DW Monsters: Gelth

The third story in the revised series is The Unquiet Dead, for which the alien menace are the Gelth. They are a one-off monster in the TV series, and, apart from a few minor mentions here and there, have only appeared once since, and that in a short story, rather than anything more substantial.

Description and Biology

We are told that the Gelth were originally regular organic beings. They somehow lost their physical bodies during the Time War, becoming gaseous instead. How this would work is obviously unclear, but, in fairness, we have little idea from the TV series of how exactly the Time War was fought or what the weapons brought to bear in it were capable of.

Either way, the Gelth as they are now are gaseous wraiths, capable of creating partially humanoid shapes, but generally not bothering to do so. The evidence suggests that are composed of organic gases; they can survive without difficulty in natural gas, which is mostly methane, so it’s unlikely they contain much of that or they’d diffuse away, but ethane, propane, butane, and more complex hydrocarbons may all be involved. Biologically, it’s hard to see how this could possibly work, at least in Earth-like conditions, so a more likely explanation is that the body is somehow held together by force of psychic will.

Which is basically saying “it’s magic”, rather like the air elementals of fantasy games, but it’s what we’ve got.

The Gelth can control and move their gaseous substance around which, in the context of the story, means that they can inhabit the putrefying gases inside a human corpse and make it move around. Their preference for humans here, since any other animal would surely also work, is likely a simple matter of availability, given where they happened to appear. Assuming that they were originally humanoid, as the briefly-seen blue form implies, there’s probably also an improved degree of familiarity with the form that makes it easier (and arguably more useful) for them to animate a human cadaver than, say, a dead rat.

We know essentially nothing of Gelth society and culture, beyond the fact that it was destroyed in the Time War. We don’t know whether they breathe or how they obtain energy although whatever they do it’s likely not obvious – obtaining energy from the air molecules around them, say. Lacking any actual sense organs, we’re again left with psychic powers to explain how they navigate the world around them; perhaps the ‘real’ Gelth are purely psychic constructs that find it easiest to interact with the environment by controlling gas molecules. Although, if so, the molecules must act as a necessary tether, since destroying them (by combustion) kills the Gelth and prevents it from reforming.

How, and even if, Gelth reproduce is equally mysterious. Potentially, it could be an ability that they lost when they lost their bodies, although with “billions” of them supposedly still in existence at the time of the TV story, that must have been a recent event for them – for whatever that means in the Time War.

Game Attributes

While inhabiting human bodies, the Gelth are essentially zombies, a concept familiar in many fantasy games and echoed a few other times in Doctor Who itself. We can see that they move slowly and clumsily, doubtless due to the difficulty of the Gelth controlling the host body, and there’s no evidence to suggest that they are any physically stronger than they were in life. They likely are physically resilient, however, being unable to bleed to death and having no vital organs since they are animated purely by the putrefying gases inside them. Similarly, they won’t feel pain, since even if their nerve endings are still functional (which seems unlikely) the Gelth isn’t actually inhabiting their nervous system and wouldn’t receive any signals from it. Destroying the zombies is instead a matter of somehow getting the gas to leave the body or destroying enough of it that it’s no longer functional.

Depending on the game system, this could be quite difficult or just a case of knocking a few hit points off.

The Zombies seem unintelligent, partly because the Gelth don’t seem to have enough control of their vocal cords to be able to speak. Logically, this is something they could get the hang of with time, since gas moving about is rather how speech works, but gaining the necessary fine control evidently isn’t a simple process. Nonetheless, while it may appear stupid, the zombie is directly controlled by a Gelth, and these are presumably no less intelligent than the average human – and their leaders likely more so. Some remnant of the original soul apparently remains, but the Gelth seem to be able to force it down with a little effort.

There’s also the question of the Gelth in their natural form. Here, they appear agile but have a physical strength no more powerful than a breeze, likely at the very minimum that a given system will allow. How difficult they are to destroy depends on how strongly the animating force can hold the molecules together and, from everything we see, that’s pretty tough. Physical attacks aren’t going to do anything to them, so we’re left with psychic assaults and effects that might change their chemical composition. The obvious example here is combustion, since we know they are flammable, and this seems a particularly high vulnerability. (When it comes to D&D, it’s worth noting that lightning attacks would probably also ignite them).

They probably can’t be poisoned, even with other gases – unless, perhaps the ’poison’ reacts with their hydrocarbon molecules to make something they can’t control. But this isn’t necessarily an issue in plausible conditions. For example, while hydrocarbons react with chlorine, the result is usually still a gas, which the Gelth may not have any problem animating… although they’re likely to smell worse as a result.

Lack of any knowledge of their culture makes it harder to say what skills the typical Gelth might have. Being so silent, they’re going to be stealthy and they can evidently sense their environment and communicate with anyone who is psychic, but otherwise we don’t see them doing anything that’s indicative of what they get up to. Possibly not much, lacking bodies as they do.

Other than psychic communication, their only special power is the ability to possess corpses.

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5E - Gelth Zombie

Medium undead, neutral evil

Armour Class: 8 (natural)

Hit Points: 34 (4d8+16)

Speed: 20 ft.

