The "DM's Special"
So you enter a 20-foot by 20-foot room in one corner of an underground complex that is home to the requisite number of monsters. You've been hacking and slashing with glee, but in this room, behind the door, you see a large treasure chest against the far wall amidst some dilapidated furnishings. "Score!" you think to yourself. Somehow nobody checked and looted this room before...

Ah! But it's probably booby-trapped, you realize. So you carefully - gingerly - begin to check for traps.

Suddenly - shock and horror! - the chest itself attacks. It is a mimic - a creature which has disguised itself to appear as a treasure chest to lure unsuspecting adventurers to their doom!

Nothing says "Old School RPG" like these kinds of monsters. Ed Greenwood (creator of the Forgotten Realms setting for Dungeons & Dragons) once used the term "DM's Special" to describe these creatures that seemed designed purely to trip experienced players up. While most monsters in fantasy RPGs require you to not think too hard about their ecology or how they might have possibly evolved, these kinds of creatures went beyond the pale in this respect. These things were predators optimized for a world full of dungeons and a steady supply of treasure-hunting adventurers to eat.

I encountered a mimic last week, playing the flash-based indie hack-and-slash fest aptly entitled, "Ginormo Sword" (referred to me a long time back by one of our community members in the forums). Because it had been a while since I'd encountered these kinds of monsters in a game, I'd let my guard drop, and I actually moved in to pick up the treasure lying on the floor, only to get zapped. The mimic had claimed another victim! Not bad for being a nearly 35-year-old joke!

I don't know whether I love 'em or hate 'em, to be honest. Used sparingly, they can be kinda fun - if completely ridiculous.

In D&D, several of the "DM's Specials" were designed to disguise themselves as ordinary objects in the prototypical dungeon. The Trapper resembled a dungeon floor. Its counterpart was the Lurker Above, which resembled the ceiling of a stone room, and could magically (and silently) hover just below the real ceiling. Piercers resembled plain ol' stalagtites which would drop and impale unwary adventurers below. The Cloaker --- resembled a cloak. Go ahead, put it on!

The problem with these kinds of monsters - moreso in dice-and-paper RPGs than in computer RPGs - is that they can be misused to the point that the game slows to a crawl from player paranoia. But is it paranoia if the Game Master really is out to get them? If there are no clues or indicators of threats being near, and these types of monsters are in any way common, the players will be taking hours between moves to verify their safety. While fun for a little while, it gets old very, very quickly.

Then you had the monsters that resembled other monsters, but which would surprise adventurers attacking them with conventional tactics. There was the Adherer, which looked like a mummy but was immune to a cleric's "undead turning" ability and seemed to be made of superglue, sticking all weapons to itself. The Gas Spore was a creature which mysteriously resembled the dreaded Beholder, but which immediately exploded on impact when attacked. Topping the stupidity scale was a monster I fortunately never remember appearing in any game I ever played - the Nilbog (that's goblin spelled backwards). This annoying creature resembled a goblin, but was healed by attacks and damaged by healing spells.

We see some of these kinds of creatures making their way to computer and console RPGs as well.

Wizardry had "Creeping Coins" which weren't really a DM's special - though they could have been. Coins that attacked you? Take THAT you greedy treasure-hunting adventurer! In Wizardry, though, they just attacked.

Nethack has both mimics and piercers. So you can never feel safe.

Ultima III's grand finale had a bunch of monsters that resembled ground tiles that would attack you. So you might have thought the path was clear to destroy the machine Exodus, but no... no, you were fighting grass and brick road chunks for a while getting to it. And then designer Richard Garriott included monsters that resembled children in later Ultima games. Just to be especially nasty.

These are just the ones off the top of my head, and I'm sure there are numerous examples I forget or from games I haven't played. Do you have favorites / most hated examples of "DM's Special" monsters in games? What were they, and in what games?

Labels: retro, Roleplaying Games

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 5:44 AM (Permalink)