn't get to fight most of them. My groups were very very small so I had to make house rules because of only one or two players ever, at most, at a time. While the encounters were always designed for more players than I ever had at a time.

[@southron_d1349]

For the various manoeuvrability classes of flying creatures, check out the 1e DMG. Yes, I forgot the Imorph but since it's one of the few monsters to lack art, it's not surprising. The Fiend Folio has some good monsters which made it into the game at various times. But as far as I know, the two Slaad Lords - Ssendam and Ygorl never appeared in other books. Maybe they could do with a makeover.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Didn't even notice the part about lords in the slaad section. I could definitely see them coming back with all the multiverse stuff dnd is doing now!

[@JKevinCarrier]

I remember buying this book back in the day. Loved the artwork (Enveloper notwithstanding), but yeah, a lot of these creatures went unused, either because they were redundant to existing monsters, or were just too weird and random. It might be fun to try and build a campaign using nothing but Fiend Folio creatures, though -- that would be one strange world!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Maybe keep it as it's own little pocket dimension haha, "the land of lost monsters"

[@JKevinCarrier]

@@BobWorldBuilder Right next door to the Island of Misfit Toys. ;-)

[@familieversteegh1712]

Nice history vid. The Thork is definetely going in my next campaign

[@andrewoferrell3671]

I love how a lot of these monsters' attacks and abilities are so specific it definitely feels like an angry DM who was like "Okay, so actually the spellcasters cannot attack this one because you can't cast fireball all the time and I guess the fighters get a -1 to hit or something."

[@RottenRogerDM]

yes . yes. yes. Yes they were. Fear the Angry DM!

[@xkukubax]

Great production, Bob. Thank you for this video.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@stevenandres9824]

The 1E PHB pg. 39 : "In adventuring below ground, a turn in the dungeon lasts 10 minutes (see also MOVEMENT). In combat, the turn is further divided into 10 melee rounds, or simply rounds. Rounds are subdivided into 10 segments, for purposes of determining initiative (qv.) and order of attacks. thus a turn is 10 minutes, around 1 minute, and a segment 6 seconds." Flight movement class is found on pg. 52 and 53 of the 1E DMG and is the turning radius and distance required for each change in direction using a hex grid used for outdoor adventuring.

[@JestaKilla]

FYI the hound of ill omen appeared in 4e as, I think, a hazard. Or maybe it was a pc ability that summoned one.

[@morrohir]

its also in 5e as a shadow sorcerer ability

[@tobyclayton2597]

I was flicking through that Fiend Folio the other day, huge feeling of nostalgia.

[@SilverZephyrFalcon]

Several of these were published by a 3rd party (I forget which) in Fifth Edition Foes. It's got a bunch of old monsters, some of which have been released officially since then, but most which haven't. I've used it a few times in my games when I need something off-the-wall that players won't expect.

[@daniapate5596]

This was a great video! Love seeing the kinds of things that were come up with for the original game

[@dutch6857]

The Fiend Folio really is wild. Thanks for the vid, I think I am going to pull the book off my shelf for the first time in a long while.

[@Emberbro]

The Imorph’s base shape is weirdly reminiscent of the Yochlol slime form.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Ahhh true!

[@sharondornhoff7563]

And even the description itself is wonky. Maybe one of the (no doubt many) reasons nobody ever used that one again, was that the original writer was too embarrassed by how they'd thought snails had suction cups on their foot?

[@MarkCMG]

Thanks for the video AND the memories!

[@DoctorSinister1987]

Bob, very cool video. Thank you!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Glad you liked it!

[@unintelligentdesign2644]

Loved this video!! Do a sequel!! Subscribed.

[@denizshalamanov1999]

I just sent this video to my DnD group's chat with a time marker for 6:24. Out of context Bob is hilarious xD

[@BobWorldBuilder]

xD it's a good PSA nonetheless

[@chaoshead87]

Ah, the good old days of weird and odd monsters....I do not miss all the save or die stuff though.