STR 10 (+0)	DEX 6 (-2)	CON 18 (+4)
INT 10 (+0)	WIS 10 (+0)	CHA 6 (-2)

Damage Resistances: piercing, bludgeoning

Damage Immunities: poison

Condition Immunities: poisoned

Senses: Passive Perception 10

Actions:

Unarmed. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 1 bludgeoning damage.

Challenge: 1/8 (25 XP)

5E - Gelth

Medium elemental, neutral evil

Armour Class: 18 (partially insubstantial)

Hit Points: 26 (4d8+8)

Speed: fly 60 ft.

STR 1 (-4)	DEX 16 (+3)	CON 14 (+2)
INT 10 (+0)	WIS 10 (+0)	CHA 10 (+0)

Skills: Deception +2, Stealth +5

Damage Resistances: cold, poison, thunder

Damage Immunities: acid, bludgeoning, piercing, slashing

Damage Vulnerabilities: fire, lightning

Condition Immunities: grappled, paralysed, prone, restrained

Senses: Passive Perception 10

Actions:

Possession. As an action, a Gelth can possess a recently deceased corpse, creating a Gelth Zombie, which becomes active at the beginning of the next round. If the zombie falls to 0 hit points, the Gelth is released unharmed, but then becomes vulnerable to external attacks.

Challenge: 1/4 (50 XP)

BRP - Gelth Zombie

STR 3D6 (10-11)	CON 2D6+9 (16)	SIZ 2D6+6 (13)
INT 2D6+6 (13)	POW 3D6 (10-11)
DEX 2D6 (7)	CHA 2D6 (7)
Hit Points: 15	Move: 8
Base SR: 6	Damage Bonus: +1D4

Armour: None

Skills: Grapple 50%, Stealth 30%

Combat Skills: Brawling 50%, damage: 1D3+1D4

BRP - Gelth

STR 0	CON 2D6+9 (16)	SIZ 1D6+6 (9-10)
INT 2D6+6 (13)	POW 3D6 (10-11)
DEX 2D6+9 (16)	CHA 3D6 (10-11)
Hit Points: 13	Move: 15
Base SR: 7

Armour: None

Skills: Dodge 80%, Fly 70%, Persuade 50%

Possession: A Gelth can possess a recently deceased corpse, taking one round to enter and animate the body. This creates a Gelth Zombie, which becomes active at the beginning of the next round. If the zombie is destroyed, the Gelth is released unharmed, but then becomes vulnerable to external attacks.

GURPS - Gelth Zombie

ST 10	DX 6	IQ 10	HT 14
Thrust: 1d-2		Swing: 1d
Speed: 5		Move: 3

Advantages: Doesn’t Eat or Drink, Doesn’t Sleep, High Pain Threshold, Injury Tolerance (Unliving)

Disadvantages: Appearance (ugly), Bad Smell, Cannot Speak, Compulsive Behaviour, Unhealing

Skills: Brawling-10, Stealth-8, Wrestling-10

GURPS - Gelth

ST 0	DX 16	IQ 10	HT 14
Thrust: 0		Swing: 0
Speed: 7.5		Move: 7
Size: -2		HP: 10

Advantages: Body of Air, Doesn't Eat of Drink, Doesn't Sleep, Enhanced Move-1 (Air), Possession (parasitic, dead bodies only), Telecommunication

Skills: Acting-12, Persuade-12, Stealth-18

Savage Worlds - Gelth Zombie

Agility: d6	Smarts: d8	Spirit: d8
Strength: d8	Vigour: d10

Skills: Fighting d4, Stealth d6

Hindrances: Mute, Slow (major), Ugly

Special Abilities: Undead

Pace: 4                  Parry: 4                 Toughness: 7                      Size: 0

Savage Worlds - Gelth

Agility: d12	Smarts: d8	Spirit: d8
Strength: 1	Vigour: d10

Skills: Persuasion d6, Stealth d8

Edges: Dodge

Powers: Possession (can possess a recently deceased corpse, taking one round to enter and animate the body. This creates a Gelth Zombie, which becomes active at the beginning of the next round. If the zombie is destroyed, the Gelth is released unharmed, but then becomes vulnerable to external attacks.)

Special Abilities: Elemental, Flight, Gaseous Form

Pace: 8                  Parry: 2                Toughness: 6                      Size: -2

STA - Gelth Zombie

Control: 6	Fitness: 12	Presence: 7
Daring: 10	Insight: 8	Reason: 8
Command: 0	Security: 1	Science: 0
Conn: 0	Engineering: 0	Medicine: 0
Stress: 13	Resistance: 0

STA - Gelth

Control: 11	Fitness: 9	Presence: 10
Daring: 10	Insight: 8	Reason: 8
Command: 1	Security: 1	Science: 1
Conn: 0	Engineering: 0	Medicine: 0
Stress: 10	Resistance: 0

Gaseous: Cannot be injured by physical attacks; can enter a recently deceased body and possess it, creating a Gelth Zombie

DW Monsters: The Forest of Cheem

The second story of the modern show is The End of the World, which features quite a few different aliens. It’s difficult to say too much about many of them, however, either because they are represented only by a single individual (the Moxx of Balhoon), they aren’t really aliens (the Adherents), or both (the Face of Boe and Lady Cassandra). This leaves only the Crespallions, who don’t seem all that different from humans, and the Forest of Cheem.

