Ram (Giant)
© 2013 Christopher Burdett
There are certain giant versions of animals that just really lend themselves to becoming good stand alone scary monsters... a wasp, octopus, or ant spider all perfect scary giant animal monsters. While on paper a giant sheep... or ram, might seem like a scary animal... it still is just a sheep. But you put a humanoid on the ram... you have the cunning of a man creature with the size, strength and natural weapons of a GIANT RAM... now you got yourself something to worry your players. I also just didn't want to make this into some kind of mutant or abomination to add to its menace as a giant creature, there will be plenty of that to come, I wanted to make a big giant - while completely normal - version of this animal. They just seem to grow them really big up north in the land of eternal snow...
My first 100 original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual redesigns (A - Z): Aerial Servant, Ankheg, Ant (Giant), Ape (Carnivorous), Ape (Gorilla), Axe Beak, Axe Beak (version 2), Baboon, Badger, Barracuda, Basilisk, Baluchitherium, Bear (Black), Bear (Brown), Bear (Cave), Beaver (Giant), Beetle (Giant) - Bombardier, Beetle (Giant) - Boring, Beetle (Giant) - Fire, Beetle (Giant) - Rhinoceros, Beetle (Giant) - Stag, Beetle (Giant) - Water, Beholder, Black Pudding, Blink Dog, Boar (Giant), Boar (Warthog), Boar (Wild), Brain Mole, Brownie, Bugbear, Buffalo, Bulette, Carrion Crawler, Catoblepas, Cerebral Parasite, Chimera, Cockatrice, Coutal, Crab (Giant), Demon Type III (Glabrezu), Demon (Juiblex), Demon (Manes), Devil (Ice), Dragon (Red), Elemental (Earth), Ettin, Eye of the Deep, Flightless Bird, Frog (Giant), Fungi (Violet), Giant (Hill), Goblin, Golem (Flesh), Hobgoblin, Homunculus, Hydra, Imp, Intellect Devourer, Ixitxachitl, Jackal, Jacklewere, Jaguar, Ki-Rin, Kobold, Lich, Lizard (Giant), Lizardman, Manticore, Mind Flayer, Minotaur, Naga, Neo-Otygugh, Nixie, Ochre Jelly, Ogre, Owlbear, Peryton, Pixie, Purple Worm, Quasit, Ram (Giant), Roper, Rust Monster, Sahuagin, Salamander, Shambling Mound, Treant, Troglodyte, Troll, Umber Hulk, Unicorn, Vampire, Wasp (Giant), Wight, Wyvern, Xorn, Yeti, and Zombie.
That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday! Until then...
For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com
Such a great idea! When you consider how many ice age mega-fauna used to wander the tundra, it's not an outlandish stretch that one of this behemoths could come lumbering out of the blizzard. And why wouldn't humans harness that kind of power? I don't know if you remember the N64 Castlevania game, but this totally reminds me of the giant ram/bull thing that you have to fight in the basement. Thanks for the memories :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) With a lot of these "giant" animals in the Monster Manual I feel only some of them make good stand alone monsters. And like I said, there is a limit to how many of them I can make into giant mutants. The Ram Rider of Rohan....? Maybe not after all... :P
DeleteNever played the N64 Castlevania... actually have no memory of the game at all. I was a Mario / Zelda player.