What They Don't Tell You About The Medusas - D&D
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I was once in a campaign were a member of the party was "dating" a medusa. Wasn't as hard as it seemed - they just took turns wearing the blindfold.
That’s so cute, I love those kinds of little stories that come up.
Raising them may be the most dificult part.
If you dont die by poison bites, then have fun predicting when puberty hits or you really become a "Model Figure"
Just buy the Medusa a burkha
Kinky
Personally I like the Greek nomenclature that a snake lady who can turn people into stone is a Gorgon and medusa is a specific gorgon and the most famous
Also the bird ladies who sing to lure people are sirens, not harpies
Exactly!
Calling the monster type Medusa is like calling Vampires a Dracula!
Account I specifically like referring to vampires as Draculas
@@zeevorourke6876 Troy: "I'm a sexy Dracula"
Abed: "You mean Vampire"
Troy: "I don't need to know WHICH dracula I am, nerd"
Thing is, Gorgons are a thing, too. A very different thing: magical beasts resembling bulls seemingly covered with metallic scales (making them look like Constructs, really) with a petrifying breath weapon in the form of green mist. So, that could bring some (interesting) naming confusion.
I think I may have made a mistake not at least mentioning that outside of D&D, Medusa was the name of a particular individual gorgon. I semi debated putting it on the video but decided against it for time purposes. But now that I see that half the comments are about that factoid, I realize I made that mistake :D
Also I guess most glass nowadays also have a metallic backing? THAT i did not know. o.O
Usually Silver or Aluminum. I looked up obsidian mirrors and that could be interesting. They are real things and supposedly were used by Aztecs to scry on others. So, spell focus for a more magical medusa/gorgon. That could be a fun character.
Metal mirrors were highly polished to be reflective, and highly polished bronze mirrors were the go-to back in the day. The concept of vampires not having a reflection and not showing up in photos was attributed to the silver backing, and the silver powder used in the flash bulbs I think. This implies that the reflective nature was irrelevant but rather the presence of silver, which was thought to have mystical purifying properties (in addition to its real life, anti-microbial properties).
Glass mirrors have to have a backing of some kind, typically metal, as otherwise you would just look right through it. Something has to reflect the light back at you after all, and if you score the glass, you can still see the reflection behind it, even seeing the mark on the glass itself.
Even reflective tinted glass has added reflective impurities to them. Bronze Glass is a gorgeous coppery brown that when viewed from one side, is a dark tint, but when viewed from another, is almost mirrorlike. Truly beautiful. You can make an infinity mirror using such glass, or even just regular glass with a tinted sheet stuck to it. Light passes through the transparent glass but the not so transparent tint reflects some of it back. If you put a true mirror behind that, it will reflect both the light from outside of the glass, and the light that was reflected by the tint, creating a cascaded tunnel illusion that seems to go on forever.
Usually a very thin foil.
Honestly there are so many terms that come with monsters from a specific mythology, especially one as old as Greek, that I wouldn’t consider it a mistake. Especially because a gorgon is a different monster entirely. You do great work rhexx!
I wasn’t bothered it’s all good chief
12:28 mirrors still need a metallic backing to be reflective. It might even be silver, as I think that was part of the reasoning for why vampires don't cast reflections as well; the purity of silver can't abide their twisted souls.
yeah these days they used silver or aluminum for mirrors
This is what I was looking for! Why doesn’t this have more up boats?
Almost correct. In former times people actually believed that mirrors would reflect a person's soul. And since vampires are undead and thus, do not _have_ a soul, at least not in the original myth, they also can't have a mirror image.
@@wsgoodie It's definitely got my up boat. ⬆⛵
😁
8:30 "There is absolutely no way that anyone would mistake this thing for a beautifully shapely female" I think you *VASTLY* underestimate the thirstyness of the Internet, MrRhexx. Just ask any Rule-34 XCOM artist :D
👀
You reminded me of viper rule 34s 🙃
Nothing vaguely female is safe.
You want proof of that? Look up the original images of Medusa from the very early ancient Greek period. She has a malformed head, a beard, fangs, and a grossly misshapen body. People saw that and said, "Yeah, but what if I could have sex with it?"
