Ecology of the Su-Monster, Dungeons and Dragons lore

[@WallyDM]

Asked for, and received, lol. Thank you AJ for the lore on Su-Monsters. Lots of nostalgia for this vicious old school hidden gem. Cheers!

[@AJPickett]

Anytime my friend!

[@lexington476]

Love these creature videos, especially second edition. Love second edition, the true ad&d 🙂.

[@DungeonDad]

Hell yeah. I love these guys.

[@AJPickett]

Top ten monsters I would not want to meet in the forest.

[@ObsidianAmeth]

OMG OMG OMG

[@Raghetiel]

Those things just scream "Malar favorite pet"

[@chadstinson9886]

I remember when that Psionics book first came out we were so excited we all made different psionic classes. Ah the fond memories.

[@mikewaterfield3599]

I have to say, 5th edition is generally watered down compared to earlier editions. This creature is a prime example. WotC uses the term “accessible”. Well, wild complexity is what makes D&D fun. Killer, psychic apes? NIGHTMARE FUEL! Personally I like claws making attacks individually each with a chance to miss, hit, or crit.

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

I find them more cool then nightmare fuel. As for the watering down part, I find that might be because of cultural changes of the country they are from. Tho I don't know if it's a good change, recently I've been reading a old children's book from my country called ''Fram, Ursul Plar'' from 1932 and one thing I'm appreciating from it is how it manages to show the ugly and dark parts of life in a way that is appropriate for children.

[@mikewaterfield3599]

@@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes. the “Forgotten Realms” novels are not shy about the darker aspects of the world. Life is cheap, most have to kill eventually to survive, and those who stand righteously can be twisted to evil ends (see “Thornhold” for particularly good examples of that).

[@chadlynch1551]

As a 2e old fart and a 2ed psionics fan, I always liked the su-monster as a monster threat. They were a good mid tier enemy in a world with mind benders. There weren't enough of those. You either had pesky things like cerebral parasites or insta-kill mind flayer encounters. The talk about ketch and su-monsters throwing rocks reminded me of something. In our real world, one of the few advantages humans have over apes is our ability to throw things with speed and relative accuracy. The shoulders of apes aren't articulated to throw things well. The average chimp might be able to throw something like a baseball no more than 20 or 30 miles per hour, and that underhand. The average healthy adult male human can throw the same rock at least 70 miles per hour, and often considerably faster. This allowed early humans to hunt and kill things at a distance, meaning they were less likely to be harmed by prey during the process. In a world where every other creature is stronger, faster, has fangs, claws, horns, and even poison, being able to throw rocks and spears was in incalculable advantage. People like to think it's our ability to think or speak that sets us apart from the animals, or maybe even the apposable thumb. But in reality it is the slightly different way our shoulder is built. Without that, humanity may have never survived.

[@AJPickett]

For 300 thousand years, we jogged after the game with a well-knapped rock in one hand, ready to hurl it at the game trying desperately to get away from us, but you could run and run, we could run further, and we could wait.. when finally the game just collapsed and waited to die, we closed in, and those same sharp-edged rocks were our skinning and flensing tools, then carving up the meat. We were, and are, terrifying predators.

[@krispalermo8133]

