RMA: Medusa

Monsters with petrification attacks are not new fodder for this blog, and this Greek classic has been mentioned in those conversations, but I haven't done a full write-up on her before. She is a rather interesting monster for a few reasons, so let's get to it, shall we?

First off, I'm going to mention the pedantic issue of the name and then drop the issue. I know that in mythology Medusa was the individual character's name, not a race. I'm not sure of why D&D handles the name this way - perhaps because of the other D&D Gorgon - but for whatever reason, like the Pegasus, Medusa has become synonymous with the creature type.

Secondly, you know I loves me some Harryhausen, but just to be clear, he completely made up* the whole "half snake, half woman" design for 1981's Clash of the Titans. The original creature was a woman with snake hair and a face that would make a train take a dirt road.

Medusas (Medusae?) have a reputation for being TPK material, which may be why I have not seen them used much. Granted there is one in B2's Caves of Chaos, but other than that I personally haven't run into them much. When you look at the stats, though, they have some weaknesses along with their obviously strengths.

Medusa (from Moldvay)

AC: 8
HD: 4**
Move: 90' (30')
Att: 1 snakebite + special
Damage: 1d6 + poison
No. App. 1d3 (1d4)
Save: F4
Morale: 8
Treasure: F
AL: C

NOTE: For convenience I'm going to refer to the medusa as "she/her" instead of "it", even though the Medusa isn't really human (I'm not going to even get into the idea of an all-female species!)

With her poor AC and so-so hit dice and low morale, its obvious she isn't a combat powerhouse. We'll get to her petrification ability in a moment, but first I want to talk about the snakes. Despite having a head full of them, she only gets the one 1d6 bite per round. Sure it's save or die. But it's death in one turn, which gives the afflicted character a chance to keep fighting, or get a Neutralize Poison cast on him before keeling over. Beyond that, she has no other attack.

"But wait!" You say. "Her gaze is an attack!"

Nope.

The description is quite clear. It is the act of looking at the medusa's face that petrifies its victims, not her looking at you. She can (and often does) try to find ways to trick people into looking at her face (she's Chaotic, after all), but Flesh to Stone beams don't shoot out of her peepers. Some petrifying creatures, like the Gorgon and Cockatrice, attack to "stone" their victims. Not so the medusa.

That being said, it's still a dangerous ability. Typically, she will trick a party into looking her while covered with a hood or veil or some such. Then, WHAMMO! A few bad saves and she has a new statue garden. PCs that avoid getting stoned are left either hamstringing themselves by shutting their eyes or trying to mess with a mirror. On top of all this, the medusa is getting a fat +2 to saves against any incoming spells.

It's interesting to note that by strict interpretation, even though multiple medusae can appear in an encounter, each one is only vulnerable to seeing its own face (not the others').

Given its tactics described on B39 and in The Keep, it's fair to assume a medusa has human level intelligence. This begs the question "What does it want?" I expect a lot of good RP fodder and plot hooks could be found here. Obviously if she had or knew something important to the PCs, she might ask a favor in return, as she certainly can't easily move about in normal society to get what she wants or needs.

* “Every statue I’d seen [Medusa] was just a woman with a pretty face and had snakes in her hair. Well, that wasn’t very dramatic, so I gave her a rather demonic look. We gave her a rattlesnake’s tail, so that she could be a menace from the sound effect point-of-view. It was a shock to see her come out from behind the wall crawling on her hands because that was the only way she could propel herself.” 

- Ray Harryhausen

Stone Cold Killers

"Old school players are only scared of two things: energy drain and things that turn your ass to stone."  -'Clip', from Dragonsfoot

I read that line on a message forum a long time back. (If someone knows who originally said it, please let me know and I'll credit the quote.) It's an interesting statement, and encapsulates a lot of what folks consider "Old School" play. I'm not going to get into the merits of one style of play vs. another, or if those mechanics are good or bad. Rather, I just want to say a little bit about one of those two threats: Petrification.

I'm going to say right up front that, in my games, I've got no trouble with people being turned to stone. I'm sorry, but it's too firmly rooted in fantasy and mythology to leave out.

Oh yeah, him!

Now, I will say it should probably be pretty uncommon. When you look at the ways it can happen, you've only got a few options (without custom traps/monsters). 

• Flesh to Stone spell (6th level MU)
• Some magic items (Eyes of Petrification, etc.)
• Certain monsters
• Beholder*
• Medusa
• Basilisk
• Cockatrice
• Gorgon

*The Beholder is a 1e monster, but a variation appears in Labyrinth Lord's AEC, so I put it on the list. 

If you go by the random encounter charts, the first creature that shows up is the cockatrice, and that's on levels 4-5. So it's not something PCs are sweating right out of the gate. Plus, a cockatrice's petrification power is dependent upon a successful melee attack, unlike a medusa's gaze or a gorgon's breath. 

Such creatures can put a good scare into the party, and might even be best avoided (run from). Fair GMs often leave some tell tales, like a hall filled with statues in poses of fear, etc. If the PCs have been thus warned, then it's on them to deal with the consequences. I don't think putting a medusa or similar in an adventure is a "Screw the PCs" move necessarily, but a total bushwhack might be harder to justify.

[Apologies for the brief 'At the Table' story: In a Ylaruam-based campaign I ran, the party heard of an abandoned place known as the Valley of the Statues, where some curse had petrified dozens of townsfolk a century ago. The remaining villagers fled. There had indeed been a basilisk at work, and its descendent still lived in a cave near there. The PCs were adequately warned by the rumors and were suitably cautious.]

The particulars of how the effect occurs aside, there are a couple things to keep in mind when/if it happens. 

1. In almost every case, there is a saving throw allowed.
2. There is a specific spell that reverses the effects (and can be used by the players if they have access to it!)

Frankly, I think it makes more sense to leave the statue behind and come back to it. 6'-7' cubic feet of rock can weigh close to half a ton! Not to mention its fragility. Break off that arm, and you'll be calling him Lefty.

While getting his PC turned to stone in the middle of an adventure is no fun for the player, he can always take heart in the fact that:

• His stuff is safe from pilfering PCs.
• Wandering monsters won't feast on his corpse if the party leaves him behind.
• Unlike Raise Dead, there isn't a time limit on Stone to Flesh.
• Even though it's 6th level, you might get a StF scroll and have the party mage/elf read it, regardless of level.

In the meantime, play a hireling and get on with the game. No hirelings? I thought we were talking old-school here! ;-)