Saturday was the first day of Summer for 2020 and Summer and June usually meant one thing in my house back in 1983. The local Public Library's Summer Reading program!
When I was younger I devoured books on monsters, aliens and all sorts of strange creatures.
I have detailed my interactions with some of these books that I was able to find more recent as an adult elsewhere here on my blog.
But today is special. Today is the confluence of a number of topics in a perfect way. Today I will post my review of the BECMI Master's set. It is summer. It is a Monster Monday. What better monster for today than the one that is really at the root of my monster love.
Bigfoot, or the Sasquatch.
Around the same time I was getting into D&D we also subscribed to Showtime, one of the first cable channels out. The film Sasquatch, the Legend of Bigfoot was on heavy rotation on the channel then (that and Smokey and the Bandit). It was a pseudo-documentary, but it really set the stage for some of the games I would later play; the monster naturalist.
Here is a sasquatch I developed originally in 1986-87. I used these stats later to develop the Almasti for Ghosts of Albion later on.
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 6*
Move: 180' (60')
Attacks: 2 fists or rock throw
Damage: 6-11 (1d6+5) / 6-11 (1d6+5) or 7-21 (2d8+5)
No. Appearing: 0 (1-10)
Save As: Fighter: 5
Morale: 7
Treasure Type: Nil
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value: 500
The sasquatch, also known as the "Bigfoot", is a large humanoid creature. It is neither human, orc or even an ogre. The creature is elusive and extremely shy. Very little is known about the creatures and most urban scholars doubt they even exist.
What is known is this. The sasquatch ranges from 7' to 9' tall, and weighing between 650lbs to 1,000lbs. They have long torsos, long arms with massive hands, shorter legs but large feet which gives them their name. They are strong, 22 Strength, have dark brown, reddish or black fur like that of an ape. What is often most remarked about them is their strong odor which gives them their other common name, the "skunk ape."
The sasquatch can blend into surroundings making them difficult to spot. They can only be seen on a roll of "1" on a d20. Their odor makes it difficult for them to completely surprise. They can only surprise on a roll of 5 or 6 on a d6.
They are normally non-aggressive, preferring to hide, and stay away from all others save their own family units. If pressed they will attack, or if they feel their family unit is in danger.
The sasquatch can attack with two fists or throw boulders, much like a giant. The sasquatch can also howl. This howl causes fear (as per the spell) to all that hear it who fail a saving throw vs. Paralysis. Those that fail the save are too frightened to attack or move.
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I mentioned here before that my "first monster manual" was by Daniel Cohen and not Gary Gygax.
This plus my Moldvay set keep me going for a very long time.
Fun Tim! Tony Rosten also created an AD&D/OSRIC Sasquatch in our premiere issue of The Twisting Stair---it's fun monster to throw in the mix :D
ReplyDeleteScott Gregg also pointed out the recent release of Max Brooks' new book, _Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre_. Might be worth checking out.
Allan.