Other findings of past .. cousins .. that were slightly build heavier and faster than humans, that hunted early humans that already practice beadwork. Our forearms have a twist motion that allows better long-range throws and spear thrusts. There is a reenactment of a father( he is killed in ambush), mother, teenage son coming of age with two little sisters, and some strange old woman. Being hunted by a pack of .. near .. humans. The site is located in west India. The bones had Lye scrapping across the bone scrap cuttings found in a dry cave. Bone damage from venom tend to bust the bone then left to dry is telling. Best line in movie, .. Son, " What makes you think I did that ?! After you Told me Not To ! " Father, " Because I was you age, and me and my brothers did the same stupid zhit." Trick the teenage son to gain space between himself and the hunters was running to the rock side creases and turning a tree branch pulling out a few snakes to swing at the hunters. Then working a long pole about 16ft long from .. the high ground .. using rapid thrusts. ( stab holes in skull with trace lye and venom swelling.) Other trick was the strange old woman used wood ash/ lye soap to clean his scraps, little too much lye. Which his mom and sisters make fun of him for. Later in the movie of when he was being chased, he ran through the hunters' campfire site. He went from panic, stop, turn around and urine on the ash and mixed it together with a stick, then filled one of his storage bags with it. Later he coated his spears with the lye. Proud moment of relief from stabbing and sending off his hunters screaming in pain. At the end of the show, he limp back to his family with his father items, heads of the hunters, a small dinner kill, then very humble bows handing over the pouch of urine ash/lye to the strange old woman. Who sniff the bag and Laugh. His sisters said he was very brave, he said he was running scared and it was father snake on a stick and old woman lye saved him. Our second evolution step up is our ability to mimic other animal sounds and food sharing/ conditioning other predators to be share family pack. During mass migration, lions are known to make multiple kills to leave for the dogs & hyena so they can have a moment to eat themselves. Got to love those seasonal drought grass fires leaving all that bar BQ. Jackals have a very interesting way in dealing with brush fires. Even hawks pick up burning branches to spread fires so they can eat more carrion.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Humans have multiple small advantages that lead to our overall dominance. One is our ability to sweat. It does tie us to sources of water pretty hard but it lets us recover from heat fairly quickly. Which means we often could just outrun anything that couldn't immediately catch us and run down anything that couldn't immediately run too far away to catch. And with our intelligence we could find water much easier than other animals. As we are great at throwing we could attack at range, a great advantage. None of these by themselves would have been enough but taken together was enough to give us a clear edge.

[@DEMONOFLOVEANDDEATH]

Bless the Mighty GlueStick

[@zmishiymishi5349]

I just noticed peculiar phenomena- some of your viewers have issues about you using ai, while some people have the audacity to tell actual musicians to use it instead of their actual skill... Mehh... Thanks for video, you're the best

[@caseymonaghan5068]

I love that ai gives us more depictions of these creatures

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

I will not judge anyone for using it, but I understand the criticism! For "AI" to work, it needs a lot of material to draw from, and it’s rare that the people who made the original material is asked (or payed). I watched a video about Furries a couple of days ago - there are some very popular artists making a living from making custom artwork of peoples avatar. But with the increased use of "AI", they are getting less work, and one of the most popular artists signature is now seen on "AI" generated art, because his previous works has been fed into the database (without his or his original customers consent). The "AI" simply "believes" that art of a furry has his signature! (Because "AI" basically just is a parrot)… So when we use "AI", it’s worth remembering that you’re basically "commissioning" art, but without those who has contributed is getting paid!

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

These are giving me Conan vibes 💪

[@burningbronze7555]

I do love the insane psionic monsters got any more?

[@AJPickett]

So many.

[@Comicnut64]

awesome I was able to catch an new lore video

[@chrislaurette6778]

Great video, thank you. In the 100 plus videos I've watched on this channel this is the first one that I feel needs a correction. The Su Monster did not first appear in the 2nd edition Psionics Handbook, It is on page 93 of the first edition Monster Manual. Just sayin'.

[@AJPickett]

Yeah, I missed that, thank you for the correction, much appreciated.

[@GenghisDon1970]

they appear from OD&D's Eldritch Wizardry booklet & the AD&D monster manual hardcover, prior to the 2e AD&D complete psionics handbook

[@AJPickett]

They do indeed. my bad

[@ObsidianAmeth]

I am just surprised that they are not connected to Demogorgons the demon prince.

[@AJPickett]

Maybe they are, we don't know where they got their psionic power from...

[@ObsidianAmeth]

@@AJPickett Is the dragon magazines still going? I don't know much about them other than the dragon related issues magazines.

[@almitrahopkins1873]

Evil isn’t monolithic. Some things just are, completely separate from the demon princes.

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

@@almitrahopkins1873 To be fair tho they do make for pretty good excuses for why everything is so nasty.

[@helixxharpell]

​@AJPickett I wrote up a full Su-Monster encounter for the 2e Thay Boxed set (didn't make the cut) where a minor Red Wizard DID manage to "befriend" a Cadre of Su-Monsters. About 20 of them. Guarding one of his plantations. So whenever you see a Red Wizard perusing a bizarre with a baby Su-Monster on his shoulder stay clear! For he's looking for more than just trinkets to take back to his farm. 😉

[@almitrahopkins1873]

For some reason I always pictured them as more like a mandrill or baboon than a chimp or bonobo. I honestly couldn’t tell you why, other than maybe their diet being so heavily meat-based.

