MOORCOCK'S MONSTERS
Reading the old rulebook, the authors give some examples of creating creatures, and advise ripping off mythology or letting your imagination go wild as this is the "essence of Chaos." Meanwhile, the First Stormbringer Supplement introduces unicorns, probably ripped unedited from the pages of the Gateway Bestiary for Runequest. Both these approaches miss the mark on the basic taxonomy of Moorcock's bestiary, whose creatures are all rich with symbolism and thematic elements. Although the monsters from Hawkmoon and Corum are more traditional fantasy creatures, Elric's bestiary is a bit deeper, and so here I shall give some suggestions on how to replicate this.
MOORCOCK'S CREATURE TAXONOMY
On a close re-reading of the Elric novels, I identify the following classifications of monsters:
Types 1-2: Metaphorical / Allegorical
The first type are metaphorical monsters, ones with huge symbolic portent. The goblins faced by Aubec in Myshella's castle are all reflections of his fear, while he defeats the Golem by showing the construct its own inhuman reflection in a mirror. Next we have the allegorical monsters, which suggest a larger story. The Grahluk are bestial men and women, whose only purpose is killing the evil image of their partner, then their self. I dimly recall Moorcock stating Elric was conceived after a failed relationship, and this does seem to resonate with the theme of love gone awry.
Types 3-5: Cosmic Horror / Psychedelic / Weird
I lump all these together because they seem to fit in various combinations. The alien sorcerors Gagak and Agak are definitely mind-blasting cosmic horrors, but trekking through their bodies as Elric and his comrades do is a psychedelic fantasy ripped from Fantastic Voyage (1966). They are also weird, i.e. a radical reimagining of traditional monsters, in this case vampires who suck whole universes dry.
What are the characteristics of these three types of monsters? Cosmic horrors make humans seem insignificant and follow different rules of reality left over from a former age, such as the Kyreen and Bronze Gryphs. Psychedelic monsters are not only trippy or hallucinatory, but also reflect 1960's and 70's ideas of transformation of the self via destruction of traditional notions of sexuality and social roles. Observe the hermaphrodites who try to re-sex black warrior-scholar Otto Blendkar, who describes them to Elric as "... a blue-skinned, hermaphroditic race who determined to cure me of what they considered my malformations of hue and sexuality. The scar you see was their work." Finally, weird monsters are 'flipped' versions of classic mythological monsters. For instance, the Clakars who attack Elric and Moonglum on their sea voyage seeking for the Dead Gods' Book are cognates of the Greek Harpies, who also guarded the underworld and attacked King Phineus in retribution for attempting to know the future like Elric.
The Stormbringer game does translate Moorcock's creatures well enough, but by porting in Runequest monsters or traditional fantasy fare as is, such as the unicorn from the 2nd supplement, I feel something is lost.
Type 6: Corrupted Humans
This final type is the corrupted human, who are considered lesser types of demon. There is snake and pig, then the Chaos butterflyman of Theleb Karna. Rackhir describes these when he and Elric travel to the demon city of Ameeron:
Elric: "Have you seen any of these demons?"
Rackhir: "Aye. The usual bestial sort. Coarse, stupid and powerful - many of them were once human before electing to bargain with Chaos. Now they are mentally and physically warped into foul, demon shapes."
These would be the easiest to generate - simply roll on the demon abilities table or some other random source of chaotic mutations and apply them to a human.
For simple antagonists, mooks or cannon fodder, roll once.
For tough monsters, roll twice.
For main antagonists or bosses, roll 3 times.
Making Your Own Monsters
Admittedly, it is daunting to try and rival Moorcock's bestiary, which he conceived at the height of his storytelling and creative powers. Nevertheless, with these 6 themes, you can at least give it a good try.
1 Metaphorical - Have the fiend represent some theme, such as fear, pride, greed, etc. i.e. The goblins of Myshella's castle.
2 Allegorical - Make a story behind the monster suggested by its appearance, behaviour, and powers. i.e. Grahluk and Elenoin.