"They're horrid in attitude, they're spiteful, but upon meeting a maedar they fall in love for life."
Medusundere.
I just realized the "Hey! My eyes are up here!" statement would be very dangerous with a Medusa. Might be better off to be rude and stare at her chest when fighting her.
So... always keeping yer eyes on the prize, eh?
It would make the combat a lot easier. After all, it takes a lot of effort and mental control to move the gaze upward.
This might be why Rhexx started the video looking at her chest :^)
Bard: I’ve made my choice.
There is a comic about just that, LOL
Interestingly, in the Medusa's 5e entry, it says that the Medusa "can force" a saving throw to be made, not that it "forces" a saving throw to be made, implying that the petrification is voluntary to everything except itself.
it's hard to say, but continuing that sentence it says if it is not incapacitated or unconscious which means it could just be a qualifier and not signifying that it is a choice not simply an always active ability.
I thought the same but when you think about it, a selective gaze kinda goes against the entire concept of the medusa. It is a curse that is supposed to shun them from the rest of the world, after all.
well if we think about the nature of how the petrification work, that one has to see her entire face when looking at their eyes.. couldn't she just place a hand over her face or partially look away as her way of "choosing" not to petrify you?
I believe that's a succession from older editions, such as 3.5/PF1, where a creature with a gaze attack can use their (standard) action to force a single creature to save against their gaze during their turn, even while the gaze attack is mostly a passive ability in a cone up to a specific range (mostly 30 feet) in front of the creature. That's just something all creatures with a gaze attack can do. It's more akin to focusing on a creature in order to force it to look at you rather than implying the gaze attack is wholly a voluntary thing, I believe.
Well i mean, She could just close her eyes. So, still 'can' still applies.
My campaign idea from info derived from this video:
A medusa and maedar have offspring. The medusa is a cleric of an evil deity and the maedar is her bodyguard. Instead of looking into the faces of her infants and thereby stoning the human ones, she instead uses Detect Evil and Good to pick out the lone monstrosity (the maedar infant) and have her mate intentionally blind the others. The humans are then raised as servants of that evil deity and are trained in various skills, as well as blindfighting (for martial types) or given forehead tattoos made to look like an eye (spellcaster types). These tattoos allow those humans to cast Arcane Eye once daily without need for components.
Upon reaching adolescence, the medusa then sends her human offspring out to create humanoid cults to her deity (most likely disguising the deity's true identity for obvious reasons) as it would be easier spread by "gifted" humans that were "blessed" by their deity to "see beyond what the easily-deceived eye can behold"
This setup can grant the deity greater influence and thereby increasing the medusa's (and by proxy, the maedar's) power.
"Waste not, want not" after all...
Hello yes I am stealing this! :D
I don't see no nails *yoink*. Very interesting concept, you have or one day will have a very lucky table of players
This could be a cool backstory for a player too, assuming the dm allows blind characters. Maybe you escaped from the cult and are now an adventurer seeking out the small sects across the area. Their arc would end by murdering their parents lol
That’s a really good campaign idea!
Well thought out and structured......bravo.
Keep a journal and maybe poke a kickstarter in the future.
They also don't tell you that the medusa's gaze doesn't work on you if you're hammered. Which probably also helps with the mating process. Honestly, after 10 shots of tequila everyone looks beautiful. So, if you're playing a drunken master monk, you can just go toe to toe with these girls with no fear. It also doesn't tell you (because it's only ever come up in one module set in modern times) that the medusa's gaze doesn't work if you're wearing contacts. So, there ya go. 2 easy ways to deal with these creatures.
So that trick of using say a pair of sunglasses, tinted goggles, or something similar to avoid the effect would actually work?
@@XOverWriter yep
@@XOverWriter Considering that only metal effectively reflects the medusa's petrification curse effect, and glass/plastic are not metal, then yes, looking at a medusa through any kind of lense would nullify its effect, since it won't go through said material. Interesting!
@@XOverWriter That being said, it does bring up an important question: if a medusa was to be photographed using an old camera, without the lenses, à la camera obscura, could that curse potentially be transmitted through the image considering it is imprinted on silver salts and thus, metal?
