Original D&D Discussion - inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters?

« inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters? »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
May 19, 2013, 6:26am

Original D&D Discussion :: Other :: "Third Party" and Non-TSR Classics :: inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters?

Author

Topic: inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters? (Read 401 times)

geoffrey
Level 9 Sorcerer

member is offline

[avatar]

Master of Carcosa

Joined: Oct 2007
Gender: Male

Posts: 1,556
Karma: 87

inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters?
« Thread Started on Jul 13, 2010, 12:15am »

Keeping in mind that Encounter Critical was published in its second corrected edition in Feb. 1979, let's list the inspirations for each of EC's monsters. I've listed what I know (or think I know). If I got some things wrong, don't hesitate to set me straight! I'll update the list periodically as my esteemed fellow posters chime in:

1. Asteroid Worm (The Empire Strikes Back film)
2. Bee Girl (Invasion of the Bee Girls 1973 film)
3. Bee Girl Queen (Invasion of the Bee Girls 1973 film)
4. Blink Beast (blink dogs from D&D's Supplement I: GREYHAWK)
5. Cave Ooze (The Blob 1958 film)
6. Crater Lake Monster (The Crater Lake Monster 1977 film)
7. Demon (various sources)
8. Dragon of Darkness
9. Dragon of Fire (various sources, including The Hobbit 1977 film)
10. Dragon of Wisdom (Chinese myth?)
11. Giant Ant (various sources, including Them! 1954 film)
12. Giant Gold Spider
13. Giant Sand Lizard
14. Giant Serpent (anacondas and pythons)
15. Giant Spider (various sources, including The Hobbit 1977 film)
16. Giant, 1-Headed (various sources)
17. Giant, 2-Headed (various sources)
18. Giant, 3-Headed (various sources)
19. Gjenie (Arabic myth)
20. Goblin (The Hobbit 1977 film)
21. Godzilla (the first 16 Godzilla films, 1954-1975)
22. Haunted Quick Sand
23. Hyperspace Gremlin
24. Infernal Ape
25. Jungle Flower
26. Living Dead (Night of the Living Dead 1968 film and Dawn of the Dead 1978 film)
27. Magic Statue
28. Manion Devil
29. Mega Turtle (One Million Years B. C. 1966 film; Gamera films, Showa Series 1965-1980)
30. Mummy (various Universal and Hammer Mummy films)
31. Orc (Tolkien)
32. Phasic Wolf
33. Pyrexis Hounds
34. Radioactor
35. Raider Rats
36. Rogue Robodroid
37. Ruin Slug
38. Sky Pirana
39. Smog Monster (Godzilla vs. Hedorah/the Smog Monster 1971 film)
40. Specteral Spirit
41. Succubus Demon (various sources)
42. Tyrannosaurus Rex (real!)
43. Vampire (various sources, especially the various Universal and Hammer vampire films)
44. Whirling Dervish (real!)

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Click here for a review of Isle of the Unknown, a Wilderlands-style hex-crawl (only more so).

Falconer
Level 9 Sorcerer

Cleric of OD&D
member is offline

[avatar]

OD&D, Middle-earth, Star Trek TOS

Joined: Sept 2007
Gender: Male

Posts: 1,338
Location: Chicago, IL
Karma: 51

Re: inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters
« Reply #1 on Jul 13, 2010, 1:48am »

Jul 13, 2010, 12:15am, geoffrey wrote:

24. Infernal Ape

“The Beast in the Cave” by H.P. Lovecraft and “Rogues in the House” by Robert E. Howard plus of course the “white ape” of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Mars books.

Jul 13, 2010, 12:15am, geoffrey wrote:

27. Magic Statue

OD&D mentions it and it was given a proper writeup in Tegel Manor (reprinted in Ready Ref Sheets).

Jul 13, 2010, 12:15am, geoffrey wrote:

31. Orc (Tolkien)

Hmm, jarring in this context. It has to be “Tolkein”! ;-)

« Last Edit: Jul 13, 2010, 1:48am by Falconer »

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Michael Falconer - Old School Star Trek Role-playing
Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?

A man may do both. For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day! —J.R.R. Tolkien

snorri
Level 7 Enchanter

member is offline

[avatar]

Melee is fast and furious.

Joined: Oct 2008
Gender: Male

Posts: 679
Location: Lille, France
Karma: 45

Re: inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters
« Reply #2 on Jul 13, 2010, 5:14am »

- Cyclops (The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, 1958) http://theseventhvoyage.com/thecyclops.htm
- Winged man (Barbarella, 1968) http://barbarella.mon-oueb.com/media/barbarella.jpg
- Nosferatu (1922) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcyzubFvBsA

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

http://awizardinabottle.blogspot.com/

fnast
Level 1 Medium

member is offline

Joined: Jul 2010
Gender: Male

Posts: 24
Karma: 6

Re: inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters
« Reply #3 on Aug 29, 2010, 11:55pm »

Man, I love Encounter Critical!

Manion Devil is a pun on Tasmanian devil.

The Giant Sand Lizard would probably be inspired by the dewbacks of Tatooine.

Ruin Slug immediately brings to mind the Giant Slug illo in the Monster Manual.

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

abecross
Level 3 Conjurer

member is offline

[avatar]

Joined: Aug 2009
Gender: Male

Posts: 50
Location: Utica, NY
Karma: 1

Re: inspirations for Encounter Critical's monsters
« Reply #4 on Sept 10, 2010, 10:01am »

Sky Piranhas, aren't there something similar (possibly sky sharks) in Arduin?

Link to Post - Back to Top IP:

Logged

Click Here To Make This Board Ad-Free