3 Psychedelic - Make the creature mind-bending - trippy but also transformative. i.e. Agak and Gagak.
4 Weird - Choose a traditional monster, then flip it. i.e. Clakar for Harpies.
5 Cosmic - Have the horror be beyond mortal understanding, and sanity-rending. i.e. Kyreen.
6 Corrupted - The monster is a human warped by chaos, usually through their own choices or flaws. i.e. Pigs, Snake, Butterflyman.
EXAMPLES
1. Unicorn
So let's take the traditional fantasy unicorn and flip it to make it weird. Its inclusion in the Demon Magic supplement is extremely nondescript and decidedly ho hum.
So basically the traditional unicorn is known for 1) being tamed by virgin maidens and 2) its horn being magical, capable of curing the sick, purifying waters, or skewering monsters.
The elements of a unicorn are thus a horn that kills or cures, and an affinity for virgins. Still a bit bland and distasteful in a modern sense.
We could go the route of flipping the horse into a horned monstrosity, such as the Dreaming God Dagoth of Conan the Destroyer (which I just discovered was written by Roy Thomas, who penned the amazing Elric comic adaptations with P. Craig Russel!!).
But how about we go the other route, and change the maiden?
I would make the Unicorn a necessary cure for some Chaotic infestation, much as the Black Bull of Crinnanas of the Corum Chronicles, who is sacrificed to renew the land after the Fhoi Myore turned it into a frozen wasteland. Instead of a virginal maiden, the beast can only be controlled by a Hag, an old woman of sorcerous powers.
Unbeknownst to the players, the Hag is actually good and an agent of the Balance, linked to nature. If they go in as murderhobos and slay her, they will incur the Unicorn's wrath. But going in dialogically and meeting the Hag's request (side quest anyone?) and they can fulfill their mission.
How about them apples?
2. The Kay (Crystal of Daerdaerdath)
Another missed opportunity is seen in the races created for the game. Look at the Kay from the 1st supplement adventure Crystal of Daerdaerdath:
The Kay are small, light-framed creatures, bipedal with opposable thumbs and tails about half as long as their bodies. Their wrinkled faces are made most hideous by their mouths, which run vertically up the face, instead of across, as in most creatures. Their eyes are on either side of this horrible mouth. The mouth is full of short fangs and a forest of stubby black horns protrude from their scalp and shoulders. The creature is covered with short fine fur ranging from dark brown on old males to nearly white on pups. The average Kay male stands 110 cm tall (about 42” high) and weighs 2 4 kg (about 50 lbs). A typi- cal female reaches 90 cm in height (about 36”) and weighs 30 kg (about 66 lbs) - the females are disproportionately obese. The males wear animal hides stitched across their chests as armored vests. The tanning of these hides dyes the leather red with berry juice. Females go naked, as do the pups. The Kay use crude stone weapons.
OK, so these are also described by an NPC as 'little devils' or 'talking dogs', making them basically sideways-mouthed kobolds. Ho hum. Much worse, they lack any theme or symbolism.
So let's try to make a monster a bit more fitting for a Moorcockean adventure.
The adventure centers around a treasure (the eponymous crystal) hidden on Valyk's Isle, the former residence of a powerful sorcerer. How about instead we think about what is on an island. Shipwrecks and crabs come to mind.
What if we make the Kay into crabs? Innocuous, small, innumerable 1 HP crabs. However, these crustaceans have soaked in the residual magicks of the isle for centuries, and are not what they seem. They have become a powerful hivemind capable of controlling other creatures and puppeting corpses.
Remember the golden rule of writing - Show, don't tell.
Describe the sandy beaches, the cries of gulls, and the dance of crabs among the surf. Have the PCs walk past a recent shipwreck, strewn with mangled seamen, then have the corpses therein rise and attack them. When the corpses are defeated, they fall to pieces and crabs scuttle away. When the PCs seek to enter the ruins, have one of them make a POW vs number of crabs (4d6) roll or go berserk and attack their comrades, muttering "kay-Kay-KAY!" As a hint, maybe the thief killed from the previous expedition was found mangled in a locked room, his only clue being 'CrAbS' or 'KaY' written in blood on the wall.
How can the PCs defeat an innumerable enemy? I don't know. That is their job to figure out. Maybe their sorceror-noble can call on the Lord of Crabs, or use flaming oil, or start a Cajun crab cook up.
This is much more fitting for Stormbringer.
On point Ted, nice writing
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