Ecology Of The Bloody Arduin's Kill Kitten For Your Old School Campaigns

 "Sire, Master Lane is here from the university's Monsters & Curiosities department again" 
" Your excellence we need to speak about the recent incursion of the invasive species known as the Kill Kittens" 
"Are you serious?!"
"These creatures are legend and myth!" 
"No sire the Kill Kittens are not a legend or a myth but a deadly reality" 

Portrait of a gang of kill kittens sizing up it's prey. 

Kill Kittens are some of the most dark & dangerous species of mimic animals that has made it's way from Arduin's dimensional shores. The kill kittens are an ancient form of biological weapons system that has reproduced thousands of times over. The originators of this species of vicious mimic animal are lost to history. 
The kill kitten has two very advanced tactics in it's arsenal of tricks & traps behaviors. The animal is a dedicated pack hunter who prays on human sized prey with advanced nerotoxin cocktails as a part of the glands that surround it's fangs & claws. Secondly, the 'kill kittens' are fantastic mimics who imitate normal cats and kittens hijinks and behaviors. 
These monsters are incredibly cunning and resourceful hunters with common packs of five to sixteen easily taking down a full grown human male in less then 2 minutes. The neurotoxin cocktail is designed to cause insanity and beserk rages as the prey experiences extreme pain as the poison ravages thier nervous system. The prey is driven into a beserk rage for 1d4 days making the prey vulnerable to further attack. 
 

("Kill Kittens" art by Greg Espinoza used without permission. 

The rumor is that kill kittens were designed by the Elves during the Human/Elven wars thousands of years ago. These creatures bare the hallmarks of occult and magical tampering on a biological level. The Elven nations  deny any such wrong doing but there are the hallmarks of Elven biological chimeral weaponization techiques. These characteristics include the incredibly cute mimic behavior that marks these incredibly dangerous pack hunters. 
Other hallmarks includes the line of sight teleportation that these monsters use to pounce on thier prey seemingly from nowhere. This magically fueled hunting trick is especially good for taking nice juicy hobbits a favorite of the little monsters. These monsters have been found as far away as Barsoom however. 

The nature of kill kittens is completely artificial with thier poison glands in thier mouth and claws able to pump neotoxins deeply into prey after taking it down. This ensures the death of the prey. The kill kittens also have a highly advanced cunning minds akin to lions or tigers. Packs of kill kittens use advanced scouts as decoys which often mimic acting hurt or injured behaviors to attract kind hearted fools who become prey for the entire pack. The kill can feed a pack for almost a month making thier murderous behavior hard to detect. 
The claws of a kill kitten are almost iron hard made of a hollow chiten that regrows over time with use as they shed the outer sheath. The muscle structure of a kill kitten is more akin to a lion or dire cat species. They have bite force ten times that of a lion relative to thier size. 

The kill kitten is sentient but not intelligent in the usual sense. Thier minds are cruel and centered on hunting, torture, reproduction, and expansion of the species. These creatures are unnatural hunters with minds twisted to evil and cruelty. Again there is the fact that many consider that these tendencies are because of an artificial biological weapon origin. 
The kill kitten has come to be regarded as a monster of legend but this has allowed the monsters to expand dimensional beyond the shores of Arduin. And over the last  two hundred years thier numbers have increased to become a menace of horror & violence. 

Ecology Of The Bloody Arduin's Ibathene For Your Old School Campaigns

 "Sire, Master Lane is here from the university's Monsters & Curiosities department. " 
"Doctor Lane can you tell us what is eating our dragons and ruining my 20,000 acre game preserve?"
"The Ibathene, Sire!" 
"But that's only a legend, a myth?!" 
"No sire the Ibathene is our kingdom's reality!" 

There are monsters that even monsters of myth  and horrors of legend are afraid of. The Ibathene is one such creature that feeds on the the largest of prey dragons, wyverns, and even manticore. These creatures ran from 60 feet all the way up to ancient specimens that clock in at 120 feet.  These monsters are both hunters and ambush predators with a taste for any type of flesh that crosses it's sharp tooth maw. 

Many adventurers will go lifetimes without ever seeing the brilliant bright green scalelike armored carpace of the monster. Or having thier souls stared into by the single huge red alien eye on the 8 foot long stalk. Mere words can not describe how terrifying the  Ibathene is. 

Master Lane waited for the audtorium to die down as the murmers of fear from brave men & fainting of the ladies. The 60 foot creature had been captured near Redford Commons. The ancient artifact 'Calming Field' generators held and the giant batteries augmented the fields. 
" Ladies & gentlemen, I present to you the  Ibathene or dragon killer are found throughout the prime material planes & is now infecting our lands. "How do 'dragon killers find thier way to our shores?" They follow the dragons of course!"
"These horrors follow the planar migration routes of  dragonkind and the paths of great magicial enchantment." 

