Moldvay Musings X: We have liftoff!

I've talked about flying in D&D before, but I wanted to briefly touch upon a nugget of wisdom in Cook that I recently re-read.

In the section on Traveling by Air (X20), it actually gives guidelines for how big (in HD) a creature needs to be to pick up or carry a person. This is useful not only for transport, but for whether a monster can snatch up a PC and carry him off into the air. For example, 3+ HD is required to lift a halfling or smaller. Therefore, technically, a cockatrice could carry a halfling or gnome off. Weird!

This information is incredibly handy, IMO, as it gives me as a DM a quick reference to decide about the tactics of aerial encounters, which can be complex enough as it is. For example, my group recently fought some harpies. While there were no hobbit-sized PCs or NPCs, it would have been nice to know ahead of time that they could have been carried off. (The idea of a charmed halfling just holding out his arms and being flown to the nest for devouring makes me laugh.)

RMA: Harpies

Despite their mythological pedigree, harpies are not a common occurence in games I've played or run. Which is odd, because their fit the bill for so many things I find compelling in an old-school monster encounter:

1) They're stats allow for use in low level games, but their abilities make them interesting even for more powerful characters.

2) Their magical abilities are scary, but not insta-TPK.

3) The fact they can fly adds a fun tactical twist to encounters.

4) They are intelligent enough (INT 7, according to the Rules Cyclopedia) that communication and varying response are possible.

So, let's take a look at these feathered fiends.

Harpy (from Moldvay)
AC: 7
HD: 3*
Move: 60' (20')
Fly: 150' (50')
Att: 2 claws/1 weapon + special
Damage: 1d4/1d4/1d6 + special
# App.: 1d6 (1d8)
Save: F3 (+2)
Morale: 7
AL: C
TT: C

First off, it may (or may not) be worth pointing out that Gygax & co. sort of mashed together two mythological critters into the D&D harpy. Harpies were bird women that stole and killed. Sirens were bird women that sang and charmed victims. Easy enough to confuse or conflate, but I just thought I'd mention that the harpies of myth were not typically portrayed as hypnotic singers.

Anyway, the harpy is said to be part giant eagle, part hideous woman. As there is no "Eagle, Giant" in BX, let's go with the giant hawk. It's pretty close HD-wise to the harpy and is described as the size of a large dog or small pony. So that sounds like it could be the creature's lower half. A giant hawk can carry away small targets like halflings, so right there you can have some fun. Imagine a charmed hobbit letting himself literally get carried away!

Harpies have lousy morale, so they are likely to flee at any fierce resistance. Harpies aren't smart, but the aren't mindless animals either. The description says a successful save lets a character resist the song for the rest of the encounter. Meaning if the ladybirds show back up later that day, it's time to roll again! They could harry a party striving to lure at least one PC away with their song. Perhaps enticing him to walk off a cliff! Then the PCs would have to find a way to reach the body while the harpies simply fly down and feast. Treasure type C is no great shakes, but lends me to think the harpies might carry shiny trinkets back to their eyrie even if they may leave the picked-over bones behind.

How to fight them? Well, as mentioned, they aren't particularly tough. Their morale is poor, so chasing them off is a possibility. Judicious use of a Silence 15' Radius spell could potentially render the harpies mute for the encounter, depending on how much room they have to fly around and where the cleric centers the spell.

RMA: Nixies

I thought I'd spend a little time looking at some of the more "fairy tale" creatures in the monster listings. Many are lifted right out of classic folklore and I think can be a real plus to giving a setting more of a fantasy/fantastic tone.

Usually, when I've talked about aquatic encounters in the past, I've focussed on the nautical. Nixies are river and lake dwellers, as opposed to mermaids and the like. They occur on the river and swamp wandering monster tables (there is no "Lake" table).

Nixie (from Cook)-

AC: 7
HD: 1
Move: 120' (40')
Att: 1
Dmg: 1d4
No. App.: 0 (2-40)
Save: E1
Morale: 6
AL: N
Treasure: B

There are many variations of this creature in folklore, but in BX nixies are described as 3' tall water sprites, resembling beautiful women with green, blue or gray-green skin. The AD&D version includes both genders and are slightly taller. I find the 1e version a bit too "monster" and not "fae" enough for my taste.

At 1 HD and AC 7, it's small wonder that they are shy of combat (see the Morale score). While they do have weapons, they are hardly formidable (1d4). Of course, the point of the nixie as an encounter is not to have them attack the party.

The nixies' charm ability is particularly interesting to me for a few reasons. First off, it takes ten of them to charm a target. At 2d20 appearing at or near their lairs, it's likely that at least one PC could be targeted. I imagine this as a chorus. A song with a literally enchanting harmony that throws its web over the character's will.

Some creatures, such as a harpy, use their charm effects to bypass a character's defenses and then slay him. Not so the nixie. They will take the character under the water and keep him as a slave for a year. So the PC isn't dead, but is will be out of the adventuring game for a while without rescue. Further, unlike the spell charm person, the character gets no opportunity after the initial saving throw to break the charm before the year is up. I assume things like dispel magic will do the trick, though.

Next, it mentions that the nixies can cast water breathing on their slaves, but needs to be renewed daily. This is an interesting little tweak as well. It ensures that their slaves can be kept well away from the surface, making rescue that much more difficult.

A final bit of interesting magic is their ability to summon GIANT BASS to their aid! These fish are a bit more hardy than the nixies (2HD), but are not individually terrifying. What's scary is that EACH nixie can summon one fish. Now I'm extrapolating a bit here, but under the Giant Fish entry on X31-32, the closest type in HD to the bass is the giant piranha. (3+3 HD vs. 2). The piranha is described as 5' long. So I'd put the bass at approximately 3' long, which would weigh in at about 25 pounds.

Let's imagine the party is crossing a river or lake on a rowboat or similar and a dozen or so nixies show up. They croon one of the PCs into servitude and he starts climbing out of the boat.

Well of course his buddies aren't going to stand by and just let that happen, so they attack. The nixies summon twelve 3' long bass to defend them and all 300 pounds of these fish start shoving and rocking the boat. Next thing you know, the PCs are in the drink and at a serious disadvantage.

That said, I repeat that I don't think the nixies are best used as a combat encounter. I see the fae types not so much evil or malign as alien. Their concepts of morality is totally different from mortals. If they are immortal like in some fairy tales, why would the character make such a fuss about staying with them for a year?

Some ideas for nixie-related fun: The nixies might have useful information, or maybe they can retrieve something under the water for the PCs. If they want a slave, but the PCs aren't going to give up one of their own (and saving throws are made), bargaining with fairies is always rich meat for plot wrinkles. Since they are pretty much aquatic, maybe they want something from dry land they can't get themselves? If nothing else, an underwater adventure to rescue someone taken by the nixies might make a fun side quest.