Hellhound 5e

Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition

2012.01.14 10:40 ProseB4Hoes Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition

Topics specific to D&D Community is sponsored by Tribality.com
[link]


2019.08.22 18:54 deltamoney ender5plus

Home for Ender5 Plus related topics
[link]


2014.10.09 19:22 jurkajurka Eberron Homebrew for 5e

Subreddit dedicated to homebrewing Eberron for fifth edition D&D.
[link]


2023.03.13 10:04 Wolfknap [LFA] Forged Eldritch Knight Battle Mage (F.K.M.)

[LFA] Forged Eldritch Knight Battle Mage (F.K.M.)

Other

Backstory Created in a county where magic is outlawed and constructs are used as a “peacekeeping” force. Experiments were done to see if they imbued one with magic to control and fight fire with fire. Something went wrong. In order to use intelligence-based magic it had to be intelligent. It was able to break free of the constraints placed on it and F.K.M. the newly sentient warforged fled. Instead of exterminating magic he now studies, teaches, and protects it. Started earning wages by adventuring but is now mostly a scholar and a military strategist. That being said he is still a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield with his combination of martial and magical prowess. He still uses some of the original intent of his creation but only to shut down evil.
Visual concepts Stereotypical wizard paraphernalia and hat also made of copper accented with steel, only armor besides the physical shield are the mage armor and shield spells

Character Basics

Full Name F.K.M. (Abbreviation of full designation)
Race/Ethnic Group Warforged
Class/Occupation Eldritch Knight Fighter 9/War Magic Wizard X (currently also 9)
Character Nature DnD 5e Fantasy

Character Details

Gender Androgynous Male Leaning
Age/appeared age Adult
Facial Features Faceplate with a facsimile of a neutral face
Hair None
Eyes Lighting Blue
Distinguishing Marks N/A
Significant item Sunsword (when on looks like a straight bolt of lighting)
Body Type Lanky but Lean
Color Scheme Mainly copper with accents of steel
Gear +2 shield, robe of stars under a cloak of displacement, backpack of holding
Animal Companion Copper Warforged-esk Owl
Action/Pose up to you
Others Copper outer plates with a steel under skeleton

Character Persona


Alignment Neutral Good
Personality Traits I can stare down a hellhound without flinching
Ideals and Goals The path to power and self-improvement is through knowledge
Bonds and Flaws Someone saved my life on the battlefield. I will never leave a friend behind.

What I have been using for my token.
submitted by Wolfknap to characterdrawing [link] [comments]


2023.02.21 09:54 Kaeyr96 My players are planning on killing the captain of the town guard and I'm lost

Cedar, Wen, and Acacia go away pls (or not I'm not your dad)
Minor spoilers for Troubles in Otari/Menace Under Otari
Tl;dr at the end
Edit: tons of incredible advice in here! Thank you to everyone who's commented so far. I may or may not update this with the outcome of whatever happens next session as inspiration for anyone else reading along. Despite the pickle I've found myself in, this is some of the best storytelling I've had at my table and I'm loving the community and the game for helping me tell it with my friends.
We've been playing pf2e for about three or four months now (all ex-5e people) and absolutely loving it. I'm starting to get a solid grasp of the system and my players are starting to understand their characters and how to work as a team.
We're running through Troubles in Otari and about to finish out Chapter 2, The Leadbuster Lads. So spoilers for that ahead:
The party set up an ambush, but spooked Lurok and the two hellhounds before they got to the log flume to set it on fire. The party tracked them into the wilderness and they fought. Two wounded conditions later and the hellhounds are dead and the bugbear is pacified. They learn about the Leadbuster Lads and that the lads will be meeting with Lurok after he takes down the flume. So, the party frees Lurok and they head to get their wounds patched.
After getting healed, they see a column of smoke in the sky and head to investigate. Part of the flume has been burned down, putting it out of commission, but the Otari guard managed to put it out. Lardus and Henk were there, and the guards had managed to capture Lurok.
Now, two of my players are very anti-cop. Their characters of course reflect this to varying degrees, moreso that they won't stand for injustice of a certain magnitude. I decided in Menace Under Otari that Lardus was also the town treasurer and a corrupt one at that. Also, when Tamily gifted the fishery to the party, she neglected to inform them of the 500gp of unpaid land taxes associated with it, and Lardus intends to collect. I figured these two innocent things would lead to a neat little side quest that would encourage them to partake in adventure rather than just work a day job.
Well, a couple of insults/cultural misunderstandings later, and Lardus is very upset. Two foreigners (a dwarf from Rahadoum and a gnoll from The Mwangi Expanse) and a child (an elf child from Otari) were undermining his authority. Lardus (I as well) decided he needed a show of force to show that he was beyond the scope of this current adventure and their current power level. So, he indicates to one of the guards to execute Lurok, bound and sitting harmlessly in the mud, and also the party's best lead in the adventure so far.
I mean, I figured the next step of the adventure would take them there anyways, considering that's literally how it is in the book and we've done a good job following it so far.
Well, the gnoll and the dwarf are totally pissed off and decide that the Captain's life ends tonight. The elf child is staying in town to build an alibi while the other two do some certified silly stuff.
The issue is I'm almost certain this leads to death and I've never killed a character in years of DMing/GMing (I've gotten within a hair's-breadth of TPKs though and I aim for that level of danger most adventuring days). I don't feel like I've done anything so far to indicate they can handle every threat they come across (they've been near death about every other session). I've even asked them outside of the game - including extreme emphasis that this isn't your normal "are you sure?" - if they're sure about this, and they said they are.
The XP calculator for the encounter I've built is 200/80 for two level-three characters versus one CL 6 and four CL 1 enemies
I guess writing it out leads me to only one conclusion. I've communicated the threat in-game, I've double-checked out-of-game, I've offered a retcon, and I've mentioned several possible alternatives. I think what I'm asking for now is the community's strength to do what I must now do.
Tl;dr: I've asked "are you sure?" to a silly :3 plan and the party has reassured me they're ready
submitted by Kaeyr96 to Pathfinder2e [link] [comments]


2023.02.11 17:32 InverseFlash Respect Shinra Kusakabe! (Fire Force)

Well, you can have a hero. There's one right here. Look to the sky and call my name. I'll come to your rescue any time!
It is the year 198 of the Solar Calendar. The Tokyo Empire, powered by the Amaterasu power plant, has been running strong following the Great Cataclysm of two hundred years prior. It is in this society that Shinra Kusakabe lives, a social outcast who joins the Special Fire Force in hopes of making the world a better place, and proving to everyone that he isn't the devil he's made out to be.
Key

Strength

Charging
Fire-Boosted
Not
Fire
Lifting
Objective
Scaling
Striking
Arms
Knee
Feet - Base
Objective
VS Rekka
VS White Clads
VS Fire Force
VS Other
Feet - Amped
Unlinked
Linked
Other

Durability

Blunt
Objective
Scaling
VS Fire Force Company 1
VS Fire Force Company 7
VS Fire Force Company 8
VS White Clad
VS Other
Esoteric
Not Heat
Supposed Heat
Actual Heat
Piercing

Speed

Agility
Flight
Agility
Other
Rapid
Movement
Reaction
Feats
Anti-Feats
Adolla Link

Intelligence

Adolla

Adolla Burst
Adolla Link

Skill

Sight
Other

Other

Aliases
Other

Shinrabanshou-Man

Hope can't be stopped…and I can't stop smilin'.
After Shinra fused with Shou and Mari Kusakabe via Soul Resonance, they became the personification of hope to combat the Evangelist and the Saint.
Creation
Death
Other
Physicals
Durability
Other
Other
submitted by InverseFlash to respectthreads [link] [comments]


2022.10.05 15:45 Glittering_Usual_162 Need Help figuring out a Demon based Bbeg and Minons

Hello fellow Dms Im currently running my first campaign ever as a DM in DnD 5e. I need help in what i could use as a challenging BBEG for my Players and some Minions for him that are Demon based.
Im thinking about some kind of Archdemon that will be summoned after a cult breaks some seals to release him. Whenever a seal is broken a minor demon should be released and the BBEG should get stronger.
As stated im really new to dming in general so please have mercy on me.
Currently im looking for a minor Demon that could be summoned by the Cult since they managed to break the first seal already. All i found so far is a hellhound but that seems a bit underwhelming for a 5 player group that is level 3. The Party consists of a Cleric, Paladin, Rogue, Druid and Wizard.
If you need any more information to help me please ask.
submitted by Glittering_Usual_162 to DMAcademy [link] [comments]


2022.08.28 03:45 IamMyBrain TAZ Graduation Relisten: Episode 37 "Investment Opportunities"

Link to episode: Investment Opportunities
Pre-Episode 37:
1st half of Episode 37:
Ad Break:
2nd half of Episode 37:
Post Episode 37:
Next Relisten Post: Episode 38
Previous Relisten Post: Episode 36
submitted by IamMyBrain to TAZCirclejerk [link] [comments]


2022.08.20 19:20 ExistentialOcto I talked my DM *out* of saving my character - and he listened. My character then died, and we both couldn't be happier.

This story is about me and my DM, u/The_Captain1998. Check out his profile for some very fun 5e homebrew :)

The TL;DR

My PC was near death during a tough encounter and my DM almost had the enemy self-destruct in order to save her. I begged him not to and he listened to me. My PC died an epic death and got some great character development. Moral of the story: you can't go wrong if you listen to your players.

Preamble

My DM and I get along real well, we've been friends for more than 10 years. We get along so well that we co-authored the world that we both run campaigns in without worrying that our creative differences might get in the way. We accept each others' rulings and earnestly ask each other for advice running our respective games.
The one thing we don't always agree on, however, is letting PCs die.
I've always advocated to let the dice fall where they may, even if a PC dies. Obviously I'll take it into consideration if a player doesn't want PC death to be part of the game, but if they don't say anything then the default is that death is possible. My DM, however, leans the opposite way. When death rears its head, he usually finds a way to subtly push it back down. Even if a player hasn't explicitly said that they don't want PC death, he treats the game as non-fatal by default.

The Session

That brings us to the session a few days ago. We were in a mansion full of devils: maybe 15 bearded devils, 6 chain devils, 5 hellhounds, and an avatar of Bael. We were 3 PCs (a sorcerer (me), a druid, and a rogue) with an NPC werewolf helping us. In a flat-out battle, we would have been screwed, but the tight corridors of the mansion allowed us to strategically use bottlenecks to whittle down the devils' numbers. We also knew there was a magical door in the mansion that, when crossed, would keep us safe from the devils. After a few rounds of combat, it became clear that we wouldn't win especially since we were split up across the mansion. Just to survive, the druid escaped through the door. After that, the rogue made it. That left me and the NPC. Since we'd been fighting the whole time, we were both low on resources (hit points, spell slots, etc.). My sorcerer had a special feature that allowed her to optionally burn hit points to cast spells instead of spell slots but with the caveat that if she reduced her hit points to 0 by casting a spell, she'd die instantly.
When it came to my turn, I spent an uncharacteristically long time figuring out what to do. I knew I could save the NPC (my character's lover) by casting dimension door but in doing so she'd die due to the number of hit points she had left. My DM talked me out of it by saying that the NPC had a plan to deal with the last few devils but when that plan failed (he tried to lure the devils into a corridor and then pounce on them, but a chain devil caught him with its chains) I made up my mind to sacrifice my character so that the NPC might live (if he went down now, I'd definitely go down anyway so it would be worth it).
DM: Ok, now it's Bael's turn and he... smashes the chain devil into the floor.
Other player: Oh. Huh?
Me: [DM], you're not just doing that because we're in trouble, are you?
DM: No, no, this is what Bael would do. He's a ruthless leader and that chain devil has been failing him all night. Like earlier, he came snivelling and crying to Bael asking for help before being thrown back out into the fray.
Me: Are you sure? I really don't want you to nerf the encounter just because we're struggling.
DM: Bael would definitely punish a soldier that was disappointing him. He's a ruthless general who makes cutthroat decisions to win.
Me: In the middle of a battle? While that soldier is one of the only ones he has left? Wouldn't it make more sense to discipline him after the battle?
DM: ...well... yeah, I guess.
Me: I'm going to be honest with you, I'm totally fine with whatever happens, you don't need to hold back for me. In fact, I'll be really upset if you do. By all means play Bael as you think Bael would act, but don't use that as an excuse to spare me.
DM: Hm... no, you're right, Bael wouldn't do that. He would punish him after the fight.
And so my DM played the monsters like they wanted to win and my character went through with the sacrifice to save her lover. She died to save his life and... it was epic.
For the first time, she saw him as more than just a friend-with-benefits and realised that she had grown to deeply care about him. Why else would she sacrifice herself like that? For so long she had lived a selfish life and never given up anything for anybody. But in that moment, she wanted to make a sacrifice for him.
And that's not all! Because she died, we were able to have a great role-playing moment where she met her family in the afterlife. I won't go into the details, but seeing her dead family again allowed her to work through some issues and grow as a person. Additionally, the druid of the party was able to cast reincarnate on her, so she wasn't even dead for a whole day before she came back! Getting reincarnated also allowed me to give her a new look (she went from being a human to being a shifter), which is one of my favourite things to do.

Moral(?) of the Story

Moral here is that you can almost never go wrong when you listen to the players. What my DM did might have been the right move with a different player but it wasn't the right move for me. I let him know honestly what I felt about it and he listened to me, respecting my wishes and not doing what he instinctively felt was right in the moment. If had ignored me and insisted on saving my PC, I would have felt cheated out of the story I helped craft with my choices. Because he listened to his players, we got to see an epic turning point in the story.
I have loved everything about my DM's campaign, especially these last few sessions. I'm glad to have someone who is not only creative and a great performer but also an empathetic listener be my DM.
submitted by ExistentialOcto to DnD [link] [comments]


2022.07.19 20:46 wakarimasensei TAZ Recap: One Minute from Every TAZ Arc Chosen Randomly from Someone Who's Never Listened to TAZ Before

I literally used a random number generator to decide what to recap. I have never heard a single second of TAZ before.
 
Murder on the Rockport Limited, Episode 2, Minute 37
We open with Travis talking about the Max Fun Drive. An ominous start. Fortunately we start near the end of... that whole mess.
 
Griffin says "back to the adventure!" and I get my hopes up before he follows it up by saying he's gonna go pee again real quick. Jamming music commences.
 
GRIFFIN SPEAK UP! I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE MUSIC!
 
There's a joke about Taako being slid around like air hockey that'd probably land better if I knew what they were talking about.
 
They talk about a crash landing, which is exciting. Ooh, they made it out of the swamp! I'm so glad. I've known this group for 52 seconds and I'm already invested in their safety.
 
Griffin's last words are "uhhh, and" before he's cut off by the minute being up.
 
Balance verdict: 7/10. We got some good drama, some comedy, a real sense of action and adventure. Taking a few points off for opening with Travis talking about Max Fun, though.
 
Amnesty, Episode 30, Minute 67
This time we open with Clint saying they don't have to worry about a return trip because odds are they won't be making one. Much better opening, both because it involves Clint and because it implies their characters might be actually in danger for once.
 
Justin mourns the fact that they don't have the one person who would've been perfect for getting past government agents. You can hear the sorrow in his voice. I can only assume he's talking about bingus. Rest in peace.
 
He wants to talk to the hornets and see if they come up with something. Travis immediately counters by suggesting they go to the police. Justin starts talking about what the sheriff's been doing, which Griffin shuts down by seeing he hasn't seen him at all since the FBI showed up. Clint says nothing. It's perfect li'l TAZ capsule!
 
This one ends with Justin wheedling going "yeah, but" after Griffin shut him down, before the unstoppable guillotine of minute 68 comes down.
 
Amnesty verdict: 5/10. Everyone's working at cross purposes. You could say they're playing to frustrate each other. I feel like there's a term for people who do that.
 
Commitment, Episode 1, Minute 31
Clint says there are nine others.
Nevermind the nine others are leaving already.
 
We are one-third of the way in and all that's happened is Clint describing people leaving.
 
Griffin makes a joke as Clint prepares to speak. Clint speaks, and then Travis immediately makes a less funny joke talking over Clint, rendering the entire section incomprehensible cross-talk.
 
They have to leave the room in the correct order to pass the test. Music begins. More people walk out of the room. Music continues. Music continues...
Griffin says he's just our best friend now! I'm assuming he's saying that because he isn't the DM anymore, but his time is up.
 
Commitment verdict: 3/10. This arc is entirely composed of people walking out of a room and mysterious music. I liked the part where it was just the music more than the part where my best friend and his brothers and the hogfather were talking.
 
Dust, Episode 4, Minute 56
Jumping in near the conclusion, huh? Should be exciting.
We open with Travis introducing an NPC: Deputy Rosa! And the Blackwells! The Blackwells are being introduced for the first time! Oh God!
 
Rosa sees that shit's gone down (described quickly), walks into the sheriff's office (described in detail), and a scream is heard. She comes out with gun drawn and delivers one of the great classic lines of modern literature:
"What happened!? What's going on!? What the fuck!?"
That's also our first f-bomb for those keeping track at home.
 
One of the players speaks (I honestly can't tell if it's Justin or Clint. I think it's Justin.) and Travis immediately cuts him off.
 
It's Justin. I can tell because of the voice and the fact that he's lackadaisically introducing himself while someone bleeds out beside him, which Griffin gleefully points out before, like so many Griffins before him, being shorn from all possible futures by the end of the minute.
 
Dust verdict: 6/10. It's 75% Travis NPCs and 25% Justin sounding bored, but they say fuck once so I'll give it some points for that. Also Griffin sounds like he's winding up one zinger of a joke at the end there.
 
Graduation, Episode 26: Little Gray Cells, Minute 20
A feeling of horrible dread settles over me.
It opens with Griffin saying "ooh, that's a high number." I assume he's going to say like 19 or something before he says "that's an... 85."
Oh, they're talking about Wild Magic. Justin asks if higher is better, and Griffin mentions what 100 does. 85 causes the caster to cast Mirror Image. Griffin has no idea what that is. I am sad. Griffin then spends about a third of the runtime just reading the spell description of Mirror Image. Travis responds with "cool" and then immediately moves on.
 