[@TheK5K]

Great video Bob. Nice to see some love for the 1E monsters - especially Fiend Folio ones. I found your 'dunno what that is' comments honestly refreshing. Someone has probably mentioned this in the Comments already, but - 1 segment=6 seconds. 10 segments=1 round (1 minute). 10 rounds=turn (10 minutes). Also, maneuverability class B is pretty awesome. The scale is from A to F with A being the best. This determines it's ability to turn and maneuver in aerial combat (120 degree turns for this bad bird). See your 1E DMG Pg. 52.

[@RottenRogerDM]

"A" was basically hover today.

[@RottenRogerDM]

And for modern players. Airel combat used the hex grid not the square.

[@jacobgerhard9525]

Now I need to open and flip thru my 2nd edition AD&D monster manual for some moldy oldies!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Can't remember the names off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure there are some others that made it to 2e, and then stopped getting published haha

[@e.s.lavall9219]

​@@BobWorldBuilderplease make this into a series and cover some of those! Grew up playing 2E and there are so many monsters I miss (and find homebrewed statblocks for so I can enjoy them again)

[@cumulonimbusapothecary1079]

Okay, hear me out: Hound of Ill Omen, but remove the no-healing note. That way, a character would be cursed to survive ten hits - likely over a number of combats. They would be extremely vulnerable, as any fight would potentially drop them (bonus points if they're in an environment where it can be tricky to heal) but they can't AVOID combat because the curse won't be broken without it. That could be quite an adventure right there - trying to find weaker threats to trigger the curse without outright dying, or trying to get the curse undone fast enough to be able to take down a BBEG under a timer. I like it. Thanks for digging these gems out of the folio!

[@grainassault4844]

7:55 This one was actually in the Fablehaven books! They're full of obscure D&D references.

[@minimoose7890]

Thanks so much, Bob

[@Overlord1024]

Witherweed showed up in 2nd Edition in the Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix though it is grouped under Plant, Carnivorous.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Ahh man! Great research/background knowledge!

[@JMcMillen]

The Guardian Familiar sounds like a long 9 stage boss fight for some parties.

[@harmless6813]

If you let it start out as a normal cat, it's probably not too bad. Actually the only monster from the list I found somewhat interesting (as in potentially usable).

[@BobWorldBuilder]

The idea that it just refuses to get off the treasure is the funny part to me. Even though it grows, characters could probably find a way to move it lol

[@BORNTOSIEGE]

Amazing video, I would love to see a second part, with 2nd edition monsters! and outside of popular opinion, I love the concept of the hound of the ill omen in the shadow sorcerer

[@cwesley2005]

Bob, I’ve really come to love your channel since I got back into d & d after a 28 year hiatus during the Covid lockdown. I really hope one d & d doesn’t permanently destroy this hobby.

[@Papa_Mike]

Excellent video, Bob. I had forgotten about some of these, and don't remember the rest at all. Guess I never met them. The guardian familiar was a favorite of an old DM of mine and he threw it at us twice in different dungeons. We lost two characters the first time, and had learned our lesson the second time.

[@TheSoling27]

Still playing AD&D (since 1984) - I have used the Hound of ill-omen - once. In my earlier yrs - I developed the Christian Pantheon.. building the religion from the ground up to where my brother, playing a Sister of Christ attained 18th level.. basically the defacto Mother Superior of the entire world.. in a grand battle in the bowls of a volcano, her party was near TPK (even at 16-20th level) - and in AD&D terms very very rare. She fell into the lava and was consumed in flame-- died -- and was on her way to Heaven... as a test of faith - Lucifer intercepted her before she reached the Pearly Gates.. promising the full restoration of the party -- and in a half hour theological discussion - my brother took the deal.... was resurrected .. the party restored -- BUT ... he blew apart the faith ... lost all his spells from 3rd up -- and was visited by the hound. As he was the highest cleric -- there was none that could give him atonement...she succumbed to her fate .. the church collapsed with pockets of faithful scattered ... and she now a concubine to Lucifer ..