The Forest have not appeared again in the TV series, but have returned in a couple of stories in the audio anthology Tales of New Earth (which reveals "Cheem" to be the name of a planet to which they were transplanted), and occasionally in the comics.

DW Monsters: The Nestene Consciousness

The first story of the modern series features the Autons, which I have already described. However, the story also features the creators of the Autons, the alien race known as the Nestene, and it is now time to look at those specifically.

One could argue that, strictly speaking, any Auton story is also a Nestene story. However, not all such stories include a direct appearance by a member of the race. In the TV series, we have only seen them directly twice, in Spearhead from Space and Rose, although they have perhaps been more common in the assorted spin-off media. But, for the most part, there is, as one might expect, considerable overlap and, unsurprisingly, there are no Nestene stories that don’t also feature Autons.

DW Monsters: Eight-Legs

The next story we come to is The Monster of Peladon, which, for the most part, features the same aliens and creatures we have already seen in The Curse of Peladon. There is one new alien race introduced, the Vegans (yes, that’s actually their name), but the one individual we see isn’t around long enough to tell us much about his wider race. The tie-in novel Legacy does add that the race can see in the infrared and adds some further detail about their culture, but they remain tangential enough in the TV series itself that I am going to leave them out. Which brings us to the final Third Doctor story, Planet of the Spiders.

DW Monsters: Exxilons

The first two stories of season 11 are:

• The Time Warrior – The first appearance of the Sontarans.

• Invasion of the Dinosaurs – Dinosaurs are real-world creatures and often already statted up in RPGs

The story that follows is Death to the Daleks, which has exactly the main foes that you would expect it to have. It does, however, also feature the Exxilons. While there’s no reason to suppose Exxilons are dramatically different from other humanoids, they can serve as an example of a primitive race and do at least have some minor differences from regular humans. They appeared only once in the TV series, but have appeared twice in audio stories and, because of their history as an advanced space-faring power, have occasionally been mentioned in tie-in novels and elsewhere.

Description and Biology

The Exxilons are hairless humanoids with rough skin, flat noses, and large eyes. Since they are alien and not even as visibly similar to humans as Time Lords are, we can’t conclude too much about their biology and internal anatomy. The humanoid shape has some implications for this – the presence of a rib cage implies that that is where the lungs are, for example – but there are limitations. One thing that might be worth noting is that we never see any evident females. This could be due to a patriarchal society that hides their women away, but it’s also possible that they just aren’t mammalian, and the sexes aren’t that easy for we humans to tell apart.

Another difference is the large, dark, eyes which fit with the idea that the Exxilons are naturally nocturnal (or subterranean, as stated in the novelisation). This, of course, does not imply anything like the magical ‘darkvision’ of D&D, but they should be able to see in much fainter light than humans can and be more affected by bright glare than we are.

Game Attributes

The living Exxilons that we see are all warriors and their society appears to be one of hunter-gatherers, so it may be that this is true of the bulk of their population. They seem to be reasonably well-built, as one would expect for someone trained as a warrior, but the average individual is unlikely to be remarkable by human standards. The harsh environment in which they live also implies a reasonable degree of physical fitness.

While they are primitive by the time period seen in the story, in the past they were a highly advanced spacefaring race. This indicates at least human-level intelligence and, although one could argue that their current ‘degenerate’ state has lowered this somewhat, it’s perhaps more likely that it remains the same as it always was. Their limitations are in their skill and knowledge, not their basic brainpower. 

Speaking of which, their skills are likely to be the same as any other hunter-gatherer. We know that they can use bows and other simple weapons are surely in their repertoire. Survival skills are also a must and they probably have abilities relating to hunting and the local vegetation (such as it is) even if there’s nothing in the TV story to indicate what their prey might be. Religion is central to their society, so that may be relevant, too, depending on the game system.

They don’t have any particularly exciting special abilities, but their skin looks tough and resilient, so there’s probably some minimal armour, equivalent to leather. And, of course, there’s the night vision.

---

5E - Exxilon

Medium humanoid, neutral

Armour Class: 11 (natural)

Hit Points: 17 (3d8+3)

Speed: 30 ft.

STR 12 (+1)	DEX 10 (+0)	CON 12 (+1)
INT 10 (+0)	WIS 10 (+0)	CHA 8 (-1)

Skills: Athletics +3, Religion +2, Survival +2

Combat Skills: Ranged Attack +2, Melee Attack +3

Senses: Passive Perception 10, Night Vision (the Exxilon treats dim light as if it were bright light and regular nighttime darkness as if it were dim light, but cannot see in pitch blackness).

Challenge: ¼ (50 XP)

BRP - Exxilon

STR 3D6 (10-11)	CON 3D6+3 (13-14)	SIZ 2D6+6 (13)
INT 2D6+6 (13)	POW 3D6 (10-11)
DEX 3D6 (10-11)	CHA 2D6 (7)
Hit Points: 13	Move: 10
Base SR: 5	Damage Bonus: 0

Armour: 1-point leathery skin

Skills: Hide 40%

Combat Skills: Bow 50%, Brawl 50%

Night Vision: An Exxilon’s combat skills do not become Difficult in conditions of near-total darkness, but suffer the usual penalties in pitch-black darkness.