There are apparently five prone hellhounds. They spend the turn getting up. That isn't how 5e works, but sure. Also there's three others, one of which takes a bite out of
And then it cuts off. We'll never know who they were biting.
 
Graduation verdict: 3/10. It's mostly them trying to remember how D&D works and getting it wrong, but at least Griffin was trying. Some great suspense at the end there, even if the cliffhanger will never get resolved.
 
Ethersea, Episode 20, Minute 55
This is the actual Episode 20 by title, not including the prelude stuff. I'm not insane.
"A lot of weird poop has been happening to me."
"Language."
"Sorry. A lot of weird shit has been happening to me."
"Thank you..."
Hey, look, it's a joke! That actually works! That's the first one of those we've had so far.
 
Clint has questions about himself. He's certainly trying to put his whole heart and soul into this monologue (?). He made mental contact. He made 80s rock band Devo angry with him.
And then Travis makes the worst series of noises we've heard yet. I'm not going to say Travis's French accent is racist or xenophobic or anything, but it's still really bad.
 
Griffin's NPCs turn to the "tone wheel" and then the minute is up.
Ethersea verdict: 2/10. Whatever joy I had from the actual joke landing was immediately ripped out by the terrible emotional moment and then stomped on by Travis's heinous accent.
 
Well, that just leaves us with the final rankings of every TAZ arc.
The final verdict: Balance, Dust, Amnesty, Commitment and Graduation tied, and then finally Ethersea in dead last. If I had to choose, I'd choose Commitment over Graduation because it's one-quarter cool music I can dance to in my chair.
Oh, uh, personal anecdote... uh... I danced in my chair during the music bits? Does that count?
submitted by wakarimasensei to TAZCirclejerk [link] [comments]


2022.07.14 00:10 Dhavaer Just finished RHoD

It went well. I ran it in 5e, for 2 new-ish players, 1 experienced, and 1 experienced with previous editions. We had a human Paladin, gnome Wizard, and two tiefling Warlocks (celestial and infernal). It was my first time DMing a full campaign. I used the GitP conversion guide for most of it.
Right at the beginning of the game there were only the paladin and wizard (the warlocks joined just before Vraath Keep) so I had to fudge just a little in the initial ambush because I didn't tone it down enough. Hellhound breath is nasty. The hydra on the bridge was a little tough as well.
Once they had a full party together they breezed through most of the fights until the first Razorfiend encounter in the swamps. I threw most of the suggested plot hooks in to get them heading north - in hindsight I probably should have had them go to Brindol first for some shopping because they ended up with an immense amount of treasure with little of spend it on.
The Ruins of Rhest went incredibly badly for them due to a failed infiltration getting them surrounded by enemies right in front of the town hall door. They looked moments away from a tpk but managed to pull off a win - Enemies Abound on the ettin was an MVP.
The paladin fell in love with Miha Serani, and no one was able to get close to beating her deception rolls. I ended up having her give herself away trying to steal the phylactery while invisible, and she successfully escaped.
They took the mercenary gold to the Hammerfist Holds, and I came up with a passage through the mountain that had been closed off due to an unsuccessful teleportation experiment but would make the journey to the Thornwaste much faster if they took that route. It had some weird portals and gravity screw environments and they got to drop enemies on each other by dropping them into portals. Two otyughs in close quarters turned out to be a hell of a challenge, the wizard and celestial warlock spend two full rounds stunned from being smashed together.
The Ghostlord's Lair went amazingly smoothly, although the max hp reduction from the bonedrinkers freaked them out. The wizard got really into the Ghostlord's collection of lion books.
The Battle of Brindol went well - the giants and dragon went down surprisingly quickly, as did the streets of blood encounters until the thunderlizards turned up. Then there was Skather and his silent, invisible teleportation that was pretty nasty after the double lightning bolt from the war adepts. Kharn unfortunately went down too easily but did almost bring down the paladin in a single round, which shocked them.
I went with the 'battle as blood sacrifice' route to get them to the Fane. Varanthian and Tygarun went down much easier than expected. The wyvern zombie + blue abishai fight went well despite me making a very silly mistake - I didn't realise I was using 3.5 stats for the zombies until about halfway through the fight. The blue abishai were the first monster I homebrewed and they went pretty well:
Blue Abishai XP 975 AC 14 HP 90 Str 8 Dex 8 Con 14 Int 20 Wis 20 Cha 14 Saves: Con +5 Wis +8 Resistant: Fire, Cold, Necrotic, Non-magical SPB Immune: Lightning Init +2 Help as a bonus action Attacks: Claws: +2, 1d8 Slashing + 3d8 lightning Necrosis Blast: DC 16 Con, 4d8 Necrotic Regenerator: One ally heals 16 hp/turn and regains one used uncommon ability, concentration, 1/day 
Then they went into the guardhouse and fought some raiders. It was a pretty awful fight - after the raiders used their acid breath they were basically just sacks of hp that took way too long to bring down, so I homebrewed them as well for future fights, and they went much better:
Blackspawn Raider XP 975 AC 14 HP 72 Str 20 Dex 14 Con 20 Int 8 Wis 14 Cha 8 Saves: Con +8 Str +8 Immune: Acid Init +2 Attacks: 2x Falchion: +8, Crit 19-20, 2d6+5 Slashing Acid Breath: 15ft line, Dex DC 16, 6d8 Acid, 1/day 
The rest of the fane went pretty well, although the wizard was consistently frustrated by most of the enemies being immune or resistant to several types of elemental damage. My homebrew Azarr Kul was too strong, I think - I made him a Paragon using Giffyglyph's monster maker rules, and I think he should have been an Elite since he had four Abishai backing him up. They pulled through with some fudging and a very hard fight.
The Aspect of Tiamat made for a great final fight - they ran after she appeared and used a scroll of teleportation circle to retreat to Drellin's Ferry, where they made a stand in the guardhouse with the paladin buffed with Fly, Haste and Polymorph for a flying King Kong with superspeed to take on Tiamat's Ghidorah.
We were all satisfied and I'm looking forward to being a player again next session.
submitted by Dhavaer to RedHandOfDoom [link] [comments]


2022.07.05 06:02 IamMyBrain TAZ Graduation Relisten: Episode 26: "Little Grey Cells”

Link to episode: Little Grey Cells
Pre-Episode 26:
1st half of Episode 26:
Mental Health Break:
Resume first half of Episode 26:
Ad Break:
2nd half of Episode 26:
Post Episode 26:
Next Relisten Post: Episode 27
Previous Relisten Post: Episode 25
submitted by IamMyBrain to TAZCirclejerk [link] [comments]


2022.06.10 16:38 Nintolerance Some Gear & Gear Variants for Low-Level / Low-Magic Parties

Here's some slightly spicier versions of mundane 5e items. I think they're good as interesting loot or craftables for situations where magic items aren't on the table for whatever reason.

Gear Variants

Orichalcum equipment is made by aquatic-dwelling metallurgists, designed to have similar properties and density to steel while being less affected by salt water. Orichalcum equipment can spend decades buried in the sea bed and be little the worse for wear, compared to steel equipment that would be left unusable. Orichalcum is negligibly more expensive than steel in regions that produce it (e.g. merfolk cities) but twice as expensive elsewhere.
Silvered equipment is already a thing in 5e, where a weapon or 10 pieces of ammunition can be silvered by a skilled craftsman for 100gp. Some monsters, e.g. werewolves, can't be harmed by non-magical weapons unless they are silvered.
Mithral is a light and flexible metal, with the 5e rules for Mithral Armor removing the Stealth disadvantage and Strength requirement from the armour piece it's applied to. Expanding on this, any item made from Mithral weighs around 1/3 of what an iron or steel equivalent would cost. Pikes, Halberds, Greatswords, Heavy Crossbows and Glaives made from Mithral do not have the Heavy property. (The same applies to Mauls and Greataxes, but their damage die is reduced to 1d10.)
Adamantine armour and weapons have official rules in the 5e PHB and XGE. Expanding on these, tools can be made from or coated in Adamantine. An Adamantine tool provides a +4 bonus to hit the AC of appropriate objects, e.g. an Adamantine pickaxe being used to break stone, and all hits inflicted on objects are critical hits. Adamantine is significantly harder than stone, steel or mithral, so Adamantine tools can be used to pierce and cut through a wider variety of materials than other tools.
NB: Tools like a Miner's Pick don't have officially listed damage values, even for when they're being used "properly" against objects. I'd stat things like a Miner's Pick or mattock as 1d8/1d10 Versatile like a War Pick should be, a hatchet (included in Carpenter's Tools) as 1d6 like a Handaxe, etc.
Single-Use ammunition, such as arrows, bolts and javelins, are designed to break or bend on impact with a target. Considered wasteful by some, they serve a tactical purpose against enemies that might try to turn your ammunition back against you. (mostly I just have organised enemies use disposable pilum javelins against the party because it placates my sadistic DM side)

Gear

A Hellhound Jar (100gp) is a small clay pot with several internal chambers, each containing alchemical ingredients that violently react on contact. When the jar is broken it detonates, the ensuing xloud of smoke rendering everything in a 20ft radius heavily obscured for one minute or until dissipated by a strong wind. Creatures within 30ft must make a DC11 Dexterity save to avert their eyes- on a failed save they are Blinded for one round and have Disadvantage on attack rolls and skill checks involving sight for one minute. The smoke is burning hot, and creatures that start or end their turn inside it must make a DC11 Constitution save or take 1 Fire damage from the exposure. Hellhound Jars are inordinately expensive to make and regarded as mostly a curiosity, for now.
Man-Catcher (2gp): Simple Melee weapon, 1d4 Bludgeoning, Reach, Two-Handed, Special. A Man-Catcher is a type of polearm used for non-lethally subduing targets. You can perform a Special grapple attack on a target within 10ft, using the Man-Catcher instead of a free hand. Add double your Str bonus to the Strength (Athletics) check to grapple the target. If you succeed you subject the target to the Grappled condition. Then, if the creature is your size or smaller, they must pass a save or be knocked Prone. You choose whether the creature makes a Strength or Dexterity save, and the DC for this save is equal to (8 + 2x your Str modifier + your proficiency bonus).
Parrying Dagger: When wielded in the off-hand, this Dagger provides +2 AC against attacks with melee weapons, as though it were a shield. Wielding this weapon does not disable the Duelling fighting style. The AC bonus does not stack with the +2 bonus provided by a shield, but does stack with the AC bonus from the Dual Wielder feat.
Exotic Saddle (Tweak): An Exotic Saddle is required for any aquatic or flying mount, and allows the rider to safely remain mounted to a Spider Climbing creature even while it hangs upside-down from a ceiling.
Humanoid Saddle (10gp): 20lbs. Less a "saddle" and more like a backpack & platform that can be worn by a Medium humanoid, allowing the wearer to safely and stably carry another, smaller humanoid.
Bolas (1gp): Martial Ranged Weapon, 10/20ft, Special, Thrown. A Medium or smaller creature hit by a bolas is knocked Prone, their speed is halved, and they can't benefit from any bonus to their speed. The halved speed applies on top of the penalty for being prone. A creature is immune to this effect if it has no legs or does not require those legs to move. The creature can remove the bolas with any attack that deals 1 or more slashing damage (bolas AC 6) or by using their action to make a DC10 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check.
Mithral Net (10gp): 15lbs This Net is made from flexible and sturdy Mithral rather than braided rope and is thus much harder to cut or tear. The DC to escape a Mithral Net with a Strength check is 20. the Net has an AC of 21 and 10hp when creatures attempt to escape with slashing damage.
Slaver's Crossbow (80gp): This Heavy Crossbow replaces its ability to fire bolts with a mechanism that allows it to load a Net, Mithral Net or Bolas, and make an attack with the loaded weapon at an increased range. Loading the crossbow takes an action. A Bolas has a range of 50/100ft, while a Net or Mithral Net has a range of 30/60ft.
submitted by Nintolerance to dndnext [link] [comments]


2022.05.28 21:20 OfGodsandGamemasters New this Week on Of Gods and Gamemasters!

New this Week on Of Gods and Gamemasters!
This Week, On, Of Gods and Gamemasters!
The Fomor, a Very Slight Re- Imagining for Dnd
Two new Worldbuilding Articles, Skaria: Life on the Border, and Skaria: Threats and Allies!
Hellhound, the Dark Man's Enforcer, for Changeling the Lost!
The Hellserpent, the Vine Wyrm, and the revised Ape for 5e!
The Attercroppe, a fae monster for GURPS Fantasy and Horror
The King of Fools, a villain for GURPS Horror, Urban Fantasy, or Monster Hunters!
The angry Polynesian earth and lava controller, Pele, for Mutants and Masterminds!
Fletcher, a mythic hero homage to Hawkeye and Green Arrow for Pathfinder 1e!
More of the Band of Heroes for Scion: So far, we have Tamara, daughter of Ogoun, Kekoa, son of Pele, Conan O'Byrne, son of the Morrigan, and Baahir Carstairs, son of Bast!
Also for Scion 1e, the Okumade or Kanapi'ino, a Nemean Giant Centipede! And so much more!
Of Gods and Gamemasters

https://preview.redd.it/cq1d0x8to9291.png?width=1004&format=png&auto=webp&s=46a34a6035865f0c66f3941f2b0f83c95dc25446
submitted by OfGodsandGamemasters to rpgpromo [link] [comments]


2022.05.28 21:18 OfGodsandGamemasters Weekly Website Update!

Weekly Website Update!
This Week, On, Of Gods and Gamemasters! The Fomor, a Very Slight Re- Imagining for Dnd Two new Worldbuilding Articles, Skaria: Life on the Border, and Skaria: Threats and Allies! Hellhound, the Dark Man's Enforcer, for Changeling the Lost! The Hellserpent, the Vine Wyrm, and the revised Ape for 5e! The Attercroppe, a fae monster for GURPS Fantasy and Horror The King of Fools, a villain for GURPS Horror, Urban Fantasy, or Monster Hunters! The angry Polynesian earth and lava controller, Pele, for Mutants and Masterminds! Fletcher, a mythic hero homage to Hawkeye and Green Arrow for Pathfinder 1e! More of the Band of Heroes for Scion: So far, we have Tamara, daughter of Ogoun, Kekoa, son of Pele, Conan O'Byrne, son of the Morrigan, and Baahir Carstairs, son of Bast! Also for Scion 1e, the Okumade or Kanapi'ino, a Nemean Giant Centipede! And so much more! Of Gods and Gamemasters
https://preview.redd.it/kmjvrakco9291.png?width=1004&format=png&auto=webp&s=fbe047c1cf03a92479d1b4d8d383f8d3fc23471a
submitted by OfGodsandGamemasters to OfGodsandGamemasters [link] [comments]


2022.05.12 11:53 TheMightyPERKELE Bow's End Tavern Menu!

Bow's End Tavern Menu!
I'm back again to deliver a menu, since the book's menu was lacking the pizazz and magic! I have two versions, exactly identical in content but I personally use the purple version for a more club like feeling! My Firejolt Menu can also be found here: Firejolt Menu

Bow's End Tavern Menu

(Most drinks are by me and some are inspired by this Free DMsguild Document here! )
V1: Strixhaven style menu

V2: Club like menu

Bar Snacks (Not included in the menu photo)

  • Lizard scale chips with salsa: 3cp
  • Frybread topped with marinated artichokes and spinach: 5cp
Bigger meals:
  • Bread pudding with sauteed onions and carrots: 3sp
  • Mutton, Lettuce and Tomato: 4sp
  • Breaded Breast of Chicken, Whiskey & Mushroom Sauce: 5sp
  • Garlic and Basil Leg of Lamb: 7sp
  • Braised Oxtails with Mushrooms: 8sp
  • Spicy Hellhound Claws: 4gp
  • Griffin shanks, with secret sauce BBQ: 6gp
  • Basilisk Tail Roasted in Beer: 7gp
  • Ettercap Claws with Melted Butter: 10gp
  • Dragon Turtle and Garlic Stew: 25gp

Drinks:

Campus Specials:

  • Lorehold’s Memory: 5sp (Red and Orange, sparkling and swirling drink. Hard to say what it tastes like as the flavours dance on your tongue and you feel as if your mind just opened. One of the rare drinks that actually improves your memory)
  • Prismari’s Passion: 5sp (Blood red drink with a blue, sparking and electric liquid on top. They are mixed together to cause a small elemental reaction. It's interesting to drink is as it changes at a rapid pace from got to cold to electrifying. A strong drink that leaves you feeling that the colors are brighter and the atmosphere even more lively than before)
  • Quandrix’s Delight: 5sp (Light Blue and etherial looking drink that spills gentle steam around it. The steam has very small and tiny fractals that dance and entertain you as you view the drink. It is a mild and pleasant drink that calms your nerves)
  • Silverquill’s Blessing: 5sp (Black and white glowing drink that battles against itself in a small swirl. After drinking you feel like you've never had confidence like this. You could totally win a dance battle right now.)
  • Witherbloom’s Blight: 5sp (Bright green drink served in a wooden cup. It is very bitter and stings like a cactus. A very strong drink. You feel like you can see people's auras.. wait does this have hallucinogenic mushrooms in it? oh no..)
  • The Alchemist’s Special: 3gp (Alchemist's special vodka, sugar from the fey wild and a purple flame that is lit before consumption. Nearly a clear drink that has a pearl-like shine. The drink tastes exactly like what you want. As if it changed based on what you desired.)

