Finally after a nice and long break? I have returned. Let’s get to work. So, going through the list in the Monster Manual my eye immediately landed on Chimera for whatever reason. It kind of felt like a perfect creature to hop back into the saddle that is what ever this is. When I think of the word Monster I think the Chimera embodies it the best. It is frightening and it is mythic. I remember when I was younger and I was profoundly interested in Greek mythology and all the amazing fantastical beings that inhabit it. As you can imagine both versions of the Chimera have very different stories. In the universe that is D&D Chimeras were created after humans on the Material Plane summoned Demogorgan. He was kind of bored with fauna of this world so he decided, hey let’s fuck with them. He then took some animals (and a fucking dragon apparently) and mushed them all together into one big angry boy.
Because Chimera have a demonic origin it has inherited the cruelty of its creator. Their physical appearance differs slightly to their Greek Mythos counterpart, specifically the Dragon components over the Snake. My favorite aspect of this monster is that each head brings different personality to the beast. The Dragon brings greed and the drive to plunder, the Lion brings with the drive for the hunt, and the Goat offers the ferocious nature that plunges the Chimera into a fight until the death. While Chimeras are not particularly intelligent creatures they have the potential to be swayed by flattery or gifts. This comes from their draconic nature. Personally I find that Chimeras are somewhat generic when it comes to D&D. I believe that they are an enemy that can just be tossed into a dungeon and it’ll make for a somewhat enjoyable encounter, but I think with some effort a Chimera can be made into something far more sinister.
Thanks for reading and be sure to leave me some words! Till next time.
The Dungeoneer's Journal 