View allAll Photos Tagged 3rdEdition
Queen Vlaakith CLVII, The Lich Queen, is the ruler of all Githyanki (green-skinned D&D monks). She took over after the disappearance of the original Gith, is an undead Lich monster, forged the pact between Githyanki and Red Dragons, and is the entire reason why the race is seen as evil. Vlaakith is BAD NEWS, but she runs her race well fromt he city of Tu'narath.
We all know how hard liches are to kill. Now multiply that byt he power she gains from being a nearly-worshipped absolute monarch over an entire species! In a fight between Vlaakith and Lady Vol...
Once upon a time, he was human. Now, he's a berserk monster whose only desire is to kill, kill, kill!
Lord Soth is pretty much D&D's Darth Vader.
A death knight and servant of Tahkisis (in Dragonlance), Soth rampaged his way through his own setting, and eventually left his mark on Ravenloft, too. He was so awesome that, even when the writers tried to give him a pathetic death, Soth took out a whole castle!
Also, he's got one of the best-looking minis ever.
Hailing from ancient Arabian myth, the Manticore is a horrible beast with the body of a lion, the face of a man, and the tail of a scorpion. Some versions have wings. This is an ancient, ancient creature, showing up in myths well over two thousand years old. The MAnticore devours its victims hole, only rarely even leaving bones behind!
One of the little modifications in flavor they made in 4th Edition was to make Devils more military-minded - not that they weren't already, but they had ranks of actual soldiers added to their species. Shocktroop Devils are BIG, mean, and meant to charge through things. They're pretty simple in that way.
Near the town of Sandpoint is a legendary beast. Few know if it exists - fewer still live to tell the tale.
And that's how Pathfinder incorporated the Jersey Devil into the World of Golarion.
One of the horrific abominations made at the dawn of time, Blood Fiends are four-armed living weapons that know nothing except violence. Rip and tear! RIP AND TEAR!!!!
The Alhoon, or Illithilich, is what happens when a Mind Flayer chooses to become a lich. It becomes a pariah to its people by embracins necromancy and rejecting the psionic heritage of the Illithids, but trades it for immortality. Alhoons combine the deviousness and genius evil of the Mind Flayers with the crafty cruelty and power of a lich. Beware!
Also known as Deep Dragons, these sinuous, serpentine draconic beings live deep under the earth, and are both loved and feared by the Drow. It's a miracle that their wings still function, and yet they do. Purple dragons breathe a sort of corrosive, acidic gas.
I think I've dated them both! HAHAHA... Okay, lame joke. But really, were they TRYING to set up something like that? Sheesh.
Also, is that harpy a dude?
Many have tried to bring the orcs to civilization; they usually ransack it and go back home. But Obould managed to bring civilization to the orcs!
King of the Broken Arrow tribe, Obould was specially blessed by the god Gruumsh with both intelligence and strength, and quickly became more than a simple orc chieftan. He is a true king, organizing and leading many varied tribes of orc into a cohesive army, and then an empire. Of course, this makes him a bad guy, because ORCS R BAD, and anybody attempting to civilize orcs must be bad, too. But Obould gets the last laugh - officially, the "good guys" never defeat him, he builds a cohesive empire, and lives out a full life. Ha!
I see nothing nonsensical about taking, say, an eight-foot-tall ogre and turning it into a zombie. It's just better insurance that way.
Not all Mind Flayers are mages and psionics - some pride themselves in their physical prowess, fighting from the shadows like a ninja of old.
After receiving inspiration from a Dreamblade figure, Dungeons & Dragons invented Elemental Archons - elemental spirits tied to a suit of armor, and serving as foot soldiers. Water ones are interesting, in that they lack a water elemental's typical tactic of becoming invisible under water, but totally make up for it with that snazzy Triton thing going on.
I need aquatic backgrounds. This is sad.
A rarity among his kind, Mokmurian is a stone giant with magical ability. Although essentially an outcast, he soon began to lead his own giant tribe, and from there united others under his personal brand as an army - loyal to him, and nobody else. But little does the sorcerer know that his plans ultimately feed into the hands of Karzoug, the ancient Runelord and ruler of the Thassilonian realm.
No photoshop! Just fancy lighting!
The older a lich grows, the greater his power and reputation, as well. And this one... who knows how many eons he has seen pass from the safety of his lair?