Drinks, shots and ales:

  • Dwarven Ale: 5cp
  • Fallan Feywine (elven): 9cp
  • Glowglass Shot: 4sp (Glowing light pink, blue and yellow drink. After consumption your eyes and insides glow brightly for a moment.)
  • The Flaming Dragon: 4sp (Spicy and dark Whiskey. Each of your burps becomes a very small harmless flame)

Cocktails and Special Drinks:

  • Bilgewater: 5cp (A very dark drink that reminds you of swamp water. Apparently made from the essence of a small sea creature. Very fishy taste. Many students will throw up trying this drink for the first time. It's cheep for a reason)
  • The Jolly Transmuter: 10sp (Almost neon lime green coloured drink with jelly cubes. The entire drink doesn't act like a normal liquid and jiggles in it's glass. The drink is very sweet with sour explosions from the cubes in between. Your taste is altered for the next 30 minutes (Sweet becomes sour etc)
  • Succubus’ Kiss: 3gp (Bright pink drink, with sparkly red flakes in it in the shape of Hearts served in a Martini glass. The sensation of drinking it feels like kissing your long lost lover. Leaves people with an intense blush on their cheeks. An irrisestable drink. Great for those who are way too lonely!!)
  • Pixie’s Piss: 5gp (*Does not include actual pixie's piss. A shot of multiple dancing colors and sparkles. When consumed it's just as fun and colourful going down as it looked. You can't help the intense giggle escaping your throat before your legs lift off of the ground. You are briefly under the effects of the spell Levitate)
  • Wyvern’s Death Punch: 8gp (A deep deep green drink with black swirls. It's made by mixing a very very very small amount of wyvern's poison with the strongest alcohol available. The end result is a slightly hallucinogenic drink that is a fast track to poisoning. Equivalent to Absinthe)

Other Strixhaven Resources made by yours truly:

- Firejolt Menu
- Strixhaven Memories Tracking Sheet
- Art for Strixhaven Pendant
submitted by TheMightyPERKELE to StrixhavenDMs [link] [comments]


2022.05.10 17:07 Special-Equivalent71 My players want a challenging fight!

In my 5e game we are approaching the final showdown and I already have them fighting a Balor, but according to the dnd beyond encounter builder it is "hard" and my players asked me do give them a "deadly" encounter.... Any Ideas what monsters I could add? Preferably a group of less powerful ones.
Edit: my table consists of 6 lv 5, 3 lv 3 and 1 lv 10 players and I added 5 hellhounds. thanks for all the great input!
submitted by Special-Equivalent71 to DnD [link] [comments]


2022.03.10 01:55 jahernandez_writes Chasing the Origins of the Oklahoma Octopus

Chasing the Origins of the Oklahoma Octopus
This is Original Content from me that I cleared with the mod team before posting. It's a little lighthearted (but still serious) attempt of me trying to uncover more about the Oklahoma Octopus and its origin. There's a real mystery here about this fascinating legend regarding a lake cryptid. I ended up following some pretty interesting trails and I'm curious if anyone knows anything more about this creature. I was able to turn up some mentions of the creature and it's almost as if this one is a somewhat recent invention.
-
Naturally, 'octopus' is always the first thing everyone thinks of when the state of Oklahoma comes up. The two are inseparable, like a sucker on a fish tank. But, of all the octopuses* in Oklahoma that we could focus on, which one should we pick?
\ SIDE NOTE on) pluralization—octopi, octopuses, or octopodes?

The Oklahoma Octopus™

I'm talking THE Oklahoma Octopus.
Not all those other lesser-known ones that cover the state.
I'm sure you know to which one I'm referring. The one that's the size of a horse, reddish-brown leathery skin. The one that walks between lakes, stalking teenagers and pulling them down to watery deaths where they become a crunchy, juicy in the middle, cephalopod snack.
Cephalopods are incredibly intelligent, and a new meta-study shows they are sentient, along with mollusks and decapods. While they've been protected under various animal welfare acts for a while in different parts of the world, this new one says it's no longer okay to boil them alive (or eat them alive.) Apparently, if an animal is sentient, can feel pain, can experience joy or sadness, you should destroy its brain before chomping on it. Interesting conclusion.
For these types of creatures, aka cryptids, it's sometimes fun to try and trace the origin of the stories. Where did this giant freshwater alpha predator come from? Why does it eat teenagers? Which Native American tribes had legends about a massive man-eating octopus living in Oklahoma?
Continue reading to find out these things and more!
Now, I bet you were one of those lucky kids who learned to walk and then started using all the O's in your Alphabet Soup to spell out your favorite eight-legged cryptid. Me? I wasn't so lucky. I discovered the Oklahoma Octopus in the same way that many people come to know the terror of deep Oklahoma waters. I bought a laminated map of the USA off Amazon, stuck it on my wall, and then remembered to read it six months later.
The US is teeming with cryptid life!
Like me, I'm sure you could definitely point to Oklahoma on a map without even thinking about it (and, of course, every other state, because of the incredible public education system in the USA.) But, for those who didn't have the everyday pleasure of experiencing public education here, I can help. It only takes three simple steps.
  • Step 1: Take a look at that map.
  • Step 2: Learn the United States compass that we natives use. Forget about all those confusing things like North, South, East, and West. California is on the Left. Florida and New York are on the Right. Texas is Down. (That massive thing in the middle bottom.) Canada is Up.
  • Step 3: See Texas? See that octopus hanging on top of Texas? That's Oklahoma. Now you know the secret all of us Americans use to find Oklahoma.
^(\** I use these exact instructions to impart cartographic skills to my non-US friends. Seriously, though, what other cool cryptids are in Oklahoma? I'm having trouble digging them up.)*
After getting this map from Amazon, I began researching the giant octopus on top of Texas. I'd never heard of it before, and I had to find out everything I could about it.
Internet Lore lays out the following Internet Facts:
  • There's a horse-sized octopus in some Oklahoma lakes.
  • It's red. Or brown.
  • It eats people.
Honestly, I had to take a few weeks off after discovering this treasure trove. It was a lot to take in, but I wasn't satisfied with only one complete set of encyclopedias' worth of information. I'm sure you're exhausted by now but bear with me here as I detail my journey to uncover the origin of Cthulhu's cousin.

Eyewitness Accounts & Photographic Evidence

The first thing I did was look for eyewitness accounts or photographs. I didn't find either of those, no matter how much digging I did. Not even a "my cousin's brother's mom's boyfriend was out fishing" or a single blurry photo. Nothing. No eyewitnesses.

Which Lakes Does it Inhabit?

My second step was to find the exact locations of the sightings. That was difficult, considering there were no sightings. I came across a lot of "it is said" or "legend has it," so let's go with that, for now.
It is said that the killer octopus lives in Tenkiller Ferry Lake. Also, legend has it that the octopus lives in Lake Thunderbird. I assumed only one octopus was terrorizing both lakes because I couldn't find anything saying two octopuses.
Going off that assumption...
Those two lakes are only about 170 miles apart (274 kilometers.) That's about a 60-hour walk for humans.
**Did you know?**Americans spell it "kilometer" and everyone who actually uses this unit of measure, like Canada and the UK, spell it "kilometre."
It's a scientific fact that some species of octopus walk between pools of water—there's even video evidence of it. But, how fast do they walk? I couldn't find the land speed of a giant octopus anywhere except for Dungeons and Dragons monster stats, so I'm declaring D&D the authoritative source.
A Giant Octopus has a walking speed of 10 ft per turn.
170 miles is 897,600 feet.
That's 89,760 D&D turns.
Assuming the Giant Octopus uses all of its movement in its turn, and it's only traveling on land, and considering each round (1 turn per round) is about 6 seconds (D&D 5E rules)—it would take 538,560 seconds to walk between Tenkiller Ferry Lake and Lake Thunderbird.
That's about 150 hours. (Somebody please check my D&D math.)
Totally doable, especially if it moved at night and took cover in wet areas during the day. By the way, if it took the Dash action each turn, it could make it in half the time (I'm not accounting for levels of Exhaustion, of course.)
Now that we have established the logistics of moving a giant octopus between two lakes, let's move on to my other discoveries about this exotic creature.

Diet

Baby octopuses eat small things like copepods, larval crabs, and sea stars. Adult ones eat crabs, clams, snails, small fishes, and even other octopuses. None of those things live in Oklahoma lakes, but we already know that legend has it that the Oklahoma Octopus eats teenagers.
Tenkiller Lake. In the summertime, these waters become a buffet filled to the brim with crunchy teenagers. Photo by Jake Bowman on Unsplash

Lifespan

A regular octopus lives three to five years. Giant freshwater killer octopus? I'm not sure. I couldn't find anything on D&D for it, and I also couldn't find any way to calculate lifespan from D&D's Challenge Rating. If anyone knows how to do this, let me know. It is said that it's been stalking the lakes for decades, so you can use that as a cross-check on Challenge Rating to Lifespan math.
Also, there are no known species of freshwater octopus, so even if someone figures out that math, I don't know how to accommodate the freshwater-octopuses-don't-exist coefficient.

Origin

We know that this octopus lives in two lakes in Oklahoma. But, what is unique about those lakes? Well, first, there are no connecting inlets. Meaning, the octopus didn't move from the ocean to either of these lakes via water. From Tenkiller Ferry Lake, it's a straight shot of about 400 miles down to Houston and (644 km) to the nearest ocean. A very determined giant octopus who follows D&D 5E rules could probably do that, given enough time.
It is said that this octopus has been around for a very long time. According to many sources on the Internet, Native American legends simply overflow with stories of a giant octopus living in Oklahoma lakes going back at least hundreds of years. Never mind that both Tenkiller Ferry Lake and Lake Thunderbird are man-made and didn't exist until about the 1950s. And never mind the fact that those Native American legends of a giant octopus in Oklahoma lakes don't seem to exist.
There's also a huge problem when someone says "Native American legend" because the legends among tribes differ. Right now, there are 574 US federally recognized tribes. Thirty-eight of those are in Oklahoma. So, which "ancient Native American legend has it" about a giant killer octopus living in lakes created in the 1950s? There are cryptids with lore that name specific tribes, but not this one. What's happening here is a bit of hand-wavey legend obfuscation because if everything lacks specificity, there's no way to disprove it.
As a bit of an aside—when I try to track these legends down, I'll use the same terminology that people use to describe the legend, but I insert notes that I feel are important. Like this:
What is the correct terminology: American Indian, Indian, Native American, Indigenous, or Native?
All of these terms are acceptable. The consensus, however, is that whenever possible, Native people prefer to be called by their specific tribal name. In the United States, Native American has been widely used but is falling out of favor with some groups, and the terms American Indian or Indigenous American are preferred by many Native people. Native peoples often have individual preferences on how they would like to be addressed. When talking about Native groups or people, use the terminology the members of the community use to describe themselves collectively.
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/faq/did-you-know
What stories can be found in Native American lore about octopuses?
Not a lot, but I did manage to find one—though it is a story that features humanoid creatures who have shapeshifted from animals—and not a giant killer octopus that eats people. But, if anyone reading this has more information, please send it my way.
So, if "legend has it" and "it is said" are wrong, then where did the story come from?
The most frequently cited source of information is a TV show called Lost Tapes that aired on Animal Planet from 2008-2010. Each episode features a cryptid or monster. It's done in a mockumentary/found-footage style, and each one is entirely fictional—they didn't use real stories from anyone. I watched the episode for the Oklahoma Octopus, and as you might guess, it's chock-full of unverified claims that contradict actual science, and it presents fiction as fact. Also, shaky camera work and screaming/sobbing "teenagers."
While reviewing the episode list for Lost Tapes, it became clear that they feature some very well-known and easily verifiable cryptids. Chupacabra, Bigfoot, Thunderbird, Mothman, and more generic ones like vampires, hellhounds, and lizardmen.
The Oklahoma Octopus is a strange, nearly unknown outlier in these big-name cryptids. Where did Lost Tapes get the story from? I tried contacting the show producers and story producers, but I haven't heard back yet.
I began digging into the phrase "Oklahoma Octopus" to find references that predated the show. I happened to know of a couple of tools for this.

Coast to Coast AM

If you're looking for information on a cryptid or really any strange phenomena, the Coast to Coast AM radio show is likely to have something. It's been running since 1988, and they constantly interview experts, witnesses, authors, and more about nearly any freaky thing you can imagine. Running searches on their articles and show archives turns up about 5,000 mentions of Bigfoot and 600 of vampires, but any combination of anything related to the Oklahoma Octopus nets precisely zero results.

Google Ngram Viewer

It's unlikely you are familiar with Ngram. The tool isn't exactly trending on Twitter or anything.
"The Google Ngram Viewer or Google Books Ngram Viewer is an online search engine that charts the frequencies of any set of search strings using a yearly count of n-grams found in sources printed between 1500 and 2019 in Google's text corpora in English, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, or Spanish." — Wikipedia
Using Ngram, I searched for "Oklahoma Octopus" and compared it with "Bigfoot," "Mothman," and "vampire."
Take a look at the results.
Note that "Oklahoma Octopus" doesn't actually appear on the graph. That's because Ngram has precisely zero references to that phrase in its entire database of books. That's not to say there are no books with that phrase, only that Google hasn't indexed them. However, based on the results, I think it's fair to say that the Oklahoma Octopus is entirely unknown—especially compared to any other cryptid you might plug into Ngram.

Usenet Archives

There are searchable Usenet Archives that go back to at least 1981. It's easy to find tens of thousands of posts about Bigfoot going back to the beginning of the archives.
Oklahoma Octopus?
The earliest mention is September 2008, only a few months before the Lost Tapes episode was released. There are only two posts about the Oklahoma Octopus, both from the same user. One is from September 2008 and another from January 2009, about a week after the episode was released.
The first post name drops a lot of well-known lake monsters and then mixes in the Oklahoma Octopus at the end. The sources linked at the bottom don't mention the Oklahoma Octopus.
The second post is just a link to a page that I found on the Wayback Machine that is essentially about the Lost Tapes episode (it even cites the Lost Tapes episode as the source of information.) It mentions a book published in 2007 that has a story about a man-eating octopus in Lake Thunderbird. The book Monster Spotter's Guide to North America by Scott Francis, published in 2007.
Now, we're getting somewhere! Finally, something older than the Lost Tapes episode!
Some searching turned up that in 2007, Rod Lott of the Oklahoma Gazette asked people who lived around the lakes if they knew of the giant octopus. The book had recently been released, and inquiring minds wanted to know if residents were familiar with the Oklahoma Octopus featured in it.
"Are giant octopi eating swimmers of Oklahoma lakes?"
Spoiler: No. They'd never heard of it.
Where do you go from here?
I actually own Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, and it's a great book. The illustrator created some fantastic drawings of a lot of the creatures. There are hundreds of monsters in it, and each has about a one-page entry overview. Scott did an excellent job on it, and the format of it reminds me of a book I used to have on birdwatching. He doesn't really claim anything about any of the monsters in it. For the Oklahoma Octopus entry and—this is where tracking the origin gets even more interesting—he only wrote about three sentences. And, more importantly, he never actually calls it the "Oklahoma Octopus." It's called "The Giant Freshwater Octopus," and he just describes that lakes in Oklahoma have a high rate of instances of drowning. Interestingly, in addition to Lake Thunderbird and Tenkiller, he mentions Lake Oologah. He says it has reddish-brown leather skin and is over twenty feet long.
That's it. There is no mention of Native American legends, teenager snacks, or how long the octopus(es) has been terrorizing the locals. This means, of course, all those "it is said" and "legend has it" came from somewhere else.
I tracked down the author of the 2007 book, Scott Francis. I also tracked down the illustrator of the book. I wrote to both of them, but I haven't heard back from either yet. If I do, I'll be sure and post an update. Just to be clear, I want to know if either of them remembers where they first heard about the octopus. If they do, then perhaps I can find another trail to follow. At this point, I have no reason to believe that Scott Francis invented this legend, but if he did, then he should be recognized for pulling one amazing dupe that ended up turning into an episode on Animal Planet. I'd be very impressed.
In Scott Francis's book, he references another, an older book by Loren Coleman from 2003 titled Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep. It turns out, Loren Coleman was involved in the production of the show Lost Tapes. He's also a bit of a controversial figure. I really don't know enough about him to form an opinion on that, but, to Loren Coleman's credit, there's only one mention of Oklahoma in his book, and it's buried in a list of 1,000 sea monsters. It's not even about an octopus; it just mentions Lake Eufala, which, upon further research, seems to be a sighting from 1973 by two brothers of a creature similar to the Loch Ness monster. And that's where the trail goes cold. The references go into a loop, an echo chamber, a self-referential puzzle that feels like being stuck in a mirror maze at the carnival.
Loren's website has archives of articles about creatures, but none of them mention an octopus. He has written several other books, and I haven't read them all. But I did pick up a copy of Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature published in 1999 to see what secrets it may hold. There are 19 mentions of the word "octopus" in the book. None have anything to do with Oklahoma, though.
I found this stock photo titled \"red and white bear plush.\" So, it seems cephalopods have quite a bit of work to do.
One other theory I found is that someone in Oklahoma was jealous of fisherman John Mazurek, who caught an octopus in Lake Conway, Arkansas, in 2003. So jealous that they invented their own story but made the octopus way bigger and deadlier. The octopus John Mazurek caught was normal-sized and likely kept in an aquarium and then dumped into the lake for some reason.
Ultimately, this is the problem with cryptids. We just don't know. New species are discovered all the time, including in areas we know pretty well. That even extends to the human body. You'd think we would know everything about anatomy by now or at least have a complete catalog of bones and muscles. Nope. A muscle in the jaw was discovered in 2021.
If anyone reading this knows anything about the Oklahoma Octopus, get in touch—I'd love to hear about it and revisit this cryptid. Or, if your name is Scott Francis and you wrote Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, I'd love to find out where you originally heard about a giant octopus in Oklahoma and then continue with my hunt for the origin of the legend.
By the way, if you ever want to check out shows about monsters living in water and want to skip the mockumentaries featuring screaming "teenagers," then you will want to watch anything from Jeremy Wade.
Photo of Jeremy Wade, being awesome. Taken by David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
He's one seriously awesome person and really knows his stuff. Really, try any episode of any of these:
Every single one of his shows is an adventure into chasing the mysteries lurking in deep waters.
As for the Oklahoma Octopus—if anyone knows any other trails to follow, I'd love to chase them down and see where they go. I find chasing the origin of mysteries like this is fun, fascinating, and challenging, but when all the trails run cold like I just laid out, where do you go? Take it back to the internet and hope that someone has another lead. =)
submitted by jahernandez_writes to Cryptozoology [link] [comments]


2022.03.05 02:40 jahernandez_writes Chasing the Origins of the Oklahoma Octopus

Chasing the Origins of the Oklahoma Octopus
You may be wondering why I'm posting about a cryptid here, but if you read on you'll find out. This is a little lighthearted (but still serious) attempt of me trying to uncover more about the Oklahoma Octopus and its origin. There's a real mystery here about this fascinating legend regarding a lake cryptid. I ended up following some pretty interesting trails and I'm curious if anyone knows anything more about this creature. I was able to turn up some mentions of the creature and it's almost as if this one is a somewhat recent invention—thus, the mystery...of history. =)
-
Naturally, 'octopus' is always the first thing everyone thinks of when the state of Oklahoma comes up. The two are inseparable, like a sucker on a fish tank. But, of all the octopuses* in Oklahoma that we could focus on, which one should we pick?
\ SIDE NOTE on) pluralization—octopi, octopuses, or octopodes?

