Creatures similar to a Cockatrice?

[the Jester]

I'd probably go with a basilisk, medusa or gorgon. OTOH advancing monsters in 3e (while sometimes a bit painful at the upper levels) is pretty easy stuff with fairly low-level, non-classed, non-templated advancement. A couple of other posters have already suggested some resources for churning them out or books to pull 'em from.

I call shenanigans on Gygax, apart from the "Why not" bit, which I think summed it up. Once you've met a creature and/or you've seen its description in the Monster Manual, you know what it freakin' is; it's no use pretending that you've done some sort of service to role-playing by bastardising legends so people don't know what they're fighting the very first time they encounter it. There was no good reason at all to call every winged horse "a Pegasus", or every snake-haired lady "a Medusa" other than possibly a lack of imagination and publication deadlines. Or watching too many of the cheesy Jason and the [Whatever] movies.

Maybe the lure to the ego of subverting classical mythology in the minds of tens of thousands of teenagers was just too much to pass up. Gygax was to mythology what Hollywood is to World War II...

I'm glad you're enough of an expert in Gygax's life and mentality to make these claims. Thanks for your valuable contribution to the thread.

BTW, what would you call pegasi if you were creating the first fantasy rpg? Skyflying horsebirds?

 

[Sorrowdusk]

I call shenanigans on Gygax, apart from the "Why not" bit, which I think summed it up. Once you've met a creature and/or you've seen its description in the Monster Manual, you know what it freakin' is; it's no use pretending that you've done some sort of service to role-playing by bastardising legends so people don't know what they're fighting the very first time they encounter it. There was no good reason at all to call every winged horse "a Pegasus", or every snake-haired lady "a Medusa" other than possibly a lack of imagination and publication deadlines. Or watching too many of the cheesy Jason and the [Whatever] movies.

Maybe the lure to the ego of subverting classical mythology in the minds of tens of thousands of teenagers was just too much to pass up. Gygax was to mythology what Hollywood is to World War II...

@Persiflage

Frankly DnD is a kitchen sink fantasy, and many of the mythologically 1-of-a-kind creatures became whole races or species of monsters. Its not The Pegasus or The Medusa, but "A" which is very different. Furthermore its not just influenced by mythology, but also influenced by pop culture. Yeah, once Medusa was depicted with a lower snake half in film, every one of them has paid homage to it by doing it that way. Sure, all such creatures could have been ommitted-and there are plenty of original creatures in DnD found nowhere else, but people want to see Medusa and Pegasus, as well as folkoric creatures like Vampires. I dont think there was any "lure" or temptation to deliberately subvert anything.

And dont forget


As to having seen something in the Book? Thats true of every monster ever made. Once you've seen something before, your mind is contaminated with the metagame knowledge of its abilities and weaknesses. Hell, even if you somehow never fought a troll before just through knowing about the game-yeah, Fire and Acid. But thats metagaming if your character wouldnt know it.

"~Welcome guesssssts~ hisses a voice from around the bend, as you see the voluptuous sillouette...of a woman whose head writhes with snaking tendrils."-DM

"FFFFFFFF....would I know not to look at that?!"-Fighter

"Roll a knowledge or Lore ability check if you have it."-DM

"I...dont. Okaaaay. But I avert my eyes from her gaze anyway because I am too entranced by the as you put it "voluptuous" snake chick." -Fighter

*laughs* "Okay you avert your eyes as the Medusa emerges from her lair. ~Look at my eyesss young warrior...~" -DM

"..." -Fighter

"LOOK AT ME, my eyesss are up here!~" -DM

*meanwhile, the ranger and the wizard have already shut their eyes*

"Hey guys-you dont know what you're missing!" -Fighter

 

[AuraSeer]

Does it have to turn things to stone? If you just want a critter with a gaze ability, there's always the Bodak. It's CR 8, and its gaze does not petrify; it's save or die.

 

[Sorrowdusk]

Does it have to turn things to stone? If you just want a critter with a gaze ability, there's always the Bodak. It's CR 8, and its gaze does not petrify; it's save or die.

Being turned to stone is worse than dying. Because you are unconscious and not dead...but not alive. Smashing the statue doesnt kill you and give you the release of death. It takes a 6th lvl spell to fix that, as opposed to just dying and using a 5th lvl one.

 

[frankthedm]

Getting rocked also bypasses death ward.

 

[Alexander123]

Savage Species has a few feats which increase the DC of your gaze attack (Ability focus and Irresistible gaze) and the corrupt template in BoVD increases the DC of your special attacks by another 4, you could increase the DC of your gaze attack by 8 this way. You could make the monsters your players are fighting tougher this way.

 

[AuraSeer]

Being turned to stone is worse than dying. Because you are unconscious and not dead...but not alive. Smashing the statue doesnt kill you and give you the release of death. It takes a 6th lvl spell to fix that, as opposed to just dying and using a 5th lvl one.

IMO stoning is at least as easy to fix, because it's subject to the much-overlooked break enchantment. That's fifth level, and unlike raise dead, it's available to arcane casters too. Plus the victim doesn't lose a level.

 

[Sorrowdusk]

Getting rocked also bypasses death ward.

It's okay Frank, you can call it what it is.

 

[kitcik]

Send 'em to Chippendale's. I am sure they can beat "trice"