"Young  Ibathene are drawn to places of great magic along the planar routes with the wyverns that act as scavengers with  Ibathene acting as the dragon's predators"
"Young  Ibathene appear to be juvinale wyverns until thier first shedding and then the eyes are drawn together as the eye stalk comes into place" 
"Deer, elk, horses, small herds of sheep, & the occasional human family provide the  Ibathene with the much needed protein that it needs to grow" 
'The body of a  Ibathene is like a tuning fork alive with the senses that allow the horror to hunt'. 'It can sense vibrations up to one hundred and twenty feet away & hear a dragon's heartbeat close to a mile and a half away in total darkness'. 
" The main weapon is it's tongue which has a series of serrated edges like peusdo teeth on it capable of sherreding flesh from bone in moments. The tongue's real power is the fact that it a constrition weapon of incredible power" "When not in use the tongue is wrapped around the lower brain of the beast' " And once the beast has it's prey it is drawn into those powerful jaws capable of cutting through bone easily" 
" Ibathene armored skin is capable of taking on hydra acid and dragon's fire easily with minimum damage. Because the beast's pain receptors and nerves are not in it's primary brain! That's right because of it's bulk the beast has a secondary brain that helps process and move the horror! And this also includes a tail capable of smashing through an old growth tree!"
"The monster is primarily an ambush predator concealing itself in the undergrowth of the land. And then using it's  tongue and bulk to draw in prey. This is not it's only hunting option as the  Ibathene also sometimes actively hunts prey down attacking with a combination of tongue, tail,  and sheer bulk." 
'The powerful stomach acids of  the  Ibathene are capable of disolving steel easily and are worth two to three thousand gold pieces to the right alchemist. Almost every part of the monster is useful for some form of enchant. The fact that the  Ibathene are so dangerous has made them exceptionally plentiful in some regions!" 

" Ibathene have a primary diet of thunder lizards and the like with giant wyvern, hydras, and dragons being only occasionally seen making the deep wilderness of our lands it's natural habitat" 
" The Ibathene has been speculated to have originally been native to the planet Barsoom with the waning of magic having been the primary motivator for planar migrations" 
" The beast found it's dragonic prey niche about 6 million years ago which is relatively young in dragon's terms. This marks the beast as one of the main enemies of dragon kind. And hence the standing bounty of 10,000 gold reward for any confirmed kill from the council of dragons" 
"Ibathene are essentially roving monsterous locusts with these horrors going on destructive rampages eating everything within a 50 mile radius then moving on. 'These times of destruction"  bring out every monster hunter from even far away lands. Special shaped explosive alchemist's bombs fed to the  Ibathene are often the solution to killing these horrors. Disposal of the corpse requires the alchemist's guild's help. This can be quite expensive and costly" 
" And this ladies and gentlemen brings us to our own 'time of destruction' with the Ibathene massing for a massive feed and then mating frenzy.  These beasts lay 1d6 eggs which can sit for hundreds of years only to hatch unexpectedly with 6 of the young horrors consuming each other with only the strongest remaining" 
" Inconclusion the Ibathene is an exceptionally dangerous alien horror that should be hunted and killed wherever found!" 

A Different OSR Ecology Of The Gibberling For Your Old School Campaigns

 Hast heard the voices of the fen,

That softly sing a lethal rune
Where reeds have caught the fallen moon—
A song more sweet than conium is,
Or honey-blended cannabis,
To draw the dreaming feet of men
On ways where none goes forth again?

Beneath the closely woven grass,
The coiling syrt, more soft and deep
Than some divan where lovers sleep,
Is fain of all who wander there;
And arms that glimmer, vague and bare,
Beckon within the lone morass
Where only dead things dwell and pass.

Beware! the voices float and fall
Half-heard, and haply sweet to thee
As are the runes of memory
And murmurs of a voice foreknown
In days when love dwelt not alone:
Beware! for where the voices call,
Slow waters weave thy charnel pall.
Warning by Clark Ashton Smith

There are some places that mankind should not go, places where the weird energies of the Astral & more sinister radiations have had their ways with  things older then men.There were beings here on this world & others long before mankind walked upright. The hand of the Enki & others has their finger prints all over these beings. These are creatures of incredible violence & malignancy, beings who are  inimical to mankind in all ways. These are beings of extremes with violence,insanity & depravity their modus operadi. They have many names across the planes Gibberling, 'The Violent Ones', 'those that murder' & their names are legion as the crimes they commit without order or reason. There is no pattern to their actions only the insanity that a comes from their twistedly insane souls.

Their murderous cannibalistic  rages & hordes pure across their target with a shocking violence & fury that always ends in the quiet of the grave. These beings pour from their hiding places to murder anyone or anything they come across with their swords. Swords created from any scrap metals they come across reforged into a generic shape that has been programmed into these beings of violence. Their swords are plain affairs but very sharp capable of slicing through bone, flesh, and muscle with easy. These beings have no society, art, language, culture,etc. They simply exist under the Earth or out among the asteroids as the remains of a biological weapons system that has gone to seed long ago or so it would seem. These beings are actually the product of weird cosmic radiations that warp the mind and souls of their victims. Latent alien genes created by beings more ancient then the Earth itself created these beings right before the last Ice Age of their epoch. They were created in honor of Nyarlathotep in ancient days but have been seen as the possible final forms of mankind in the distant future millions of years in the future of some nameless Earth.
"I recall that the people went about with pale and worried faces, and whispered warnings and prophecies which no one dared consciously repeat or acknowledge to himself that he had heard. A sense of monstrous guilt was upon the land, and out of the abysses between the stars swept chill currents that made men shiver in dark and lonely places. There was a daemoniac alteration in the sequence of the seasons—the autumn heat lingered fearsomely, and everyone felt that the world and perhaps the universe had passed from the control of known gods or forces to that of gods or forces which were unknown."