GURPS - Exxilon

ST 12	DX 10	IQ 10	HT 12
Thrust: 1d-1		Swing: 1d+2
Speed: 5.5		Move: 5

Advantages: Fit, Night Vision-4

Disadvantages: Fanaticism (worship the City)

Skills: Bow-12, Brawling-13, Climbing-12, Stealth-10, Survival (quarry-like planets)-13, Theology-9

Savage Worlds - Exxilon

Agility: d6	Smarts: d6	Spirit: d6
Strength: d8	Vigour: d8

Skills: Athletics d4, Fighting d8, Shooting d6, Survival d8

Hindrances: Vow (Minor, worship the City)

Special Abilities: Low Light Vision

Pace: 6                  Parry: 6               Toughness: 7 (1)                   Size: 0

STA - Exxilon

Control: 8	Fitness: 10	Presence: 8
Daring: 9	Insight: 8	Reason: 8
Command: 0	Security: 2	Science: 0
Conn: 0	Engineering: 0	Medicine: 0
Stress: 12	Resistance: 1

DW Monsters: Giant Maggots

Continuing through season 10, we get:

• Frontier in Space – While the Draconians are undeniably interesting, this is primarily due to their culture. In terms of basic attributes, they don’t seem that different from humans and can probably be described in the same way. Therefore, I will pass on them.

• I will also pass on the unnamed Ogron-eating blob monster from the same story, on the grounds we know almost nothing about it.

• Planet of the Daleks – It’s still not quite time for the Daleks on this blog yet…

Which brings us to The Green Death… and giant maggots!

DW Monsters: Drashigs

The next two stories, moving us from season 9 into season 10 are:

• The Time Monster – while the monster of the title is described as belonging to a race of beings (the Chronovores) we don’t see any others, so it’s hard to know what their generic abilities might be, and I will therefore leave them out. I will also leave the Minotaur until later.

• The Three Doctors – while there are antimatter blobs in this story, they’re more a peril than a ‘monster’, and the real foe is Omega, so this is another one I will skip.

Next up is Carnival of Monsters. Despite the title, most of the monsters are only seen briefly over the viewing screen. The only exceptions, and the only ones that are original to the story, are the drashigs. This is their only significant appearance on screen so far, but they have proved popular enough in the ‘deadly alien animals’ niche to appear in two of the spin-off novels and two of the audios – in each case, making one appearance inside a miniscope, and one out in the wild. 

The audio Planet of the Drashigs makes the most use of them, as a sort of Jurassic Park homage that introduces two new subtypes of the creatures. But I will stick with the version seen on screen.

Description and Biology

The drashigs are large creatures with snake-like bodies. Their bodies appear to be segmented, more like earthworms than snakes, although this may well be a muscular adaptation for a worm-like mode of movement rather than a reflection of genuine segmentation in their internal anatomy. The head is also not snake-like, having a shape similar to that of a dog and decidedly mammalian teeth (for good reason, considering how the prop was made for the series). 

From both this, and the description of their behaviour, we can infer a mode of attack quite different from that of either venomous or constrictor snakes. For instance, while they probably do eat smaller prey whole, they are unlikely to swallow larger prey in the way that snakes do; those teeth are clearly there for something.

The other distinctive feature, of course, is the presence of six eyestalks on the head. Although we’re told that they hunt by scent, the number of eyes, and the fact that they’re raised above the level of the head implies that vision is also important - and there are, of course, many real-world animals that use a combination of vision and scent to track prey. The eyestalks make perfect sense for a creature that can ambush prey by hiding beneath swamp water, although such an adaptation could be even more useful for a herbivore wanting to look out for predators around it, so perhaps drashigs evolved from something less dangerous.

That there are six eyes, rather than two, is unusual from a real-world perspective; while spiders, for example, do have multiple eyes, those that require good binocular vision for hunting (rather than allowing prey to fall into their webs) tend to have two that are much larger than the others, which they use for that purpose. This may imply an unusual brain structure.

While there is a published non-canonical source that states otherwise, drashigs are indicated to be alien in the canonical material. This means that we know little about their more detailed biology. For instance, just because they look reptilian, this is no guarantee that they lay eggs or that they’re cold-blooded.

Game Attributes

Clearly, our starting point for drashigs is not going to be the humanoid base levels that I have been using for most aliens. For a start, drashigs are much larger than humans. Exactly how much larger is difficult to gauge since there are no shots in the serial that give us a firm basis for comparison, but the creatures are undeniably substantial. This alone would give them significant resistance to damage, and they also seem to have a tough hide, making them difficult to injure. 

Their strength at least matches their size and may even be higher than we might typically expect. We’re told, for instance, that they can literally eat a spaceship, although this comes from a man who has good reason to exaggerate and who, even if he is being honest, might simply be repeating an urban legend. Either way, they have a powerful bite, although they don’t look to be agile enough to, say, swat somebody with their tails as a means of attack. Indeed, their overall agility is likely unimpressive, although probably not terrible.