[@evanchase9585]

The enveloper takes its victim's alignment? That's a neat idea. Maybe the newly-enveloped party member becomes a "ship of Theseus" situation. After all, if the enveloper has all the same abilities and memories of the original, isn't it just like getting your dead character back? Can it then join the party? Or suppose that a NG character gets killed and eaten by the enveloper. Does it then mourn killing its victim? Might it try to do good things with its new form as an act of penance? Does it go out of its way to apologize to the victim's family, or take their place and let them live a comforting lie?

[@richardmcnamara8715]

Cool that they added the hound of ill omen to the shadow magic sorcerer

[@DragonKingZero]

The Nonafel sounds like an evolutionary ancestor or cousin of the Displacer Beast, and the Cifal sounds like it could be reflavored as a spawn of Kyuss, The Worm That Walks (ala Gnolls and Yeenoghu).

[@beancounter2185]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[@commonviewer2488]

I had an idea for a Hag running a cat café, and now I have an idea for how the cats will aid their Hag in battle

[@Aspurgers]

About segments if anyone was curious: In AD&D, 10 segments equaled a round, and 10 rounds equaled a turn. A round was the equivalent to what would be a turn of combat in 5e. Spell casting times varied, so because one round (your turn) of combat was 10 segments you could often do multiple quick spells of 2-3 segments during your turn in combat. This meant that there were lots of things that could be done during your round in combat and, though a lot of fun, I understand why they simplified it to action, bonus action, and reaction in 5e.

[@kyzer422]

These monsters are awesome, and I'm probably going to use some in my next campaign. The tirapheg seems like something out of the Numenera ttrpg, which is another great source of weird creatures. 10:36 AD&D had rules for the maneuverability of flying creatures, which tell you how quickly they can change direction while flying. Class A could stop on a dime and turn 180 degrees per round, class B could only turn a total of 90 degrees per round, and so on. Dragons and other big fliers were class D or E, meaning that they took a long time to turn around when flying at full speed. 15:14 Segments were a sub-division of rounds (10 segments to each 1-minute round). In AD&D, all characters/monsters on a team took their turns at the same time. Segments were used to determine which spells took effect first (e.g., does my fireball go off before or after my friend's web spell?). Notably, some spells took *more than 10* segments to cast, meaning you needed to use your action on the subsequent round to complete the spell casting - and if you took damage in the meantime, the spell was ruined!

[@badnewsBH]

Yep. That's a *man's* D&D right there. 😆

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

I'll be making Thork for Thorksgiving this year.

[@DreadMerlot]

Love it! Always fun to watch millennials discover the D&D lore I grew up with.

[@TF2PNub]

5:56 Honestly I could see this updated to 5e without too much issue. There were tons of monsters and spells that just had instant death effects that were reworked over the years. Have the Wither Weed have a Vulnerability to fire, but an ability that triggers whenever it takes fire damage that summons a cloud of poison in an area around it for a minute that deals massive poison damage to anyone who fails a con save, half to those who succeed. Give it immunity to poison so no special rules are needed for it to be immune to its own fumes. As for its attacks, either stick to it doing Dex score damage for uniqueness or if you just hate the concept of ability score damage have it apply disadvantage to all dex rolls to anyone it hits for a round or ten.

[@thanekrios8]

These are incredible. I laughed quite a bit lmao. Gonna find a way to work some of these into my campaign

[@kevinbirge2130]

My Fiend Folio has stricken terror in my players since 1981. I never stopped using it.

[@jasonp9508]

Lots of fun Bob, thanks! Some of these monsters I remembered but some of them I had never noticed. I got into D&D about the time FF came out. Still crack it open now and again to remind myself of the origins of some of the now-classic monsters from that book - canonical gith and drow! But yeah I forgot how wacky 1e could be at times. 😂

[@MrJerks93]

Aerial manueverability class were a nice balancing tool against flight and gave restrictions on how a flying creature could move while in flight. Class A (perfect) could move as easily as walking. Beholders were in this class. Class B included most small birds. Higher classes had progressively worse turning radiuses reflected by # of feet they must move forward before turning 45, 90, or 180 degrees.