[@rootsnootthnute8598]

They also have a tail, and apes are typified by a lack of a tail, even though apes and baboons/mandrills are both Old World monkeys. I'd say your assessment makes more sense than Su-Monsters being a type of ape, especially since most fantasy races are demihumans in some ways, making them apes already, so Su-Monsters wouldn't stand out as especially simian monsters if they were so familiar as an ape.

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

Mandrills are mostly frugivores.

[@HowtoRPG]

Thanks AJ.

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

Or just "as graceful as a Tesla truck" - no need to add "on a tightrope", it’s a Tesla "tRuCk"

[@tatsusama3192]

0:22 I wanna see this version of The Wizard of Oz

[@YoKhai1221]

Perfect monster to cover as I am brewing up a jungle campaign!! So thank you good sir!

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Sentient but not sapient. And everything about them screams wizard experiment. Yeah, I totally get why they are classed as monstrosity. There isn't even a reason to hope they will grow to be more. They literally have no reason to want more out of their lives. They are omnivorious predators with high metabolisms and are damn good at it.

[@pxydtz2643]

I'd forgotten about this creature and how terrifying it is on a primal level. "everything about them screams wizard experiment" I've been cooking up a "cave-man" campaign for a few years now and this seems like a great set-up for a "first wizard, oops" story beat

[@chuckkershaw7492]

Great video! A video on the Plain of Standing Stones would be amazing if you're looking for topic suggestions

[@AJPickett]

Ah, its been a minute since I was last in the Anuaroch.

[@Grimlore82]

I believe I have the complete "Complete" guides collection... Love those books. 2e is by far my favorite edition of D&D.

[@shakescan]

"Ketch-Su!" (bless you AJ!)

[@williamkarl-gustafmoller8492]

The microphone sound really good. It might be my headphones.

[@glorbojibbins2485]

Lol Jesus I don't even play DnD but that haste ability is rough. Would want to run into a family of these in a dark alley 😅

[@HBHaga]

I remember these guys from a Chultan campaign arc. We were exploring an old temple complex and came across a fallen-in section with a shrine to the trickster-god Wongo in it. That place was full of Su-Monsters and they nearly flattened us with psionic attacks. The Su-Monsters wouldn't go far from the shrine so we managed to escape, patch up the wounded, and our cleric came up with the idea of making an offering to Wongo to keep the critters off our backs long enough to clear that section.

[@AJPickett]

Appeasement is a tried and true tactic of the Halfling people. I approve!

[@jeffgallego1602]

i like the idea of a small enclave of Su monsters worshiping a skull in a cult like fashion, skull of ancestors or the original su monster of the forest/jungle

[@Raghetiel]

I would love if you'll do other Trickster Gods from Tomb of annihilation!

[@smuggrog9821]

Damn those are some scary monkes.

[@joshuazane3210]

This seems like about what you'd get if you managed to make a barlgura/chimpanzee hybrid. I feel like their existence is probably a wizard's fault. 😄

[@aaronnoisey3754]

Excellent ecology video!

[@AJPickett]

Thank you very much!

[@rpghorrorstories]

I think you could finagle the idea that they bury their food for later consumption with the idea that they won't eat anything they haven't killed themselves. And they probably are smart enough to recognize when someone has tampered with their storage sites.

[@buugeng743]

Hi AJ, love your work! Thanks for the cool videos!

[@chriscalvin5083]

good video AJ

[@AJPickett]

Thanks Chris

[@MrJudeWanamaker]

Cant Wait for Your Novel! (is this manifesting?)

[@AJPickett]

a Novel about the travels of the Sage of Candlekeep?

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

@@AJPickett I think so.

[@User-r5g5f]

@@AJPickettAnd not-entirely-closeted Vecna apologist.

[@koboldlord]

I love these videos on older, obscure monsters. Keep it up! Love your content brother!

[@AJPickett]

More to come!

[@lexington476]

12:04 oh AJ, that's because you're using the wrong barbecue sauce... We are going to catch a Ketch and barbecue that sucker 🔥😊.

[@AJPickett]

You want D&D Ebola?

[@lexington476]

@@AJPickett quick roll saving versus disease 🙂.

[@trajanfidelis]

Thanks for the video!

[@AJPickett]

Most welcome!

[@welovettrpgs]

Hey, it first appeared in 1E AD&D Monster manual from 1977. (Page 93)

[@AJPickett]

Dang, thanks for the correction, my apologies for missing that.

[@welovettrpgs]

@@AJPickett No worries buddy, I thought I was confused and had to double check. I apologize for being "that guy" - I love you and all of the hard work you've put into so much positive helpful content for the entire community. You have my deepest respect. Best wishes always!