Nyarlathotep by H. P. Lovecraft

There are others who whisper that in certain passages of the Necronomicon there are hints that these beings are the spawn of  Lahamu. There hints that they are possibly a prototype of mankind gone wrong or the future fate of mankind after it interbreeds with something hideous out among the stars. The tarot of Lahamu has horrid symbolic meanings in its
representations of the anti zodiac,demon-stars, and the dead constellations of many millions of years hence. There are hints in the scrolls of Varq that the reason for the Gibberlings psychotic behavior is the species cold & dim recognition of what they truly are in the face of an uncaring universe.
 Make no mistake the Gibberlings are not human in a capacity as we know it. They are species that can exist in a state of hibernation for 1d100 years as their inhuman physiology slows their organs processes to a crawl. Their alien senses draw them to places where black dimensional  occult magick energies have invaded our universe. These same energies drive them into frenzies of violence & depravity when they must murder, feed, & mate in strange sexual practices that are best not described. These involve the ritual murder of one of their own releasing the alien bacterial infection of Gibber into the air. Any survivors of one of their massacres must save vs disease or in three days take on many of the characteristics of a proto Gibberling. They will seek out the nearest sharp object, be drive into a blood lust of murder by the 'Song of the Gibber' & seek to be with their own kind on an instinctive level. These beings will seek places of desolation, ruin, & loneliness as a matter of course. 

There is a 30% chance that the proto Gibberling will commit three or more murders locally to satisfy its own mad blood lust consuming the corpses of its victims. The thing will seek out the nearest local urban village or location & commit its own ritual suicide with as many witnesses as possible to spread the contagion. Victims will begin turning into more of the monsters with a three day incubation period. These beings will seek out the scent path lead by the first of their kind & go into a quiet cocoon period beginning the final transformations. They will repeat this cycle 1d10 more times until there is a nest of 300 or more Gibberlings. Many times if caught within the first 1d8 hours powerful healing magicks can cure these beings but the change is swift. Many villages or interstellar colonies have inquisition units that handle the eradication  of nests of Gibberlings. 

Gibberlings are sensitive to other dimensional eldritch energies often seek out ruins, dungeons, or other planar locations. Their alien senses, weird physiologic make up, & instinctive level of violence make them perfect top tier predators for other worldly locations. They have been found out around the Asteroids and the Outer Worlds near the far colonies of Pluto. These beings have an instinctively dangerous cunning that has allowed the species to survive for thousands of yeas spreading their brand of madness to the far corners of the dimensions. The are not sentient in the traditional sense but share a horde hive mind with quasi telepathic & emphatic instincts on a base level. This gives some hordes a +1 on initiative during combat because of these monsters psychotic blood lust.  They bark, hiss & spit the praises to their respective forbidden gods but this is done by instinctive route.
 In the post apocalyptic wastelands recessive genes of the Gibberling species crop up in death lands as the potent mutational cocktail activates the recessive profile for this species.  The loath Morlocks, ghouls,  cavemen, mutant, and many goblinoid species which are instinctively seen as competition.
Interstellar & colony locations of deep space the Gibberling disease often manifests on failed colonies, dead worlds, & where demonic or other planar incidents have happened. The disease that creates these beings flourishes in conditions such as those. It is said among certain space wizards that the Gibberling species were used as anti personnel species by certain Lovecraftian races. 
There are certain Lovecraftian cults  which see these monsters as the true inheritors of the Earth when the stars come right. They create, interbreed, and encourage the spread of the Gibberling tribes. These same cults often find themselves on the end of the swords most often used by the monsters but see this as a necessary evil for the spread of the infection to continue.

1d20 Random Lovecraftian Encounters With Gibberlings
& Their Hordes Table 

1. There is a group of 1d8 men infected with the Gibberling disease that is headed your way. They have blood lust in their eyes and knives in their hands! Run you fools! 
2. A sink hole has opened nearby and 1d20 Gibberlings has crawled out with blood lust in their beady eyes! What will you do? They are closing with their sword which are caked with alien gore? 
3. Over head a comet of ill rumor flew last night. It was actually an escape pod of the Ancients. There is a proto Gibberling onboard with sword in hand ready for murder! 
4. Nearby a woman screams like a demon and reveals a short sword, she kills herself in spectacular fashion spraying a nearby crowd with gore. She then closes on you! Will the infection spread and will you be its next victims?
5. There are screams as a man is dragged off to nearby underground chambers that the Gibberlings have been murdering  their victims in! Will your PC's be next? 
6. Sounds like a strangled scream come from a nearby alley and a local doctor is infected with the Gibberling disease. He wields a scalpel and bone saw to take down his latest victims. At his feet lay two of his victims! 
7. A box lays in the street and inside is a strange book containing queer writing. This is a spell book belonging to a wizard whose brother has been turned into a Gibberling and the location of a nearby nest. 
8. A horde of Gibberlings pours forth from a nearby sewer system! There are at least 1d100 of the mad bastards who are on the rampage! 
9. A series of murders reveals a strange and dangerous throw back Gibberling which strangely has its mind intact but insane. It goes on a murderous spree but can't control the urge to kill! Now it wants one of the PC's! 
10. A nearby dimensional vortex has deposited a blanket of planar energies that changes anyone it touches into a Gibberling! 
11. Locals are on the hunt for a Gibberling disease infected child that ate its parent. The thing has shark like teeth and will inflict a very nasty wound on anyone it comes across. 
12. An ancient site is the home to a cult of Gibberlings and they've targeted your PC for murder! 
13. Twelve Gibberlings are on the hunt for a local wizard who has opened up a portal to an alternative dimension with a tribe of ancient Gibberlings who need more sacrifices to their forbidden and alternative sorcerous gods 
14. Two Gibberlings are acting as scouts for their tribe and want the fresh kill of a man whose crossed them with his family. 
15. An ancient relic has turned over some very dangerous designs that have attracted the arcane senses of  a group of Gibberlings. 
16. Two ancient wizards are at war but the local Gibberlings keep killing both sides. A team of specialists is enlisted for assassinating the problem.
17. An ancient cryo sleep pod contains a proto Gibberling who will go on a murderous spree if awakened! There are 1d10 local Gibberlings who are drawn to the arcane energies of the Gibberling that has come home! 
18. There is a massive horde of Gibberlings on its way to kill everyone! 
19. Twenty two swords arranged into the shape of a symbol of murder & mayhem mark the spot where an ancient warrior fell against the Gibberling horde. Now he has com back for revenge! 
20. An ancient Gibberling horde has come up from the underworld to kill your PC's! The PC's have a minor relics that that attracts them!

