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Dungeons & Dragons	-	Dragon magazine	-	The Dragon #15

In dealing with the concept wandering monster the judge is
the first and last word. Also, because any given DM is very individualistic
the manner in which those ever present monsters are handled varies
from judge to judge. What the wargaming scene really needs is some
consistency in the method DM’s throw those creatures at us poor
players.

First, it is logical to divide all the possible wandering monsters into
two categories: the intelligent monsters (and thus aligned) and the unin- 8.
telligent ones that are just out for the food potential of the player. The
nonthinking monsters are easy to judge, they just attack and kill whenever
they get the chance. There are only 39 of these out of a possible 95
deadly creatures running around every dungeon. The thinking ones are 9.
the beings that give everyone the most trouble.

When dealing with any given being of intelligence, the first thing a
DM must do is roll for alignment, unless the being is an EHP type or a
Paladin type. When the alignment is known, the actions of the wandering
being are much easier to decide. When lawful it is supposed by the 10.
nature of the alignment that the wandering being will talk first and not
rush into battle, or at least (as in the old tradition of the gun fighters)
wait for you to make the first aggressive move. The neutral being can 11.
go either way, with the supposition that they always move in their own
best interests. The last alignment is the one that everyone knows is going
to get you if they get the chance!

Logic and sound judgement must also enter into the wandering
monsters actions. If the player is a wizard and he has a Balrog buddy
walking with him those low level dwarves, theurgists, sharpers, and lycanthropes
just are not going to take the terrible pair, (regardless of the
duty of law to kill evil, or the hate dwarves have for those balrogs).
There is also a very real chance that those giants and lords will ignore
the low level player as well. Make sure, all you DM’s out there, that the 13.
wandering being will have some chance against those players in your
game. Why should those leather armored footpads take on the chainmailed
fighters? The answer is that they wouldn’t even think of it, (un- 14.
less the judge makes them).

There are many methods a DM can use to make the use of wander.
ing monsters simpler. Many judges when using magic users from the 15.
lists will roll for their spells and give them things like ventriliquism and
light spells and a bunch of magic mouth spells. The judge now has a
poor little magic user that doesn’t stand a chance against an irritated
hobbit! To alleviate this problem, the DM should make a list of all his 16.
possible wandering monster magic users and give them the most useful
aggressive spells.

Now that you are making lists for the magic users you should carry
the concept another step and do the same for all the wandering mon- 17.
sters. I would suggest prerolling for hit points, giving magic users and
priests men at arms for support, listing and damaging abilities of each
monster, the armor class of the being, and finally the weapons the be- 18.
ing carries if any. The resulting list for the fourth level creatures could
look like the following:

FOURTH LEVEL WANDERING MONSTERS

1. DOPPLEGANGERS: 1-2 of them appearing, sleep or charm
spells have no affect, will change into any other creature instantly,
does 1-12 points of damage in battle, takes 17 hit points, has
an armor class of 5, moves 90 feet in a turn in the Dungeon.
Chaotic.

2. WRAITHS: 1-4 of them appearing, sleep spells have no affect,
silver arrows do ½ damage and magic arrows only do one die of
damage, the wraith when it hits drains one energy level, it takes 9
hit points, has an armor class of 3, moves 120 feet in a turn in the
Dungeon, Chaotic.

3. GARGOYLES: 1-2 of them appearing, requires a magic weapon
to strike, 2 claws/do 1-4, bite/ does 1-6, horn/ does 1-10, takes
12 hit points, has an armor class of 5, moves 90 on ground/150
feet through the air in the Dungeon, Chaotic

4. OGRES: 1-4 of them appearing, they use swords, takes 22 hit
points, has an armor class of 5 with a 50% chance that any given
ogre has on chainmail, moves 90 feet in the Dungeon, Chaotic.

5. EVIL PRIEST CURATE AND 1-6 MEN AT ARMS: curate
has 2 light wound spells and 2 hold person spells, the men and the
priest are in chainmail and shield, the curate takes 20 hit points,
the men take 5 points each, they move as men, all are chaotic, all
use maces.

6. MYRMIDONS: 1-4 of them appearing, all are in chainmail and
using swords, each takes 23 hit points, moves as men, roll for
alignment.

7. ENCHANTER & 1-4 HEROS: enchanter has 2 sleep-2 charm
person-2 web-l phantasmal force-l hold person-l haste-l wall of
fire, the men are wearing leather and shield, the enchanter takes
10 hit points, the men at arms take 15 each, they move as men,
roll for alignment.

8. PILFERERS: 1-4 of them appearing, all are in leather and have
daggers only, each takes 17 hit points, move as men, there is a
60% chance to pickpockets/ a 50% chance to hide in shadows,
can either be neutral or chaotic.

9. SHADOWS: 1-4 of them appearing, requires a magic weapon to
strike, one touch loses 1 strength point for 8 full turns, not affected
by sleep or charm person spells, takes 9 hit points, has an
armor class of 7, moves 90 feet in a turn in the Dungeon,
Chaotic.

10. GIANT BEETLES: 1-2 of them appearing, bites for 4 dice of
damage, takes 15 hit points, has an armor class of 3, moves 60
feet a turn in the Dungeon, nonintelligent.

11. GIANT SCORPION: 1-4 of them appearing, bites for 3 dice of
damage/sting is poisonous, takes 20 hit points, has an armor
class of 3, moves 90 feet a turn in the Dungeon, nonintelligent.

12. LYCANTHROPE: roll a die to see which kind; 1-weretiger 2-
werewolf 3-wereboar 4-werebear, all claws do 1-8/ all bites do 2-
12, double that for the bear, has an armor class of 4, tiger takes
13 hit points, wolf takes 11, boar takes 21, bear takes 14 hit
points, only silver or magic weapons affect them, bite gives lycanthrope
sickness, moves different per beast, first three are neutral
or chaotic, the bear is neutral or lawful.

13. CARNIVOROUS APES: 1-6 of them appearing, 2 claws/do 2-
12, bite/does 3-18, each takes 22 hit points, has an armor class of
4, moves 90 feet a turn in the Dungeon, nonintelligent.

14. OWL BEAR: 1-4 of them appearing, 2 claws/do 1-6, bite/does
1-12, takes 15 hit points, has an armor class of 5, moves 120 feet
a turn in the Dungeon, nonintelligent.

15. DISPLACER BEASTS: 2-6 of them appearing, 2 tenticles/do 2-
24, can displace like the cloak, takes 22 hit points, has an armor
class of 4, moves 150 feet a turn in the Dungeon, partially intelligent
(chaotic).

16. BLINK DOGS: 4-16 of them appearing, bite/does 1-8, can use
a limited teleport to move 60 feet, has 13 hit points, has an armor
class of 5, moves 120 feet a turn in the Dungeon, partiall intelligent
(lawful).

17. PHASE SPIDER: bite/1-6 and poison, can phase into ethereal
form when not attacking, takes 24 hit points, has an armor class
of 5, moves 150 feet in the Dungeon, nonintelligent.

18. GIANT TICK: 3-12 of them appearing, bite/does 1-4 plus it
drains your blood and weakens you, takes 8 hit points, has an
armor class of 4, moves 30 feet a turn in the Dungeon, nonintelligent.

19. WILL O’ WISP: 2-12 electrical bolt, can become blinding or
vanish, has 33 hit points, an armor class of -8, moves 180 feet a
turn in the Dungeon, Chaotic.

20. RUST MONSTER: rusts metal on a touch, can sense iron in 100
yards from any direction with the wind going the wrong way,
takes 19 hit points, has an armor class of 2, moves 120 feet a turn
in the Dungeon, nonintelligent.