The Oklahoma Octopus™

I'm talking THE Oklahoma Octopus.
Not all those other lesser-known ones that cover the state.
I'm sure you know to which one I'm referring. The one that's the size of a horse, reddish-brown leathery skin. The one that walks between lakes, stalking teenagers and pulling them down to watery deaths where they become a crunchy, juicy in the middle, cephalopod snack.
Cephalopods are incredibly intelligent, and a new meta-study shows they are sentient, along with mollusks and decapods. While they've been protected under various animal welfare acts for a while in different parts of the world, this new one says it's no longer okay to boil them alive (or eat them alive.) Apparently, if an animal is sentient, can feel pain, can experience joy or sadness, you should destroy its brain before chomping on it. Interesting conclusion.
For these types of creatures, aka cryptids, it's sometimes fun to try and trace the origin of the stories. Where did this giant freshwater alpha predator come from? Why does it eat teenagers? Which Native American tribes had legends about a massive man-eating octopus living in Oklahoma?
Continue reading to find out these things and more!
Now, I bet you were one of those lucky kids who learned to walk and then started using all the O's in your Alphabet Soup to spell out your favorite eight-legged cryptid. Me? I wasn't so lucky. I discovered the Oklahoma Octopus in the same way that many people come to know the terror of deep Oklahoma waters. I bought a laminated map of the USA off Amazon, stuck it on my wall, and then remembered to read it six months later.
The US is teeming with cryptid life!
Like me, I'm sure you could definitely point to Oklahoma on a map without even thinking about it (and, of course, every other state, because of the incredible public education system in the USA.) But, for those who didn't have the everyday pleasure of experiencing public education here, I can help. It only takes three simple steps.
  • Step 1: Take a look at that map.
  • Step 2: Learn the United States compass that we natives use. Forget about all those confusing things like North, South, East, and West. California is on the Left. Florida and New York are on the Right. Texas is Down. (That massive thing in the middle bottom.) Canada is Up.
  • Step 3: See Texas? See that octopus hanging on top of Texas? That's Oklahoma. Now you know the secret all of us Americans use to find Oklahoma.
^(\** I use these exact instructions to impart cartographic skills to my non-US friends.)*
After getting this map from Amazon, I began researching the giant octopus on top of Texas. I'd never heard of it before, and I had to find out everything I could about it.
Internet Lore lays out the following Internet Facts:
  • There's a horse-sized octopus in some Oklahoma lakes.
  • It's red. Or brown.
  • It eats people.
Honestly, I had to take a few weeks off after discovering this treasure trove. It was a lot to take in, but I wasn't satisfied with only one complete set of encyclopedias' worth of information. I'm sure you're exhausted by now but bear with me here as I detail my journey to uncover the origin of Cthulhu's cousin.

Eyewitness Accounts & Photographic Evidence

The first thing I did was look for eyewitness accounts or photographs. I didn't find either of those, no matter how much digging I did. Not even a "my cousin's brother's mom's boyfriend was out fishing" or a single blurry photo. Nothing. No eyewitnesses.

Which Lakes Does it Inhabit?

My second step was to find the exact locations of the sightings. That was difficult, considering there were no sightings. I came across a lot of "it is said" or "legend has it," so let's go with that, for now.
It is said that the killer octopus lives in Tenkiller Ferry Lake. Also, legend has it that the octopus lives in Lake Thunderbird. I assumed only one octopus was terrorizing both lakes because I couldn't find anything saying two octopuses.
Going off that assumption...
Those two lakes are only about 170 miles apart (274 kilometers.) That's about a 60-hour walk for humans.
Did you know?Americans spell it "kilometer" and everyone who actually uses this unit of measure, like Canada and the UK, spell it "kilometre."
It's a scientific fact that some species of octopus walk between pools of water—there's even video evidence of it. But, how fast do they walk? I couldn't find the land speed of a giant octopus anywhere except for Dungeons and Dragons monster stats, so I'm declaring D&D the authoritative source.
A Giant Octopus has a walking speed of 10 ft per turn.
170 miles is 897,600 feet.
That's 89,760 D&D turns.
Assuming the Giant Octopus uses all of its movement in its turn, and it's only traveling on land, and considering each round (1 turn per round) is about 6 seconds (D&D 5E rules)—it would take 538,560 seconds to walk between Tenkiller Ferry Lake and Lake Thunderbird.
That's about 150 hours. (Somebody please check my D&D math.)
Totally doable, especially if it moved at night and took cover in wet areas during the day. By the way, if it took the Dash action each turn, it could make it in half the time (I'm not accounting for levels of Exhaustion, of course.)
Now that we have established the logistics of moving a giant octopus between two lakes, let's move on to my other discoveries about this exotic creature.

Diet

Baby octopuses eat small things like copepods, larval crabs, and sea stars. Adult ones eat crabs, clams, snails, small fishes, and even other octopuses. None of those things live in Oklahoma lakes, but we already know that legend has it that the Oklahoma Octopus eats teenagers.
Tenkiller Lake. In the summertime, these waters become a buffet filled to the brim with crunchy teenagers. Photo by Jake Bowman on Unsplash

Lifespan

A regular octopus lives three to five years. Giant freshwater killer octopus? I'm not sure. I couldn't find anything on D&D for it, and I also couldn't find any way to calculate lifespan from D&D's Challenge Rating. If anyone knows how to do this, let me know. It is said that it's been stalking the lakes for decades, so you can use that as a cross-check on Challenge Rating to Lifespan math.
Also, there are no known species of freshwater octopus, so even if someone figures out that math, I don't know how to accommodate the freshwater-octopuses-don't-exist coefficient.

Origin

We know that this octopus lives in two lakes in Oklahoma. But, what is unique about those lakes? Well, first, there are no connecting inlets. Meaning, the octopus didn't move from the ocean to either of these lakes via water. From Tenkiller Ferry Lake, it's a straight shot of about 400 miles down to Houston and (644 km) to the nearest ocean. A very determined giant octopus who follows D&D 5E rules could probably do that, given enough time.
It is said that this octopus has been around for a very long time. According to many sources on the Internet, Native American legends simply overflow with stories of a giant octopus living in Oklahoma lakes going back at least hundreds of years. Never mind that both Tenkiller Ferry Lake and Lake Thunderbird are man-made and didn't exist until about the 1950s. And never mind the fact that those Native American legends of a giant octopus in Oklahoma lakes don't seem to exist.
There's also a huge problem when someone says "Native American legend" because the legends among tribes differ. Right now, there are 574 US federally recognized tribes. Thirty-eight of those are in Oklahoma. So, which "ancient Native American legend has it" about a giant killer octopus living in lakes created in the 1950s? There are cryptids with lore that name specific tribes, but not this one. What's happening here is a bit of hand-wavey legend obfuscation because if everything lacks specificity, there's no way to disprove it.
As a bit of an aside—when I try to track these legends down, I'll use the same terminology that people use to describe the legend, but I insert notes that I feel are important. Like this:
What is the correct terminology: American Indian, Indian, Native American, Indigenous, or Native?
All of these terms are acceptable. The consensus, however, is that whenever possible, Native people prefer to be called by their specific tribal name. In the United States, Native American has been widely used but is falling out of favor with some groups, and the terms American Indian or Indigenous American are preferred by many Native people. Native peoples often have individual preferences on how they would like to be addressed. When talking about Native groups or people, use the terminology the members of the community use to describe themselves collectively.
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/faq/did-you-know
What stories can be found in Native American lore about octopuses?
Not a lot, but I did manage to find one—though it is a story that features humanoid creatures who have shapeshifted from animals—and not a giant killer octopus that eats people. But, if anyone reading this has more information, please send it my way.
So, if "legend has it" and "it is said" are wrong, then where did the story come from?
The most frequently cited source of information is a TV show called Lost Tapes that aired on Animal Planet from 2008-2010. Each episode features a cryptid or monster. It's done in a mockumentary/found-footage style, and each one is entirely fictional—they didn't use real stories from anyone. I watched the episode for the Oklahoma Octopus, and as you might guess, it's chock-full of unverified claims that contradict actual science, and it presents fiction as fact. Also, shaky camera work and screaming/sobbing "teenagers."
While reviewing the episode list for Lost Tapes, it became clear that they feature some very well-known and easily verifiable cryptids. Chupacabra, Bigfoot, Thunderbird, Mothman, and more generic ones like vampires, hellhounds, and lizardmen.
The Oklahoma Octopus is a strange, nearly unknown outlier in these big-name cryptids. Where did Lost Tapes get the story from? I tried contacting the show producers and story producers, but I haven't heard back yet.
I began digging into the phrase "Oklahoma Octopus" to find references that predated the show. I happened to know of a couple of tools for this.

Coast to Coast AM

If you're looking for information on a cryptid or really any strange phenomena, the Coast to Coast AM radio show is likely to have something. It's been running since 1988, and they constantly interview experts, witnesses, authors, and more about nearly any freaky thing you can imagine. Running searches on their articles and show archives turns up about 5,000 mentions of Bigfoot and 600 of vampires, but any combination of anything related to the Oklahoma Octopus nets precisely zero results.

Google Ngram Viewer

It's unlikely you are familiar with Ngram. The tool isn't exactly trending on Twitter or anything.
"The Google Ngram Viewer or Google Books Ngram Viewer is an online search engine that charts the frequencies of any set of search strings using a yearly count of n-grams found in sources printed between 1500 and 2019 in Google's text corpora in English, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, or Spanish." — Wikipedia
Using Ngram, I searched for "Oklahoma Octopus" and compared it with "Bigfoot," "Mothman," and "vampire."
Take a look at the results.
Note that "Oklahoma Octopus" doesn't actually appear on the graph. That's because Ngram has precisely zero references to that phrase in its entire database of books. That's not to say there are no books with that phrase, only that Google hasn't indexed them. However, based on the results, I think it's fair to say that the Oklahoma Octopus is entirely unknown—especially compared to any other cryptid you might plug into Ngram.

Usenet Archives

There are searchable Usenet Archives that go back to at least 1981. It's easy to find tens of thousands of posts about Bigfoot going back to the beginning of the archives.
Oklahoma Octopus?
The earliest mention is September 2008, only a few months before the Lost Tapes episode was released. There are only two posts about the Oklahoma Octopus, both from the same user. One is from September 2008 and another from January 2009, about a week after the episode was released.
The first post name drops a lot of well-known lake monsters and then mixes in the Oklahoma Octopus at the end. The sources linked at the bottom don't mention the Oklahoma Octopus.
The second post is just a link to a page that I found on the Wayback Machine that is essentially about the Lost Tapes episode (it even cites the Lost Tapes episode as the source of information.) It mentions a book published in 2007 that has a story about a man-eating octopus in Lake Thunderbird. The book Monster Spotter's Guide to North America by Scott Francis, published in 2007.
Now, we're getting somewhere! Finally, something older than the Lost Tapes episode!
Some searching turned up that in 2007, Rod Lott of the Oklahoma Gazette asked people who lived around the lakes if they knew of the giant octopus. The book had recently been released, and inquiring minds wanted to know if residents were familiar with the Oklahoma Octopus featured in it.
"Are giant octopi eating swimmers of Oklahoma lakes?"
Spoiler: No. They'd never heard of it.
Where do you go from here?
I actually own Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, and it's a great book. The illustrator created some fantastic drawings of a lot of the creatures. There are hundreds of monsters in it, and each has about a one-page entry overview. Scott did an excellent job on it, and the format of it reminds me of a book I used to have on birdwatching. He doesn't really claim anything about any of the monsters in it. For the Oklahoma Octopus entry and—this is where tracking the origin gets even more interesting—he only wrote about three sentences. And, more importantly, he never actually calls it the "Oklahoma Octopus." It's called "The Giant Freshwater Octopus," and he just describes that lakes in Oklahoma have a high rate of instances of drowning. Interestingly, in addition to Lake Thunderbird and Tenkiller, he mentions Lake Oologah. He says it has reddish-brown leather skin and is over twenty feet long.
That's it. There is no mention of Native American legends, teenager snacks, or how long the octopus(es) has been terrorizing the locals. This means, of course, all those "it is said" and "legend has it" came from somewhere else.
I tracked down the author of the 2007 book, Scott Francis. I also tracked down the illustrator of the book. I wrote to both of them, but I haven't heard back from either yet. If I do, I'll be sure and post an update. Just to be clear, I want to know if either of them remembers where they first heard about the octopus. If they do, then perhaps I can find another trail to follow. At this point, I have no reason to believe that Scott Francis invented this legend, but if he did, then he should be recognized for pulling one amazing dupe that ended up turning into an episode on Animal Planet. I'd be very impressed.
In Scott Francis's book, he references another, an older book by Loren Coleman from 2003 titled Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep. It turns out, Loren Coleman was involved in the production of the show Lost Tapes. He's also a bit of a controversial figure. I really don't know enough about him to form an opinion on that, but, to Loren Coleman's credit, there's only one mention of Oklahoma in his book, and it's buried in a list of 1,000 sea monsters. It's not even about an octopus; it just mentions Lake Eufala, which, upon further research, seems to be a sighting from 1973 by two brothers of a creature similar to the Loch Ness monster. And that's where the trail goes cold. The references go into a loop, an echo chamber, a self-referential puzzle that feels like being stuck in a mirror maze at the carnival.
Loren's website has archives of articles about creatures, but none of them mention an octopus. He has written several other books, and I haven't read them all. But I did pick up a copy of Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature published in 1999 to see what secrets it may hold. There are 19 mentions of the word "octopus" in the book. None have anything to do with Oklahoma, though.
I found this stock photo titled \"red and white bear plush.\" So, it seems cephalopods have quite a bit of work to do.
One other theory I found is that someone in Oklahoma was jealous of fisherman John Mazurek, who caught an octopus in Lake Conway, Arkansas, in 2003. So jealous that they invented their own story but made the octopus way bigger and deadlier. The octopus John Mazurek caught was normal-sized and likely kept in an aquarium and then dumped into the lake for some reason.
Ultimately, this is the problem with cryptids. We just don't know. New species are discovered all the time, including in areas we know pretty well. That even extends to the human body. You'd think we would know everything about anatomy by now or at least have a complete catalog of bones and muscles. Nope. A muscle in the jaw was discovered in 2021.
If anyone reading this knows anything about the Oklahoma Octopus, get in touch—I'd love to hear about it and revisit this cryptid. Or, if your name is Scott Francis and you wrote Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, I'd love to find out where you originally heard about a giant octopus in Oklahoma and then continue with my hunt for the origin of the legend.
By the way, if you ever want to check out shows about monsters living in water and want to skip the mockumentaries featuring screaming "teenagers," then you will want to watch anything from Jeremy Wade.
Photo of Jeremy Wade, being awesome. Taken by David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
He's one seriously awesome person and really knows his stuff. Really, try any episode of any of these:
Every single one of his shows is an adventure into chasing the mysteries lurking in deep waters.
As for the Oklahoma Octopus—if anyone knows any other trails to follow, I'd love to chase them down and see where they go. I find chasing the origin of mysteries like this is fun, fascinating, and challenging, but when all the trails run cold like I just laid out, where do you go? Take it back to the internet and hope that someone has another lead. =)
submitted by jahernandez_writes to History_Mysteries [link] [comments]


2022.03.05 02:36 jahernandez_writes Chasing the Origins of the Oklahoma Octopus

Here's a little lighthearted (but still serious) attempt of me trying to uncover more about the Oklahoma Octopus and its origin. This is a fascinating legend regarding a lake cryptid. I ended up following some pretty interesting trails and I'm curious if anyone knows anything more about this creature.
-
Naturally, 'octopus' is always the first thing everyone thinks of when the state of Oklahoma comes up. The two are inseparable, like a sucker on a fish tank. But, of all the octopuses* in Oklahoma that we could focus on, which one should we pick?
\ SIDE NOTE on) pluralization—octopi, octopuses, or octopodes?

