There are of course a few dragons here and there, but other than that?
The other monsters with the possibility of being famous are the leaders of the broken lands - but it is up to you as a DM how well the surrounding countries know the politics of the broken lands.
Sorry I can't be more helpful.
Oh yes - there is a famous hydra in Irendi somewhere.
IMC I have also been thinking about throwing in some legendary "Gargantuan" monsters - i.e. from the old 0D&D basic, expert and companion sets. I don't know if the mad wizard Gargantua was ever officially Mystara canon, but I think he fits in marvelously with the Alphatians?
You could also take basically any Challenge Rating 15+ monster from MM1 and MM2 and give them a bit of history and place them in the Known World. I am very fond of the Linorms (I think they are called) and use them in the Northern Reaches. Throw in a Banshee in a bog somewhere and some other nasties in remote places and you're done. What could really shake up the level of "spookyness" in your campaign would be a number of "unseen horrors" hauting woods and moors i.e. things that kill but are never actually seen and thus give life to superstition (Don't go out at night! The Headless Horseman rides his ebony steed over clouds red as blood!)
:-) Jesper
) (Rockhome gaz. p.73):-) Jesper
I always suspected that the Kraken from the Creature Catalogue lurked in the deep somewhere in the triangle between Helskir, Oceansend and Vestland, but it is not official Mystara canon, I know.
Hmmm... I could be wrong, but I think that PC1? (the undersea one) has the Kraken in the Sea of Dread, leading the devilfish.
My players asked me today if they know about any famous monsters in this part of the wolrd.
There are of course a few dragons here and there, but other than that?
Sorry, back to the original question. Being reminded by other threads on the hin floating around, it is possible that the PCs have heard of Deep Glaurants in hin lands. Other possibilities might include:
- Glantrian nobles who are rumored to be vampires or liches.
- Glantrian nobles who are rumored to be lycanthropes (see PC3?).
- Karameikan/Traladaran lords who are rumored to be vampires.
- Lycanthrope infested woods of Karameikos (perhaps linked to the above mentioned vampires...).
- Dark magic points in Alfheim that periodically spew forth monsters of all types. Any (Alfheim) elves in the party should know about this.
- The Black Eagle Baron keeps several humanoid tribes as servants. There are also numerous humanoid tribes in Kara.
- There are trolls (and other humanoids) in the Northern Reaches, and the broken lands.
- Dinosaurs are rumored to exist on some of the islands in the Sea of Dread.
- There may be all sorts of monsters in the wilds of Norwold (including fire elementals near the Arch of Fire).
- There are undead on (IIRC?) White Isle in Ierendi.
- More lycanthropes on Minrothad.
- Djinn and undead lizardmen in Ylaruam.
I'll try to think of more throughout the day.
While not in the Known World, there is Pyre (I think that's his name), a red dragon that rules over tribes of orcs on the Orc's Head Peninsula.
Any reason why that may be? Is Mystara a more human-oriented setting?
It is interesting that no monster comes easily to anyone's mind. It reminds me of a thought I had lately, while lurking at the DL forums (Yeah, I know... I'm a traitor...) - that there really aren't many important dragons around in Mystara (Synn excluded. And Hytiliaph, of course, of course).
Any reason why that may be? Is Mystara a more human-oriented setting?
Mystara is definately less Dragon-centered than DL. ;)
For some famous dragons check out Bruce Heard's article from Dragon Magazine called Who's Who Among Dragons, detailing the most powerful dragons of the Known World, including Argos, a dragon I have written something about too. That article can be found right here
Cheers,
Håvard
For some famous dragons check out Bruce Heard's article from Dragon Magazine called Who's Who Among Dragons, detailing the most powerful dragons of the Known World
Blast! Havard beat me to it!
Well, I just wanted to say that IMC I use dragons ranging from little baby non-spellcasting ones that cannot use magic and are little more than powerful hydras or dinosaurs all the way up to ancient wyrms living in the most isolated regions of the Known World. One of them is Carc, a great white wyrm several centuries old. My PCs haven't heard of him yet
I think, if you read the gaz series, the monster sections, you'll see that in most countries dragons are not a rare sight in mountains, swamps and deserts and even dense forests. But with the power boost dragons got from 0D&D to 2nd AD&D and then 3E D&D, they should probably be more rare. That is why I use quite a few baby ones and extremely few of the huge 3E ones (a.k.a. party-killers
):-) Jesper
Blast! Havard beat me to it!
Well, I just wanted to say that IMC I use dragons ranging from little baby non-spellcasting ones that cannot use magic and are little more than powerful hydras or dinosaurs all the way up to ancient wyrms living in the most isolated regions of the Known World. One of them is Carc, a great white wyrm several centuries old. My PCs haven't heard of him yet
The Dragons presented in the Who's Who article are simply the most powerful/famous dragons of the Known World. That doesn't mean that there arent dozens of smaller one around. Most of the smaller ones are probably lackeys to these big ones though.