Drashigs are regular, non-sentient, animals, and in some systems will therefore not receive any statistics related to intelligence. Where such figures are given, there’s no particular reason to limit such alien beings to the low ratings often given to crocodiles and the like, and their ability at tracking probably implies something closer to a cat or dog. Speaking of which, since they hunt at least partially by scent, we know that they have a particularly keen sense in that area.

---

5E - Drashig

Huge animal, unaligned

Armour Class: 16 (natural)

Hit Points: 105 (10d12+40)

Speed: 30 ft.

STR 22 (+6)	DEX 10 (+0)	CON 18 (+4)
INT 3 (-4)	WIS 12 (+1)	CHA 12 (+1)

Skills: Perception +3, Survival +3

Senses: Passive Perception 13

Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (1d12+6) slashing damage

Challenge: 3 (700 XP)

BRP - Drashig

STR 4D6+30 (44)	CON 3D6+6 (16-17)	SIZ 4D6+24 (38)
DEX 3D6 (10-11)	POW 3D6 (10-11)
Hit Points: 28	Move: 10
Base SR: 3	Damage Bonus: +4D6

Armour: 10-point tough hide

Skills: Track 75%

Combat Skills: Brawl 60% (1D10+4D6 damage)

GURPS - Drashig

ST 25	DX 10	IQ 5	HT 16
Damage: 2d+2		Move: 5
DR: 10		Size: 6

Traits: 360° Vision, Discriminatory Smell, No Legs (slithers)

Savage Worlds - Drashig

Agility: d8	Smarts: d6 (A)	Spirit: d10
Strength: d12+6	Vigour: d12

Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d12, Notice d8

Special Abilities: Bite (Str+d6)

Powers: Blast, Intangibility, Mind Link, Telekinesis

Pace: 6                  Parry: 8               Toughness: 8 (4)                   Size: 7 (large)

STA - Drashig

Control: 6	Fitness: 12	Presence: 10
Daring: 10	Insight: 5	Reason: 4
Command: 2	Security: 2	Science: 0
Conn: 0	Engineering: 0	Medicine: 0
Stress: 21	Resistance: 2

Traits: Due to its large size, the drashig has 50% more Stress than it would normally have.

Attack: Bite 5^ (Piercing-1, Vicious-1)

DW Monsters: Solonians

Following on from The Sea Devils, the next story we come to is The Mutants. The eponymous monsters here turn out not to be “mutants” at all but are instead a natural form of an alien race native to the planet Solos. While they have since received the odd passing reference here and there, they currently remain a one-off race, never appearing again in any of the novels, audios, or even (so far as I can tell) shorter works such as comics.

D&D Monsters: Oozes

We reach the final post in this series with the monsters that are, anatomically speaking, the simplest of them all. The idea of monstrous slime is essentially a modern one; some antecedents may exist here and there, but generally, we're thinking of the likes of the 1958 film The Blob or Clark Ashton Smith's formless spawn of Tsathoggua, which made their debut in 1931. 

The 1E Monster Manual includes a number of creatures that could loosely be described as oozes but only four of these have consistently appeared in the core rulebooks (excluding 4E, as I usually do, which retains just two of them in the MM1). Three of these are entirely amorphous, although the one that's perhaps the most notorious does at least have a shape.

DW Monsters: Sea Devils

Next up in season 9, we’re back to present-day Earth and The Sea Devils. The eponymous race are introduced as a variant form of the Silurians adapted to underwater life and, beyond the aquatic theme, provide a similar role in the TV show – although they do appear to be more inherently violent, presumably due to a warrior upbringing. They return much later in the classic run alongside the Silurians in Warriors of the Deep but were not seen again on screen until almost the end of the Thirteenth Doctor’s run. 

Outside of the TV series, they have proved less popular than their Silurian kin, appearing alongside the latter in the 1993 novel Blood Heat, but rarely featuring on their own outside of a few comics and short stories. They have appeared in just a couple of the audios, neither of which feature the Doctor and one of which is part of a larger Silurian plot arc. A mention in a novel that doesn’t feature them directly implies that they are the same as the Deep Ones created by H.P. Lovecraft - although beyond living underwater and being cold-blooded, there doesn’t seem to be much resemblance between the two.

D&D Monsters: Noncorporeal Undead

The concept of ghosts or other restless spirits is an ancient one, found, in some form or another in pretty much every human culture. The details vary considerably, and ghosts may not necessarily be malevolent, or even frightening but the basic idea is essentially universal. They're the sort of thing that just had to be included in D&D, albeit with the addition of generally making them more dangerous - and thus a meaningful threat - than they usually are in legend. There are several different types in the game, arguably a different sort of being from the corporeal undead, united by lacking a physical body and with various other means of inflicting harm. Four of these types are consistently present in the core rulebooks, although their details can vary significantly.

D&D Monsters: Succubi

The word "succubus" comes from Latin, referring to a type of demon that seduces men and slowly saps them of their vitality over a series of sexual encounters. This basic concept, however, long precedes even the Romans, with the general idea of  'evil demonic seductress' being fairly common across many cultures. It may, in part, be connected with the same sort of hypnogogic phenomenon that is responsible for the night hag myth - albeit interpreted in a more pleasurable manner. Indeed, succubi were not originally regarded as being attractive in their natural form - although, as with the D&D creature, they could shape-shift - the 'sexy' form only starting to become the standard in modern times.

