I found enough worthwhile material in EttRoG that I've decided to use it in my AD&D® campaign. For those of us who don't subscribe to the cosmology of later editions, could someone enlighten me about obyriths and eladrin? To the best of my understanding, they're like proto-fiends and proto-fey, respectively. I need to find comparable AD&D® creatures with which to replace them, as I don't necessarily want to embrace the extraplanar history implied by these entities. Any suggestions?
Eladrins are, in 2nd-3rd edition, a race of upper planar creatures who personify Chaotic Good. They're essentially the good equivalent of demons, the lawful equivalent of archons, and the diametric opposites of devils. They have no ties to the fey, but they look faerielike in apperance.
The closest 1e equivalent would be agathions, hollyphants, devas, valkyries, and the like. Anything you're likely to find on the chaotic good outer planes.
They were introduced in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix II, so if you can find a copy of that, you can use their 2nd edition stats there.
Obyriths (called qlippoth in Eric Mona's earlier Armies of the Abyss) are the original inhabitants of the Abyss. Modern demons, or tanar'ri, personify mortal sins and are usually created from the souls of mortals. Obyriths predate the existence of mortals and represent a alien, maddening Chaos. Supposedly they created the tanar'ri as servants, but after the obyriths were weakened after being defeated by the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, the eladrins came to the Abyss and slaughtered most of the rest of them. In the wake of that genocide, the tanar'ri (led by Demogorgon, according to Fiendish Codex I) rebelled against their erstwhile masters and set themselves up as the new lords of the Abyss. Some of the obyriths still survive, though: Pazuzu, Cabiri, Dagon, and Obox-Ob are all obyriths.
1st edition equivalents of obyriths would be tricky. I suppose you could use hordlings or standard demons with their appearance changed, or Lovecraftian things from the first printing of the 1st edition of Deities & Demigods. The spyder-fiends from the 2nd edition Rod of Seven Parts boxed set are tanar'ri servitors created by the obyriths, but they still have a similar role in that they also fought the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, so you might use those if that boxed set is available to you (or the Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Four, which also stats them).
Just for fun, I converted the coure eladrin into 1e format. You could also use the baltir from Dragon #86, which fills essentially the same role (chaotic good equivalents of imps and quasits).
Coure (Lesser Eladrin)
FREQUENCY: Common
NO. APPEARING: 2-40
ARMOR CLASS: 5 (0)
MOVE: 9, FL 24 (B) or 48 (A)
HIT DICE: 2+1
% IN LAIR: 10%
TREASURE TYPE: Incidental
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon or 1d4+1
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Magic Missile
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Magic use
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 10%
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic good
SIZE: S (2' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
------Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
The smallest eladrins are the coures, tiny spritelike creatures who can be found throughout the plane of Olympus. They are messengers, scouts, pranksters and mischief-makers. They normally avoid physical confrontations, but gladly seek battle when confronting their nemeses, the imps of the Nine Hells and the quasits of the Abyss (they're not fond of mephits, either). In melee, coures attack with miniature short swords and rapiers, treated as daggers +1. They are also skilled archers, and their silver arrows are treated as darts +1.
Coures have two forms, that of a tiny, slender, elf-like being with insect wings, and a tiny (6" diameter) ball of faerie-light. In their incorporeal light-bodies, they are AC 0 and can fly at twice their normal speed. They have no physical attack, but can cast magic missile three times per day. Regardless of form, coure eladrins can cast audible glamer, cantrip, dancing lights, faerie fire,, and sleep once per round. Once per day they can create a magical jest similar to Tasha's uncontrollable hideous laughter. Coures are immune to normal weapons and suffer double damage from cold iron weapons.
All eladrins can use the following spell-like powers once per round: alter self, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, detect evil, and phantasmal force. They take half damage from cold, no damage from electricity, half damage from fire and poisonous gas, and no damage from magic missile.
Thanks, rasgon. I'll probably suck it up and use the 2E stats. I was never big on Planescape, but throwing in a couple of tieflings and eladrin as "alien" extraplanar creatures won't be too bad. I could have sworn there was a reference to an obyrith in there somewhere, though, but now I can't find it. Did I imagine that?
If you don't mind, I'm going to ask about a few more troublesome monster conversions. I'd be much obliged if you or anyone else could give me a reasonable 1E/2E equivalent for these. I'll go encounter by encounter:
Encounter 4-4
Sir Bluto the mohrg?
Encounter 5-11
arrow demons?
Chapter 6, Area N9
diamond golems?
Encounter 6-1
redcaps?
Encounter 6-16
Livashti the lilitu?
Riggby the blaspheme?
Some of those monsters already have earlier-edition stats. The red cap was in Dragon #158, page 34 (2nd edition), and in Tall Tales of the Wee Folk, page 27 (OD&D), where it uses the same statistics as brownies, with the notes that they fight with pikestaffs (1d6 damage) or knives (1d4 damage), or if disarmed they can use a claw/claw bite attack sequence (1-2/1-2/1), but would prefer to flee. They can be damaged by holy water (2d4 damage per flask), and holy symbols repel them. When killed, they vanish in a burst of flame, leaving behind a single, large tooth.
The nightwalker is a kind of nightshade (undead) described originally in the D&D Master Set. You can find them on page 36 of the DM's Book.
The diamond golem (and other gemstone golems) were in the Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Four, p. 44-45. Evidently they were originally from the Spellbound supplement for FR.
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