I dredged up the image below from an old post on Dragonsfoot. A previous owner customized the Wandering Monsters chart in one poster's Holmes Basic D&D rules. Click the pic to get a larger version.
I'm guessing that "Hydra 3" on the third level chart is meant to indicate a 3-headed version of that beastie.
Imagine for a moment the possibility that out there somewhere is some poor bastard whose first encounter in D&D was with a hostile dungeon chicken.
Make chicken a very common encounter in a dungeon and cockatrice a rare encounter.
ReplyDeleteI'd be more concerned about the 1-3 purple pigs you might find on Level 2.
ReplyDeleteFantastic! I really like the "Giant Tick" in the right column - that would certainly terrify me in a dungeon. In fact... I may have to write about that.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the map devourer on level 2? Or rabid dungeon rabbits...
ReplyDeleteFrank
Giant ticks have been a staple of D&D, since at least 1977, when both the Holmes rules and the Monster Manual included stats for them.
ReplyDeleteI've always found Guinea Pigs to be at least a Level 3 creature. This guy was hardcore!
ReplyDeletedoes anyone know what happened to Dr Holmes ?
ReplyDeletelast i heard he was aneurologist in CA . . .
i almost thought that said 'hanky' not 'hawk' and was wondering how much an encounter finding a used hanky would be...
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that whoever this DM was, he grew up to write MUDs or the first MMORPGs.
ReplyDeleteRabbits and dungeon chickens indeed.