Here’s the “C” entry in my Dungeons & Dragons-themed AlphaBeasts series. I love the hilariously-written entry on this creature in the original Monster Manual. It begins with: “This nightmare creature is loathsome beyond description and has no redeeming features.”
You can follow the other “C” entries as people post them to Twitter this morning by following the #AlphaBeasts hashtag. View all previous AlphaBeasts entries at the AlphaBeasts Tumblr: http://alphabeasts.tumblr.com/. You can also find some submission guidelines there, as well as links to bestiaries and lists of creatures.
C is for Catoblepas
The original art for this is for sale here.
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Nice! I was wondering how you’d handle the critters that had Dave Trampier original art (which is so much more stylish than most of the other Monster Manual drawings). This has some really nice fidelity to the original (especially around the face) while still looking like a Ben Towle drawing.
Author
@Isaac – Thanks! Yeah, the Trampier illos are actually harder to deal with than the other ones because they are–as you say–much better illustrations to begin with; there’s less “wiggle room.”
That is a pretty cool creature. I never played D&D, but always kinda liked the artwork.
Author
@Lupi – As a kid I was really into the monster designs from D&D, but some of them are really, really half-assed drawing-wise. The illustrator who did the original Catoblepas is named Dave Trampier and he’s one of the better illustrators. There are some really terrible ones also, though…
*cough cough* David C Sutherland III *cough cough*