Grell (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the grell is an aberration.

Publication history

The grell was introduced to the D&D game in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The grell was first published in "White Dwarf" #12 (April/May 1979), in the "Fiend Factory" column, originally submitted by Ian Livingstone. [cite journal
last =Livingstone
first =Ian
authorlink =Ian Livingstone
coauthors =Don Turnbull
title =Fiend Factory: Grell
journal =White Dwarf
volume =
issue =No. 12
pages =10–12
publisher =Games Workshop
year =1979
accessdate =
unused_data =|month April/May ] The grell then appears in 1981 in the first edition "Fiend Folio" (1981). [Turnbull, Don, ed. "Fiend Folio" (TSR, 1981)]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The grell appears first in the "Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix" (1990), [Breault, Mike, ed, et al. "Greyhawk Monstrous Compendium Appendix" (TSR, 1990)] and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). [Stewart, Doug, ed. "Monstrous Manual" (TSR, 1993)]

Several variations of the grell for the Spelljammer campaign setting appeared in the "Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix II" (1991), including the patriarch grell, the philosopher grell, the soldier grell, and the worker grell. The patriarch grell, the philosopher grell, and the worker grell appear as part of the grell entry in the "Monstrous Manual" (1993).

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The grell appears in the module "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" (2001), [Cook, Monte. "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)] and was later featured in the "Monster Manual II" for this edition (2002). [Bonny, Ed, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Skip Williams, and Steve Winter. "Monster Manual II" (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

The grell receives its own chapter in the book ' (2005), [Baker, Rich, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter. "Lords of Madness" (Wizards of the Coast, 2005)] which includes the grell hatchling, the grell juvenile"', the grell patriarch, and the grell philosopher.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

The grell appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including the grell philosopher. [Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. "Monster Manual" (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)]

Description

The grell is levitating creature with a body like a giant olive-colored exposed brain the size of a human and with a frontal beak, below which trails ten long pale olive-green tentacles. Grell are usually found underground and are particularly dangerous and vicious. The tentacles carry small spines that inject paralyzing venom into a victim.

References