A displacer beast, also known as a dirlagraun,[6] was a monstrous magical creature.[3]
History
Edit
The beast appears to have originated in the Feywild.[2] In the Feywild they were trained by the Unseelie court for hunting purposes. Eventually the Displacer beasts broke free of the fey's control and roamed causing chaos wherever they went. After the left captivity Unseelie court sent out blink dogs to track and drive the Displacer beasts out of the Feywild and into the materiel plane.[1]
Another theory posited that displacer beasts had their origin in Bhaal, the Lord of Murder, who brought forth the first displacer beast, Shantu, using the a corrupted moonwell on the island of Gwynneth in the Moonshae Isles.[7]
DescriptionEdit
Displacer beasts were large cat-like creatures, sometimes described as panther or puma-like with six legs and a pair of long tentacles sprouting from their shoulders. They were covered in a pelt of blue-black fur. They were usually about 9 feet long and weighed as much as 500 pounds, but the occasional mutant could be twice this size. In some versions, they were considered to be emaciated.[3]
AbilitiesEdit
Displacer beasts used their innate magic to bend light, making them appear to be a foot or two from their actual positions.[3]
Displacer beasts were not very intelligent, but they were more so than animals and could even speak some Common.[3]
EcologyEdit
These monsters lived in small groups or preferred to be alone.[3] Many humanoids trained them to act as guards or pets, such as evil fey(Unseelie court) and oni.[2]
SocietyEdit
Like many big cats, displacer beasts often were pack hunters, although they were sometimes encountered alone.[3]
Notable Displacer BeastsEdit
Wyllow and the displacer beast Crissann.
- Wyllow had a displacer beast companion called Crissann named after a human mercenary wizard she had befriended many years ago. Halaster turned her against Wyllow and she was forced to kill the mercenary.[8]
AppendixEdit
DiscrepancyEdit
On page 66 of Monster Manual 3.5, the alignment of the displacer beast is lawful evil, but in the Monster Manual 4th edition, the creatures' alignment has changed to unaligned, due to the removal of the lawful evil alignment.[2] In the Monster Manual 5th edition, it has again become lawful evil.
GalleryEdit
AppearancesEdit
- Card Games
- Video Games
- Curse of the Azure Bonds
- Eye of the Beholder
- Gateway to the Savage Frontier
- Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
- Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
See AlsoEdit
Further ReadingEdit
- Bill Mickelson (May 1986). “The Ecology of the Displacer Beast”. In Kim Mohan ed. Dragon #109 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 32–34.
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wizards RPG Team (2014). Monster Manual 5th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 81. ISBN 978-0786965614.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual 3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 66–67. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 56. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
- ↑ Gary Gygax (December 1977). Monster Manual, 1st edition. (TSR, Inc), p. 28. ISBN 0-9356-9600-8.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (May, 2009). The Sword Never Sleeps. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 294. ISBN 978-0-7869-5015-7.
- ↑ Douglas Niles (December 2004). Darkwell. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 47–48. ISBN 0-7869-3566-9.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (November 2018). Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. Edited by Jeremy Crawford. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7869-6626-4.