Ecology Of The Bloody,Bloody, Arduin Octorilla For Your Old School Campaigns - Updated

 'There are strange and dangerous predators among the stars my friends and the octorilla is a fine example of an invasive and dangerous species of monster from the dimensional nexuses and gateways of Arduin'

'Behold the octorilla gentlemen, one the most dangerous and heinous of the mutant pseudo gorillaoids out in the wilds of the planes. But where did they come from and why do their numbers seemingly increase every year? And are such creatures naturally prone to violence and depravity when other species of gorillas are not?"  Marcus Flavous The Elder waited for the collective terrorized  sigh of the crowd to die down. As the  tentacles of the monster whipped the sides of the cage but the force field easily held its place. The royal xeno-biologist had made that mistake and had extra nuclear batteries in place to give the force field generator the required power. His party of loyal friends paid with their lives in the swamp world of Eldrad III. The force cage moisturized the horrid monsters and the filmy slime of the thing's tentacles left a smear down the side of the containment cage.


Marcus held his cybernetic hands up for silence in the great hall. 'There is no need for alarm my friends this speicimen was captured at great expense for the royal zoo of Atlantica.' 'Now we may proceed, the Octogrilla is a predator of enormous appetite and consumes at least twice his weight per week.' 'The monster seems an unholy combination of great ape and an octopoid life form. In point of fact these horrors are not simply carnivores but omnivores of the highest caliber' 

'These monsters are incredibly strong and are capable of splitting metal, wood, bone, and flesh with easy with their powerful tentacle attacks'  He indicated an array of broken and twisted samples on the table before him. There was a large glass jar with some sort of twisting slime covered muck inside of it held in place by a powerful metal screw top. Marcus regarded it for a moment seemingly locked in a distant and unpleasant memory of some past horror with the monsters. 

'These monsters feed on anything or anyone that they can get their tentacles on' 'They use a combination of powerful and intelligent eyes, ultra sensitive hearing, and sense organs that line the entire body of the monsters just below the fur,skin, and back of the tentacles'  'We estimate that the prey can be felt with fifty feet of the beast before the eyes ever lay sight of it. This gives these predators superior hunting skills'. 'And they are relentless sometimes tracking prey for fifty miles or more' 

"They dwell in both fresh water and salt water equally well. The Octorilla first subdues its prey with a series of powerful attacks by the tentacles and then wraps its prey in these tentacles constricting the victim. Only then is the powerful acidic ooze that the monster creates released upon the prey enabling the horrors predigest the poor fool for later consummation.' 'These tactic's are also one of the reasons why little treasure and relics are found within the bowels of the lairs of these beasts.'  

"The Octogrilla is amphibious as well and capable of dwelling in a wide variety of environments and is considered an invasive species by many planetary authorities' 'For they are found in alien rain forests, hot jungle worlds, and other plant based ecological environments often near alien building ruins. Often this is right next to a large body of water as a river or a lake."" But why esteemed lords and ladies?!"  "Because my friends they have always been there"  A great murmurer rode its way through the crowd as  lords and lady scientists from across the empire began to question. Marcus held up his hands again. 

'My friends the reason why the Octorilla continues to flourish as an interstellar invasive species is very simple. The monster simply put is us.' 'I will have silence and you will listen to my findings!'

'We all know that throughout Earth's history there have been incursions by alien super scientists' 'These alien interlopers settled via time warp upon the Martian landscape. Starting in the pre dawn era of early mankind they began to mutate the DNA of early man, seeding the Earth with several strains of mutating viruses. These viruses were charged with certain types of mystical and very dangerous magick energies. A similar process was done upon Mars as well in its prehistoric era as well.' 'The results of these experiments upon early Martian kind were the creation of several species and strains of tool using, multiple -armed semi intelligent monsteroid creatures. The Great White Apes of Barsoom and Mars have appeared numerous times and are still a menace to any adventurers doing time prospecting'
'In 1841 a series of murders occurred in old Earth this was done by what was wrongly assumed to be a trained great ape. Time diving revealed a completely different story'
'It was in fact a mutated man which exhibited mutations similar to those found in the octorilla. Namely the immunity to paralysis,radiation, and toxicity from minerals such as lead or uranium.' 'These mutations were the result of rapid specialized Khoas virus overwriting of existing genetic code and forced mutational physical and mental changes' 'The type of change that we see with magical or super science tampering in native Earthlings' 'You know that this has been going on for centuries my brothers and sisters, it is only now that we have reached the stars that the evidence is overwhelming to you all!'



" There are further connections between the Martians of the 1898 invasion of Old Earth and the Octorilla.


The Octorilla can sustain itself upon only a few kills a month and slow down it's metabolism going into a fugue or hibernative state an adaption shared by many of the gorilla like mutant monsters that have plagued mankind throughout its history and prehistory. The Octorilla has many of the characteristics of the invasive Martian species tentacles, blood lust, extra senses adapted for hunting prey in swampy conditions, and a capacity for variations of mutated species. They kill by constriction and the slow dissolving of prey as well as feeding upon the blood of their prey. There is evidence that some variation of these monsters may have been seen within the various crystal eggs that were used by the Martian invaders more proof right over HERE

'Octorillas  are  be able to supplement its diet with plants, including fruit, roots, tubers, as well as insects, small animals and pretty much anything that might look like it can be eaten between meals. There have been incidents of other varieties of these monsters being found as well.' One of which is right over HERE.