DW Monsters: Peladon

The next story that we come to is The Curse of Peladon, which features no fewer than four different kinds of alien. Chief among them are the Ice Warriors, which I have already covered. Of the three new introductions, Arcturus’ abilities are more a product of the device he is using to move around, which must be customisable, so I’ll leave him out. That leaves Alpha Centauri and Aggedor.

Both reappear a couple of seasons later in The Monster of Peladon, and Alpha Centauri also has a cameo appearance (voiced by the same actress, no less) in the Twelfth Doctor story Empress of Mars. To date, Alpha Centauri has also appeared in five audios and one original novel, all set on Peladon, and the race has been referenced in a number of other novels. Aggedor is slightly less popular, appearing in two novels and one audio – although in their case, it’s different members of the same species rather than the same individual.

D&D Monsters: Mimics

The 1E Monster Manual includes several monsters that are essentially animate traps of one kind or another - floors that try to eat you, ceilings that try to eat you, stalactites that try to eat you, and so on. All of them with bland descriptive names rather than even an attempt at something atmospheric. The only one of these to remain consistently in the core rulebooks, however, is the mimic. Which is essentially a treasure chest that tries to eat you. It's certainly a contender for "silliest monster in D&D" (although it has some pretty stiff opposition) and it should come as no surprise that it's original to the game. Indeed, it's tailor-made for the "dungeon crawl" genre that D&D basically invented, since it makes even less sense in any other context than it does in that one.

So... yup, time for the mimic.

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1E

As originally described, the mimic is a living creature that, for no particular reason, can disguise itself as anything made from wood or stone. Or, given that the picture clearly shows one pretending to be a treasure chest with rivets and a lock in it, presumably anything made from metal as well. It's possible that the fact that they're only encountered in pitch-dark dungeons occasionally illuminated by flickering torch-light means that they don't need to be terribly effective at imitating things to get away with it, but the implication is that they're pretty skilled - there's no indication given of a potential victim having any chance at all of realising they're fake.

They're probably less convincing to the touch, given that they have a hide equivalent to tough leather, which is hardly going to trick you into thinking it's solid stone. But, of course, they don't need to be, because, by the time you touch them, it's too late. We're told that they attack by extruding a pseudopod, which is exactly what we see in the picture, so there's evidently some flexibility to their body. The mimic in the illustration also lacks any visible eyes, mouth, or other evident bodily features because that would rather defeat the disguise, but presumably, it can form them as and when it needs them. After all, if it doesn't have eyes at all, it isn't going to be frightened of light, which (like some real-world subterranean creatures) it apparently is.

We're also told that there are two different kinds of creature referred to as mimics. One is comparatively large and has about the same intelligence as a dog. The smaller one is as intelligent as a regular human, and can speak its own language. Why it bothers when it's entirely solitary and will therefore never, under any circumstances, have anyone else to speak the language with, is a bit of a mystery, as is how it manages to learn all the other languages it can supposedly converse in.

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2E

The illustration in 2E shows a more sophisticated form of pseudopod, ending in a pair of clawed tentacles, and has gone far enough into its attack mode to reveal a large mouth, lined with sharp carnivorous teeth and possessing a vertebrate-like tongue. On the other hand, it specifically lacks eyes, having photosensitive skin that can also sense body heat.

We're told that its hide is, in fact, stone-like and has a natural grey colour (this implies it must have a natural, resting, shape as well... but what it is we don't know). The armour class remains equivalent to tough leather, though, which may partly be because the thing can't really move about very much, but also seems to imply that the stony hide... isn't a very thick stony hide. Or perhaps it's brittle, like slate.

We're told that the non-sentient mimics are actively evil, which arguably raises some philosophical questions about the nature of evil. Oh, and mimics are immune to puddings. Which makes more sense in context than it sounds.

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3E

In 3E, the unintelligent mimics have disappeared, and the physical size stated for the creature matches that given for the smaller, brighter ones in the earlier edition. They weigh about two tons, which may sound a lot, but actually isn't when you consider that they have a volume of 150 cubic feet (4,250 litres). This works out to a density of just under 0.5 which is much less than we would expect for something made of flesh and blood... presumably, there are substantial air gaps inside it.

Their hide is tougher than before; it's hardly equivalent to plate steel, but it's on a par with mail armour, which is at least reasonably effective at warding off weapons. The text continues to describe their limbs as pseudopods, but the one in the picture is imitating humanoid arms, complete with fingers and thumbs and what appear to be claws. Indeed, the limbs look as if they have an internal skeleton... they probably don't, though, so they are likely much more flexible than they appear. Mimics are incredibly strong and physically resilient and their movement rate, while still dismal, is slightly better than it was before. They now speak Common, which at least allows some chance that somebody might be able to hold a conversation with one in its native language.

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5E

The mimic in the picture here is still pretending to be a treasure chest (we're assured they can disguise themselves as other things, but pictures of them doing so are comparatively rare). It still has pseudopods, although it isn't extruding them in the illustration, unless that's what the incredibly long tongue is supposed to be. It has far more teeth than in 2E, although, given that the form is mutable, that may not mean much. Oddly, though, it does have eyes - they must be concealed when they're closed, but that they're there at all is a change from 2E. 

