Holmes Monster Selection

Looking through the Holmes Ref sheets from the Zenopus Archives and in this useful and well thought out set of reference sheets I find myself drawn to the monster summary sheet where the vitals are spelled out for the 80 monsters in the Holmes edit of Basic D&D. It’s an interesting mix of monsters that includes a number of mythological and D&D classics, here I’m going to provided simple analysis and organization of some of the monsters included.

Flyers
There’s a fair number of flying creatures included, some not noted for their ferocity and considering the Basic Set focuses on dungeon adventures the number stands out to me.

Monster	HD	Fly Speed	Notes
Pixie	1	180	limited flight, may attack while invisible
Stirge	1	180	attack bonus
Pegasus	2+2	480	amazing flight speed, only serves lawful good characters
Harpy	3	150	charm attack
Hippogriff	3+1	360	foes of pegasi
Gargoyle	4	150	only harmed by magic weapons
Wraith	4	240	life drain, silver arrows or magic weapons needed to harm
Cockatrice	5	180	turn foes to stone
White Dragon	5 to 7	240	breath weapon
Spectre	6	300	life drain need magic weapons to harm
Manticore	6+1	180	fire spikes 180
Black Dragon	6 to 8	240	breath weapon
Brass Dragon	6 to 8	240	breath weapon
Griffon	7	300	eats horses
Djinni	7+1	240
Vampire	7 to 9	180*	Fly in bat form
Chimera	9	180	breath weapon
Red Dragon	9 to 11	240	breath weapon

22% of the monsters in Holmes Basic can fly. A few have limited flight ability but in the main they are fast and can catch or outrun PCs in virtually every situation. Most flying monsters will beat PCs for HD and damage dealign abilities. If it flies it’s likely lethal.
Since the PCs are going to have limited access to flight (let's be serious really NO access) the flyign monsters are going to dominate any encounter where they have the space to take to wing.


Undead
The living dead get a fair representation as they are a chief foe of Clerics.

Monster	HD	Turn?	Notes
Skeleton	1/2	Yes
Zombie	2	Yes
Ghoul	2	Yes	Paralysis attack
Wight	3	level 2+	silver arrows or magical weapons to harm. level drain
Wraith	4	level 3+	level drain. silver arrows 1/2 damage. Need magic weapons to harm normally.
Mummy	5+1	NO	1/2 damage from magical weapons, will burn however. slow healing
Spectre	6	NO	harmed only by magical weapons. level drain
Vampire	7 to 9	NO	level drain.

Only the first 3 types of undead are easily turnable and while wights and wraiths can be turned at 2nd and 3rd level they are still difficult to repel. Half of undead can drain levels from foes. Most undead need special weapons to harm.


Folk
The monsters in the basic rules have a fair number of foes with 2 arms and 2 legs that just might have a conversation with the PCs.

Monster	HD	Notes
Kobold	1/2	+3 to saves. Chief fights as knoll
Goblin	1-1	-1 in sun, leader as Hbgoblin
Bandit	1	some bands have 4th or 6th level leaders
Dwarf	1	can have leader of 2-7th level
Gnome	1
Orc	1	-1 in sun, large groups have ogres and trolls
Pixie	1	fly and invisibility
Berserker	1+1	+2 to attack, no retreat !
Elf	1+1	leader ar F/MU or 2-4/2-8th level
Hobgoblin	1+1	king and bodyguard fight as ogres !
Gnoll	2	leader has 3 HD
Lizard Man	2+1
Troglodyte	2	sneaky and stench
Bugbear	3+1	sneaky
Ogre	4+1
Troll	6+3	regeneration

20% of the monsters are folk of some sort, some are men, some are demi-humanoids, and some goblinoids. I included Ogres and Trolls because they can be found among orcs and they can be presented a members of a tribe/clan and not just wandering brutes. All of these creatures can speak with some of the PCs and they may recognize and use some magic items meant for men and allies.


Dungeon Crew
These monsters are lowlife dungeon dwellers that keep the corridors clean from all those dead adventurers.