In point of fact there have been several varieties of these monsters recovered from the interior of the Inner Earth from several Derro eco-vaults with evidence of Invasive  Martian technology intact. These showed several species of  mutated gorilloid monsters in various states of specialized mutations keyed for their environments  

Mutated Gorilloid  Monsters

           

Num. Enc: 2-5

Align: Chaotic Evil 

Move: 180' (60') swimming, swinging and climbing

AC: 3

HD: 7

Attacks: 2 claws  or 1 bite 

D/Att: 1d10/1d10/1d8

Save: F7

Morale: 10

Hoard Class: C 

XP: 1,400
There is strong evidence that super science processes and magickal arcane rites and secrets that continue to produce these monsters have circulated among cults, wizards, and other dubious super scientists of evil intent have been used for centuries. This is trend that shall continue my friends 

In conclusion the octorilla species will continue to be a plague upon us all, some of us have paid the price for this continuing problem of invasive magick from outside our normal space time continuum and the legacy of Arduin will haunt us for decades to come.

The octorilla has been taken from the Arduin Eternal Bestiary and Treasures book available right HERE. All ecology & supposition is by me and the items and monsters belong to respective owners. 

Meditations On The First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual II For Your Old School Campaigns

Uncle Eric is back with another mediation on the ancient and helicon days of gaming this time we're going to set the way back machine to October of '83 and if there was a year that gaming changed then this marked one of the releases of one of those game changers. I'm speaking of the original Monster Manual II.
This book was wall to wall interior  by Jim Holloway, Harry Quinn, Dave Sutherland, and Larry Elmore and there was a marked difference in the tone of the entire manual. This was the book that collected many of the monsters from the various old school Seventies and Eighties adventures that had proceeded it's release. It was way more interesting in certain other aspects as well, this book was and is an adventure construction set in many respects and still is. My copy of the MM II has been with me since I first picked it up in downtown Torrington back in '83 at a little downtown book shop that stood next to the Yankee Peddler Inn and that I skipped school to get the damn tome. Its been with me through ex girlfriends, an apartment fire, a tornado, the break up of numerous campaigns, friends, and more. But why? This book was and is still widely regarded by many Advanced Dungeons and Dragons players & dungeon masters but its also one of the most glanced over and half forgotten tomes today.


The Monster Manual II brings many creatures and monsters from Gary Gygax's home setting of Greyhawk into one venerable manual.It also mark's Gary Gygax's last major contribution to the creature end of the setting and  includes many old favorites, most of which were expurgated or "toned down" in the later, politically correct version of the game. Quite a number of monsters came  from S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, and a dozen new devils that had been first published in the pages of Dragon magazine. This book is widely regarded among my other DM friends as being one of the hands down most useful books to have at the table;"The book included random encounter tables for dungeon and wilderness settings built from the Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, and Monster Manual II" this alone makes it a very useful book. The DM can use this book only to build dozens of adventures not only for AD&D but also for any old school post apocalypse or science fantasy campaign.



The title was so popular that Wizards of the Coast used it on a three point zero title revamp in 2002, but that title didn't include all of the monsters from the original book. The fact is that the original Monster Manual II is hands down one of the best books to use to populate your dungeon or outdoor ruins or wilderness adventure locations. So is there another reason why the MMII is still popping up at tables across the world along side emulators and retroclones like OSRIC and the Labyrinth Lord Advanced Companion;" Like the Fiend Folio before it, the monsters in Monster Manual II listed the experience point value for each monster within the entry". This is a book with a very hands on approach and has a much more approachable feel to it then some of the later books from TSR that would follow it, its almost as if the author is daring you to use these creatures and monsters in your adventures. There's something that almost makes you want to take all  of these creatures and make them your own. This one of the bits of the Monster Manaul II that stands out to me as one of stand out DYI D&D points of this book.


Here are my ten reasons why the Monster Manual II is still one of the cornerstones of not only AD&D but also our hobby.

1. The monsters are not only approachable and easy to use but also adventure unto themselves. The encounters with these creatures are memorable, easy to construct adventures around , and they're iconic in every sense of the word. . You get dozens upon dozens of demons, devils, undead, demodands, daemons, dragons, giants, and more.Many times there has been lots of urban legend heaped upon these monsters and its quite easy to go back to the source material to create your own spin on some very iconic horrors. 
2. There are many supposedly 'silly' monsters in the MMII, remember that even the silly ones can and will murder your PC's with impunity. Take for example the Modrons from the plane of Nirvana These are some the silliest monsters ever created, but have a lighthearted feel that 3rd edition lacks. And they are really dangerous as well as alien. 
3. Each and every monster has its own distinct flavor and style but these creatures appear in a variety of places they even have note next to each monster that indicates which book it can be found in the tables that not only list the monsters in this book, but also those in the original MM and Fiend Folio. This gives the DM plenty of adventure and creature fodder to play with for their own adventures. 
4. Its one of the seven 'must have' books  for all 1st edition players/DMs and that completeness makes the book worth holding onto even more. There's more then simple iconic and nostoglia involved here. The MMII brings lots of things to the table and that includes lots of adventure hooks scattered throughout the entries especially certain demonic and diabolic horrors, this book was a game changer in the way that we thought about the planes. 
5. This book expands and works so well with the first Monster Manual and Fiend Folio that for that reason this is another must have. The monsters are easy to use, a fast way to jazz up an adventure and can be used to highlight one another. In addition there are several tribes and creatures within these pages that will challenge a party like no other. 
6. Lots of the monsters in the MMII are easily converted over to any number of science fantasy or post apocalyptic worlds. Don't be afraid to add in mutations and adaptions for these monsters at the drop of a hat during world or setting building. There are many monsters with lots of additional uses in a wide variety of adventure settings. 
7. Many of these creatures are the horrors you bring out to end or challenge the jaded or know it all D&D players. Those folks who can quote chapter and verse because many of these horrors have been half forgotten today. Use these creatures for challenges and more for adventures. 
8. The MMII is one of the lower tier collector books out there and sells for as low as fifteen dollars, this makes it a very economic purchase for the money. There's lots and lots of utility in those pages over the years. 
9. Once again this is a book to thumb through if you need ideas for adventures with your players. The book is one of those that will have you coming back again and again to dip into its contents for adventure ideas. 
10.   The MM II has an excellent mix of extraplanar and standard horrors; so it will be suitable for any level campaign. However, I would recommend it especially highly if you were running a campaign that dealt with the various planes, there's lots of material to add into and spice up your own home brew adventures. This makes the MMII an easy fit for all kinds of weirdness.
    