The hide has dropped down to being equivalent to thick leather again, and the speed has significantly increased, even if it still can't catch a running human. (Not having legs can't be a boon there). More importantly, the intelligence rating has dropped down to somewhere close to that of a gorilla - higher than the dog-like rating of the larger mimics in the first two editions, but well below that of the smart ones. There are apparently a few exceptions that are just about able to speak with humans, but they're rare, implying quite a downturn in the braininess stakes.

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While it's just about possible to speculate as to what, say, a roper might be, a mimic, as described, is too weird to make any real stab at it. It's pretty clear that it doesn't resemble, even loosely, and real-world creature. Yet it is clearly meant to be a biological being of some kind, rather than a construct or demonic entity or whatever. In 5E, it isn't even an aberration, but merely a "monstrosity", a general term for living beings that aren't exceptionally alien.

In 2E, we're told that mimics have identifiable internal organs, so they aren't simply amorphous blobs that can take on other shapes. The fact that they're so mutable, and that their limbs are "pseudopods" counts strongly against the idea that they have an internal skeleton, and, in most editions, their outer hide isn't hard enough to be the short chitinous exoskeleton of an arthropod or calcareous shell of a mollusc, either. Not all molluscs have a shell, of course, and there are many other kinds of invertebrate in existence, some of which do, indeed, have a sort of leathery outer surface - although they don't have a habit of morphing into treasure chests or otherwise easily changing their shape.

The fact is, however, that we have nothing much to go on when considering what those internal organs might be, let alone how they might be arranged. There's a mouth, with teeth and a tongue, so there's going to be a digestive tube of some kind, although the mouth is so large that a stomach seems unnecessary. By the same logic, in addition to the orifices we know of, there must surely be an anus concealed somewhere on the body. This also implies excretory organs of some kind, although they don't necessarily need a separate opening.

The thing must breathe, and its size suggests lungs and a circulatory system with some kind of pump - although neither would have to look like the vertebrate versions. The nostrils appear to be concealed, so it's likely that the animal can hold its breath for extensive periods of time while it's inactive - something that's quite plausible when you consider that whales can do so for hours on end while swimming and actively searching for food, rather than just sitting motionless waiting for it come past.

The mimic's intelligence may vary, but it's high enough for it to require a brain and a nervous system, whether or not it also has eyes. Other organs are certainly possible, but the arrangement and/or shape may be alien enough to make some of them hard to identify.

Much of the internal body is likely composed of muscle, in addition to any air spaces to lighten its body as the 3E weight implies. But one of the things that's most notable about the mimic is its ability to change its shape, so whatever organs it possesses must be able to be compressed and re-arranged to suit its needs. There must be some limitations on a mimic's ability to, well, mimic, but we know that it can't change its overall volume or body mass, and this is significant when we consider that, supposedly, its favourite form other than a treasure chest is as a door.

Since the door doesn't need to actually open, it's probably much thicker than an actual door, extruding itself into whichever space it assumes potential prey won't be advancing from. But even so, it's surely flatter than a trunk, meaning that it can squeeze its organs into a new shape and arrangement when it needs to. Quite how far it can do isn't stated in the core rules, although something like a very long and narrow rope is probably beyond it without giving itself the equivalent of a hernia.

Mimics are said to be completely solitary - even in 1E, which often has creatures living in small groups. So they're probably asexual. 2E confirms this, and says that they reproduce by fission, which is a bit unlikely for anything so large and internally complex. However, some kind of asexual budding is a possibility, with the offspring being concealed inside the body until it is large enough to be extruded and wander off on its own.

The ecology of the mimic is, of course, completely bonkers given its extreme artificial specificity. 2E states that mimics were originally created by wizards and so were specifically designed as organic traps to place in the subterranean complexes that such people always feel the need to construct. What the heck they created them from is a bit of a mystery, but that they aren't constructs even to the extent that a flesh golem is implies that it must have been something (or several somethings merged). 

If we're willing to accept that wizards go around building dungeons and that they assume that treasure-seekers will break into them at some point and be distracted by a fake chest then... sure, making one that eats people isn't totally unreasonable. You can imagine that the Ancient Egyptians who put traps in their tombs to stop robbers might have done something like this if they thought they could get away with it... and if they could supply enough food for the mimic to survive on during the long waits between break-ins. (5E says that, looking as they do, mimics can be assured of  "a steady stream of prey". Dude, if your home is getting broken into that frequently, you should move to a lower-crime neighbourhood. We know you can afford it).

But how do mimics get from one dungeon to another? They don't seem to have the ability to pretend to be anything other than furniture, which is decidedly limiting as a form of camouflage. Yet if the things live worldwide, and aren't being created all the time, as golems and undead are (and even 5E, which is normally quite keen on this sort of explanation, doesn't go there for mimics) then travel they must. And know where to go.

Perhaps some dungeons-are-us delivery service is shipping them across the world to their clients.

