The one that bugs me most is the Gas Spore. It's a spherical floating fungus which just happens to look exactly like a beholder. The spore has no attacks, and only one hit point; when harmed, it immediately explodes for Nd6 points of damage. Its only reason for existence is as a joke for the DM to pull on the players. ("Look out, a beholder! Kill it!" *splode* "Ha ha!")
Also, no list of stupid monsters is complete without the Flumph. It's the only Lawful Good monster from the original Fiend Folio, and it is entirely ridiculous.
Yeah. IIRC even Gygax complained that most of the new FF monsters were stupid and useless, and he's the guy who invented bulettes, owlbears, and gelatinous cubes.
A few of the critters were good enough to have stuck around. I think the Drow first showed up in that book, and there's a githyanki (or githzerai?) on the cover.
A flumph! So *that's* what those things in OotS are!
Think of the Gas Spore as the specialized evolutionary product of a character-heavy environment. It's sorta the D&D equivalent of a viceroy butterfly crossed with a fire-pollinating plant species. Or maybe I'm just feebly trying to justify it. And wouldn't the more likely reaction be, "Look out, a beholder! Aaaaaagh! Run away!"?
Some of the beholder's eye rays have very long range; whenever it can see you, it can probably disintegrate you. Fortunately, it doesn't have very many hit points.
If you run you will only die tired, but if you unload the big damage ASAP, you stand a decent chance of killing it while there's still at least one party member standing.
'Course, if your party is below about 9th level, you're screwed either way. Your best option then is to parley, and hope that your DM planned this as a negotiation encounter rather than a Total Party Kill.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-11-14 05:50 pm (UTC)Also, no list of stupid monsters is complete without the Flumph. It's the only Lawful Good monster from the original Fiend Folio, and it is entirely ridiculous.
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Date: 2007-11-14 06:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-14 06:47 pm (UTC)A few of the critters were good enough to have stuck around. I think the Drow first showed up in that book, and there's a githyanki (or githzerai?) on the cover.
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Date: 2007-11-14 06:29 pm (UTC)Think of the Gas Spore as the specialized evolutionary product of a character-heavy environment. It's sorta the D&D equivalent of a viceroy butterfly crossed with a fire-pollinating plant species. Or maybe I'm just feebly trying to justify it. And wouldn't the more likely reaction be, "Look out, a beholder! Aaaaaagh! Run away!"?
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Date: 2007-11-14 06:42 pm (UTC)If you run you will only die tired, but if you unload the big damage ASAP, you stand a decent chance of killing it while there's still at least one party member standing.
'Course, if your party is below about 9th level, you're screwed either way. Your best option then is to parley, and hope that your DM planned this as a negotiation encounter rather than a Total Party Kill.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-14 06:58 pm (UTC)