D&D Monsters: Demons

Given that "demon" is such a broad term in real-world mythology and religion, there are inevitably many different interpretations and forms of the beings. They were included in D&D right from 0E, where they are listed simply by a numbered type, increasing in power from one to six. Alternative names are provided in 1E, which become the standard names from 2E onwards. Notably, 2E also tried to pretend that they weren't really "demons", lest that offend anyone religious, and described them instead using the invented word tanar'ri. 3E switched back to "demon" again, explaining that the "tanar'ri" were merely a common subtype; the latter term has largely been deprecated since. 5E restored the numbered type sequence, but only as rarely-used categories of increasing power so that, for example, chasme mosquito-demons are now another example of Type 2 demons, alongside the original hezrou.

D&D Monsters: Vrocks

The word "demon" comes from Ancient Greek where it was used to describe semi-divine beings and generally lacked the negative connotations of the modern word. Early Christians later co-opted it as a term for "servitors of foreign/hostile deities", from which it rapidly morphed into something more explicitly evil. In that sense, it's a common concept in many real-world religions, a generic term not linked to any one in particular and that therefore fits with the typically polytheistic worldview of D&D.

The vrock specifically has no direct antecedents in mythology or in Christian demonology. It may be partly inspired by the demonic Tash from C.S. Lewis's Narnia books, but the resemblance isn't that strong and could be coincidental. Vultures appear in the myths of both African and American cultures since similar birds live on both continents. (In reality, the "vultures" on either side of the Atlantic are not closely related, despite their physical similarity, but this may not be relevant in a fantasy world).

DW Monsters: Silurians

Following on from the Sontarans, I’m going to look at six other humanoid races that have made regular or semi-regular appearances on the show. I’ll start with the Silurians.

Appearances

The Silurians make their debut in the somewhat oddly titled Third Doctor story Doctor Who and the Silurians. This establishes many of the basics of the race, including the ambiguity about whether they count as ‘evil monsters’ or not. In the later Third Doctor story The Sea Devils, it becomes clear that there are multiple forms of their race, although the Sea Devils themselves are sufficiently different from the baseline Silurians that I’m going to leave them for a later post. The Silurians make a final classic series appearance during the Fifth Doctor’s run in Warriors of the Deep, teaming up with the Sea Devils. In the modern show, they’ve only really appeared as villains once, in the Eleventh Doctor story The Hungry Earth, which partly mirrors the plot of their original story. They have also been mentioned and made brief appearances in other stories, even if we ignore Madame Vastra.

D&D Monsters: Nagas

Nagas originate in Hindu mythology, in which they are magical beings that can take on various snake-like forms. Some appear as literal snakes and, indeed, the scientific name of the main cobra genus is Naja, based on the Sanskrit word for 'cobra'. Similarly, it's no coincidence that the feminine form of this word is "nagini" - although the exact English spelling can vary.

Often capable of shape-shifting, mythic nagas can take on fully human or partially humanoid form, with the latter more usually resembling the yuan-ti and mariliths of D&D than the shape seen in the game (although this is not unknown). Nagas are generally said to be righteous, if not exactly benevolent, and are often set to guard the treasures of the gods, hence at least the 'guardian nagas' of D&D.

D&D Monsters: Sphinxes

The sphinx is a creature of Greek myth, taking the form of a winged lion with a human face. In the original myths, she is, like the minotaur and many others, a unique creature, and appears most famously in the story of Oedipus. 

Confusingly, however, the term was retrospectively employed (possibly by the Greeks themselves) to also refer to the wingless lion-bodied statues of Ancient Egypt. These aren't the same thing as the Greek monster, and it isn't known what the Egyptians actually called them. They were usually, but not always, male and, judging from the statuary, were probably perceived as good and noble beings, unlike the much more hostile Greek creation. 

It seems to be the case that, in D&D, the male or "androsphinx" was based largely on the Egyptian creature (albeit with the addition of wings), while the female or "gynosphinx" has closer links with the Greek version.

DW Monsters: Sontarans

I'm going to kick off this series with the Sontarans. That's partly because they've just been heavily featured in a new episode as I write this, but also because they are one of the races with the greatest potential for stories. They could even be adapted for other SF settings with a few serial numbers filed off. For that matter, they would make decent player characters, but I'm describing them here only as opponents since player rules would involve game balance considerations beyond the scope of these posts.

To begin with, let’s list the available source material, then look at what we know about this particular race.

Doctor Who Monster and Alien Stats (Intro)

Following on from my previous series of classic Doctor Who companions considered as if they were characters in a roleplaying game, I'll be starting another occasional series here looking at some of the "monsters" from the series. The aim here will be to consider how they would be described in game terms, rather than to expand on what we know, or provide other intangible details. There are plenty of online guides already giving that sort of information, with the TARDIS Data Core being perhaps the most thorough. 

Unlike I did with the companions, I'll conclude by providing some suggested game stats. These will not be for the DWAITAS system, since those stats already exist; this is more an exercise in seeing how other systems might cope with particular concepts. But, rather than sticking to one single system, I'll be trying out five different ones, to see what we get.