The Oklahoma Octopus™

I'm talking THE Oklahoma Octopus.
Not all those other lesser-known ones that cover the state.
I'm sure you know to which one I'm referring. The one that's the size of a horse, reddish-brown leathery skin. The one that walks between lakes, stalking teenagers and pulling them down to watery deaths where they become a crunchy, juicy in the middle, cephalopod snack.
Cephalopods are incredibly intelligent, and a new meta-study shows they are sentient, along with mollusks and decapods. While they've been protected under various animal welfare acts for a while in different parts of the world, this new one says it's no longer okay to boil them alive (or eat them alive.) Apparently, if an animal is sentient, can feel pain, can experience joy or sadness, you should destroy its brain before chomping on it. Interesting conclusion.
For these types of creatures, aka cryptids, it's sometimes fun to try and trace the origin of the stories. Where did this giant freshwater alpha predator come from? Why does it eat teenagers? Which Native American tribes had legends about a massive man-eating octopus living in Oklahoma?
Continue reading to find out these things and more!
Now, I bet you were one of those lucky kids who learned to walk and then started using all the O's in your Alphabet Soup to spell out your favorite eight-legged cryptid. Me? I wasn't so lucky. I discovered the Oklahoma Octopus in the same way that many people come to know the terror of deep Oklahoma waters. I bought a laminated map of the USA off Amazon, stuck it on my wall, and then remembered to read it six months later.
The US is teeming with cryptid life!
Like me, I'm sure you could definitely point to Oklahoma on a map without even thinking about it (and, of course, every other state, because of the incredible public education system in the USA.) But, for those who didn't have the everyday pleasure of experiencing public education here, I can help. It only takes three simple steps.
^(\** I use these exact instructions to impart cartographic skills to my non-US friends.)*
After getting this map from Amazon, I began researching the giant octopus on top of Texas. I'd never heard of it before, and I had to find out everything I could about it.
Internet Lore lays out the following Internet Facts:
Honestly, I had to take a few weeks off after discovering this treasure trove. It was a lot to take in, but I wasn't satisfied with only one complete set of encyclopedias' worth of information. I'm sure you're exhausted by now but bear with me here as I detail my journey to uncover the origin of Cthulhu's cousin.

Eyewitness Accounts & Photographic Evidence

The first thing I did was look for eyewitness accounts or photographs. I didn't find either of those, no matter how much digging I did. Not even a "my cousin's brother's mom's boyfriend was out fishing" or a single blurry photo. Nothing. No eyewitnesses.

Which Lakes Does it Inhabit?

My second step was to find the exact locations of the sightings. That was difficult, considering there were no sightings. I came across a lot of "it is said" or "legend has it," so let's go with that, for now.
It is said that the killer octopus lives in Tenkiller Ferry Lake. Also, legend has it that the octopus lives in Lake Thunderbird. I assumed only one octopus was terrorizing both lakes because I couldn't find anything saying two octopuses.
Going off that assumption...
Those two lakes are only about 170 miles apart (274 kilometers.) That's about a 60-hour walk for humans.
Did you know?Americans spell it "kilometer" and everyone who actually uses this unit of measure, like Canada and the UK, spell it "kilometre."
It's a scientific fact that some species of octopus walk between pools of water—there's even video evidence of it. But, how fast do they walk? I couldn't find the land speed of a giant octopus anywhere except for Dungeons and Dragons monster stats, so I'm declaring D&D the authoritative source.
A Giant Octopus has a walking speed of 10 ft per turn.
170 miles is 897,600 feet.
That's 89,760 D&D turns.
Assuming the Giant Octopus uses all of its movement in its turn, and it's only traveling on land, and considering each round (1 turn per round) is about 6 seconds (D&D 5E rules)—it would take 538,560 seconds to walk between Tenkiller Ferry Lake and Lake Thunderbird.
That's about 150 hours. (Somebody please check my D&D math.)
Totally doable, especially if it moved at night and took cover in wet areas during the day. By the way, if it took the Dash action each turn, it could make it in half the time (I'm not accounting for levels of Exhaustion, of course.)
Now that we have established the logistics of moving a giant octopus between two lakes, let's move on to my other discoveries about this exotic creature.

Diet

Baby octopuses eat small things like copepods, larval crabs, and sea stars. Adult ones eat crabs, clams, snails, small fishes, and even other octopuses. None of those things live in Oklahoma lakes, but we already know that legend has it that the Oklahoma Octopus eats teenagers.
Tenkiller Lake. In the summertime, these waters become a buffet filled to the brim with crunchy teenagers. Photo by Jake Bowman on Unsplash

Lifespan

A regular octopus lives three to five years. Giant freshwater killer octopus? I'm not sure. I couldn't find anything on D&D for it, and I also couldn't find any way to calculate lifespan from D&D's Challenge Rating. If anyone knows how to do this, let me know. It is said that it's been stalking the lakes for decades, so you can use that as a cross-check on Challenge Rating to Lifespan math.
Also, there are no known species of freshwater octopus, so even if someone figures out that math, I don't know how to accommodate the freshwater-octopuses-don't-exist coefficient.

Origin

We know that this octopus lives in two lakes in Oklahoma. But, what is unique about those lakes? Well, first, there are no connecting inlets. Meaning, the octopus didn't move from the ocean to either of these lakes via water. From Tenkiller Ferry Lake, it's a straight shot of about 400 miles down to Houston and (644 km) to the nearest ocean. A very determined giant octopus who follows D&D 5E rules could probably do that, given enough time.
It is said that this octopus has been around for a very long time. According to many sources on the Internet, Native American legends simply overflow with stories of a giant octopus living in Oklahoma lakes going back at least hundreds of years. Never mind that both Tenkiller Ferry Lake and Lake Thunderbird are man-made and didn't exist until about the 1950s. And never mind the fact that those Native American legends of a giant octopus in Oklahoma lakes don't seem to exist.
There's also a huge problem when someone says "Native American legend" because the legends among tribes differ. Right now, there are 574 US federally recognized tribes. Thirty-eight of those are in Oklahoma. So, which "ancient Native American legend has it" about a giant killer octopus living in lakes created in the 1950s? There are cryptids with lore that name specific tribes, but not this one. What's happening here is a bit of hand-wavey legend obfuscation because if everything lacks specificity, there's no way to disprove it.
As a bit of an aside—when I try to track these legends down, I'll use the same terminology that people use to describe the legend, but I insert notes that I feel are important. Like this:
What is the correct terminology: American Indian, Indian, Native American, Indigenous, or Native?
All of these terms are acceptable. The consensus, however, is that whenever possible, Native people prefer to be called by their specific tribal name. In the United States, Native American has been widely used but is falling out of favor with some groups, and the terms American Indian or Indigenous American are preferred by many Native people. Native peoples often have individual preferences on how they would like to be addressed. When talking about Native groups or people, use the terminology the members of the community use to describe themselves collectively.
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/faq/did-you-know
What stories can be found in Native American lore about octopuses?
Not a lot, but I did manage to find one—though it is a story that features humanoid creatures who have shapeshifted from animals—and not a giant killer octopus that eats people. But, if anyone reading this has more information, please send it my way.
So, if "legend has it" and "it is said" are wrong, then where did the story come from?
The most frequently cited source of information is a TV show called Lost Tapes that aired on Animal Planet from 2008-2010. Each episode features a cryptid or monster. It's done in a mockumentary/found-footage style, and each one is entirely fictional—they didn't use real stories from anyone. I watched the episode for the Oklahoma Octopus, and as you might guess, it's chock-full of unverified claims that contradict actual science, and it presents fiction as fact. Also, shaky camera work and screaming/sobbing "teenagers."
While reviewing the episode list for Lost Tapes, it became clear that they feature some very well-known and easily verifiable cryptids. Chupacabra, Bigfoot, Thunderbird, Mothman, and more generic ones like vampires, hellhounds, and lizardmen.
The Oklahoma Octopus is a strange, nearly unknown outlier in these big-name cryptids. Where did Lost Tapes get the story from? I tried contacting the show producers and story producers, but I haven't heard back yet.
I began digging into the phrase "Oklahoma Octopus" to find references that predated the show. I happened to know of a couple of tools for this.

Coast to Coast AM

If you're looking for information on a cryptid or really any strange phenomena, the Coast to Coast AM radio show is likely to have something. It's been running since 1988, and they constantly interview experts, witnesses, authors, and more about nearly any freaky thing you can imagine. Running searches on their articles and show archives turns up about 5,000 mentions of Bigfoot and 600 of vampires, but any combination of anything related to the Oklahoma Octopus nets precisely zero results.

Google Ngram Viewer

It's unlikely you are familiar with Ngram. The tool isn't exactly trending on Twitter or anything.
"The Google Ngram Viewer or Google Books Ngram Viewer is an online search engine that charts the frequencies of any set of search strings using a yearly count of n-grams found in sources printed between 1500 and 2019 in Google's text corpora in English, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, or Spanish." — Wikipedia
Using Ngram, I searched for "Oklahoma Octopus" and compared it with "Bigfoot," "Mothman," and "vampire."
Take a look at the results.
Note that "Oklahoma Octopus" doesn't actually appear on the graph. That's because Ngram has precisely zero references to that phrase in its entire database of books. That's not to say there are no books with that phrase, only that Google hasn't indexed them. However, based on the results, I think it's fair to say that the Oklahoma Octopus is entirely unknown—especially compared to any other cryptid you might plug into Ngram.

Usenet Archives

There are searchable Usenet Archives that go back to at least 1981. It's easy to find tens of thousands of posts about Bigfoot going back to the beginning of the archives.
Oklahoma Octopus?
The earliest mention is September 2008, only a few months before the Lost Tapes episode was released. There are only two posts about the Oklahoma Octopus, both from the same user. One is from September 2008 and another from January 2009, about a week after the episode was released.
The first post name drops a lot of well-known lake monsters and then mixes in the Oklahoma Octopus at the end. The sources linked at the bottom don't mention the Oklahoma Octopus.
The second post is just a link to a page that I found on the Wayback Machine that is essentially about the Lost Tapes episode (it even cites the Lost Tapes episode as the source of information.) It mentions a book published in 2007 that has a story about a man-eating octopus in Lake Thunderbird. The book Monster Spotter's Guide to North America by Scott Francis, published in 2007.
Now, we're getting somewhere! Finally, something older than the Lost Tapes episode!
Some searching turned up that in 2007, Rod Lott of the Oklahoma Gazette asked people who lived around the lakes if they knew of the giant octopus. The book had recently been released, and inquiring minds wanted to know if residents were familiar with the Oklahoma Octopus featured in it.
"Are giant octopi eating swimmers of Oklahoma lakes?"
Spoiler: No. They'd never heard of it.
Where do you go from here?
I actually own Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, and it's a great book. The illustrator created some fantastic drawings of a lot of the creatures. There are hundreds of monsters in it, and each has about a one-page entry overview. Scott did an excellent job on it, and the format of it reminds me of a book I used to have on birdwatching. He doesn't really claim anything about any of the monsters in it. For the Oklahoma Octopus entry and—this is where tracking the origin gets even more interesting—he only wrote about three sentences. And, more importantly, he never actually calls it the "Oklahoma Octopus." It's called "The Giant Freshwater Octopus," and he just describes that lakes in Oklahoma have a high rate of instances of drowning. Interestingly, in addition to Lake Thunderbird and Tenkiller, he mentions Lake Oologah. He says it has reddish-brown leather skin and is over twenty feet long.
That's it. There is no mention of Native American legends, teenager snacks, or how long the octopus(es) has been terrorizing the locals. This means, of course, all those "it is said" and "legend has it" came from somewhere else.
I tracked down the author of the 2007 book, Scott Francis. I also tracked down the illustrator of the book. I wrote to both of them, but I haven't heard back from either yet. If I do, I'll be sure and post an update. Just to be clear, I want to know if either of them remembers where they first heard about the octopus. If they do, then perhaps I can find another trail to follow. At this point, I have no reason to believe that Scott Francis invented this legend, but if he did, then he should be recognized for pulling one amazing dupe that ended up turning into an episode on Animal Planet. I'd be very impressed.
In Scott Francis's book, he references another, an older book by Loren Coleman from 2003 titled Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep. It turns out, Loren Coleman was involved in the production of the show Lost Tapes. He's also a bit of a controversial figure. I really don't know enough about him to form an opinion on that, but, to Loren Coleman's credit, there's only one mention of Oklahoma in his book, and it's buried in a list of 1,000 sea monsters. It's not even about an octopus; it just mentions Lake Eufala, which, upon further research, seems to be a sighting from 1973 by two brothers of a creature similar to the Loch Ness monster. And that's where the trail goes cold. The references go into a loop, an echo chamber, a self-referential puzzle that feels like being stuck in a mirror maze at the carnival.
Loren's website has archives of articles about creatures, but none of them mention an octopus. He has written several other books, and I haven't read them all. But I did pick up a copy of Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature published in 1999 to see what secrets it may hold. There are 19 mentions of the word "octopus" in the book. None have anything to do with Oklahoma, though.
I found this stock photo titled \"red and white bear plush.\" So, it seems cephalopods have quite a bit of work to do.
One other theory I found is that someone in Oklahoma was jealous of fisherman John Mazurek, who caught an octopus in Lake Conway, Arkansas, in 2003. So jealous that they invented their own story but made the octopus way bigger and deadlier. The octopus John Mazurek caught was normal-sized and likely kept in an aquarium and then dumped into the lake for some reason.
Ultimately, this is the problem with cryptids. We just don't know. New species are discovered all the time, including in areas we know pretty well. That even extends to the human body. You'd think we would know everything about anatomy by now or at least have a complete catalog of bones and muscles. Nope. A muscle in the jaw was discovered in 2021.
If anyone reading this knows anything about the Oklahoma Octopus, get in touch—I'd love to hear about it and revisit this cryptid. Or, if your name is Scott Francis and you wrote Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, I'd love to find out where you originally heard about a giant octopus in Oklahoma and then continue with my hunt for the origin of the legend.
By the way, if you ever want to check out shows about monsters living in water and want to skip the mockumentaries featuring screaming "teenagers," then you will want to watch anything from Jeremy Wade.
Photo of Jeremy Wade, being awesome. Taken by David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
He's one seriously awesome person and really knows his stuff. Really, try any episode of any of these:
Every single one of his shows is an adventure into chasing the mysteries lurking in deep waters.
As for the Oklahoma Octopus—if anyone knows any other trails to follow, I'd love to chase them down and see where they go.
submitted by jahernandez_writes to cryptids [link] [comments]


2022.03.05 02:33 jahernandez_writes Chasing the Origins of the Oklahoma Octopus

Here's a little lighthearted (but still serious) attempt of me trying to uncover more about the Oklahoma Octopus and its origin. This is a fascinating legend regarding a lake cryptid. I ended up following some pretty interesting trails and I'm curious if anyone knows anything more about this creature.
-
Naturally, 'octopus' is always the first thing everyone thinks of when the state of Oklahoma comes up. The two are inseparable, like a sucker on a fish tank. But, of all the octopuses* in Oklahoma that we could focus on, which one should we pick?
\ SIDE NOTE on) pluralization—octopi, octopuses, or octopodes?

The Oklahoma Octopus™

I'm talking THE Oklahoma Octopus.
Not all those other lesser-known ones that cover the state.
I'm sure you know to which one I'm referring. The one that's the size of a horse, reddish-brown leathery skin. The one that walks between lakes, stalking teenagers and pulling them down to watery deaths where they become a crunchy, juicy in the middle, cephalopod snack.
Cephalopods are incredibly intelligent, and a new meta-study shows they are sentient, along with mollusks and decapods. While they've been protected under various animal welfare acts for a while in different parts of the world, this new one says it's no longer okay to boil them alive (or eat them alive.) Apparently, if an animal is sentient, can feel pain, can experience joy or sadness, you should destroy its brain before chomping on it. Interesting conclusion.
For these types of creatures, aka cryptids, it's sometimes fun to try and trace the origin of the stories. Where did this giant freshwater alpha predator come from? Why does it eat teenagers? Which Native American tribes had legends about a massive man-eating octopus living in Oklahoma?
Continue reading to find out these things and more!
Now, I bet you were one of those lucky kids who learned to walk and then started using all the O's in your Alphabet Soup to spell out your favorite eight-legged cryptid. Me? I wasn't so lucky. I discovered the Oklahoma Octopus in the same way that many people come to know the terror of deep Oklahoma waters. I bought a laminated map of the USA off Amazon, stuck it on my wall, and then remembered to read it six months later.
The US is teeming with cryptid life!
Like me, I'm sure you could definitely point to Oklahoma on a map without even thinking about it (and, of course, every other state, because of the incredible public education system in the USA.) But, for those who didn't have the everyday pleasure of experiencing public education here, I can help. It only takes three simple steps.
^(\** I use these exact instructions to impart cartographic skills to my non-US friends.)*
After getting this map from Amazon, I began researching the giant octopus on top of Texas. I'd never heard of it before, and I had to find out everything I could about it.
Internet Lore lays out the following Internet Facts:
Honestly, I had to take a few weeks off after discovering this treasure trove. It was a lot to take in, but I wasn't satisfied with only one complete set of encyclopedias' worth of information. I'm sure you're exhausted by now but bear with me here as I detail my journey to uncover the origin of Cthulhu's cousin.

Eyewitness Accounts & Photographic Evidence

The first thing I did was look for eyewitness accounts or photographs. I didn't find either of those, no matter how much digging I did. Not even a "my cousin's brother's mom's boyfriend was out fishing" or a single blurry photo. Nothing. No eyewitnesses.

Which Lakes Does it Inhabit?

My second step was to find the exact locations of the sightings. That was difficult, considering there were no sightings. I came across a lot of "it is said" or "legend has it," so let's go with that, for now.
It is said that the killer octopus lives in Tenkiller Ferry Lake. Also, legend has it that the octopus lives in Lake Thunderbird. I assumed only one octopus was terrorizing both lakes because I couldn't find anything saying two octopuses.
Going off that assumption...
Those two lakes are only about 170 miles apart (274 kilometers.) That's about a 60-hour walk for humans.
Did you know?Americans spell it "kilometer" and everyone who actually uses this unit of measure, like Canada and the UK, spell it "kilometre."
It's a scientific fact that some species of octopus walk between pools of water—there's even video evidence of it. But, how fast do they walk? I couldn't find the land speed of a giant octopus anywhere except for Dungeons and Dragons monster stats, so I'm declaring D&D the authoritative source.
A Giant Octopus has a walking speed of 10 ft per turn.
170 miles is 897,600 feet.
That's 89,760 D&D turns.
Assuming the Giant Octopus uses all of its movement in its turn, and it's only traveling on land, and considering each round (1 turn per round) is about 6 seconds (D&D 5E rules)—it would take 538,560 seconds to walk between Tenkiller Ferry Lake and Lake Thunderbird.
That's about 150 hours. (Somebody please check my D&D math.)
Totally doable, especially if it moved at night and took cover in wet areas during the day. By the way, if it took the Dash action each turn, it could make it in half the time (I'm not accounting for levels of Exhaustion, of course.)
Now that we have established the logistics of moving a giant octopus between two lakes, let's move on to my other discoveries about this exotic creature.