[@Pandaemoni]

I was playing the game back in those days (a year or two after the Fiend Folio was published), but I did not remember the enveloper. His art make him look like the Pillsbury Doughpelganger, which is likely why I don't think we ever used that monster. I don't think we could have allowed an enveloper to absorb one's abilities, spells, experience, knowledge, alignment and voice without letting out a terrifying: "Hee hee!" We have used monsters with a similar sounding ability set, including doppelgangers and greater doppelgangers (Monsters of Faerun) though we tended towards the "they must eat your brain to become you" aesthetic.

[@kannathraymaker]

old school time keeping: 1 turn = 10 rounds, 1 round = 1 minute, 1 round = 10 segments, 1 segment = 6 seconds. Yes, everything took full MINUTES to resolve in AD&D. When rounds were redefined at 6 seconds with 10 to a minute, both the time unit turn and segment were dropped from the game.

[@bossbullyboy195]

I love how weird but specific some of these are

[@thetravelingbard9178]

Brandon Mull literally uses the Guardian Familiar in his first Fablehaven book. I’ve been reading and rereading those books for more than half of my life and this obscure dnd thing was there the whole time without me knowing it.

[@writererics]

I can see how some of these might have been prototypes for future monsters. The description of the Nonafel reminded me a lot of displacer beasts for example. The copper bird (Thork?) Was pretty cool though, though the idea of this inconspicuous bird firing a 10-foot wide laser of boiling water hitting line a fireball is a wild image.

[@fizzledimglow3523]

I'm gonna steal the Thork. No doubt.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I agree about both those points! However it looks like the displacer beast was published first

[@josefbaumert270]

The nonafel featured in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Thanks for the info!

[@tkc1129]

But what if that Tirapheg could, like, use its empty hands to move the detailed heads to different necks, etc.. Each time it does, it switches to a different, identical HP pool and gains different powers.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Glad these are inspiring some new ideas!

[@breakerpressgames]

I love the Fiend Folio so much.

[@LightningFox1990]

Thanks for these. Going to be trying to bring these back. Seems the creators of Rick and Morty liked the cifal if only for Million Ants, and the clubnek puts me in the mind of a chocobo for some reason. Have at least one player that would like that. Also don't mind bringing in some ability drain or instant death effects to keep people from getting too reckless. I might save them from my own mistakes, but stupidity isn't mine when there's clear warning signs.

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

Milestone Comics used a CIFAL as a villain in _Static_ using the name Swarm.

[@dongeonmaster8547]

It was nice to see the fiend folio on here. I have that book. I'd love to hear some comparisons now for fiend folio monsters that were adapted to other editions. How did they evolve?

[@hathus5536]

Oh I'm definitely using some of these

[@indigoblacksteel1176]

I don't remember the monsters themselves all that well, but I remember those pictures. As a kid, I loved going through, checking out all the monsters.

[@christopherdaurio2617]

I love some of D&D's "fantasy animals", and the Thork sounds like a great addition to them 👍 P.S. Other "fantasy animals" include... • The Owl Bear (obviously, they're iconic) • The Almiraj (a Unicorn Rabbit)* • The Amphisbaena (a Double-sided Snake) • The Auroch (a Buffalo Cow)** • The Axe Beak (a Winter Ostrich - mentioned by Bob)*** • The Aurumvorax (a Giant Gold-Eating Subterranean Wolverine) • The Blink Dog (a Teleporting Good Boy) • The Bunyip (a Seal Shark)**** • The Rothé (a Subterranean Stink Bison) • The Tressym (a Winged House-cat) Edits (according to the comments - cool stuff down there, check it out 👇): * The Al-Miraj originates in Medieval Arabic writings. ** The Auroch was a real animal that apparently went extinct, and is a progenitor to modern cattle. *** The Axe Beak may have been inspired by the prehistoric "Terror Bird" or "Elephant Bird" **** The Bunyip is from Australian Aboriginal folklore - and might be reminiscent of some now extinct mega-fauna from the region.