    The bottom line is that the Monster Manual II doesn't get anywhere near enough of its due today for the monsters, devils, and incredible mix of monsters that it brings to the table. This book marks one of the legacies of Gary Gygax and has a ton of material to offer today's DM's. Grab a copy, dust it off, and start running your adventures the way you want to.

A Different OSR Ecology Of The Gibberling For Your Old School Campaigns

Hast heard the voices of the fen,
That softly sing a lethal rune
Where reeds have caught the fallen moon—
A song more sweet than conium is,
Or honey-blended cannabis,
To draw the dreaming feet of men
On ways where none goes forth again?

Beneath the closely woven grass,
The coiling syrt, more soft and deep
Than some divan where lovers sleep,
Is fain of all who wander there;
And arms that glimmer, vague and bare,
Beckon within the lone morass
Where only dead things dwell and pass.

Beware! the voices float and fall
Half-heard, and haply sweet to thee
As are the runes of memory
And murmurs of a voice foreknown
In days when love dwelt not alone:
Beware! for where the voices call,
Slow waters weave thy charnel pall.
Warning by Clark Ashton Smith

There are some places that mankind should not go, places where the weird energies of the Astral & more sinister radiations have had their ways with  things older then men.There were beings here on this world & others long before mankind walked upright. The hand of the Enki & others has their finger prints all over these beings. These are creatures of incredible violence & malignancy, beings who are  inimical to mankind in all ways. These are beings of extremes with violence,insanity & depravity their modus operadi. They have many names across the planes Gibberling, 'The Violent Ones', 'those that murder' & their names are legion as the crimes they commit without order or reason. There is no pattern to their actions only the insanity that a comes from their twistedly insane souls.

Their murderous cannibalistic  rages & hordes pure across their target with a shocking violence & fury that always ends in the quiet of the grave. These beings pour from their hiding places to murder anyone or anything they come across with their swords. Swords created from any scrap metals they come across reforged into a generic shape that has been programmed into these beings of violence. Their swords are plain affairs but very sharp capable of slicing through bone, flesh, and muscle with easy. These beings have no society, art, language, culture,etc. They simply exist under the Earth or out among the asteroids as the remains of a biological weapons system that has gone to seed long ago or so it would seem. These beings are actually the product of weird cosmic radiations that warp the mind and souls of their victims. Latent alien genes created by beings more ancient then the Earth itself created these beings right before the last Ice Age of their epoch. They were created in honor of Nyarlathotep in ancient days but have been seen as the possible final forms of mankind in the distant future millions of years in the future of some nameless Earth.
"I recall that the people went about with pale and worried faces, and whispered warnings and prophecies which no one dared consciously repeat or acknowledge to himself that he had heard. A sense of monstrous guilt was upon the land, and out of the abysses between the stars swept chill currents that made men shiver in dark and lonely places. There was a daemoniac alteration in the sequence of the seasons—the autumn heat lingered fearsomely, and everyone felt that the world and perhaps the universe had passed from the control of known gods or forces to that of gods or forces which were unknown."

Nyarlathotep by H. P. Lovecraft

There are others who whisper that in certain passages of the Necronomicon there are hints that these beings are the spawn of  Lahamu. There hints that they are possibly a prototype of mankind gone wrong or the future fate of mankind after it interbreeds with something hideous out among the stars. The tarot of Lahamu has horrid symbolic meanings in its
representations of the anti zodiac,demon-stars, and the dead constellations of many millions of years hence. There are hints in the scrolls of Varq that the reason for the Gibberlings psychotic behavior is the species cold & dim recognition of what they truly are in the face of an uncaring universe.
 Make no mistake the Gibberlings are not human in a capacity as we know it. They are species that can exist in a state of hibernation for 1d100 years as their inhuman physiology slows their organs processes to a crawl. Their alien senses draw them to places where black dimensional  occult magick energies have invaded our universe. These same energies drive them into frenzies of violence & depravity when they must murder, feed, & mate in strange sexual practices that are best not described. These involve the ritual murder of one of their own releasing the alien bacterial infection of Gibber into the air. Any survivors of one of their massacres must save vs disease or in three days take on many of the characteristics of a proto Gibberling. They will seek out the nearest sharp object, be drive into a blood lust of murder by the 'Song of the Gibber' & seek to be with their own kind on an instinctive level. These beings will seek places of desolation, ruin, & loneliness as a matter of course.

