Troglodite [sic]

[magremore]

Hi all,

I have a couple of questions about trogs (from the original Lost Caverns of Tsojconth, 1976). I hope this is the right place to put this thread.

I’m not familiar with Gary’s method of noting monster damage in this tournament module. Does "2 claws (2HP/)" mean each claw does 1d2 damage, 1d6 damage, 2d6 damage, or something else?

And, then, a more general and interesting question: Does anyone know of the source, if any, for the reptilian nature of Gary’s “troglodites.” Has anyone been able to unearth a precedent for this? Of was it just an imaginative extrapolation from the etymology of the word itself?

I’d also be interested to hear if anyone out there has presented their own unique takes on the trog in their campaigns.

UPDATE: OK, I guess with the tourny modules the "2HP" would literally be 2HP, and that’s supposed to be averaged out, so the 2, then, matches up perfectly to the d4 damage from Holmes and almost as well from the d3 damage (halved and rounded up) from the Monster Manual. 

[Vile Traveller]

In my world, troglodyes are really just the degenerate descendants of the snake people ...

[magremore]

Thanks Vile. I like that. Simple, but clearly defined.

    * * *

I had always found the position of the right arm of Sutherland’s first trog illustration from the Monster Manual a little funny. So it was cool to see what appears to be a clear influence from the first troglodyte art from the original Lost Caverns of Tsjoconth. I’m guessing that Sutherland’s raised arm is a hand wave to Gary.



It looks like only one image can be posted here. I continued my thoughts in a blog post: Notes on Troglodytes.

[hedgehobbit]

I wish I could say that D&D's Trogs were based on this guy:



But this movie came out a few years too late. He could have joined the homunculus.

[magremore]

Saw that and was trying to figure out how a saber-toothed tiger got into Clash of the Titans. I've only ever seen the first Sinbad movie. Time to bump the sequels up on my To Watch list.