IMC I have linked the "Who's Who" dragons to the Rogue Dragons described in the Dragonlord Triology. In those novels, the Rogue Dragons were all chaotic and not a very nice bunch, but to explain the presence of at least one rogue Gold Dragon, I have decided that the Wyrmsteeth Range is currently ruled by Red Dragons rather than Gold Ones as in the novels and this has driven more dragons to go rogue.
So what is Carc up to? And where does he live?
I think, if you read the gaz series, the monster sections, you'll see that in most countries dragons are not a rare sight in mountains, swamps and deserts and even dense forests. But with the power boost dragons got from 0D&D to 2nd AD&D and then 3E D&D, they should probably be more rare. That is why I use quite a few baby ones and extremely few of the huge 3E ones (a.k.a. party-killers
I haven't really given that much though. I rarely use dragons IMC, and limit myself to really powerful ones working behind the scenes. How powerful would you say 3E dragons are compared to OD&D ones?
Håvard
So what is Carc up to? And where does he live?
I haven't really placed his lair yet, because I haven't contemplated the consequenses of having him too near civilization. Suffice to say he is very old, probably at least 800 years. I never liked the way red dragons seemed to dominate most RPG's as the ultimate evil dragon (probably a legacy from Tolkien's Smaug) and I wanted an evil dragon IMC that wasn't red.
The idea of Carc came to me in 1999 when I was hiking near the Five Lakes Valey in southern Poland in the Tatra Mountains. It was October and everything was covered in snow but there was a clear, sunny sky. Across the valey there was this impressive, weird shaped mountain glistening in the sun that had sort of like a crater in the middle with a bit of mist in it and all of a sudden I just imagined the horror of being an adventurer standing there in the snow and suddenly seing the huge shape of a white dragon emerging from those mists and coming right at me! (mummy always said I let my imagination run wild :embarrass )
So Carc was born, so to speak. Because I don't like the notion from the MM that white dragons are small and stupid compared to other dragons, he probably has the statistics of a Wyrm although he is only Very Old according to his age. He is thoroughly evil, arrogant and intelligent, as dragons should be, but has no desire to mingle with the outside world or control minions. At the moment he is quite content to enjoy his hoard and I imagine that it will eventually be the PCs that seek him out and not the other way around. I like what Smaug says in the Hobbit: "I have laid down the warriors of old and their match is not in the world today". That is how Carc thinks. He feels supreme and he demands respect and absolute domination of his icy realm but it would be a rare thing indeed that could rouse him from his bed of gold and jewels. For now.
I know some people like dragons to be "behind-the-scenes" masters of evil but I prefer them as juggernauts of ultimate destruction. Raw power that cannot be harnessed or controlled but thankfully returns to slumber for decades, even centuries, at a time.
How powerful would you say 3E dragons are compared to OD&D ones?
Well, compare an 0D&D large red dragon:
AC: -3
HD: 15
THAC0: 8
Damage: 4d8+4 (bite), 1d10+1 (2 claws)
Intelligence 12
Save as: F30
to a 3E Mature Adult red dragon:
AC: 32
HD: 25d12+150
Attack bonus: +34
Damage: 2d8 (bite) 2d6 (claws) 2d6+1½ times strength bonus (tail)
Saves: Fort +20, Ref +14, Will +18
Add to this their frigthful presense, spells and spell-like abilities, immunities, spell resistance, blindsight, keen senses, feats etc. and I would say that dragons in 3E are immensely more powerful and dangerous than they were in 0D&D.
Of course, it could be argued that if you compare them size to size instead of 0D&D size to 3E D&D age categories there is not much difference. But giants and other creatures with great strength and constitution also got a heck of a lot more dangerous in 3E so I am not sure what the team behind MM 3E intended.
:-) Jesper
interesting that you should mention Poland. I go there all the time!
I like the idea of a big bad white dragon. You are right, the red ones are a bit overused aren't they? Thats why I sort of liked the idea of Argos being a green one too.
The concept of dragons as raw unstoppable power is quite appealing I must admit. I like having them as a bit of a mixture of plotting and destruction. Normally they stay in their lairs scheming, but once adventurers foil one too many of their plots they let loose their rage!
Håvard
Normally they stay in their lairs scheming, but once adventurers foil one too many of their plots they let loose their rage!
If you read "The Adventurers" at www.peldor.com by Thomas Miller there are some episodes involving the party's ongoing game of cat-and-mouse with the ancient red dragon Cinder. It is quite funny. They party starts by raiding the dragons lair and chasing it off after a terrible fight. Later the dragons sets a trapt to get its revenge and hurls the party throught a vortex leaving them stranded on another plane.
They have this weird sort of respect for one another. The party knows that they could probably kill the dragon - if the got the element of surprise - but probably half of them would die in the process. The dragons knows this as well. So they just continue to annoy one another whenever the get the chance.
:-) Jesper