There is a 30% chance that the proto Gibberling will commit three or more murders locally to satisfy its own mad blood lust consuming the corpses of its victims. The thing will seek out the nearest local urban village or location & commit its own ritual suicide with as many witnesses as possible to spread the contagion. Victims will begin turning into more of the monsters with a three day incubation period. These beings will seek out the scent path lead by the first of their kind & go into a quiet cocoon period beginning the final transformations. They will repeat this cycle 1d10 more times until there is a nest of 300 or more Gibberlings. Many times if caught within the first 1d8 hours powerful healing magicks can cure these beings but the change is swift. Many villages or interstellar colonies have inquisition units that handle the eradication  of nests of Gibberlings.

Gibberlings are sensitive to other dimensional eldritch energies often seek out ruins, dungeons, or other planar locations. Their alien senses, weird physiologic make up, & instinctive level of violence make them perfect top tier predators for other worldly locations. They have been found out around the Asteroids and the Outer Worlds near the far colonies of Pluto. These beings have an instinctively dangerous cunning that has allowed the species to survive for thousands of yeas spreading their brand of madness to the far corners of the dimensions. The are not sentient in the traditional sense but share a horde hive mind with quasi telepathic & emphatic instincts on a base level. This gives some hordes a +1 on initiative during combat because of these monsters psychotic blood lust.  They bark, hiss & spit the praises to their respective forbidden gods but this is done by instinctive route.
 In the post apocalyptic wastelands recessive genes of the Gibberling species crop up in death lands as the potent mutational cocktail activates the recessive profile for this species.  The loath Morlocks, ghouls,  cavemen, mutant, and many goblinoid species which are instinctively seen as competition.
Interstellar & colony locations of deep space the Gibberling disease often manifests on failed colonies, dead worlds, & where demonic or other planar incidents have happened. The disease that creates these beings flourishes in conditions such as those. It is said among certain space wizards that the Gibberling species were used as anti personnel species by certain Lovecraftian races. 
There are certain Lovecraftian cults  which see these monsters as the true inheritors of the Earth when the stars come right. They create, interbreed, and encourage the spread of the Gibberling tribes. These same cults often find themselves on the end of the swords most often used by the monsters but see this as a necessary evil for the spread of the infection to continue.

1d20 Random Lovecraftian Encounters With Gibberlings
& Their Hordes Table 

1. There is a group of 1d8 men infected with the Gibberling disease that is headed your way. They have blood lust in their eyes and knives in their hands! Run you fools! 
2. A sink hole has opened nearby and 1d20 Gibberlings has crawled out with blood lust in their beady eyes! What will you do? They are closing with their sword which are caked with alien gore? 
3. Over head a comet of ill rumor flew last night. It was actually an escape pod of the Ancients. There is a proto Gibberling onboard with sword in hand ready for murder! 
4. Nearby a woman screams like a demon and reveals a short sword, she kills herself in spectacular fashion spraying a nearby crowd with gore. She then closes on you! Will the infection spread and will you be its next victims?
5. There are screams as a man is dragged off to nearby underground chambers that the Gibberlings have been murdering  their victims in! Will your PC's be next? 
6. Sounds like a strangled scream come from a nearby alley and a local doctor is infected with the Gibberling disease. He wields a scalpel and bone saw to take down his latest victims. At his feet lay two of his victims! 
7. A box lays in the street and inside is a strange book containing queer writing. This is a spell book belonging to a wizard whose brother has been turned into a Gibberling and the location of a nearby nest. 
8. A horde of Gibberlings pours forth from a nearby sewer system! There are at least 1d100 of the mad bastards who are on the rampage! 
9. A series of murders reveals a strange and dangerous throw back Gibberling which strangely has its mind intact but insane. It goes on a murderous spree but can't control the urge to kill! Now it wants one of the PC's! 
10. A nearby dimensional vortex has deposited a blanket of planar energies that changes anyone it touches into a Gibberling! 
11. Locals are on the hunt for a Gibberling disease infected child that ate its parent. The thing has shark like teeth and will inflict a very nasty wound on anyone it comes across. 
12. An ancient site is the home to a cult of Gibberlings and they've targeted your PC for murder! 
13. Twelve Gibberlings are on the hunt for a local wizard who has opened up a portal to an alternative dimension with a tribe of ancient Gibberlings who need more sacrifices to their forbidden and alternative sorcerous gods 
14. Two Gibberlings are acting as scouts for their tribe and want the fresh kill of a man whose crossed them with his family. 
15. An ancient relic has turned over some very dangerous designs that have attracted the arcane senses of  a group of Gibberlings. 
16. Two ancient wizards are at war but the local Gibberlings keep killing both sides. A team of specialists is enlisted for assassinating the problem.
17. An ancient cryo sleep pod contains a proto Gibberling who will go on a murderous spree if awakened! There are 1d10 local Gibberlings who are drawn to the arcane energies of the Gibberling that has come home! 
18. There is a massive horde of Gibberlings on its way to kill everyone! 
19. Twenty two swords arranged into the shape of a symbol of murder & mayhem mark the spot where an ancient warrior fell against the Gibberling horde. Now he has com back for revenge! 
20. An ancient Gibberling horde has come up from the underworld to kill your PC's! The PC's have a minor relics that that attracts them!