[@BobWorldBuilder]

I agree! I like it when "monsters" simply include animals we don't have in real life

[@LostWhits]

I think of the animals in Avatar last Airbender. The characters all get confused when the earth king has just a bear. Not a platypus bear, skunk bear, armadillo best or a gopher bear?

[@felixcohen1247]

Aurochs are actually the real life ancestors to domestic cattle. But according to wikipedia they died out in the early 1600's.

[@southron_d1349]

The Al-miraj comes from medieval Arabic literature. The Bunyip is from Australia and might be a memory of some now extinct mega-fauna.

[@drillerdev4624]

​@@southron_d1349since the jackalope seems to be derived from real life rabbits with overgrown warts, maybe that may be the case for the unicorn bunny?

[@Mandalorian2814]

Sheet Phantom? Towels? I totally forgot about these. I really miss the 80s. Gonna have to go back and go through and use some of these for my Shadowdark game

[@shawnmcmanamy4701]

in AD&D, a turn was comprised of 10 rounds. Each round was 10 segments. These would come into play when determining who would attack first. Some spells took longer to cast. Some weapons took longer to swing.

[@isaacgraff8288]

This feels like a love letter to Dungeon Dad

[@davemills8193]

Some of us never forget Bob.

[@MattiaBulgarelli]

15:20 : in AD&D "Segments" are basically "your action" (considered lasting 6 seconds). 10 "segments" make up a "round" (about 60 seconds of time, i.e. 1 minute), and 10 rounds make up a "turn" (used usually outside combat and while exploring dungeons). ...yes, AD&D had a thing to over-complicate ANYTHING.

[@LittleMoose1]

Cloning mutating gelatinous ooze?! I love it this, thank you

[@thejawgz6719]

I feel like a lot of these old monsters would fit a more deadly sword and sorcery/Conan-like environment, especially all the egg-bearing insectoids.

[@jefflawless7911]

@10:25 ... oh man, the AD&D DM's Guide did have aerial movement classifications. There were wonderful hex grids showing how you could move, on that grid. Look it up ;p

[@jasonreiyn9311]

Regarding the Gryph and it's flight maneuverability (type B). At the time when they were trying to get mechanics in place for aerial combat, they would put creatures into various categories based on how tight of a turning radius they could perform how quickly they can stop if they can hover and how fast they can move. And at the time they even put in a special considerations with them allowing for banking maneuvers treating that is some sort of advanced maneuver that only a handful of different creatures were capable of.

[@pouncerlion4022]

Segments are an old initiative mechanism. As I remember, they were mostly used with spell casting. A cast spell would take so many "segments," basically points in the initiative order to cast. So a caster would start a spell on their initiative then add the number of segments of casting time (init went from lowest to highest back then) and then the spell would go off. If someone acted on an initiative before the spell was finished then, if they hit the caster, the spell would be lost. Because of the limited number of initiative slots back in the day (didn't we use a D10 back then?) this could often mean longer spells would go off in the round after they were cast. 5 segments, like in the monster's example, were relatively long. Most ran from 1-3 segments at lower levels.

[@APyralis]

I just created my own campaign setting and I am SOOOO including the Thork!

[@greetingcardboy]

My favorite weird D&D monster was the 1e "morkoth," which had the unique ability of reflecting magic spells (!), but only lived a.) underwater, and b.) in a labyrinth. Thanks, Dave-Arneson-probably!

[@anthonyherbert190]

Very informative lol. Now to UNLEASH HELL ON MY PLAYERS!!! mwahahahahaHAHAHAHAHA!! Sidenote so cool seeing you at the PGHGamingExpo. SO dope