When the night sky is empty, and not a single star can be found, it is said that the Star Collector is the reason. Plucking each light from the sky to add to their collection, the hoarder enjoys nothing more than chasing after new constellations before others even have a chance to see them.
[This run of conversions is going to be for monsters with a special place in my heart–creatures that I ran or wanted to run in games I DMed in high school and college. Join me, won’t you, for some self-indulgent nostalgia.
First up, the hook horror, which may have been one of the things that got me into D&D in the first place. When I was 10 or so, I was on a Boy Scout trip and the older boys were playing D&D. I wasn’t allowed to play, but I did get to flip through the 2e Monstrous Compendium, and I fell in love with Tony DiTerlizzi’s artwork. Some pieces of his that I remember with special fondness were his ankheg, kobold and hook horror.]
Hook Horror This bipedal creature resembles a cross between a beetle and a man, with a beaked head like a vulture. Its eyes are white, and its powerful arms end in long bony hooks.
Hook horrors are subterranean omnivores feared and prized for their strength and ferocity. Their diet consists mostly of fungi of both mundane and monstrous varieties, but they do savor the taste of meat. Drow flesh is a particular favorite, although whether this is for its flavor or the satisfaction of dispatching a hated enemy is uncertain. Hook horrors also enjoy the taste of silver items, and swallow them to keep their digestion running smoothly.
Hook horrors have slow metabolisms and spend much of their time sleeping, but they are ferocious if riled. They prefer to strike from ambush if possible, using their maneuverability when climbing to set up elevated perches from which to leap. Their long hooks make sweeping attacks that knock foes off balance, and they are skilled at tearing away armor and shields. Hook horrors hate bright lights, and will more readily flee from enemies wielding them.
Hook horrors are of near-human intelligence and speak their own stridulating language by rasping special noisemaking organs together. This language is difficult to speak for creatures other than hook horrors, but can be simulated with a stringed instrument. They live in family groups ruled by the eldest female, usually one past reproductive age. Hook horrors are egg-layers that guard their eggs communally—hook horrors will fight to the death in defense of their children. They tend to be short lived, and a forty year old specimen is considered ancient.
I was very lucky to stumble upon the creature codex, and it has become one of my hands down favorite tabletop resource blogs. The posts are meticulously put together; featuring intricate descriptions and a succinct format that eases further research; the author usually mentions the source material; which books you can find more about this creature, which real-world mythology it was inspired by, etc. If you’re into world building, DMing, tabletop resources or just looking for a good, fantasy read in your feed, please, please follow this blog.
Also imagine how happy I was to find out that their hook horror post included a sketch I made a long time ago. Took me a double take, really.