[@almitrahopkins1873]

@@welovettrpgs Good catch. I didn’t even remember that.

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

@@almitrahopkins1873 Time wrecks us all. Wonder what it will do to me when I turn 40-50.

[@ThengelB]

thanks

[@fabriciocaxias9572]

Hey A.J can you make a video on the allurin?

[@AJPickett]

Thirsty Tieflings from 3.5 ed and Pathfinder? I'll put them on the list for you.

[@wesmaass4669]

I wonder if at any point they make noises like a chip, or worse?

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

Nah, prob some vocalizations unique to them.

[@AJPickett]

In the lore, they are known to be quiet, they are ambush predators that communicate mainly through tail position and posture.

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

@@AJPickett I see.

[@TheHornedKing]

Never heard of these guys before, but they sound cool.

[@Kargoneth]

Creepy.

[@MrJudeWanamaker]

Awesome

[@MrJudeWanamaker]

2nd comment!

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

Personally, I would treat them as animals with psionic powers. Also question, how did they got their psionic powers?

[@AJPickett]

Unknown, examination of their brains show that they are dense, convoluted and roughly the size of a human's, which is very disturbing.

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

@@AJPickett Sounds like interesting adventure material to me.

[@krispalermo8133]

@@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes. High epic fantasy compared to low fantasy. From time to time my last gaming shop ran stone age settings and a few months later their old few thousand/ ten thousand year old stone age magic gear turns up in a caveman burial mound site. So one mini campaign using WotC3e multi-classing we ran/ I ran a stone age chimpanzee setting. Eat your way up to CR7 to CR13 adhoc, along average party level of 9th-level multiclass PCs looking after 3rd-level PC during hunting foraging. We are chimps, there are no civilizations on this world. Ever seen the movie " Tremors " they even had a short tv series spin off. Well, one alpha male looking for food in a tidal brim pool and got a bad ear worm infects. Few days later he turned into a proto- mind flayer. Yeah, .. the looks on everyone's faces and big bug wide eye expression told me what the next month gaming will be like. Stander psionic mind flayers vs sorcerer arcane mind flayers, follow into Spelljammer. Blade 2 vampires but as lions and elephants, with Mind Blast sonic attacks. 2.) Start a game off as mountain ranger/ Vikings, dealing with gnomes/goblins up to your knee. Along with atomie/mites. After a few games let the playing know they were PC giants. Frost giant daughter doll house is built to scale for gnomes/goblins.

[@Rells2coolpeoplehavebadtastes.]

Surprised they're monstrosities.

[@caseym8037]

what ai program do you use to generate a lot of the art? Love your work Thanks, Casey

[@AJPickett]

Midjourney

[@johngleeman8347]

I can imagine that chuul flesh tastes revolting even to su-monsters. Thus the two creatures can have a loose alliance because the su-monsters have nothing to gain from killing the chuul, and the chuul has much more to gain from having the su-monsters larger numbers on its side if adventurers or hunters try to eliminate it from the region.

[@AJPickett]

Indeed

[@nickh3205]

Hey AJ? Im just wondering if you’ve made a video on psionic’s in D&D and how they operate in the forgotten realms?

[@AJPickett]

Not yet, no.

[@nickh3205]

@@AJPickett ok 👍, well I can’t wait to see it whenever you do release it 😊

[@AJPickett]

@@nickh3205 If you watch my video on the Vilhon Reach and the Chondathans, they were a Psionics culture. The Cities of the Sword

[@davidfletcher6703]

Seems to me that the Su Monster is very similar to Dinopithicis, a large predatory baboon like primate that existed during the early days of all the other human races

[@probablythedm1669]

My disappointment when the "sue-monster" was not, in fact, some kind of "shapeshifting lawyer-fiend" is... not that great, just like the pun. 🤓

[@blackgriffinxx]

Add this to the scary the crap out of players pile scratch that Monster to kill players list. Shame we can't used awaken on it. Well not on the adults. planet of the Su monster.

[@eeeismebaker9406]

Maybe in 5th edition they meant the change to mean they only eat carrion that they killed? That's why they bury and mark it?

[@AJPickett]

mmmmm... perhaps that was what they intended, but, what they saw in the old lore is "These creatures drop no treasure? That won't do for our darling players, here, lets make the Su-monsters do something that makes no sense, nobody reads the old lore, they won't know".