Diet

Baby octopuses eat small things like copepods, larval crabs, and sea stars. Adult ones eat crabs, clams, snails, small fishes, and even other octopuses. None of those things live in Oklahoma lakes, but we already know that legend has it that the Oklahoma Octopus eats teenagers.
![img](uyq7oicpwgl81 "Tenkiller Lake. In the summertime, these waters become a buffet filled to the brim with crunchy teenagers. Photo by Jake Bowman on Unsplash.")

Lifespan

A regular octopus lives three to five years. Giant freshwater killer octopus? I'm not sure. I couldn't find anything on D&D for it, and I also couldn't find any way to calculate lifespan from D&D's Challenge Rating. If anyone knows how to do this, let me know. It is said that it's been stalking the lakes for decades, so you can use that as a cross-check on Challenge Rating to Lifespan math.
Also, there are no known species of freshwater octopus, so even if someone figures out that math, I don't know how to accommodate the freshwater-octopuses-don't-exist coefficient.

Origin

We know that this octopus lives in two lakes in Oklahoma. But, what is unique about those lakes? Well, first, there are no connecting inlets. Meaning, the octopus didn't move from the ocean to either of these lakes via water. From Tenkiller Ferry Lake, it's a straight shot of about 400 miles down to Houston and (644 km) to the nearest ocean. A very determined giant octopus who follows D&D 5E rules could probably do that, given enough time.
It is said that this octopus has been around for a very long time. According to many sources on the Internet, Native American legends simply overflow with stories of a giant octopus living in Oklahoma lakes going back at least hundreds of years. Never mind that both Tenkiller Ferry Lake and Lake Thunderbird are man-made and didn't exist until about the 1950s. And never mind the fact that those Native American legends of a giant octopus in Oklahoma lakes don't seem to exist.
There's also a huge problem when someone says "Native American legend" because the legends among tribes differ. Right now, there are 574 US federally recognized tribes. Thirty-eight of those are in Oklahoma. So, which "ancient Native American legend has it" about a giant killer octopus living in lakes created in the 1950s? There are cryptids with lore that name specific tribes, but not this one. What's happening here is a bit of hand-wavey legend obfuscation because if everything lacks specificity, there's no way to disprove it.
As a bit of an aside—when I try to track these legends down, I'll use the same terminology that people use to describe the legend, but I insert notes that I feel are important. Like this:
What is the correct terminology: American Indian, Indian, Native American, Indigenous, or Native?
All of these terms are acceptable. The consensus, however, is that whenever possible, Native people prefer to be called by their specific tribal name. In the United States, Native American has been widely used but is falling out of favor with some groups, and the terms American Indian or Indigenous American are preferred by many Native people. Native peoples often have individual preferences on how they would like to be addressed. When talking about Native groups or people, use the terminology the members of the community use to describe themselves collectively.
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/faq/did-you-know
What stories can be found in Native American lore about octopuses?
Not a lot, but I did manage to find one—though it is a story that features humanoid creatures who have shapeshifted from animals—and not a giant killer octopus that eats people. But, if anyone reading this has more information, please send it my way.
So, if "legend has it" and "it is said" are wrong, then where did the story come from?
The most frequently cited source of information is a TV show called Lost Tapes that aired on Animal Planet from 2008-2010. Each episode features a cryptid or monster. It's done in a mockumentary/found-footage style, and each one is entirely fictional—they didn't use real stories from anyone. I watched the episode for the Oklahoma Octopus, and as you might guess, it's chock-full of unverified claims that contradict actual science, and it presents fiction as fact. Also, shaky camera work and screaming/sobbing "teenagers."
While reviewing the episode list for Lost Tapes, it became clear that they feature some very well-known and easily verifiable cryptids. Chupacabra, Bigfoot, Thunderbird, Mothman, and more generic ones like vampires, hellhounds, and lizardmen.
The Oklahoma Octopus is a strange, nearly unknown outlier in these big-name cryptids. Where did Lost Tapes get the story from? I tried contacting the show producers and story producers, but I haven't heard back yet.
I began digging into the phrase "Oklahoma Octopus" to find references that predated the show. I happened to know of a couple of tools for this.

Coast to Coast AM

If you're looking for information on a cryptid or really any strange phenomena, the Coast to Coast AM radio show is likely to have something. It's been running since 1988, and they constantly interview experts, witnesses, authors, and more about nearly any freaky thing you can imagine. Running searches on their articles and show archives turns up about 5,000 mentions of Bigfoot and 600 of vampires, but any combination of anything related to the Oklahoma Octopus nets precisely zero results.

Google Ngram Viewer

It's unlikely you are familiar with Ngram. The tool isn't exactly trending on Twitter or anything.
"The Google Ngram Viewer or Google Books Ngram Viewer is an online search engine that charts the frequencies of any set of search strings using a yearly count of n-grams found in sources printed between 1500 and 2019 in Google's text corpora in English, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Russian, or Spanish." — Wikipedia
Using Ngram, I searched for "Oklahoma Octopus" and compared it with "Bigfoot," "Mothman," and "vampire."
Take a look at the results.
Note that "Oklahoma Octopus" doesn't actually appear on the graph. That's because Ngram has precisely zero references to that phrase in its entire database of books. That's not to say there are no books with that phrase, only that Google hasn't indexed them. However, based on the results, I think it's fair to say that the Oklahoma Octopus is entirely unknown—especially compared to any other cryptid you might plug into Ngram.

Usenet Archives

There are searchable Usenet Archives that go back to at least 1981. It's easy to find tens of thousands of posts about Bigfoot going back to the beginning of the archives.
Oklahoma Octopus?
The earliest mention is September 2008, only a few months before the Lost Tapes episode was released. There are only two posts about the Oklahoma Octopus, both from the same user. One is from September 2008 and another from January 2009, about a week after the episode was released.
The first post name drops a lot of well-known lake monsters and then mixes in the Oklahoma Octopus at the end. The sources linked at the bottom don't mention the Oklahoma Octopus.
The second post is just a link to a page that I found on the Wayback Machine that is essentially about the Lost Tapes episode (it even cites the Lost Tapes episode as the source of information.) It mentions a book published in 2007 that has a story about a man-eating octopus in Lake Thunderbird. The book Monster Spotter's Guide to North America by Scott Francis, published in 2007.
Now, we're getting somewhere! Finally, something older than the Lost Tapes episode!
Some searching turned up that in 2007, Rod Lott of the Oklahoma Gazette asked people who lived around the lakes if they knew of the giant octopus. The book had recently been released, and inquiring minds wanted to know if residents were familiar with the Oklahoma Octopus featured in it.
"Are giant octopi eating swimmers of Oklahoma lakes?"
Spoiler: No. They'd never heard of it.
Where do you go from here?
I actually own Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, and it's a great book. The illustrator created some fantastic drawings of a lot of the creatures. There are hundreds of monsters in it, and each has about a one-page entry overview. Scott did an excellent job on it, and the format of it reminds me of a book I used to have on birdwatching. He doesn't really claim anything about any of the monsters in it. For the Oklahoma Octopus entry and—this is where tracking the origin gets even more interesting—he only wrote about three sentences. And, more importantly, he never actually calls it the "Oklahoma Octopus." It's called "The Giant Freshwater Octopus," and he just describes that lakes in Oklahoma have a high rate of instances of drowning. Interestingly, in addition to Lake Thunderbird and Tenkiller, he mentions Lake Oologah. He says it has reddish-brown leather skin and is over twenty feet long.
That's it. There is no mention of Native American legends, teenager snacks, or how long the octopus(es) has been terrorizing the locals. This means, of course, all those "it is said" and "legend has it" came from somewhere else.
I tracked down the author of the 2007 book, Scott Francis. I also tracked down the illustrator of the book. I wrote to both of them, but I haven't heard back from either yet. If I do, I'll be sure and post an update. Just to be clear, I want to know if either of them remembers where they first heard about the octopus. If they do, then perhaps I can find another trail to follow. At this point, I have no reason to believe that Scott Francis invented this legend, but if he did, then he should be recognized for pulling one amazing dupe that ended up turning into an episode on Animal Planet. I'd be very impressed.
In Scott Francis's book, he references another, an older book by Loren Coleman from 2003 titled Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep. It turns out, Loren Coleman was involved in the production of the show Lost Tapes. He's also a bit of a controversial figure. I really don't know enough about him to form an opinion on that, but, to Loren Coleman's credit, there's only one mention of Oklahoma in his book, and it's buried in a list of 1,000 sea monsters. It's not even about an octopus; it just mentions Lake Eufala, which, upon further research, seems to be a sighting from 1973 by two brothers of a creature similar to the Loch Ness monster. And that's where the trail goes cold. The references go into a loop, an echo chamber, a self-referential puzzle that feels like being stuck in a mirror maze at the carnival.
Loren's website has archives of articles about creatures, but none of them mention an octopus. He has written several other books, and I haven't read them all. But I did pick up a copy of Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature published in 1999 to see what secrets it may hold. There are 19 mentions of the word "octopus" in the book. None have anything to do with Oklahoma, though.
![img](pas16of8xgl81 "I found this stock photo titled \"red and white bear plush.\" So, it seems cephalopods have quite a bit of work to do.")
One other theory I found is that someone in Oklahoma was jealous of fisherman John Mazurek, who caught an octopus in Lake Conway, Arkansas, in 2003. So jealous that they invented their own story but made the octopus way bigger and deadlier. The octopus John Mazurek caught was normal-sized and likely kept in an aquarium and then dumped into the lake for some reason.
Ultimately, this is the problem with cryptids. We just don't know. New species are discovered all the time, including in areas we know pretty well. That even extends to the human body. You'd think we would know everything about anatomy by now or at least have a complete catalog of bones and muscles. Nope. A muscle in the jaw was discovered in 2021.
If anyone reading this knows anything about the Oklahoma Octopus, get in touch—I'd love to hear about it and revisit this cryptid. Or, if your name is Scott Francis and you wrote Monster Spotter's Guide to North America, I'd love to find out where you originally heard about a giant octopus in Oklahoma and then continue with my hunt for the origin of the legend.
By the way, if you ever want to check out shows about monsters living in water and want to skip the mockumentaries featuring screaming "teenagers," then you will want to watch anything from Jeremy Wade.
![img](yyhnkxjbxgl81 "Photo of Jeremy Wade, being awesome. Taken by David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons")
He's one seriously awesome person and really knows his stuff. Really, try any episode of any of these:
Every single one of his shows is an adventure into chasing the mysteries lurking in deep waters.
As for the Oklahoma Octopus—if anyone knows any other trails to follow, I'd love to chase them down and see where they go.
submitted by jahernandez_writes to UrbanLegends [link] [comments]


2022.02.03 03:16 RadSaddish Trucks ?

So me and my rag-tag crew are making an heist in our 5e game, and i would like to know if there was a Semi-Truck other then the trailblazer and the hellhound, because the trailblazer could fit our heist but isn't optimal and the hellhound is a bit too much out there for what we are looking at.
Since I'm on mobile the wikis aren't really helpful and my lack of English is not helping either. So I'm shooting my shot here.
submitted by RadSaddish to Shadowrun [link] [comments]


2021.12.02 22:06 MathewMii [Online][Flexible][UTC−08:00][LGBTQ+ Friendly][ND][Sundays] Looking to join a group for almost any TTRPGs that are short

**Info about myself:**

- I am extroverted with social anxiety. Once I know a group is safe, I am a social butterfly.
- My characters tend to break the mold.
- 18+
- They/Them
- Only speaks English
- Night Owl
- Leftist
- Neurodivergent (ND)
- Intolerant towards right-wing ideology and ableism.
- Willing to RP certain kinks (DM me about them, please).
- Voice and text only. No video calls.
- Discord is preferred. I can use Roll20 for the visuals.

**RPG Experience:**

- I have played DnD 5e a few times. I want to learn how to DM for my family and friends someday.
- I have DMed for Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20A.

**I own at least one physical book of the following TTRPGs:**

- DnD 5e
- Werewolf the Apocalypse 20A
- Vampire the Masquerade 5e
- Ironclaw 2e
- Pugmire
- Madcap

**Wanting to play:**

- Above mentioned TTRPGs
- Changeling: The Dreaming
- Tails of Equestria
- Big Eyes, Small Mouth 4e
- Legend of Zelda: Reclaim the Wild
- Overworld*

**Favorite topics:**

- High fantasy
- Creature Collector (Pokemon, Digimon, etc.)
- Vampires
- Werewolves
- Pirates
- Dinosaurs and other giant reptiles
- Cats
- Mixed Universes (Think of stuff like Smash Bros.)
- Vaporwave
- Synthwave

**Readied DnD 5e Characters:**

- Tobias Rat-Catcher, a pirate swashbuckler tabaxi.
- Feletah, a witch-hunting magical school girl (Circle of the Stars druid) half-orc.
- Theren Liadon**, an acolyte Oath of Vengence paladin high elf.
- Daefiel Withrethin**, a noble bard half-elf.
- Sarza, a were-hellhound (has some homebrew).

**Planned DnD 5e Characters:**

- Diego Willman, a human burglar.
- Dave S. Hopkins, a human or satyr outlander ranger.
- Lucaino Willman, a human actor and spellcaster with dark magic.
- A druid that can polymorph into a raptor.
- My Miitopia characters
- A male dark elf from the DnD Arcade Game.

**Readied Characters for other TTRPGs:**

- Seth Dorantes, A Homid Galliard born as a Black Fury (WtA)

**Planned Characters for other TTRPGs:**

- The Silly Ewe (Madcap)
- A satyr or pooka (CtD)

**Other characters I want to use:**

- Hawk (Fortnite: Save the World mode)
- Spoone (Breath of the Wild)
- Sniper, Medic, Scout, Engineer, and Pyro (Team Fortress 2)
- The Duke of Gravity (Rockband series)

*This TTRPG was created by a Reddit user, so the following link is the only documentation to the system:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SJOgb6DFEScNuGRdt_B4-XL5CQRXei2IHhajXSEmhtk/

** These characters are created for 18+ games and they will involve my kinks. I would like to discuss their use beforehand.
submitted by MathewMii to lfg [link] [comments]


2021.11.26 07:35 IHaveNoSoul12 DM throws a table at me for not enjoying his DND game

