HOLMENTZER MONSTERS: A - D

A - Giant Ant, White Ape

B - Rock Baboon, Bandit, Basilisk, Bat, Bear, Giant Bee, Giant Beetle, Berserker, Black Pudding, Blink Dogs, Boar, Bugbear

C - Carrion Crawler, Great Cat, Giant Centipede, Chimera, Cockatrice

D - Displacer Beast, Djinni, Doppleganger, Dragon, Dwarf

[So I said I wasnt going to list all of the Holmentzer monsters. I lied.]

Giant Ant is listed in both Holmes & Mentzer. Mentzer's Giant Ant is quite hefty, having 4 HD vs. Holmes' 2 HD. Also, Mentzer's Giant Ant does 2d6 damage, vs. Holmes' 1d6. Moldvay becomes indispensible comparing these two as Mentzer's Giant Ant is in fact Moldvay's "Driver Ant". Influenced by Herodotus' The Histories, the Driver Ant is a formidable, gold-hungry miner: "There are legends of giant ants mining gold, and there is a 30% chance that a lair will contain 1-10 thousand gp worth of nuggets," says Mentzer. As for Holmentzer, I think the best way to reconcile these two, is to use the Mentzer Giant Ant for desert, dungeons, caves, mountainous, riverbed, mineral deposit areas, etc., whereas the Holmes Giant Ant would be the encounter in forests, nearby towns, etc.

White Ape is a Mentzer only monster, that, to my knowledge, 1st appeared in D&D w/ Moldvay. The literary basis for the White Ape is Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars & subsequent Barsoom novels. This entry in Mentzer is a good example of Mentzer slightly altering a Moldvay entry: "They are nocturnal, sleeping in the day and looking for fruits and vegetables at night," says Moldvay; "They are nocturnal herbivores, looking for fruits and vegetables at night," says Mentzer. I've seen entries where the only difference between Moldvay & Mentzer is Mentzer's addition of a comma.

Rock Baboon is Mentzer, via Moldvay.

Bandit is in H & M, and the entries are basically the same, the main difference being that Mentzer has Bandit movement as 90' (30'), whereas Holmes is 120 feet/turn (i.e. 120' (40')). As Moldvay has 120' (40'), my bet is that Mentzer is a misprint.

Basilisk is Holmes.

Bat is Mentzer, via Moldvay. Note that the Mentzer stats for Giant & Normal are actually switched, i.e. another Mentzer misprint.

Bear is Mentzer, via Moldvay, though Mentzer's Grizzly is fiercer.

Giant Bee is Mentzer, via Moldvay's "Killer Bee".

Giant Beetle is in H & M, though in Holmes the entry is solely for the Fire Beetle.

Berserker is in H & M. The entries are basically the same, except for varying Treasure Types.

Black Pudding is Holmes.

Blink Dogs Holmes.

Boar is Mentzer, via Moldvay, though Mentzer's Boar is slower.

Bugbear is in H & M. These entries are basically the same, the main diff being where Holmes has 2-8 damage, Mentzer has "By weapon + 1". Also, in Mentzer, unlike Holmes or Moldvay, the Bugbear gets a +1 "to hit" when using a weapon. I'll probably stick w/ Mentzer for now, but will come back to this later when reconciling damage in general for Holmentzer. Lastly, this entry is a good example of how a Holmes description has remained, though slightly altered, through editions: "These creatures are great hairy goblin giants. Despite their size and shambling gait they move very quietly and attack without warning whenever they can," says Holmes; "Bugbears are giant hairy goblins. Despite their size and awkward walk, they move very quietly and attack without warning whenever they can," says Mentzer.

Carrion Crawler is in H & M, & the entries are basically identical, cept Holmes is super brief in his description (less is more?); & while we again witness Holmes' description passing down through editions for a classic D&D monster, Mentzer adds, like Moldvay before him, that "once paralyzed, a victim will be eaten (unless the carrion crawler is being attacked)." Mentzer also adds that "carrion crawlers are not normally found outside of dungeons."

Great Cat is Mentzer, via Moldvay.

Giant Centipede is in H & M. Mentzer's Giant Centipede, which is via Moldvay, is much slower than Holmes': 60 feet/turn vs. 150 feet/turn. Also, Mentzer's has slightly more HP in that it's 1/2 HD (1-4 HP), vs. Holmes' 1/4 HD, or 1-2 HP. Lastly, while Holmes deals w/ a Giant Centipede's "weaker" poison by granting a bite victim +4 to their Saving Throw, Mentzer works it by nixing the saving throw bonus, & if the bite victim fails the saving throw, they don't die, but grow ill for 10 days & move at 1/2 speed. While I prefer Holmes' faster Giant Centipede, I do like the poison mechanics in Mentzer.

Chimera is Holmes.

Cockatrice is Holmes.

Displacer Beast Holmes.

Djinni H...

Doppleganger is in H & M. Again, a Holmes entry basically survives intact here, w/ Mentzer only disagreeing w/ what Moldvay added in regard to Save As & Morale. Lastly, Mentzer wants you to know that "when killed, a doppleganger turns back into its original form".

Dragon is in H & M, obviously. For starters, Holmes lists four types of dragon: White, Black, Red & Brass; & while Mentzer doesnt have Brass, he has White, Black & Red, plus Green, Blue & Gold. As this is the largest monster entry in either book, let's focus on the key differences: Mentzer (which is via Moldvay) has Holmes' dragons @ the heart, then builds on them, making them more complex, & in some cases, more powerful. For instance, while all Holmes dragons have an AC of 2, a Mentzer Red Dragon has an AC of -1. In the same vein, Holmes dragons do the same amount of damage, whereas Mentzer's all have diff. damage stats. That said, the breath weapon stats are almost identical between editions. Outside of those major stat differences, there are the big differences: Holmes' way of dealing w/ a dragon's age, which also has to do w/ HD & damage for its breath weapon, is by having a handy 1d8 chart to roll on. Mentzer on the other hand, though mentioning how age can effect a dragon's stats, does not have this chart, & doesnt suggest a random way of determining a dragon's age. That said, Mentzer does have another chart, however, & it is this chart which truly separates the Mentzer/Moldvay dragon from Holmes. Mentzer's chart shows the possibilities of a dragon of specific color to talk, to be asleep, & then also, how many spells per level they can cast, as all types have spell casting abilities. Mentzer's dragons are closer to AD&D than Holmes'. Holmes decided not to include any info on talking, or spell casting. This is interesting, & appealing, & though I cant yet say for sure how it'll play out in Holmentzer, for now, I'm leaning toward Holmes, while allowing additional colors from Mentzer. Will revisit this, most likely.

Dwarf is in H & M, & is generally, the same, except Mentzer specifies individual Treasure type, plus adds more mechanical description.

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