Monster	HD	Notes
Fire Beetle	1+2	glows
Green Slime	2	only hurt by fire/cold. turns victim into greenslime
Yellow Mold	2+	only hurt by fire, cloud of lethal spores
Gray Ooze	3	hard to spot, corrodes metal, impervious to fire and cold but can be killed by weapons and lightning
Shrieker	3	shriek attracts other monsters
Carrion Crawler	3+1	multiple tentacles attack that paralyze
Gelatinous Cube	4	Paralysis, impervious to cold, lightning and most spells
Ochre Jelly	5	weapons and lighting split into small jellies
Rust Monster	5	rusts away weapons and armor
Black Pudding	10	east armor, killed by fire other attacks break it up
Purple Worm	15	poison sting, swallow whole

The dungeon crew has a fair number of monsters absent from mythology that have become classic dungeon dwelling creatures. Most are horrible oozes but a few are gimic monsters that can ruin your whole day.  Most are readily defeated with fire. Several of them eat or absorb a characters stuff and they seldom have any treasure worth bothering with, these critters are meant to be avoided.


Save or Splat
There are a fair number of monsters in the Holmes edit of basic that can take out a character who fails a single saving throw.

Monster	HD	Save or
Giant Centipede	1/4	Poisoned to Death
Nixie	1	Charmed
Large Spider	1+1	save vs poison at +2 or die
Ghoul	2	Paralyzed
Huge Spider	2+2	svae vs poison at +1 or die
Harpy	3	Charmed
Carrion Crawler	3+1	Paralyzed
Gelatinous Cube	4	Parlayzed
Medusa	4	Turn to Stone
Giant Spider	4+4	Poisoned to Death
Basilisk	6+1	Turn to Stone
Vampire	7 to 9	Charmed
Purple Worm	15	Poisoned to Death

Each of these creatures can take out a character in a single attack regardless of damage caused. The carrion crawler is very likely to take out a whole party if the players roll poorly. Being charmed isn’t instant death but it is indeed instant “no more character for you right now”.

Bugs
There’s a few insect-like creatures down in Holmesian Dungeons.

Monster	HD	Notes
Giant Centipede	1/4	poison bite
Fire Beetle	1+2	glows
Giant Ant	2
Large spider	1+1	save vs poison at +2 or die
Huge Spider	2+2	save vs poison at +1 or die
Giant Spider	4+4	save vs poison  or die
Giant Tick	3	diseased bloodsucker
Purpple Worm	15	posion sting and swallow whole

Most of the giant insects are going to poison you. Some have surprising treasure but mostly fighting them should be avoided.


Heavy Breathers
A number of the monsters in Holmes basic have breath weapons and here they are.

Monster	HD	Breath
Hellhound	3 to 7	fire 1die/HD
White Dragon	5 to 7	cold equal to HP
Black Dragon	6 to 8	acid equal to HP
Brass Dragon	6 to 8	sleep or fear
Chimera	9	fire for 3d8
Red Dragon	9 to 11	fire equal to HP

Mostly dragon with breath weapons but the Hell Hound really packs a serious breath attack even if the range is only 5 feet. Any adult dragon of 5 or more HD is likely going to while out a part of adventurers from 1st to 3rd level but the occasional clever victory can feel epic at such levels.


Overall the monsters in the Holmes edit of Basic D&D are a wide variety (with a curious lack of normal animals aside from the horse) that captures a lot of the spirit of D&D. Battles against many of the monsters can only likely to be survived if the PCS have numbers, clever thinking, and luck on their side; it would be foolhardy and brief to expect to survive long in a Holmesian dungeon without being sneaky and running away whenever possible for characters of 1st to 3rd level. The monsters in the Holmes edit have a high portion of creatures that can outpace, smash, posion, and gross out the PCS.

In my early days of D&D I recall how fierce a wraith was to the PCs and how they depended on trickery to get one over on the monsters time and time again as straight up fights would have often been suicide.  In one of my earliest dungeons the Wraith was a major presence on one level of a dungeon and the PCs once managed to rout and loot a lair of goblins that vasty outnumbered them by tricking them into thinking the wraith had come for the goblins. Staying and fighting was seldom considered a wise option the players would often run away to come back with a fresh load of oil flasks to burn out a monsters threat. Like many a campaign Rust Monsters became one of the most dreaded monsters in the game because it ate the PCs weapons and armor and there is no greater horror to many a player than having their PC lose stuff.

Some people have criticized the high end go the monsters in the Holmes basic set over the years  but to me they are essential to teach the players that running, negotiating, and trickery are options as well, if everything is a fair fight too much of the game evolves into nothing but fights and fantasy role playing has room for so much more.