Also known as Barbazu, the Bearded Devils are shock troopers in Hell's army. These vicious creatures are named for their "beards," snaky tendril protrusions much like the medusa's hair. But there's more to them than that - they are fierce, intelligent, vicious, tactical soldiers.
The incomprehensible, mad gods of the outer parts of the universe are served by these strange, bloated, blind things. They continually dance around the great Azathoth, playing insane melodies to appease the Blind Idiot God. Theyalso perform the terrifying will of their masters throughout the cosmos, often "assisting" ignorant cultists in serving the will of the Outer Gods.
Powerful, loyal soldiers, Dragonborn Myrmidons serve Bahamut in warfare. They aren't as holy as the paladins, but they don't need to be.
Scan from the 1961 book "Karlsruhe - Ein Bildband" by Erich Bauer - rare thing, given I found this at an English house in 2014..
Evil even for an Illithid, the Mind Flayer Scourge is one of the most feared varieties of its kind! Beware, it will harvest your brain if it gets half the chance.
Not all orcs are big, hulking brutes. Some, like Ember, choose the way of the travelling wizard instead. He's... not Gandalf, that's for sure.
The Roleplayer's Credo: In My Dreams I AM A Dwarven King.
Fight! Wield that chicken leg for JUSTICE!
Some trolls are much, much larger than others. Mountain Trolls are titans even for their kind, and are walking disasters - anything in their way gets swept aside as if by a hurricane.
Sometimes, a Draegloth is kind of smart (usually if it's a girl). Those ones get to become SPECIAL demon priests, which just underscores how weird Drow are. Seriously.
The big one is the Psion Killer, an anti-psychic crystal golem that has been in D&D for a long time. The little one is a Shardmind, a playable race of red crystal psionic constructs. It's pretty awesome how they managed to player-raceize one of them, and... well, I have to admit, my Shardmind Avenger is one of my favorite D&D characters I have ever played.
So there!
Possibly the most popular of the Dragonspawn, Blackspawn Exterminators are basically acid-spitting dragon ninjas.
That pretty much says it all doesn't it?
Another of D&D's most epic archvillains, Manshoon is a powerful wizard, founder and leader of the Zhentarim, a gigantic mercenary army. He's also dead - he got his ass killed a while ago!
but you see, Manshoon is a proper supervillain, and he built himself a lot of clone bodies as backups. They all activated. Now there are MANY Manshoons! Sure, lots of them have died at some point or another, but Manshoon is one of those villains who's pretty much never, ever going to go away. Ever.
Featured on Life In Plastic: nerditis.com/2013/03/13/life-in-plastic-obscure-toy-lines...
Behirs are gigantic multi-legged reptiles that resemble dragons, but are not exactly related. They can run quite well on their legs or slither and coil like serpents depending on need, and can defend themselves (from what? This thing could eat an elephant) with lightning breath. Behirs are solitary monsters, though they can occasioanlly be found in small family units.
And yes, this is another classic D&D monster.
Featured on Life In Plastic: nerditis.com/2013/03/13/life-in-plastic-obscure-toy-lines...
Horned Devils do not have terribly prominent horns, but they are devils! The original Horned Devil was soon split into Cornugons and Malebranches, which became "war Devils" (the only real difference was that they had pitchforks). Sometimes, they are blended together again, since the chain vs. trident difference isn't really enough for a new species.
The Hezrou is a type of D&D demon that resembles a hulking cyborg frog. It's got a nasty stench, and attacks with brute force and muscle. It also has two D&D minis, and I thought I'd show them off in the best way possible: WITH A WALTZ!
I'm thinking that these will serve as my future wedding cake toppers. You know, "Well, you two certainly seem made for each other..."
A Gray Slaad! Gray Slaads (slaadi?) are kind of small, but they make up for that with reality-tearing magic! They're also kind of intelligent, too.
"Gawrsh, you're in Hell now, a-hyuck!"
The Demon Lord of Gnolls, King of Ghouls, Father of Brutality, Yeenoghu is one of the oldest demon lords (dating back to the '70s!), and although he is not in the same league as Orcus, Demogorgon, or Graz'zt, he has caused trouble for generations of heroes. The god of all Gnolls, Yeenoghu delights in brutality, particularly in using his triple flail (made with the bones of a murdered god!). He stole the deomain of ghouls from Orcus, at one point even controlling Doresain, the Ghoul King.
It's not his fault that the mini looks so much like Goofy.