@@Harrowed2TheMind damn you, you have me a homebrew idea
The blood poison is taken straight from Greek myth where their blood was said to be super poisonous.
Half the shit in greek mythology had poisonous blood, like jesus christ I'm surprised Greek Heroes don't have poisonous blood as well.
@@theyondant6088 they had a lot of poisonous animals around to draw Inspiration from.
@@theyondant6088 they did have poisonous blood. It just wasn't their blood, and it drove the laundry bill through the roof.
Only if taken from the side. Take it from the right side, and it can cure anything.
@@aubreyackermann8432
Or the wearer to heaven.
Iirc, that's actually how Heracles died.
His wife was kidnapped by a centaur, so Heracles did what greek heroes do: hunt the thing down and slay it.
So, while actively dying, this centaur told Heracles' wife, that if she soaks her husbands clothes in his (the centaurs) blood, he would never become unfaithful to her. Seeing that they were greek and him being a demigod hero, this meant this meant him leaving her for another wouldn't be surprising at all, so she collected some of the centaurs blood and did what he said to her.
Next time they visited the temple, I think of Zeus, Heracles' clothes suddenly began smoking and he felt unbearable pain. He tore his clothes off, to no avail. The pain was so intense, he threw himself on a pyre the people made to praise the god to whom that temple was dedicated, and told them to light the pyre and burn him alive, just to make that pain end. Aaaaand that they did.
So, the centaur was right. Heracles wouldn't be able to be unfaithful to her when he's dead.
I recently ran an 1E campaign thru A2 Slavers Stockade. There is a medusa kept as a slave by the blind commander. She is kept locked in a closet. When the characters opened the door I had them make a petrification save and described what her. They slammed the door. They took a mirror and one held it in front of his face and opened the door. She looked up and said "Oh great Hera, I look like crap" so they slammed the door. Sometimes you have to throw a curveball. So they negotiated thru the door for her release. They would release her chains and she would wear a hood until they got her out the back door. The thief made a deal with her. In exchange for samples of her snake venom, he would provide some "get home" money, some supplies and a dagger. I told him that while she was getting dressed (with the hood on) that she was absolutely gorgeous from the neck down. But that all her hair was snakes. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). It was a fun but if role-play from players that are normally murder-hobos.
Bard icing his groin: “Careful, she’s a biter. And in more ways than one!”
Medusa appears before the party:
"I use you all to decorate my evil lair."
Her Maehdar BF appears around a corner:
"Babe you'd said you'd come and to go to play tonight..."
Her:
"I am sorry but I have prior agreements, coming sweety"
BF to party:
"She loves the plays"
I'm surprised the yuan ti and medusa dont work together.
Imagine a greater medusa mastering her blood of poison while a yuan ti can obtain petrification abilities.
yuan ti are pretty xenophobic in general and really do not work with other species unless they are creating more half- or purebloods. There is a yuan ti subspecies call yaun ti anathema (3e fiend folio iirc) that superficially looks like a greater medusa, and act as cult leaders within yuan ti society. It would not be hard to give some medusa abilities to a yaun ti anathema
To add to the above comment, Yuan-Ti could also gain access to Gaze Magic with various effects.
My NoPrizeAnswer is that yuan-ti see medusa as 'posers' since they were originally human/elf/something before becoming snake-like, while the yuan-ti are "OG original snekz".
@@NSG0079 or viceversa. yuan-ti are humans who willingly turned snake like by magic while medusa are involuntarily cursed
the idea of a greater medusa sitting on a throne of petrified people with yuan-ti serving her while avoiding her gaze is quite interesting though
Fun random addition courtesy of the Eberron setting: Medusa can see through the eyes of their snakes, but the snake's vision isn't great. They make use of this while acting as diplomats for the monstrous nation of Droaam. They wear a locked metal visor over their eyes to seal off their petrification, and make do with the sub-par vision of their snake-hair.
Now i am imagining one with black sunglasses in the main eyes and optical glasses in each snake head XD
The council: hmmm, we need an idea to fix the refugee problem, medusa, what do you have to share?