TW for physical assault and abuse as overarching themes
This isn't a throwaway, DM doesn't use Reddit though he certainly acts like he does. How do I know this? He's my father. Who I live with. Fun.
I also want to preface this - I was definitely an asshole too! I do things in this story that I regret, that maybe deserve parts of what happened, but in part I feel justified because this event is after eighteen years of bullshit. It doesn't make me right and it doesn't make him right either.
There are three key players - me, my father and my best friend. Some context, I have autism (diagnosed as Asperger's) and he likely does too (though not diagnosed), and we're both hoarders (me less so than him and him less so than his father, but it's noticeable). He also hasn't had a job since I was five but that's just to explain why he has so much time on his hands.
My name is Soul (that's my real name, chose it based off my edgy 11 year old username, yes). My father, I'll just be calling him 'Dad' or whatever, no need for cutesy codenames, though I'll call my friend Starscream since she loves Transformers and that character.
My dad and I have an odd relationship - he's my abuser, I'll say that bluntly, mostly emotional though in the past year it's gotten closer to physical, but at the same time I'm only able to enjoy things like this with him. Video games, TV, etc., my mum and I have never liked the same stuff but my dad is more into it. We watched Supernatural together, played games like Diablo II and Dynasty Warriors, and most importantly we both enjoy DND.
I say we, I mean he did and when I was younger I and my sister (his kid but not my mum's, for context, though she cut contact with him a few years ago, and we only started talking again within the year) got roped into it. I don't remember a lot of my childhood and I only vaguely remember Maria, my DND character at the time, a Human Fighter. She comes back later.
Starscream and I also used to play with his miniatures and map boards and his other models - we didn't use them for DND, we used them for whatever game we came up with, which often included weird lore since even back then I love to create worlds. He had a lot of miniatures and boards and basically just a ton of game stuff - when my mum and I briefly moved out for three years, my old bedroom became his game room where he stored all the stuff that wouldn't fit in his bedroom. Again, he's a hoarder.
About three years ago, when my friends and I left secondary school, we celebrated with a DND campaign - a oneshot session that was absolutely crack, including highlights of Starscream seducing an incel while the rest of our party stole his belongings, half the party getting stuck in the same hole TWICE, my character getting eaten by a mimic chest and being abandoned for Hole Shenanigans, another character doing the tango with a tree branch and my character speaking to the Big Bad Dragon through kettle whistling because I was laughing so hard. Very murder hoboy, but understand that we were a bit tipsy, and we'd all agreed that this would be a chaotic game (after all, one character, a monk, was named Rockstar after the Nickelback song).
This got me back into DND but shortly after we had an out of game disagreement with the DM and she left our friendship circle. The guy who played Rockstar initially wanted to DM but was too busy and that's how it stayed for the next few years.
One day though, I got a little bit of DND brain rot and after a few weeks of this, that wiggled its way into a 30+ page Google doc detailing lore of a magic school, eight regions, just over forty homebrew deities and a lot of NPCs to love, which Starscream helped with (she made the regions and part of the deities - I don't mind doing a lot of the work, after all I was practically breathing in DND, damned hyperfixating brain). This was all custom made for my friend circle, but very poorly timed since they've gone off to university. Damn it Soul.
Seeing my interest, Dad wanted to play DND with me. Before the Bad Times of 2020, he would frequent a games group and while I went once (and played Angry Birds), it turned out they were playing DND. And that he'd been playing for years, since he was fifteen (he's now in his mid fifties). He'd obviously not been able to go to his group and so was just sitting on DND.
I was excited - I'd not started properly developing my own world yet and hoped that maybe, when my friends were able to, he could DM a game for us. Though one downside - he only liked 3.5, and my friends and I played 5e. This is a whole thing that comes into play later.
The first game I played with him was just a one-on-one, just us two since it was 1am on a weekday. I asked about making a new character, but he immediately turned that down and gave me Maria. The character I made when I was, what, seven? She was a Human Fighter and honestly I didn't want to play that, but he was insistent, probably because I was 'new'. I suppose that my crackhead game of DND with my friends wasn't a real game in his eyes, it was pretty RP heavy and obviously there was a lot of toying with the rules. I'd played a Tiefling Bard in that and wanted to play something similar, since he'd been fun! But here I was with Maria. I didn't even get to use the same miniature I used to use for her, because she was a Human and the miniature was an Elf or something.
Honestly, the first session went okay? My character was a Level 3 I believe, and she was riding through the forest on a horse when she heard a noise. Investigating that, she found a turned over carriage, two horses by a ditch and a Dwarf (I dunno his class or name) and a Wizard (I dunno her race or name) fighting some goblins. I've RPed outside DND before - thanks Discord and weird hyperfixations! - so I knew I enjoyed that aspect, but I'd not done much combat. So, instead of having Maria immediately join the fight, I tell Dad that she immediately runs toward the horses to get them to safety.
This is probably the most fun thing that happened in the two session game. The image of the Dwarf and Wizard fighting for their lives age being ambushed by goblins, everyone pausing to stare at the armoured stranger ignoring the skirmish to check on the horses makes me smile. However, once she gets the horses fixed, she joins the fight and even though it's just me, I'm pretty bored since he's rolling for the Dwarf, Wizard and the goblins and while I'm kind of RPing it, he's not.
This is already long and this isn't even the campaign that caused the table to be thrown, so I'll summarise - after that fight, the Dwarf and Wizard decide to stick with Maria and bring her to their base, where a second combat happens (with orcs and goblins and their weird hellhound dogs that I can't tame :() . Maria flirts with the Wizard (A WOMAN!) because I'm bored by the basic character and decide 'hey this will be interesting, have her be a flirt'.
Dad is a bit surprised since I don't show much interest in women, and responds by having Maria and the Dwarf drink together and then an awkward scene where Maria wakes up, the Dwarf standing over her grinning holding something... her breakfast. Honestly, not too bad, but very uncomfortable, so I kinda up the ante by making Maria flirt more with the Wizard and even defend her later.
I think this happened in the second session? They team up with a third character, a Halfling Druid perhaps because he has a little badger friend, and they make their way to the Tower of Darkness. If it sounds like I'm skipping over details, it's not just because I'm rushing it's because I don't remember parts of the campaign. Two sessions, both about an hour or two each, and I don't remember things. I have memory issues (my brain is too filled with knowledge /j) but I remember my friend's campaign three years ago better, God.
The second session has a lot more combat - a fight on the way to the Tower, a second fight, a fight to get in the Tower, a fight inside the tower and we end it right after a last fight to get to the door to the stairs. And then we just never picked it back up.
At this point, I've decided I'm not keen on combat. Or at least his combat, because he had like three characters to go through and then the actual enemies. I know combat is a staple of DND but so is RP and character interaction and it being a team game. So, I ask Starscream to get involved. She was at the crack DND game, she's my longest mate who lives down the road, and she's shown interest in it before (and we'd write the DND lore together, obviously).
This time I'm not forced to play a Human Fighter and I go all out - I play Kalotir, a Half-Orc himbo Warlock who got his powers from gambling when a cocky warlock put his patronage on the line. He's not used to his powers and I made this clear to Dad. This will also return.
Starscream meanwhile plays Pranee, an Air Genasi Sorcerer. I don't know her backstory but when recreating her on DNDBeyond, Starscream chose to have her be a Sage. We spent an entire day making these characters and it was boring as hell but we lived. We're both Level 1 which ALSO comes back later. And then, the next time Starscream came over, we were gaming.
It opens up. I don't remember much of the start, just that we'd met up and have been travelling in the wilderness for some time. Honestly, adventures in the wild sounds way more fun than the session we had but whatever. Immediately we get thrown into combat with some goblins, and I didn't actually remember how we got into the fight until Dad cleared it up later (apparently we'd heard a woman scream and investigated it and oh no the goblins were kidnapping her).
Like before the RP elements were the more fun part - Kalotir, being an idiot and not used to having powers, opted to throw his spear at the goblins. He missed, and, really not being intelligent, runs into the middle of battle toward the goblins to pick it back up, throw it again and then run after it. At one point he stopped right in front of a goblin, which tries to attack but missed. Kalotir turned to the goblin. And punched him. One hit kill. Starscream and I go wild.
We eventually escape the combat, and we spend the next thirty minutes of the session looking for Kalotir's spear which causes us to find a giant centipede or caterpillar nest. Right after a fight with a bunch of goblins, we're fighting with a big old bug. Combat drags on, even with Dad not having like seventy characters to roll for, Starscream is bored as well as we fight the second fight, but we get loot that doesn't matter since this was the only session we played.
Combat finishes, we get a chest and we get Kalotir's spear back and we walk through the wilderness. This part, I don't even remember but we stopped and talked to somebody who was rude to Kalotir for being a half-orc, then someone defended him and then they just left. And Dad told us we were going to the city. And then the session ended outside the city gates.
Okay, so apparently a Scout watched us fight, and I vaguely remember her, but not enough apparently to separate her from the person who talked to us, a Sargeant or however it's spelt. The only character difference was that one of them was racist and the other was less so but only because she saw Kalotir hold himself up in battle. And apparently the reason we went to the city was because of a call to arms. About what? Dunno! And that was the hook - why do the city want adventurers? Starscream and I didn't bite. Apparently Pranee and Kalotir read a piece of paper and decided 'okay we'll go'. It was just boring, plus the combat being boring, and the characters being so similar that I remembered them as the same person until Dad told me otherwise, yeah, I dunno, I just wasn't entertained.
So. The argument. It's early September, I'm working on my lore doc with Starscream and I'm happy about it. I let Dad read it and he immediately tries to put it down. I don't remember how the argument started but we ended up 'discussing' his campaign and DND.
  1. He doesn't like my campaign because 'it's 5e'. He thinks it's simplified and made easy for kids to get into, refusing to consider anything else. 3.5 is the best edition, and it's the only one he'll play (or, well DM, because when his game group opened again, they ended up playing 5e). I explain that DND became more popular so of course they were gonna make it a bit easier to learn, but no he won't have that. He continues to jab at me about this, making fun of me for preferring 5e and treating my hard work as less than simply because it's not his standard.
  2. Characters. My dad has this weird thing where he doesn't think characters matter, and that making personalities and things to distinguish them from each other are a waste of time. I try to explain that he could just imply things, like how neat their clothes are or how well worn their armour is, how they compose themselves, but apparently that's bogging them down with details. Even in the first campaign there weren't many distinguishable characters, the Wizard, Dwarf and Halfling becoming more of an amalgamous blob. The Scout and Sargeant were the worst of the bunch, since he basically refused to characterise the latter because 'well it was dark and you can't see him' as if silhouettes, tone of voice and personality traits don't exist. As someone who loves writing, this got on my nerves.
  3. Kalotir's backstory. Dad was pissed about how Kalotir got his powers, convinced that I was doing it to annoy him or to be a manipulator somehow by breaking the game. I explained that, no, I just think it'd be a fun character arc (another word he doesn't understand because of the second point) for Kalotir to learn how to wield and properly use his new powers. Maybe the warlock had cursed him, perhaps he could return to get his powers! I had to explain to him what a character arc was, but he thought I was wasting my time.
  4. Levels. So apparently, Dad threw us into combat, knowing that I'm not a fan of it, because he wanted us to be a higher level. But why not just... have us be a higher level at the start? Well he wanted to introduce us to the game, despite the fact that Starscream and I had already played DND before, she knew how it worked. Neither of us needed hand holding! But he refused to accept that, saying that we needed to be introduced to the game.
Our argument went over a lot of topics, lasting for at least an hour or two at 2am, and DND was just one such topic. He was berating me, calling me names (spoilt bastard, a narcissist, a manipulative brat, etc.), making himself out to be the victim essentially. I used to remember a lot more but honestly I think I've started to repress some of the details of the argument.
When we argued about DND, it got really intense, at times he was nearly screaming at me, going bug eyed at me and red in the face. When I was talking about how characters are supposed to work on a basic level, he kept going off on tangents to get away from my point. This part I regret, and I know I was the asshole for doing.
I have this little wicker basket at my desk area (at the time my desk area was the coffee table) that I keep my rubbish in before I put it into the actual bin. It was full and it was the closest thing next to me, and I poured out the contents over his head in anger. He claims I hit him with it, but to my memory that's all I did. Not saying 'all' as in it wasn't bad, just that I didn't hit him.
He practically jumps out of his seat, hits the wicker basket away and starts stumbling around, his face red as he grabs the two nesting tables near him and launches them at me. I'd been backing away, immediately realising my fuck up, and so I was far enough away to not get smacked in the face. However the bigger one hit my wrist and the small one hit my thigh. There was juice or something on it because it splattered up my body and on the wall and door, staining them for a couple days.
I kind of dissociated, I know he was yelling at me but all I remember is standing by the door and staring at where I'd been hit until my mother came downstairs, woken up. I only remember trying to wipe away the juice, frozen in shock. Eventually I came back and argued my point, but with Mum there to tell us to shut up, the argument died and we stayed in silence until he went to bed before me.
My arm bruised badly, and a hematoma formed under the skin where the table made impact, but it's mostly healed now though I can sometimes feel a lump there. I reported the incident to the police but it took nearly two months for the police to visit me so I could make an actual report, and by then the details were fuzzy. I don't feel unsafe, but I'm still looking to move out into supported living because otherwise I'll have to wait until university.
That was the first time I got properly hit. He'd threatened me before (his words being he'd beat me to a pulp and that I wouldn't be able to call the police), and one time when I turned off his music because I was overstimulated (yay, autism), he shoved me into a bookcase and I hit my head.
Obviously I haven't played DND with him since, but it still gets brought up since Starscream and I are still working our stuff. We kinda made it to prove to him that we know what we're doing and 'Tablegate' as I call it is sort of a joke now (yay coping mechanisms). It's not a joke, obviously, but from the outside it's bizarre that DND caused something so violent.
I know that I did a lot of asshole stuff. I do asshole stuff all the time, I don't think myself a good person but neither is he, not at all. He's a gross, abusive man who commented on my underage (at the time) friends' chest sizes, defends people like Prince Andrew, blames women for that sort of stuff, has argued he should be allowed to say the N word, berates me and my mother (who herself is a whole can of worms and guilt tripping), who doesn't believe my mental health is that bad, basically raised me with the 'fact' that all my friends will abandon me.
Not to basically add a laundry list to defend myself, but he's not a good person and I don't think that I should have to play nice around him just to not get hurt, mentally or physically. The only reason I played DND with him in the first place was because I couldn't with anyone else - I didn't know about lfg at the time, lockdown was still a thing, none of my friends were doing it and I can't afford the money to pay for sessions. If I had any other option, I'd have gone for that.
I probably should have known better since our shared interests usually end up causing arguments - he once threw a remote at me during an argument about Supernatural, though it didn't hit me.
Luckily this hasn't made DND weird for me - my friend and I put in far too much work on our lore and worldbuilding for me to let go, plus making Tablegate a joke has helped me cope with the event.
I don't know if I should end this with a moral or a warning? If I had to, it'd be don't talk to my dad. But unless you're like my next door neighbour you're not gonna so yay!
Okay I dunno how to close this, peace out.
EDIT
Hi there, me again. When I originally made this post I was in a less than mentally stable state and it was both a cry for help and seeking attention (negative, like I really expected people to get mad at me for not posting something about D&D or who thought it was fake). Did not expect actual advice.
On that advice - I cannot act on parts of it. I can't live with friends - many have gone out of town to university and those who don't don't have stable home lives either, let alone room. We're all adults but we're all only recently adults too, so we're in an odd situation. I'm in contact with my LGBT youth group who have tried to help me get supported living but that's going to take a while and last I heard the report 'went through' and that's it. So it's either that or waiting until September to go to university and never look back.
I've been to hospital several times for attempts, the last time was in August before Tablegate. Every time, I have told them about my home life, and every time nothing happens. Mental health services aren't good here, I literally just go to a session or a Zoom call and then it takes another attempt to get any further. I'm disillusioned with the whole thing as every time I try, nothing happens. It's not even just the ambulance, it took nearly three months for the police to come talk to me about the events.
I know I've been defending my father. It's weird, he's honestly the worst person in my life but also someone I connect with. We both struggle with mental health issues and, even though he's the cause of mine, trauma from abuse. He's the one I can bond with over things I like (DND, TV shows, etc.) but he also belittles my mental health and obviously what happened. Overall I hate him but I suppose it's easier to point out the good parts when faced with criticism because of my confrontational home and lifestyle. I'm not good at handling that, even if it's not directed at me.
I didn't go into it but my mother is also a piece of work. She's not as obviously bad as my father but she's constantly guilt tripping and gaslighting me and has happily admitted to doing horrible stuff in the past, like restraining child me at night with her body, telling 12 yo me that sometimes she hated me, and saying on my second hospital visit as I was throwing up that now I knew not to do it as if that'd cure my mental health issues. In my opinion, she and Dad are perfect for each other - Hell is other people and God knows they're the devil in each other's worlds.
I wish I could just be some Internet troll doing this for karma and awards or whatever Reddit users spam for, but this is unfortunately the life I got and currently, my only ways out are a year out from now. Honestly, I'm sorry as hell for putting you guys through this - I'm sure reading this longwinded pity party is traumatic in itself. And I know that I'll probably get questions or advice if anyone else sees this and maybe I'll be able to answer them.
Still working on my DND game with my friend. I think I mentioned that before but hey, gotta keep this relevant.
submitted by IHaveNoSoul12 to rpghorrorstories [link] [comments]


2021.10.28 15:09 varansl These hounds are anything but good boys - Lore & History of the Hell Hound

See these hellish pups across the editions on Dump Stat

While dogs are definitely man’s best friend, we should probably make an exception for the Hell Hound. These fire-breathing canines have a long and storied history, most of which involves killing adventurers just like you… pry cause they could sense deep down that you were a cat person. Whether you are a cat person or just a tasty snack, these beasts like their meat well done as they bathe you with their fire breathe before they rip the flesh from your bones.
 

OD&D - Hell Hound

No. Appearing: 2-8
Armor Class: 4
Move: 12
Hit Dice: 3-7
% in Lair: 25%
No. of Attacks: 1 bite
Damage/Attack: 1-6/bite
Treasure: C
*also has breath weapon
We first encounter the Hell Hound in the Greyhawk Supplement (1976) and we get a pretty basic description of these creatures. They are renowned for their foul disposition as they are evil and chaotic creatures. To match their loathing of pretty much everything, they are listed as reasonably intelligent, so while you could teach them to sit, roll over, or fetch, we doubt that Hell Fido is going to put up with you acting like you are in charge.
Now you might be curious what they look like, but it’s going to be pretty hard to actually see one. They are a bit of a ninja dog as they move far stealthier than you might think for a pup from hell, and in fact, they very often turn from being the prey to the predator. They can sniff out hidden creatures and can even detect hidden and invisible creatures and objects 75% of the time. If you can somehow hide from them, and you get a chance to gaze upon them, they have reddish-brown fur and they have a fiery breath, so they may even breathe in and out with small flames licking out. We recommend if you find yourself in this position, don’t mess with it and just hope you can stay hidden long enough for it to leave the area you are in.
Of course, if you do decide to make this foul-tempered doggo your best friend, you have quite a problem ahead of you. Your new would-be pet can breathe fire, though the range isn’t listed so we guess just on one person - or maybe if your DM is especially vicious, the entire party. The damage that a Hell Hound deals is based on their hit dice and they deal a number of d6s equal to that amount. So a hell pup with 3 hit dice only deals 3d6 for their fire breath while a Hell Hound with 7 hit dice will deal 7d6. If that isn’t enough to stop you from adopting them, just know that they are typically the pets of fire giants who aren’t known for being kind and understanding with their fiery temper.
 

Basic D&D - Hellhound

Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 3-7
Move: 120’ (40’)
Attacks: bite or breath
Damage: 1-6 or special
No. Appearing: 2-8
Save As: Variable
Morale: 9
Treasure Type: C
Alignment: Chaotic
The Hell Hound is so powerful that it isn’t found in the Basic Rules but rather shows up in the Holmes Box Set (1971), Moldvay Expert Box Set (1981), and in the BECMI Expert Rules Box Set (1983). While they largely remain the same as before, they do provide some updates to their lore and mechanics that can help run this good boy in a fight.
The Hell Hound is no longer just reasonably intelligent but highly intelligent. Are they going to drive a car or write a sonnet? Probably not. Are they going to be able to set up an undetectable ambush for your poor unsuspecting party? Definitely. Which has to be terrifying for you as we now know that Hell Hounds, while still reddish-brown, are the size of a small pony, standing about 4 to 5 feet at the shoulder. They easily tower over any dog, take that Great Danes!
If you end up fighting such hellish hounds, there are a few things to keep in mind. They are not immune to fire and its effects, so you can always swing your torch at them in a panic. When they attack, they only get one attack each round against a single creature and they roll a d6 to determine what attack they will make this turn. On a 1-2, they breathe fire in the space 5 feet in front of them, which means they only hit a single creature where it was rather questionable how many they got to hit before. If they roll a 3-6 on the d6 roll, they instead make a vicious bite attack, tearing into your flesh.
For their breath weapon, they deal the same damage on their breath weapon, which is dependent on their hit dice, and so be careful of stronger Hell Hounds if you were hoping to live. You can make a saving throw against the effect, taking half damage if you successfully dodge the fiery bad breath of this canine - though even that can be quite a bit of damage if you are facing a matured Hell Hound.
If you are still hoping to have the best doggo as your best friend forever, we hate to break it to you but they only like creatures who are into fire and are even made of fire. Their best friends are fire giants, and they can often be found near volcanoes, so we imagine fire newts and even red dragons might enjoy the Hell Hounds company. So if you are really hell-bent on making friends with a foul-tempered, evil canine… head for a volcano and hang out around the lava tubes and just maybe… you won’t burn to death until the Hell Hound gets to you.
 

