Hobgoblins and bobgoblins

Dungeons & Dragons uses "hobgoblin" to refer to a bigger, meaner variety of goblin, but in the dictionary and folklore this is not the case. A hobgoblin, in the dictionary, is just a synonym of goblin, bugbear, bogeyman, etc. In English folklore, a hobgoblin is smaller, nicer variety of goblin; the exact opposite of the usage in fantasy gaming.

Why is this? It all goes back to Tolkien, who himself noted that the usage was incorrect. But Gygax and friends never got the memo, so now we got stuck with it.

The prefix "hob" has a number of possible etymologies. It may derive from the German halb meaning "half," a diminutive of the name Robin or Robert, a part of a fireplace, or a Welsh spirit of the hearth. The latter makes them similar to many heart spirits in a number of cultures and stories, such as the lares and penates of Roman myth and the character Calcifer in Howl's Moving Castle.

Somebody apparently went back to the original sources to give us the cartoon character Bobgoblin, a friendly goblin. Similarly friendly goblins may be found in a number of other cartoons, such as LEGO Elves: Secrets of Elvendale.

Goblins, LEGO Elves: Secrets of Elvendale

Ecology of Chaosiic aka Ei'risai

The ei'risai originally appeared in The Iconic Bestiary: Classics of Fantasy by Lion's Den Press as an open game content substitute for the slaad which are considered product identity of Wizards of the Coast. The name chaosiic was applied by their reprint in Forgotten Foes by Tricky Owlbear Publishing. This post will discuss the chaosiic in terms of Stormbringer's order and chaos conflict, not the Dungeons & Dragons alignment table as I consider the latter nonsensical.

The problem with para- and quasi-elements

The para- and quasi-elements have never been the most logical parts of planar geography. For example, steam is positively charged water and salt is negatively charged water, while ice is air plus water. Mimir.net went a step further and introduced quasi-para-elemental planes. Para-elements as logical mixtures of the elements was explored by Dark Sun. Air plus water made rain, air plus fire made sun, earth plus fire made magma, earth plus water made silt. The quasi-elements would be dramatically different depending on what logic is actually used, since they do not use the same logic.

• Ice, water and steam make sense as the phases of water.
• Radiance, fire and ash make sense as the stages of burning. You make sparks, sparks set the combustibles aflame, flame burns the combustibles to ash.
• Lightning, air and vacuum are not on the same spectrum.
• Mineral, earth and dust are not on the same spectrum either.

I have seen a few alternate versions of the para- and quasi-planes.

Pathguy suggests:

• Dust is between Air and Earth. "Negative Earth" is Grime.
• Steam is between Fire and Water. "Positive Water" is Rainbow.
• Mist is between Air and Water. "Negative Water" is Ice.

The 3e MotP suggests that the quasi-planes would follow the logic of positive border being dangerously dynamic and active, whereas the negative border would be drained of life and color.

• Air: the positive border would be storm, the negative vacuum.
• Earth: the positive border would be earthquake, and the negative would be slag.
• Fire: the positive border would be firestorm, the negative cinders.
• Water: the positive would be maelstrom, the negative stagnant.

In general I prefer some variation of the elemental chaos for the actual geography. While the para- and quasi-elementals themselves seem cool, as geography they are just silly. 

The plane of water: The sky of the plane of water is analogous to the plane of mist, rain or vapor. One example of its inhabitants is the niln or "vapor horror" from Tome of Horrors. The land of the plane of water is analogous to the plane of cold or ice, though it is not necessarily cold. The sea of the plane of water is the material plane sea, where the planes merge.

Supplements: Dark Dungeons, Slayers Guide to Elementals, Tome of Horrors Complete, Tome of Horrors 4

Links:

• http://smileylich.com/dnd/collective/Collective_Q15.html
• http://expeditiousretreat.blogspot.com/2015/05/enter-elemental-borderlands.html
• http://www.pathguy.com/inner.html
• https://mimir.net/mapinfinity/quasi.html
• http://aveneca.com/cbb/viewtopic.php?t=106
• https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/environment/the-planes/
• https://campaignwiki.org/wiki/DarkDungeonsSRD/Out_of_This_World#h5o-12
• http://blogofholding.com/?p=3908
• http://crushingskulls.blogspot.com/2011/04/quasi-elemental-planes.html

Undead rejuvenation

A number of undead monsters have a trait often named "rejuvenation." When re-killed, they will not stay dead but will instead rejuvenate after a period of time unless special conditions are met. This makes them particularly difficult to deal with...

The undead that typically rejuvenate in the SRD/PRD are the death knights/graveknights, ghosts/revenants, liches, mummy lords, and vampires. Death knights, liches, mummy lords and vampires are tied to particular anchors (e.g. panoply, phylactery, canopic jars, coffin) and typically will not stay dead until said anchor is destroyed. Ghosts and revenants will not stay down unless their unfinished business is solved.

This is further extended in various third party products. For example, the Unhallowed from Creature Collection Revised cannot be destroyed until confronted with their crimes on hallowed ground.

In Polyhedron #150, the Shadow Chasers mini-campaign setting extended this to all undead creatures. The example in the sample adventure were bog-standard skeletons that would keep rejuvenating unless coins were placed in their eye sockets. Mercifully, this was dropped when the setting was republished in d20 Modern.

Harpies versus sirens versus mermaids

Originally the harpies, sirens and mermaids were all clearly distinct. Sirens and mermaids were conflated in medieval bestiaries and fiction, with sirens acquiring fishy features and mermaids acquiring enchanting songs. Harpies and sirens remain distinct in popular culture, except in Dungeons & Dragons where harpies have gained the enchanting voices of sirens for no apparent reason.

Presentism and pseudo-medieval fantasy

Presentism is the projection of modern values and knowledge onto depictions of the past or of pre-industrial civilizations in fiction. It is frustratingly common for writers to write historical and fantasy fiction with the assumption that their characters hold modern values and scientific views. This is complete nonsense, of course.

Sources for Greek monsters

There were a number of third-party supplements exploring Greek mythology. These include the The New Argonauts, Relics & Rituals: Olympus, Mythic Vistas: The Trojan War, and Mazes & Minotaurs. They include races, classes and monsters from Greek mythology. I will be relying on these a lot for my posts on Greek monsters.