FREQUENCY: Rare
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Dungeon Level VII])
FREQUENCY: Rare ([Cold Wilderness Mountains])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Cold Wilderness Hills], [Cold Wilderness Forest], [Cold Wilderness Swamp], [Cold Wilderness Plains], [Cold Wilderness Desert])
FREQUENCY: Rare ([Temperate Wilderness Mountains])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Temperate Wilderness Hills], [Temperate Wilderness Forest], [Temperate Wilderness Swamp], [Temperate Wilderness Plains], [Temperate Wilderness Desert])
FREQUENCY: Rare ([Tropical Wilderness Mountains])
FREQUENCY: Very rare ([Tropical Wilderness Forest], [Tropical Wilderness Swamp], [Tropical Wilderness Plains], [Tropical Wilderness Desert])
FREQUENCY: Uncommon ([Astral Plane]) (* These creatures do not travel the astral or ethereal planes but have attack forms that can affect travelers in these planes.)
FREQUENCY: Uncommon ([Ethereal Plane])  (* These creatures do not travel the astral or ethereal planes but have attack forms that can affect travelers in these planes.)

NO. APPEARING: 1-4
ARMOR CLASS: 2 <NAC=2?>
MOVE: 12"
HIT DICE: 8
% IN LAIR: 40%
TREASURE TYPE: [E]
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 ~ 12
DAMAGEIATTACK: 2-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Breath turns to stone
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L
LEVEL/X.P.VALUE: VII | 1750 + 10

SAVES: 10.11.12.12.13

Gorgons are bull-like creatures covered with thick metal scales.
They prefer the fastness of a wilderness || dreary caverns for habitation.

The awareness of gorgons extends into the astral and ethereal planes.
So do the effects of their breath weapon. <reword, move>

Breath turns to stone: A gorgon is able to breathe out a cloud of noxious vapors which will turn any creature to stone unless they make the appropriate save.
The breath shoots forth in truncated cone-shape, 1/2" diameter at the beasts' mouth, 6" in length, to an end diameter of 2".
A gorgon is able to USE such breath up to 4 times per day.
Gorgons will always USE this attack form in preference to other sorts of attack.

<gorgon=mammal?>

Cab wrote:
Gary, although I'm sure someone must have asked you this, I'll ask it anyway because I can't see an answer around here and I'm kind of curious.

Gorgons in all versions of D&D seem to bear little relationship with the classical Greek idea of what a gorgon was.
How did the D&D gorgon as a petrifying bovine come about?

Cheers.

The bull-like gorgon with iron scales is found in medieval bestiaries.
i know it for a fact because that's where I got the critter--along with the catoblepas and a handful of other monsters;)

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by ColonelHardisson
Gary, I hope you're doing well. I know this question has been put to you before, but for the life of me I can't recall your answer (someday I hope someone sifts through all the various "Ask Gary" threads here and elsewhere and collates your answers so you don't have to keep answering the same things over and over). So pardon this re-asking: what was the inspiration for the D&D gorgon? The gorgon of Greek myth is what ended up being the medusa in D&D. Was there a mythological critter like the bull-like, petrification-breathing monster in the 1e Monster Manual?

Hi Colonel!

Not a problem at all. Indeed, that question has been put to me before, but I am not sure if that was here on this website. Anyway...

The scale-mailed bull model of a gorgon came directly from a copy of a medieval bestiary, the title of which I do not recall, but it was and probably still is in the local (Lake Geneva) public library. I was happy to use that model, for it added another fearsome monster to the roster for DM use <big grin>

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Keldryn
Hi Gary,

I have a question that you may very well have been asked before, but...

What was the inspiration behind the D&D gorgon being bull-like?

My wife was watching us play the other night and took issue with the depiction of the "gorgon." She is extremely well-read in fantasy and myth, but she'd never heard of a gorgon other than the sisters of Greek mythology. I remembered reading a while back about a bull-like gorgon having been in a medieval bestiary of some sort. We did a Web search when we got home, but the only relevant thing that came up was a reference to the "History of 4-footed Beasts" -- and the description of the entry doesn't really sound bull-like in features. She's wasn't really convinced by a relatively obscure reference, and perhaps that's all there is to it, but I wanted to ask the man who wrote the Monster Manual in the first place. 

Is there any more to the story?

The short answer:

The bull-like, metalpscaled gorgon is taken directly from a medieval bestiary. Ypu might point out that I have medusae as a separate kind of monster.

Do tell your Astute Wife that the critter sown is just one of many taked from medieval bestiaries. the catoblepas and opinicus being a couple of other examples.

When my Pamtheons of Lejend reference book is published later this year, she can take a look at how I treated Greco-Roman mytholigy for RPGing. It is called the "Olympian" pantheon and is the second largest chapter in the work.

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by D'karr

Fair enough.

And from Curious Creatures in Zoology by John Ashton, the gorgon
 

The illustration shown on that website looks a good deal like the one I saw in a medieval bestiary, although the head of the latter was more bull-like.

Ciao,
Gary