Some thoughts on D&D's medusae as a self-reproducing race

In my last post I shared my thoughts on the "medusas as curse" concept from D&D 5e. In this post I want to touch on the other depictions in D&D of medusas as a self-reproducing race. (For reference going forward, I'm using "gorgon" as a gender-neutral term for medusas and co.)

In Greek myth, there's no apparent depiction of gorgons as a self-reproducing race. There was a trio of sisters, the Gorgons, born to Phorcys and Ceto. One of the sisters, Medusa, gave birth to Pegasus and Chrysaor after being impregnated by Poseidon. At most, one fragmentary account says Medusa's father was a gorgon. (For reference, "gorgon" in Greek translated to "terrible one, fierce one.")

In D&D, Gygax and co took various unique monsters from mythology and gave them ecologies where each was made into an entire species. These ecologies were often weird, nonsensical, or even misogynistic. In the case of the medusa, their reproduction actually changed across the editions due to differing writers and sometimes it was just plain weird. 

Initially the medusas received no information on their reproduction, then later publications started providing more information, then contradicted themselves later on. Some said most medusas were female (implying there were a few males for reproduction), others said medusas were always female (raising the question of how they reproduced). 

One 1986 article introduced a new monster called the "maedar" as the male counterpart of the medusa, whose appearance and powers were basically the inverse of his female counterpart: he was bald and turned stone to flesh with his touch. These gorgons reproduced more or less normally for sexually dimorphic humanoids. In a subsequent 1993 book this simple reproduction was needlessly complicated by the writer claiming that only 1% of offspring were maedar, while the other 99% were human infants that petrified upon seeing their mother. In order to birth more medusas, the medusa had to rely on human men. What kind of sense does that make? 

In a 3rd edition Dragon magazine article, issue #355, they were given a much more sensible method of reproduction. Gorgons reproduced normally among their own kind, although maedar were born rarely compared to medusas. Otherwise, medusas could abduct human men for reproduction: such pairings produced infant medusas, as well as human boys who petrified upon seeing their mother.

In 4th edition, the maedar were simply called male medusas and their abilities changed to a weaker form of the female's: he was still bald, but now his gaze was literally venomous.

There's no maedar in 5th edition due to their nature changing to a curse, but unofficial conversions combine the pre-4e maedar with the 4e male medusa so that he is bald, has venomous gaze, and turns stone to flesh.

So what do I think of all this? Well, I don't think D&D monsters need to have ecologies in the first place. It demystifies them and turns them into alien fauna. How is something a monster when it has a place in the natural ecology? Not only that but, as I said before, a lot of these pseudo-naturalistic ecologies are just silly. 

Gorgons don't need to have societies or reproductive cycles to explain where they come from. I'm satisfied with them spontaneously generating as needed by the GM. If you need a more detailed explanation for that, then posit the existence of magic fields that radiate across the world according to the movements of planets. These magic fields occasionally crisscross at symbolic times and locations, where they form magical vents that spawn magical creatures. The medusa is spawned when the magic fields of the Moon are ascendant, as the Moon is the planet sacred to cycles, reptiles, and delirium.

In you want something inspired by mythology, then I have another idea. In Greek myth there is a monster called the Dracaena ("she-dragon, dragoness"), who appears as a beautiful nymph from the waist up and a dragon from the waist down. Famous Dracaena included Echidna and Ceto, who gave birth to various monsters. I'm just gonna call her a "nymph-dragoness" to reflect her appearance. The fantasy world is therefore home to one or more of these nymph-dragonesses. They are legendary monstresses who live to spawn various monsters including gorgons. Where did she come from? The earth gave birth to her. Where did the earth come from? It arose spontaneously from the primordial chaos. Where did that come from? It always existed.

Some thoughts on DnD’s “curse of the medusa”

I recently read a deep dive on the history of D&D's medusas and had some thoughts of my own.

I prefer to call them gorgons after the original Greek myths, and will continue that usage for the rest of the this post. (The iron bull monster can just be renamed to "stone-breath bulls" or something.) I prefer to treat gorgons as a curse, as per the popular myth, as I find that origin more mystical and customizable than them being just yet another self-sustaining fantasy race. However, the 5th edition story for the curse has problems.

According to the 5e MM, the clients are vain brats who get eternal beauty from the patron, before it eventually turns them into gorgons. Do they know this is the price and, if so, why would they ever agree? What does the patron get out of the deal? It feels poorly thought out to me, so I think it needs revising.

Unless you can find a good reason for it, then ditch the whole patronage thing. Unless the patron is deliberately trying to torment people or spread death, then they have no reason to curse people into gorgons. Instead, make gorgonism a cosmic karmic punishment for women who seek eternal beauty to the exclusion of all else, particularly the health and safety of others. Such a vain women was wicked, used her beauty for evil ends, and resorted to dark means to preserve her beauty, like using dark magic to steal the life of others. So the universe curses her, turning her into a gorgoness.

The curse of the gorgoness, beyond being a hideous monster, is that now nobody can appreciate her beauty. Anyone who looks at her turns to stone. If the gorgoness ever looks at her own reflection, then she too turns to stone. As a result, they become very antisocial individuals.

A gorgoness's appearance is variable but reflects how long she has been cursed. Fledgling gorgonesses still appear largely the same aside from her hair turning into snakes and her skin taking on an earthier tone, perhaps to emphasize the irony. As the curse progresses, she grows brass claws and talons, venomous fangs and tusks, features like a hag, her skin turns to scales, and her legs are replaced by a massive serpentine tail. Some even grow wings like in the myths.

What of male gorgons? Well, here things become more complicated, but not really. See, the gorgoness's vanity was not simply the result of her own wickedness, but also contributed to by patriarchal society's obsession with feminine beauty. Women are socialized to value their beauty, and punished for failing to do so, far more than men are. As such, men who are vain enough to deserve cursing for it are rarer and manifest differently: he becomes a gorghias.

A gorghias doesn't gain the same monstrous combat benefits as a gorgoness does. All his hair falls out, his skin becomes earthy and scaly, and he gains a literally venomous gaze. Those who gaze upon his visage are literally poisoned by him, and seeing his own reflection sends him into anaphylactic shock. See the social commentary?

Do gorgons organize? Do they reproduce? No. The curse is meant to isolate them, turn them into a blight on society even worse then they were as mortals. They are immortal and do not reproduce. They don't even eat or drink anymore, instead draining lifeforce with their deadly gazes for sustenance. 

But these are just some ideas. Perhaps your gorgons are the spawn of a legendary dragon-nymph like Ceto or Echidna, the creation of a mad wizard like Morgoth or Doctor Frankenstein, or a demon lord's malicious curse on some poor fool. Greek myth wasn't consistent on where the gorgons came from, with one story saying they were spawned by Ceto while another claimed Medusa was cursed by Athena. You do you!