D&D Monsters: Shambling Mounds

The most obvious inspiration for the shambling mound is the DC horror character Swamp Thing, a plant-based monster popular enough to appear in a rather naff '80s film and a far superior '20s television mini-series. Swamp Thing first appeared in 1971, well before the shambling mound's debut in 0E, so the timing works, although that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't a coincidence. Notably, for instance, the shambling mound is literally a mass of vegetation, which is a fair description of Swamp Thing... but only following the characters' reinvention by Alan Moore, five years after the Monster Manual. Since there isn't much further resemblance between the two, it seems likely that the shambling mound is an original creation, with no apparent antecedents in myth or legend.

DW Monsters: Ogrons

The remaining two stories of season 8 are:

•          The Colony in Space – apart from their leader, the aliens here do not seem very different from humans in their basic biology, although they do have specific skill sets
•          The Daemons – so far as we can tell, most, perhaps all, of the Daemons’ special abilities come from their near-magical technology, so I will pass on them

This brings us to season 9 and Day of the Daleks which, apart from including the obvious (albeit only briefly), introduces the Ogrons. These appear in two more stories during the Third Doctor’s era but have not been seen since then in the TV series. They have, however, often been mentioned or made brief appearances in other media, with significant roles in at least five novels and six audio plays to date. They mostly appear as mercenaries, but the audio Planet of the Ogrons does give us a brief look at their homeworld and native culture adding a little to what we already see in Frontier in Space.

Description and Biology

The Ogrons are tall and heavily muscled humanoid aliens with ape-like faces.  Given that they are alien, we don’t know how distinct they may be from humans biologically, although the implication would be “not by much”, at least to anyone that isn’t, say, trying to perform abdominal surgery on one. At least on TV, we haven’t seen any females of the species, so technically we don’t know that they’re mammalian, although they certainly seem to be and the likelihood is that here, too, they are little different from humans.

Game Attributes

The most obvious distinction between Ogrons and humans in terms of their statistics is that the former are much stronger. Given their builds and basic biology, it seems unlikely that their typical strength exceeds the human maximum, although some exceptional individuals clearly might. Nonetheless, even the average Ogron is clearly much stronger than the average human. There is some evidence that they are physically resilient, too – one would certainly expect them to have high endurance and they seem to be quite difficult to hurt. On the other hand, they are not inherently armoured, although they are usually seen wearing something that’s probably equivalent to leather armour. (Going from looks alone, it could also be some sort of Kevlar, but they don’t seem to be bullet-proof, so probably not).

It's also clear that Ogrons are relatively unintelligent. Nor do they seem especially strong-willed, given that they’re mostly seen working as grunts for the Daleks, implying a rather pliable mindset. Quite how stupid Ogrons are is difficult to say; they are clearly capable of using high-tech equipment provided to them by others, although this may require a fair bit of training. Even so, while it’s low, it’s probably not dramatically so, with the main limitation being their lack of native technology.

All the Ogrons we see are mercenaries (in a manner of speaking; it’s hard to imagine that the Daleks are actually paying them). They clearly have good combat skills, including with weapons beyond their native technology – after all, it doesn’t require tremendous smarts and understanding to point and fire a gun. They may have some other basic military skills, but otherwise they must be geared towards what’s essentially a tribal life on their home planet.

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5E - Ogron

Medium humanoid, neutral

Armour Class: 11 (light armour)

Hit Points: 34 (4d8+16)

Speed: 30 ft.

STR 16 (+3)	DEX 10 (+0)	CON 18 (+4)
INT 8 (-1)	WIS 8 (-1)	CHA 8 (-1)

Saving Throws: Strength +5, Constitution +6

Skills: Athletics +5, Intimidation +1, Perception +1

Combat Skills: Ranged Attack +2, Melee Attack +5

Senses: Passive Perception 11

Challenge: ¼ (50 XP)

BRP - Ogron

STR 3D6+6 (16-17)	CON 3D6+9 (19-20)	SIZ 2D6+9 (16)
INT 2D6+3 (10)	POW 3D6 (10-11)
DEX 3D6 (10-11)	CHA 2D6 (7)
Hit Points: 18	Move: 10
Base SR: 4	Damage Bonus: +1D6

Armour: 1-point light armour

Skills: Throw 40%

Combat Skills: Brawl 70%, Energy Pistol 60%

GURPS - Ogron

ST 16	DX 10	IQ 8	HT 16
Thrust: 1d+1		Swing: 2d+2
Speed: 6.5		Move: 5

Advantages: Extra Hit Points +2, Fit

Disadvantages: Status -1 (mercenary)

Skills: Beam Weapons (energy pistol)/TL10-12, Brawling-14, Intimidation-10, Knife-11, Soldier-10, Survival (quarry-like planets)-12, Throwing-10

Savage Worlds - Ogron

Agility: d6	Smarts: d4	Spirit: d6
Strength: d10	Vigour: d12

Skills: Fighting d8, Shooting d8, Survival d6

Edges: Brawny, Brute

Pace: 6                  Parry: 6                Toughness: 10 (1)                   Size: 1

STA - Ogron

Control: 8	Fitness: 11	Presence: 8
Daring: 9	Insight: 7	Reason: 7
Command: 0	Security: 2	Science: 0
Conn: 0	Engineering: 0	Medicine: 0
Stress: 13	Resistance: 1