Bulette

Infobox D&D creature
name=Bulette
alignment=
type=Magical beast
subtype=
source=
first=
mythical=
based=
wizards_image_URL=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG30.jpg
OGL_stats_URL=http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monstersBtoC.html#bulette

A bulette or landshark is a large fictional carnivorous magical beast from the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Its original design is based on a figure from various playsets of plastic dinosaurs and other pre-historic animals, though there is no real creature with its shape.

Publication history

The bulette is among the earliest monsters in "Dungeons & Dragons" and features in the earliest editions of "Monster Manual", and was inspired—much like the owl bear and the rust monster—by a Hong Kong-made plastic toy purchased by Gary Gygax for use as miniature in a "Chainmail" game. [Greenwood, Ed. "Ecology of the Rust Monster." "Dragon" #88 (TSR, 1984). Later re-printed in the "Ecology of the Rust Monster" article in issue #346.] The name "Bulette" seems to be derived from "Bullet," appropriate for their shape.Fact|date=July 2008 There has been speculation that the creature was inspired by the Chevy Chase "Land Shark" skit on "Saturday Night Live."Fact|date=July 2008

Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)

The bulette was introduced to the game in the first issue of "The Dragon" (June 1976), in Gary Gygax's "Creature Features" column. [Gygax, Gary. "Creature Features." "Dragon" #1 (TSR, 1976)]

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

The bulette appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), [Gygax, Gary. "Monster Manual" (TSR, 1977)] where it is described as a landshark that burrows underground and feeds on humans, horses, and halflings.

The bulette is detailed in "Dragon" #74 (June 1983), in "The Ecology of the Bulette". [Elliott, Chris, and Richard Edwards. "The Ecology of the Bulette." "Dragon" #74 (TSR, 1983)]

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

The bulette appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), [Cook, David, et al. "Monstrous Compendium Volume Two" (TSR, 1989)] and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). [Stewart, Doug, ed. "Monstrous Manual" (TSR, 1994)]

The gohlbrorn, a relative of the bulette, is introduced in "Dragon Annual" #1 (1996), in the "Dragon's Bestiary" column, by Keith Strohm. [Strohm, Keith. "Dragon's Bestiary: Predators of the Underdark." "Dragon" Annual #1 (TSR, 1996)] The gohlbrorn later appears in the "Illithiad" (1998), and "Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Four" (1998).

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The bulette appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000). [Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. "Monster Manual" (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

The bulette appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003). [Williams, Skip, ed. "" (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)]

The Karrnathi Bulette is introduced for the Eberron campaign setting in "Five Nations" (2005).

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

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

Ecology

The true origin of the Bulette has never been revealed, but the various Monster Manuals indicate it is probably the product of a wizard's experiments, crossing an armadillo, shark, and snapping turtle. Like the owlbear, this is one of those rare magically-created beasts that not only survived the process but was capable of starting a new race of creature.

The name landshark was given to the bulette because when attacking, its crest often breaks the ground. Bulette are swift and bloodthirsty, but very unintelligent. They often attack larger and stronger creatures than themselves. They attack by rushing their prey, bursting from the ground and biting with their giant maw.

Environment

Bulettes prefer temperate climates with loose soil.

Typical physical characteristics

A bulette mostly resembles a shark or an armadillo. It is about 9 1/2 feet tall at the shoulder and 12 feet long. It has blue to dark brown turtle-like plates and scales that cover most of its body and form a large crest on its back, which it uses to burrow under ground. It walks on all four legs that have large thick claws and has strong beak-like maw.

Alignment

As they have animal intelligence, Bulettes are always neutral.

ociety

Bulettes love human and halfling flesh and generally dislike elven and dwarven. They lead a solitary life and only mated pairs share their territory. Bulettes spend most of their lives sleeping underground until their hunger overwhelms them, when they continue their eat-sleep cycles.

Variants

*Gholbrorn - Smaller and more intelligent than the standard bulette, these pack hunters prowl underground caverns (from "Dragon Annual" #1).
*Karnathi bulette - from the "Eberron" supplement "Five Nations", this is a smaler and weaker species of bulette that has a disease-transmitting bite.

D&D Miniatures

The bulette appeared in D&D Miniatures: Giants of Legend set #67 (2004), and Dungeons of Dread set #53 (2008).

References

External links

* [http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptionscreatures/dnd/bulette.html DnD Creatures] description of Bulette.