AD&D - Hell Hound

Frequency: Very rare
No. Appearing: 2-8
Armor Class: 4
Move: 12”
Hit Dice: 4-7
% in Lair: 30%
Treasure Type: C
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 1-10
Special Attacks: Breathe fire
Special Defenses: See below
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Low
Alignment: Lawful evil
Size: M
Psionic Ability: Nil
The Hell Hound appears in the Monster Manual (1978) and one of the designers for this edition was obviously a cat person. The image given for the Hell Hound is just the first hurdle these poor creatures have to deal with as they appear to be emaciated jackals with a too-big head. While this isn’t by any stretch of the imagination a bad picture, it’s not a very frightening one which is a shame seeing how outright terrifying a devil’s best friend must be.
Of course, maybe we are just judging a book by its cover. Then we look over its intelligence and it is now low, instead of being highly intelligent and cunning it is now just a dumb dog. While they are still dangerously sneaky and stealthy, they lack the ability for elaborate plots and traps to spring and drag a screaming adventurer back to hell with them.
Where the Hell Hound gets knocked down is when it uses its fire breath attack. Before this point, our fire-breathing dog was breathing 1d6 damage per hit die it had. Now it's reduced to 1 damage per hit die. So that big mean 7 hit die Hell Hound no longer isn't going to burn you to a crisp since it can only singe your arm hair for 7 hit points of fire damage, and then only 4 points of damage if you can make a save against breath weapons. You even have a better chance of hiding from the Hell Hounds now, as their eyesight only detects hidden or invisible creatures 50% of the time.
Our fire pup still has a few things going for it, so it's not all bad. It still can bite you, and that attack now does 1d10 damage. They can still move very stealthily, surprising you and your friend on a 1-4 roll on a d6. On the flip side, you only have a 1 in 6 chance of sneaking up on them since they have keen hearing. Fire Giants still love these fiery animals and will, along with other creatures, keep them as guard dogs for their lairs. At least we know someone still loves their Hell Hounds.
 

2e - Hell Hound

Climate/Terrain: Any land
Frequency: Very rare
Organization: Pack
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: Low (5-7)
Treasure: C
Alignment: Lawful evil
No. Appearing: 2-8
Armor Class: 4
Movement: 12
Hit Dice: 4-7
THAC0: 4 HD: 17, 5-6 HD: 15, 7 HD: 13
No. of Attacks: 1
Damage/Attack: 1-10
Special Attacks: Breathe fire
Special Defenses: See below
Magic Resistance: Standard
Size: M
Morale: Elite (13)
XP Value: 4 HD: 420 / 5 HD: 650 / 6 HD: 975 / 7 HD: 1,400
First appearing in the Monstrous Compendium Volume 2 (1989) and then reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993), we encounter a Hell Hound that is starting to look more like the dog we would all expect to see on a trip through hell. Like in the 1st edition, Hell Hounds aren’t from the material plane but brought here to serve evil masters. They can be found roaming the extradimensional planes where a hot, fiery landscape is the norm which sounds suspiciously a lot like hell. If found in such a location, you’ll most likely encounter a pack of these mangy beasts, with up to 40 of them frolicking amongst the lava, happy to rip you to shreds if you get too close like the foul natured dogs they are. Many who make their way to the material world do so as servants and guard dogs for powerful entities, though a life of servitude isn’t for the Hell Hound, and many will escape and find places to settle down and burn down a forest. Even though they literally breathe fire, they only create the second most forest fires with the number one spot belonging to those pesky humans who just ruin everything.
If you are so unlucky as to be attacked by a pack of Hell Hounds, you don’t have to fret too much. Each pack is led by a single 7 hit dice Hell Hound and the rest of them are between 4 and 6 hit dice, of course, you still have up to 8 of these creatures to fight at a time, so maybe don’t celebrate too soon. If you are curious how strong these creatures might be, there is some disagreement between the publications. In the Monstrous Compendium, the weakest among them are only worth 270 XP with the strongest being 975 XP; while the Monstrous Manual sets them at 420 XP and 1,400 XP respectively. For those used to the CR system, its roughly about a CR 1/2 for 270 XP, CR 1 for 420 XP, CR 2 for 975 XP, and CR 3 for 1,400 XP - so not kill you immediately powerful, but still not a joke to mess around with, especially as a pack.
If you are hoping to avoid encountering a pack of Hell Hounds, be on the watch for the remains of forest fires or badly burned tree trunks. The territory for a single pack can be up to 14 square miles, at the center of which is their den that is badly scorched thanks to the pack’s pups who uncontrollably belch fire instead of being more decisive about when they can utilize their breath weapon. You aren’t likely to visit this den, even if you become the pack’s food, as they like to eat where they killed a creature, but they aren’t above bringing back doggie bags filled with their leftovers to their den so they can throw you in the back of the fridge and forget they have you for a few weeks before tossing you out with the trash once you start smelling a bit funky. Or they’ll just feed their leftovers to their pups, of which there are about 2 to 8 of them in each litter.
But if you are hoping to meet these dangerous predators, it's pretty much the same thing as previous editions. They have red and brown fur, glowing red or brown eyes, and jet black teeth and claws. They are incredibly sneaky and capable of surprising pretty much anything the pack puts their mind to. They can detect hidden and invisible creatures 50% of the time each round and, unlike other hunting dogs, do not bay when they pick up their prey’s scent. Instead, they remain deadly quiet as they stalk through the forest, only baying once they attack.
When they do attack, they first breathe out fire and they are now capable of targeting a creature up to 30 feet away. They won’t hit anyone else along the path, as they seem to have very good control on their flames, but if they do connect, they’ll deal damage equal to the number of hit dice they possess, and you get a saving throw to avoid taking all that damage. After that, they charge into melee and just go straight for your throat as they bite and tear. They’ll only use their breath weapon again in a fight if they roll a 20 on the d20 for their attack, in which case they grab on to you with their jaws and then breathe fire point-blank into you. We aren’t sure if that means you don’t get a saving throw but we can only imagine, even if you do save against it, you are in incredible pain afterward.
In the category of Did you Know…, in the book Legends and Lore (1990), we find out the goddess Hecate has a fondness for Hell Hounds. As the goddess of the night, she travels with a pack of these fire-breathing dogs and has no qualms setting them loose on any travelers she encounters on her nightly strolls. Her avatar even has a Hell Hound at her disposal and never travels without it. Maybe she met one of these dogs on a visit to Hades to see her best friend, Persephone. Or it could just be she has a soft spot for fire-breathing dogs that everyone else is scared of.
 

3e/3.5e - Hell Hound

Medium Outsider (Evil, Extraplanar, Fire, Lawful)
Hit Dice: 4d8+4 (22 hp)
Initiative: +5
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 16 (+1 Dex, +5 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+5
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d8+1 plus 1d6 fire)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d8+1 plus 1d6 fire)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Breath weapon, fiery bite
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., immunity to fire, scent, vulnerability to cold
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +4
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 6
Skills: Hide +13, Jump +12, Listen +7, Move Silently +13, Spot +7, Survival +7*
Feats: Improved Initiative, Run, Track
Environment: Nine Hells of Baator
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (5-12)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always lawful evil
Advancement: 5–8 HD (Medium); 9-12 HD (Large)
Level Adjustment: +3 (cohort)
Appearing up first in the Monster Manual (2000/2003), the Hell Hound is worming its way to the top. Big news for those looking to breed these hellish dogs is that they originate from the plane of Acheron, though can be found in such evil and lawful places like the Nine Hells and the material plane because people just can’t help themselves. If you are heading for such planes to get your own dogs, hopefully, you bring a party of stout adventures as these beasts stand over 4 feet tall at the shoulder. While they might tower above most dogs, they are quite skinny as they only weigh 120 pounds, easily being outweighed by Great Danes that are over a foot shorter than them.
These creatures don’t see much change in the way they hunt, though now their fire breathing is all the deadlier - depending on the version of 3rd edition you are using. In 3e, their damage is only 1d4+1 fire damage and affects a 30-foot cone while in 3.5e, their damage is 2d6 and only affects a 10-foot cone. We suppose dealing more damage is an acceptable trade-off for having a smaller area of effect, but we can’t help but want both for our danger dingoes. In each version, they can use their breath weapon every 2d4 rounds, so in some combats, they might get multiple flames off but it isn’t likely.
On top of their breath weapon, they also have a bite attack whose effectiveness is based on the version you are going off of. For 3e, they only deal 1d8+1 damage on a bite, while in 3.5e they deal 1d8+1 damage plus 1d6 fire damage AND their attack counts as evil and lawful for overcoming certain damage resistance. We prefer the 3.5e version as it means that every time they bite you, they also pre-cook your flesh for their eventual dinner once you finally stop being such a nuisance and let them kill you.
We are also introduced to the Nessian Warhound in 3.5e. This elite breed of Hell Hound can be found underneath Asmodeus’ castle in Nessus, where he keeps these terrifying creatures. They are coal-black, the size of a draft horse, and accessorize well when they don their infernal chainmail shirt. Essentially they are Hell Hounds on enough steroids to kill an elephant. The Warhound has a CR of 9, whereas the lowly Hell Hound only has a CR of 3, which means they are stronger, deadlier, and maybe the best hell boys we can think of.
The Monsters of Faerûn (2001) uses the Hell Hound as its beast du jour to create the Hell Hound Beast of Xvim. Who is this Xvim, you ask? This mean and spiteful diety’s full name is Iyachtu Xvim and prefers to make his presence known by injecting a tiny bit of his corrupted will into carnivorous and evil-natured animals and monsters. When he does this, the creature grows larger, its eyes glow emerald green, and the Hell Hound’s fire breath now glows green instead of red when it breaths on you. Beasts of Xvim are always ill-tempered and violent, but that’s not much different than your typical Hell Hound’s personality.
The Book of Vile Darkness (2002), not surprisingly, mentions the Hell Hound in various contexts. The Mortal Hunter prestige class are fiends whose sole goal in life is to hunt mortals and kill them, and they will use Hell Hounds to track their prey. We know that the Hell Hound is from Acheron, but they also live in large packs in cities of Baator, those lovely places we talked about with the chain devil. The archdevil Mammon is the proud owner of a pack of massive Hell Hounds he takes with him when he hunts. These cute little doggies have all the traits of a normal Hell Hound, just amped up to a level fitting for a pet to a Lord of Hell.
Fiend Folio (2003) brings us the Haraknins, a type of Canomorph whose hound form is that of a Hell Hound. A Canomorph is often thought to be a type of fiendish lycanthrope, when in fact, they are a fiendish hound that has learned to assume humanoid form. The Haraknin is not a product of evolution, instead, they were created by devils and demon lords to hunt, track, guard, and of course, kill other creatures on the material plane. These creatures retain all the traits of a Hell Hound and can also assume a humanoid form and gain class levels, like becoming a barbarian. While the Haraknins are the weakest of the three types of Canomorphs, they have the largest population, and like a dog with a bone, are the most steadfast and stubborn of their kind. The other two kinds of Canomorphs are the shadurakuls, who are shadow mastiffs, and vultivors, who are vorrs. Shadurakuls are the most powerful of these three, though they are constantly having to defend against attacks from the Haraknin, all the while the vultivors watch from the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
In Exemplars of Evil (2007), Hell Hounds are prominent in the chapter discussing the fire giant queen Valbryn Morlydd. Valbryn is the ruler of Gilgirn, the fiery mountain stronghold that was the birthplace of the fire giant. Hell Hounds can be found throughout the castle, guarding various locations and individuals within. There are numerous statues of Hell Hounds throughout, and even a large kennel where they live and the pups are kept. While Hell Hounds aren’t a creature you probably want to fight, these particular canines should be avoided at all costs, as they will attack you on sight and always fight to the death. They are fiercely loyal to Valbryn, though she keeps a tight leash on them, culling their numbers when there are too many in her stronghold.
 

4e - Hell Hound

Level 7 Brute
Medium elemental beast (fire) / XP 300
Initiative +5/ Senses Perception +11
Fire Shield (Fire) aura 1; any creature that enters or begins its turn in the aura takes 1d6 fire damage.
HP 96; Bloodied 48
AC 20; Fortitude 18, Reflex 17, Will 18
Resist 20 fire
Speed 7
Bite (standard; at-will) ✦ Fire +10 vs. AC; 1d8 + 2 plus 1d8 fire damage.
Fiery Breath (standard; recharge 4-6) ✦ Fire Close blast 3; +9 vs. Reflex; 2d6 + 3 fire damage.
Alignment Unaligned / Languages -
Str 14(+5) Dex 14 (+5) Wis 17 (+6) Con 16 (+6) Int 2 (-1) Cha 10 (+3)
As many of our readers probably know by now, 4th edition has no issue with slaughtering the sacred cows of previous editions, and the Hell Hound found in the Monster Manual (2008) didn’t escape this slaughter untouched. This best boy is now listed under the “Hound” category, grouped with the shadow hound and wild hunt hound. To go along with the big change that giants were created by primordials, the Hell Hound is also an elemental and created by primordials when the multiverse was still quite young. They are only known by the nomenclature of Hell Hound because they appear fiery, though we have to imagine more than a few devils would love to have their pet made of literal flames.
The basics of the Hell Hound remain the same, as they bite and breathe fire, though their cone is reduced… or expanded… to a 15-foot cone. In addition, if you find yourself getting just a smidge too close to these lovable hellions, they exude of aura of fire within 5 feet around them, dealing 1d6 fire damage to anyone within range. If the basic Hell Hound mutt isn’t enough for you, and you want a designer breed, the Firebred Hell Hound is for you. The Firebred is the result of selective breeding done by the fire giants over thousands of years. We all know that those giants will keep Hell Hounds as guard dogs, but they weren’t satisfied with questionable lineages and bred far more powerful and larger Hell Hounds until they got the horror that is the Firebred. They retain all the traits of their lesser cousins and also have a fiery burst ability. The fiery burst is precisely what it sounds like, as these powerful dogs can explode into flame, dealing a ton of fire damage to everyone within 15 feet of them.
 

5e - Hell Hound

Medium fiend, lawful evil
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (7d8 + 14)
Speed 50 ft.
STR 17(+3) DEX 12(+1) CON 14(+2) INT 6(-2) WIS 13(+1) CHA 6(-2)
Skills Perception +5
Damage Immunities fire
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages understands Infernal but can't speak it
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Keen Hearing and Smell. The hound has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Pack Tactics. The hound has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the hound's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage.
Fire Breath (Recharge 5-6). The hound exhales fire in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Appearing in the Monster Manual (2014), we are back to our roots and the Hell Hound is now a true fiend and returns to its home plane of Acheron. Based on the art for this edition, they are back to having a dark fur coating, but they have an inner glow within them, where the fire of their life stays lit, burning and consuming any flesh the Hell Hound rips off of its prey. While no specific size or weight is listed for these creatures, they are listed as medium-sized, which makes them at least as big as a mastiff, basilisk, or dragon wyrmling.
With their return to the Acheron and the lower planes, they stick to hunting in large packs scouring the battlefields of Acheron for any scraps they can find. Since most dogs think everything is possible food, we can’t help but think that the Hell Hounds will attack pretty much anything they encounter, assuming it is edible. This doesn’t make them mindless animals, however. They are just constantly hungry, mainly for your delicious flesh. Hell Hounds travel in packs in the wild, separating the weakest of a group of tasty-looking heroes first, then descending upon the remainder so long as they know they can win the fight. They capitalize on this with their pack tactics feature which grants them advantage on their attacks so long as their friends and allies are nearby.
Of course, we can’t end our look at the Hell Hound without first talking about their fire breath. They can exhale a 15-foot cone, hitting every creature in the area, though you do get a save to take half damage. Luckily, their breath weapon isn’t based on the number of hit dice they have and is a whopping 6d6 fire damage, far more dangerous than before.
Various creatures use the Hell Hound as a dangerous pet, training them as guard dogs from young pups. To a devil or fire giant, this makes the Hell Hound the perfect pet as their blistering fire breath is but a tickle to them. Being lawful evil, the Hell Hound will listen and obey the commands of its master, but those commands need to involved murder and mayhem, or it will turn its evil fury upon the hand that holds that refuses to feed their hellish instincts.

Past Deep Dives

Creatures: Aboleth / Ankheg / Beholder / Bulette / Chain Devil / Chimera / Couatl / Displacer Beast / Djinni / Dragon Turtle / Dryad / Flumph / Frost Giant / Gelatinous Cube / Ghoul / Giff / Gith / Gnoll / Grell / Harpy / Hobgoblin / Hook Horror / Invisible Stalker / Kobold / Kraken / Kuo-Toa / Lich / Lizardfolk / Medusa / Mimic / Mind Flayer / Neogi / Nothic / Otyugh / Owlbear / Rakshasa / Redcap / Rust Monster / Sahuagin / Scarecrow / Shadar-Kai / Slaadi / Tabaxi / Tiefling / Umber Hulk / Vampire / Werewolf / Wyvern / Xorn
Class: Barbarian Class / Cleric Class / Wizard Class
Spells: Fireball Spell / Lost Spells / Named Spells / Quest Spells / Wish Spell
Other: The History of Bigby / The History of the Blood War / The History of the Raven Queen / The History of Vecna
submitted by varansl to DnDBehindTheScreen [link] [comments]