Lamia (Dungeons & Dragons)

Infobox D&D creature
name=Lamia
alignment=
type=Magical beast
subtype=
source=
first=
mythical= Lamia
based=
wizards_image_URL=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG164b.jpg
OGL_stats_URL=http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monstersKtoL.html#lamia

In the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy role-playing game, the lamia is a magical beast.

Publication history

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

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

The lamia appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), [Gygax, Gary. "Monster Manual" (TSR, 1977)] where it is described as having the upper torso, arms, and head of a human female, and the lower body of a beast, whose touch drains a creature's wisdom.

The lamia noble first appeared in the "Fiend Folio" (1981). [Turnbull, Don, ed. "Fiend Folio" (TSR, 1981)]

Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)

This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the lamia, known as the lamara, in "Creature Catalogue" (1986), and the "Creature Catalog" (1993).

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

The lamia and lamia noble appear first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), [Cook, David, et al. "Monstrous Compendium Volume Two" (TSR, 1989)] and are reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). [Stewart, Doug, ed. "Monstrous Manual" (TSR, 1993)]

The lamia was detailed in "Dragon" #192 (April 1993), in the "Ecology (Love-Life) of the Lamia". [Jones, Spike Y. "The Ecology (Love-Life) of the Lamia" Dragon #192 (TSR, 1993)] This article also described a relative of the lamia, the sa'ir.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The lamia 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 lamia appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).

The lamia noble appears again in "Expedition to the Demonweb Pits" (2007).

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

The lamia appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008). In this book, the lamia is a swarm of insects that inhabits the dead bodies of eladrin (a race of elves), devouring their internal organs and using the hollowed-out bodies as a disguise. [Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. "Monster Manual" (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)]

Description

Lamia are centaur-like creatures, resembling animals such as lions, goats and deer, with a human torso and head coming up from where the animal's head would usually be. The upper body is fully humanoid, however, not bearing animalistic features such as scales, horns or fur.

Characteristics and habits

Lamias are evil creatures who live in desert ruins. They sustain themselves by eating human flesh. To bring prey to them, they use a variety of abilities, including seduction, disguise, ventriloquism, illusions, mirages, mirror images and other such things, to lure, entice and confuse those who wander into their midst into dangerous situations. When they have secured their victim, they carve a feast out of them with curved daggers. Lamias do not wear any form of clothing or adornment. They seem devoted to chaos and destruction in their native habitats. They never venture more than 10 miles from their lairs. Lamias also have the ability to drain wisdom with their touch.

One type of rarer lamia is the lamia noble. These beings rule over other lamias and the locations they inhabit. Unlike normal lamias, they have the lower bodies of serpents. Males fight with curved swords and magic, while females only with magic. Lamia nobles are also capable of venturing further from their lairs than other lamias, and prefer to go into urbanized areas in the guise of a human to infiltrate human and demihuman societies. Lamia nobles are given to outbursts of senseless violence. They can speak all forms of human and demihuman language.

Lamias are chaotic evil in alignment.

References