THE 384th INCARNATION
OF BIGBY'S TOMB

An AD&D
 

Polyhedron

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1st Ed. AD&D

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Polyhedron #1

by Gary Gygax 

Unlike in the past few years, I was not 
scheduled against the RPGA Network 
meeting this year at GEN CON XVII 
game fair. Wonder of wonders . . . and I 
actually showed up for that event too! What's 
all this got to do with gargoyles, with or 
without wings, you are understandably 
asking at the moment. So bear with me a 
moment. It isn't often that I get to fill up 
space in the Hallowed pages of this Exalted 
publication. I'll get around to monsters in a 
few paragraphs already. 

While at the convention, I was virtually 
bombarded with questions and requests for 
material. The answers to the most frequently 
asked questions will be (or have 
already been) in DRAGON Magazine. 
After so many requests, I went back home 
and rappad a half-dozen or so short pieces 
to appear under the old "Sorcerer's Scroll" 
column heading. What I promised for
POLYHEDRON Newszine was a series of 
articles detailing the map of the WORLD 
OF GREYHAWK campaign setting. I am 
currently working to put together information 
on Greyhawk city and environs, the 
Cairn Hills area, and then watever strikes 
my fancy -- or some worthy fellow 
RPGAer requests. That will begin in a 
future issue. Frequency might be sporadic, 
as my autumn-spring schedule is most 
demanding and includes several long trips 
to distant parts of the world. (So much for 
cop-outs.)

My chief collaborator these days is one 
Flint Dille, a screen writer, game enthusiast, 
and history buff. Flint's grandfather 
created Buck Rogers (and Flint currently 
has a film script on Buck which is not in 
the hands of his agent -- perhaps there'll 
be a new feature film coming one of these 
fine days; the script is exciting -- far better 
than any of the material done to date, in my 
opinion), while Flint himself has been the 
writer for quite a number of animated 
shows and has put in some time for George 
Lucas. Anyway, as an "exclusive" for 
RPGA Network members, Flint and I have 
just signed a contract with the Wanderer 
Book division of Simon & Schuster for four 
HEROES CHALLENGE Game-Books. 
The hero of the saga is one Sagard, a young 
barbarian. Although these works will be in 
the S&S juvenile book line, reading level 
and interaction is far higher than anything 
vaguely like them currently on the market. I 
think many of you will enjoy reading/playing 
these adventures. All four will appear 
under the auspices of Dungeons & Dragons 
Entertainment Corporation and should be 
available around the spring of 1985. 

By the way, action takes place on Yarth, a 
place somewhat similar to Oerth, the setting 
of Greyhawk, et. al. It has fewer magical 
properties than Oerth but more than Earth. 
It is not impossible that additional works 
will be contracted for in months to come, 
action being on Yarth or perhaps another 
alternate world, Aerth. On Earth, magic is 
virtually non-existent. On Uerth, magic dweomers 
are weak, chancy things. Yarth has a sprinkling 
of things magical, Aerth is highly 
magical, and Oerth is pure magic. 

So, have you ever noticed that while 
gargoyles can fly, according to the stats in 
the AD&D Monster Manual, the illustration 
shows the critter sans aerial appendages? 
(Don't try to tell me those dark 
shadows are wings!) Sure you have, and I 
am not too pleased about it either. What the 
heck, it's an older work, and such mistakes 
will happen. Hey! Wait a minute! I just 
took a gander at the nasty Margoyle. It has 
great spikes, but no wings either? What the 
heck is going on, anyway? I screwed up the 
name, spelling it correctly on the heading as 
MARLGOYLE, but then laziness set in, for 
twice in the text the bloody L, so 
now we have an (incorrect) MARGOYLE 
-- but what about its wings? MM II is a 
superior work, in my opinion, and I do 
hope that some future edition will show nice 
leathery wings on both the gargoyle and its 
cousin, the mar(l)goyle! 

Being reptilian, sort of, gargoyles lay 
eggs. Once every two to five years, depending 
on feeding conditions, the female lays a 
clutch of two to eight eggs in some high and 
inaccessible place, such as a grotto, cave, or 
the like. These eggs are small at first, being 
about the size of ostritch eggs. They absorb 
the minerals from the stone on which they 
rest, growing about one inch in radius every 
month during their twelve-month incubation 
period. Alone and unattended, the 
young gargoyles hatch, forcing horn and 
cloaw through the thick sides of the hard 
shells in order to take their places among 
the rest of their kind. After a few minutes 
drying out and resting, the fledgling gargoyle 
monsters are ready for first flight and 
feeding. If any of their number are small 
and weak, the others will fall upon it and 
devour it before taking off. 

Feeding on whatever is available, the 
immature gargoyles grow with amazing 
rapidity, and within a week or two are large 
enough to associate with mature individuals 
without fear of cannibalization. Early diet 
includes insects, rodents, fungi, and just
about anything else which is discovered -- 
animal or vegetable. Usually, three or four 
fledglings will survive from each clutch to 
join the adult "horde." Left unmolested, a 
gargoyle will live at least 200 yars, reaching 
maturity in one year, and attaining full 
size in aobut 10-45 years, depending on 
feeding conditions. Size, measured in hit 
points, is as follows: 

1 1/2'	8 hp	newly hatched
2'	12 hp	1-4 weeks old
2 1/2'	16 hp	1-4 months old
3 1/2'	18 hp	5-11 months old
5'	20 hp	1-4 years age
5 1/2'	24 hp	5-10 years old
6'	28 hp	11-40 years or older
6 1/2'	32 to 36 hp	41 years or older

Next issue the mar(l)goyle . . . and one 
more!