The Cook/Marsh Expert rulebook included monsters from the Holmes Basic rulebook, with some additions/changes, adapted creatures from the AD&D 1e Monster Manual, and introduced new monsters (underlined, below).*
*some of the new creatures appeared in the newly updated, combined Monster & Treasure Assortment (1980), Sets One-Three: Levels One-Nine, for which a working draft of the new list of monsters may have been available
Antelope (Herd Animals) - similar to Herd Animals in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Basilisk - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes, a "rather small reptilian monster" in Holmes; a 10' long, sinuous lizard in Cook/Marsh. Includes rules for handling combat in the context of a basilisk's petrifying gaze
Black Pudding - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Blink Dog - from Greyhawk/Holmes, "resemble African wild dogs" in Holmes, and "Australian wild dogs" in Cook/Marsh
Caecilia - new monster, inspired by legless, blind, amphibious caecilians. Appears in the updated M&T Assortment (1980)
Camel - similar to Wild Camels in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Centaur - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes manuscript
Chimera - from OD&D vol.2/Holmes
Cockatrice - from OD&D vol.2/Holmes
Crab, Giant - from OD&D vol. 3/Greyhawk/Blackmoor
Crocodile (Normal, Large, Giant) - from OD&D vol. 3/Greyhawk/Blackmoor (Giant Crocodiles are normally found only in "lost worlds" where prehistoric creatures thrive)
Cyclops, illustration by Jeff Dee. From the AD&D 1e Fiend Folio (used as filler art, possibly intended for the D&D Expert rulebook).
Cyclops - new monster. Some cyclops (5%) are able to cast a curse once a week (reference to the Curse of Polyphemus)
Devil Swine - new monster:
A: Well, the werepigs came from a Lovecraft era writer who had a series of short stories. Every other one was just a mystery story (the fantastic elements were all fake) and the alternate ones were all hideous magical things.
The werepigs were monstrous entities from beyond the asteroid belt, trying to root around for a little food, as I recall. The Expert Set (D&D) werepigs came from those.
Sandy responded: If you're talking about House on the Borderlands, the swine-thing weren't really werepigs. They were just monstrous half-human entities.
Steve responded: Well, the best we could do in slipping them into D&D was the devil swine. I know, we made compromises ...
Steve Marsh, posted on Yog-Sothoth forums (archived here)
Djinni (Lesser) - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Dragon Turtle - from OD&D vol. 3/AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Dryad - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes manuscript
Efreeti (Lesser) - from OD&D vol. 2
Elemental - from OD&D vol. 2
Elephant - similar to Elephants in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Fish, Giant (Piranha, Spiny Rockfish, Catfish, Sturgeon) - similar to Giant Fish (Barracuda, Gar, Pike) in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Giant (Hill, Stone, Frost, Fire, Cloud, Storm) - from OD&D vol. 2/Greyhawk/Holmes
Golem (Wood, Bone, Amber, Bronze) - similar to Golems (Flesh, Stone, Iron) in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual, although the Cook/Marsh types are different
Gorgon - from OD&D vol. 2
Griffon - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Hawk (Normal, Giant) - new monster (both types of hawks may be trained as pets or guards by an animal trainer (pg. X21)
Hellhound - from Greyhawk/Holmes (the ability to detect invisible, mentioned in Greyhawk but not Holmes, appears in Cook/Marsh)
Hippogriff - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Horse (Riding, War, Draft) - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Hydra (Normal, Sea) - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes (special version of hydra, including poisonous and Pyrohydras, as described in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual, are mentioned in Cook/Marsh)
Invisible Stalker - from OD&D vol. 2
Leech, Giant - from OD&D vol. 3/Blackmoor
Manticore - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes (will regrow 2 tail spikes per day)
Mastodon - from Greyhawk/AD&D 1e Monster Manual (live in cold, icy tundras or "lost worlds")
Men (Brigand, Buccaneer/Pirate, Dervish, Merchant, Nomad)
Mermen - from OD&D vol. 2/Blackmoor/Holmes manuscript
Mummy - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Nixies - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes 1st printing (1977); includes stats for Giant Bass
NPC Parties
Octopus, Giant - from OD&D vol. 3/Blackmoor
Pegasus - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Pterodactyl (Pterodactyl, Pteranodon) - similar to Pteranodons in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Purple Worm - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Rhinoceros (Normal, Wooly) - similar to Rhinoceroses in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Erol Otus mocked my idea of having the Wooly Rhinos be intelligent, so that got canned (I liked the idea of a potential psionic group of Rhinos in the far north, coordinating the defence of the herd against predators).
Steve Marsh, posted on Dragonsfoot (April 11, 2005)
Dueling salamanders, illustration by Erol Otus.
Salamander (Flame, Frost) - from Greyhawk (although Flame Salamanders are described as lizards in Cook/Marsh, as opposed to humanoids with snake-like tails in Greyhawk)
Scorpion, Giant - from Greyhawk/AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Sea Dragons - new monster
Sea Serpent (Lesser) - new monster (may attack a sea craft its own size or smaller by looping around the boat and squeezing, as in "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by C. S. Lewis)
Shark (Bull, Mako, Great White) - similar to Sharks in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Spectre - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Squid, Giant - from OD&D vol. 3/Blackmoor
Stegosaurus - similar to Stegosaurus the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Termite, Water (Swamp, Fresh Water, Salt Water) - new monster
Titanothere - similar to Titanotheres in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Toad, Giant - from Greyhawk/Blackmoor
Treant - from OD&D vol.2/Holmes manuscript (Ent) "they speak a slow and difficult tongue and distrust those who use fire" as in Tolkien
Triceratops - similar to Triceratops in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Troll - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes "even severed limbs will crawl back to the body and rejoin" as in "Three Hearts and Three Lions" by Poul Anderson
Tyrannosaurus Rex - from Greyhawk/AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Unicorn - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Vampire, illustration by Bill Willingham.
Vampire - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
I also wanted to do a step reduction for Vampires. Stake them - 10hd. Cut off the head -6 hd. Stuff head with garlic -4 hd. Bury at cross roads, double hit dice reduction. That way, to kill a vampire really dead (so it would stay dead) would require various parts of the classic treatment depending on how powerful it was.
Steve Marsh, posted on Dragonsfoot (April 11, 2005)
Whale (Killer, Narwhal, Sperm) - similar to Whales in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual
Wraith - from OD&D vol. 2/Holmes
Wyvern - from OD&D vol. 2
As far as the Devil Swine, it sounds like Sandy was close with the right author, but I think the story Steve Marsh might be thinking of is The Hog, one of Hodgson's Carnacki stories. It's been a while since I read it, but the Carnacki stories switch between genuine supernatural stories and Scooby-Doo hoaxes and The Hog involves an extradimensional swine-creature trying to enter our world.
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning that - yes, it sounds like he was referring to a different set of stories, not "The House on the Borderlands".
DeleteI'd like to track down the Carnacki stories, and see if there's a better fit!
The Night Shade Books collection 'The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson vol. 2: The House on the Borderland and Other Mysterious Places' collects The House on the Borderland, the Carnacki stories, and a bunch of his non-supernatural mystery stories together, it's a pretty convenient package.
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