Dr Simon Reads...

I ssue 14   Gurgotch Once again I’m going to go with a Roger Musson creation, but that’s because the quality of his monsters is getting better, or perhaps it’s better to say that they have more general utility and less novelty/joke value. But before that, let’s look at the rest. The Mind Web , by David Taylor, is a pretty neat idea, an incorporeal entity that controls other creatures and forms a kind of monster gestalt. Statistic-wise, it’s pretty tough to actually harm. It’s also a little like the symbiotic jelly (Chaoticus Symbioticus), and also similar to a creature that I’m planning to stat for Issue 21, so although it’s a sound idea, I’m not going to do this one for this issue. I also like the Energy Cyclone (by the mysteriously name “MC”) although it too is actually pretty tough. Immunity to most magic, immunity to non-magical weapons, an ongoing blindness effect and it counterattacks with an energy strike through attacking weapons. Add to this lightning bolts and a ...

Dhammapada Part Eleven: Old Age (Jaravagga) A Life is a Terrible Thing to Waste. “ Behold this body — a painted image, a mass of heaped up sores, infirm, full of hankering — of which nothing is lasting or stable!” Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Dhammapada). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Dhammapada, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/3IbwtwE For the online Dhammapada that I use, see here https://bit.ly/3IgCiJr And now: Dhammapada Part Eleven: Old Age (Jaravagga) There are echoes of Ecclesiastes and the “Preacher”’s lamentations that all is vanity. The body grows old and wears out, leaving “ dove-colored bones […] like gourds that lie scattered about in autumn ”. Why bother doing anything, if “ this city (body) is built of bones, plastered with flesh and blood; within are decay and death, pride and jea...

Issue 13 Terithran There are only four monster entries in this issue, perhaps because Don Turnbull was busy preparing the Fiend Folio and had less time to spare for the Fiend Factory, or perhaps the space allocation for the article was reduced due to an increasing amount of other material in the magazine. Well, whatever the reason, it largely makes my job easy, especially since of the four monsters, two of them are in the 5 th Edition Monster Manual. Julian Lawrence’s Doombat is an undead bat, and I toyed with converting these, but I still think that the Death Snake is an adequate dip into the “undead version of a regular monster” waters for the time being.   In the White Dwarf stats, there isn’t much in the way of abilities that make it undead, apart from the fact that it can be turned by a cleric. By the time these get into the Fiend Folio, they are no longer undead (although they hate sunlight), and have gained a sonic attack ability that disrupts spell concentration a...

Dhammapada Part Ten: Violence (Dandavagga) A Sprinkle of Virtue Ethics. Or the people you hurt will burn your house down. “ All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.” Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Dhammapada). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Dhammapada, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/3IbwtwE For the online Dhammapada that I use, see here https://bit.ly/3IgCiJr And now: Dhammapada Part Ten: Violence (Dandavagga) This section starts with some pretty sound advice about abstaining from violence, not for any particular metaphysical reason but through empathy. This extends even to violence in words – “ Speak not harshly to anyone, for those thus spoken to might retort. Indeed, angry speech hurts, and retaliation may o...

  Issue 12: Iron Pig This issue sees quite a few entries from Ian Livingstone, the Big Boss, as well as a lot of entries that not only made it into the Fiend Folio, but also have lasted all the way into 5 th Edition. At the end of this column, Don Turnbull officially announces the creation of the Fiend Folio, so perhaps that’s why there are so many FF monsters this issue. Note, also, that all of the ones that went into the FF kept the same illustrations. Don also rather contritely, and with perhaps a little hint of passive-aggression, that he’s been asked to trim down his musings to allow for more room for the monster stats. While I can see the wisdom in this, I must admit, I rather enjoy his “trite prattle”, as he terms it. First up is Ian Livingstones Assassin Bug. I was going to use these guys for the conversion of the month, as they’re slightly more complex than the usual Ian Livingstone creature. But there are three reasons why I changed my mind. I decided to use one of...