Frost Giants may resemble their Jotun kin from Norse mythology, but Frost TItans are made of the actual icy element itself! So he's sort of like a reaaaaally evil Santa claus mixed with the Cold Miser. Kinda.
It's actually amazing how it took until the second 4E Monster Manual for Frost Giants to come back. It just sort of happened in the shuffle.
The people of Kingsport have a unique Yuletide celebration, dating back to before even the pagans.
Crawling things, flying abominations, and the Worm That Walks...
A "drake" is not quite a dragon. Some look like smaller dragons, others resemble dinosaurs (or flat-out are dinosaurs), and a few are kind of a mixture between the two. Ragedrakes fall into this category - they aren't smart, they lack breath weapons, but they seem a little more like dragons than many of their drakish kin. They can also be trained into good mounts, too.
One of the most powerful of the Solonavi, the Avenger is their frontline fighter, striking enemy forces with terrible wrath. one of them made it into the main plotline, too, by killing the Orc leader.
I've already explained Yugoloths (the third Fiend type, later absorbed into demons, neutral evil mercenaries). Mezzoloths (Mezzodemons?) are the rank-and-file soldiers of these infernal mercenaries. Resembling little more than giant cockroaches, these creatures wield vicious tridents and have access to a number of spells, including the lethal Cloud Kill.
NOTE: That one in the back used to hold a trident, but it is the single most fragile D&D mini in existence, with a stress point RIGHT on the trident. I have about eight of them, and almost all broke immediately. The later redo (in the front row) is much, much sturdier.
Featured on Life In Plastic: nerditis.com/2013/03/13/life-in-plastic-obscure-toy-lines...
"With a terrifying howl, the orc ripped into his enemy and split his skull."
Howling orcs make normal orcs look peaceful. They are a special subgroup of berserkers who see slaughter as their whole purpose in life. And y ou'd better bet they get to it.
When you hear a howl, be afraid. When you hear many howls, run.
This type of elemental is nearly its own tidal wave, easily capable of drowning people within its own body. And you can't escape this tsunami by going inland!
He wields the power of the Storm in his hands, and none may stand in his way.
Okay, this is just plain awesome. Sure, he's basically Smurf Zeus, but Storm Titans are AWESOME!
In 4th Edition, elemental-themed giants got somewhat ofg an upgrade. Well, sort of. The giants stayed the same as before, but there are also now Titans, who are one size category larger and much closer to their elemental origins - so a Fire Giant is still just a big giant with black skin and orange hair and fire resistance, but a Fire Titan is actually linked to fire and lava. Likewise, Storm Giants are big blue or purple or green giants, and Storm Titans are basically Zeus.
Featured on Life In Plastic: nerditis.com/2013/03/13/life-in-plastic-obscure-toy-lines...
One of the ultimate classic D&D monsters, the Umber Hulk has been around since the very beginning, and has no mythological precedent whatsoever. A big beetle shaped kind of like an ape, Umber Hulks can burrow through the earth like it's water, and looking into their eyes will confuse almost anybody. They are smarter than they look, though still very much animals, and can show an impressive amount of tactics when hunting for a meal.
Oddly enough, a lot of subterranean races have managed to tame Umber Hulks, even some of the ones that grow to massively huge sizes.
Dragonborn are a whole race of draconic hybrids, proud warriors who live between two worlds, yet serve Bahamut fully. They are kind of new to D&D (almost ten years old), but fit perfectly into the game's basic philosophy of "be awesome... or get squashed, but play what you think is cool."
I refuse to say "Lizardfolk." D&D's sudden shift to "folk" was kind of a silly move. Lizardfolk, mongrelfolk, treefolk, etc... eh, just my old codgery rant.
Lizardmen of the Blackscale tribe are HUGE, roughlyhe size of ogres. A normal human would come up to roughly the waist of one, in fact. This makes them highly sought-after mercenaries.
It's funny and silly, but something about this dragon's shape makes it hard for my camera to focus on it. But anywayyyyyyy...
Good-natured metallic dragons, Adamantine Dragons are somewhat obscure, mostly gaining a boost in 4th Edition because the previous "basic" set of five metallic dragons had copper, brass, and bronze which all look and act alike. Adamantine dragons are forceful, direct, and prefer frontal assaults to subterfuge. They also have a "thundrous" breath weapon, which does not mean lightning - it means sound damage... so these guys basically just yell REALLY REALLY LOUDLY.