Ecology Of The Bloody,Bloody, Arduin Manticore For Your Old School Campaigns

'Child seek not the Manticore nor the gateways & nexuses it comes from. Seek not the planes it frequents nor the places it calls home. Look not into its blue liquid eyes or ask for its terrible wisdom for it is a wilde & dangerous hate of olden times. It is evil incarnate & not to be trusted.'
Pliues The Elder Star Mage



'Good evening ladies & gentlemen welcome to tonight's lecture. Tonight we will be talking about one of the most dangerous creatures to stalk the stars & old Earth. I speak tonight of the Manticore one of the most underscored menaces to come out of the nexuses' The whole curtain parted & the crowd gathered in the auditorium caught its collective breath. Dr.Idrani minister of xeno-biology & ecology waited for the murmur of the crowd to die down as the force field held & the monster beyond was revealed. 'You are all perfectly safe our guest has agreed to be here & is at easy I can assure you all.' The human like head looked out into the crowd with sardonic wit, a hint of a devil may care attitude, & just a wisp of madness at the edges of its blue eyes. It was perfectly in control of its situation & the wings flexed lazily as the lights came up dramatically around it.
'Behold the Arduin manticore Anbruis of the mountain kingdom of the country of Scruisi who has graciously agreed to be here with us tonight. This noble monster's ancestors fought along side the titans & among themselves trace their royal linage all the way back to Tiamat the mother of monsters & dragons. Our guest has the body of a red lion, a noble but alien like head with those piercing blue eyes. There are also three rows of incredible sharklike teeth & of course the tell tale deep trumpeting rumbling like voice.' 'Of course you notice the black wings which are totally unlike a bat's but closer to certain demonic specimens' This is because our guest is a creature of the arcane world & considerably infused with the very raw stuff of magick itself enabling it too not only fly but defy the laws of nature herself.' 'The stinger is a marvel of dark demonic design a thing of horror able to pierce light metals & hurl bolts of cartilage like bone envenomed over distance of 30 or 40 feet.'

Almost on cue a roar seems to fill the auditorium from someplace deep within the bowels of the monster  Anbruis. The doctor chuckled to himself & began again, 'Our guest tonight is not of the horned variety of manticore which among their own kind denotes a subspecies touched by madness for their service & worship of the forbidden gods & devils. Even among their own kind which has a taste for human flesh these things are considered psychopathic killers & mad stricken monsters. For they not only kill their own prides but any thing or anyone they come across. They can & will track a man for weeks or months just for the sheer pleasure of the hunt & kill.' 

'Our guest tonight is not such a creature at all & devours his prey whole leaving not one trace or scrap behind. He leaves no leaves no clothes, bones, or possessions of the prey for he is not a messy eater.'Our guest tonight is distantly related to the royal satyral, a legendary creature with "the body of a lion, the tail and horns of an antelope, and the face of an old man" who were the royal magical advisors & hunters to the Titans.' Several of the crowd rankled at that remark which the doctor let pass. 'Moving on. Anbruis is an accomplished expert in linguistics, puzzles, & principal applications  higher metaphysical arcane theory. He is able to think 'side ways' comparable to a human mind because of his semi demonic linage. Because of this ancestry he and his kinde are immune to the gaze of the Medusa, the touch of ghouls, & even his own venom.' 'These developments were artificial in nature & given to these noble monsters as part of a program of warfare! These creatures are not merely murders & stalkers of lonely places as the legends would have us believe! They are weapons of murder from a time before time!'

 'So why is Anbruis here among us? Because he wishes to open diplomatic relations between us and his kingdom' 'I will have quiet among you! You have come here tonight for entertainment, and for my findings!' The beast behind the force cage stirs at the words and its eyes dart among the crowd piercing the audience in their seats with its gaze! 'Ask yourselves what would scare a creature of primal chaos in its veins to open relations with us. What scares a monster able to see in the night, smell the colour of your hair, eyes, clothing and able to tear through metal with its claws?'

'Hear me man things & you who have profited from trade with Arduin, something is coming. Though I rule a kingdom with one hundred prides of lampago warriors & two hundred satyral night hunters something has been stalking my kingdoms & killing my mercenary warriors. My advisors tell me it is a power from beyond the old days, my wizard's sight has been obscured, & even my world walkers fear certain doorways. So I'm here now to seek you out, should my kingdom fall yours is next.'

'Speak with your elders & rulers flesh that walks. Tell them of my warning, look deeply into my face things that fought me in the desert sands & have slain my kin. Tell them of the blood on my claws and the horror that is in my heart that has killed my mate whist I slept next to her even as it took my child across from us. Tomorrow I meet with your leaders & I have agreed to this spectacle to satisfy your morbid curiosity of my countenance. This show is over now' The auditorium filled with a billowing darkness that snuffed out lights, caused panic in the crowd, it was followed by screams from various points in the crowd itself.  'There is no reason to panic ladies & gentlemen, everything is under control!' The doctor's voice seemed unsteady but then the lights came back up of their own violation but various lords & ladies were struck down & dead around the auditorium. Never one to led an opportunity go Anbruis had struck with curses & spells against those who had struck against him & his desert nation in the past. He had delivered his warning & departed.
But what of his cryptic warning? Dr.Idrani minister of xeno-biology & ecology quickly smiled nastily as he quickly wiped his piercing liquid blue eyes over his spectacles. Would the flesh things head the warning in time? Only time would tell.



  So what is happening here?! An intelligent Manticore ruler of a small desert kingdom someplace near Ancient & Accursed Terra's version of Persia? In a word? Yes! This was made possible by using the Arduin Eternal Bestiary & Treasures book along with Adventurer, Conqueror, King's Lairs & Encounters pdf  from Autarch  which enabled me to quickly sketch out the desert country of Scruisi. I'll have more details on that when my game starts.

The Arduin Manticore has been taken from the Arduin Eternal Bestiary and Treasures book available right HERE. All ecology & supposition is by me but details on the country of Scruisi has been created from the ACK's Lairs & Encounters book available here