Medusa, wearing a bucket: *muffled noise*
The council: yeah, we should just give her a blindfold instead
Great video! I have long used medusas as poison and potion vendors in my games, always wearing veils or masks to protect their clientele (except when slighted). The sight of a veiled, plainly-dressed medusa sitting behind a well-to-do shop counter and milking her hair for premium venom while bartering with adventurers is an evocative image for me. When I ran Al Qadim games WAY back in the past I frequently used medusas as civilians as well, as wearing a shemagh/keffiyeh or niqaab both protects the medusa against the biting sand but also allows them to incorporate with normal humanoid society. The bonus of covering their snake hair allowed them to conceal their nature against discrimination as well. I did not use full-body modesty garments like burqa in my games but I imagine if I was using the 3rd edition scaly medusas, they would prefer something like a burqa to fit in better
Or illusion magick
great ideas, reminds me of my habit of using drow ladies as vendors in my games
"The Medusas" is like nails on chalkboard.
It's a NAME people, wotc, whoever. It's like "The Odins" "The Odysseuses", "The Circies". "The Steves".
D&D designer that separated Medusa and Gorgon needs to get bent over the desk and slapped once or twice. Then given gentle aftercare and softly remind them to do better next time.
I mean while yes Medusa in Greek myths was a specific person, while it's pretty clear where we draw the Medusa from that doesn't mean that they are one in the same. Clearly a different world and lore. I also reckon more people know and recognize Medusa then just the Gorgans. I understand how people can nitpick this but at the same time just because I use say... an angel does not mean that I'm writing this 100% the same as Christian lore. Just because I add or name something Zeus does not mean I am 100%using Greek lore.
I love that you remembered the aftercare. You’re a good dom.
I prefer the D&D version.
Athena isn't in any D&D pantheon I know of, neither is Zeus. So Zeus can't rape her and Athena can't curse her for being raped.
Thank you! No one buys a D&D book for a gorgon or Ms. Medusa, name recognition shouldn’t matter - these are literally gorgons. They could even put a note like, “Medusas are a type of gorgon transformed as punishment” or “Medusas are are humanoids transformed into gorgons, rather than born naturally from a gorgon.”
@@briancoolbreeze Zeus, aka "i'm sticking my XXX in it" deity
Even modern mirrors have a thin layer of foil,
this could be useful for a modern setting where most mirrors contain glass
"Are the eyes of Medusa as potent as those of a basilisk?" That question makes no sense. Medusa petrifies when looked at, a basilisk petrifies looking upon someone.
The problem is that glass itself isn't all that reflective for a vision standpoint, it has to have a backing. And backings were generally made of metal.
So mirrors would reflect a medusa's gaze.
What I was looking for!
Medusa seems chill. Just go in with some wine and have a chat. She'll help out.
I would always play a Medusa as being in control of their appearance, unless angered or otherwise emotionally distracted with a negative emotion, appearing as a beautiful woman with some slight scaly patches running along their limbs and back. They can at will take on their hideous guise as their hair turns to snakes, their skin becomes covered in scales, eyes turn a glowing red, and fangs protrude from their mouth.. But they would have to concentrate and recollect themselves in order to regain their beautiful appearance again. All Medusa have a mask or veil they wear just in case they get angered when out on the town or feeling sociable.
As for mirrors I wouldn't have them be affected by their curse by looking at their reflection, instead when a Medusa gazes into a mirror they don't see their beautiful appearance but the monstrous appearance they have. Even others who catch her reflection would see this.
Medusas should also be Sorcerers or even Wizards since they are immortal and have time to study if they wish.
I think the snake hair of a Medusa have simple minds like a snake on their own, but they are also extensions of the Medusa as well and they both can have effects on the other. The Medusa can't see from the eyes of her snakes but she is able to sense when one spots a threat. Her emotional state also effects them, if she's angry they will stand up spread out almost like the hood of a cobra.
They should also be played first as social encounter, combat should be if the players decide to be hostile.
This is literally PERFECT timing that you so much, I have a Medusa who escaped party and I planned on using her ad a late Arc sub boss with a large statue that can turn people to stone based off a high CR construct
I really liked the 2e versions with the male pairing. It had a whole cool duality.
they exist in 3rd edition in the ADVENTURES 1 book (im not sure if its cannon but they exist)
The Maedar! He breaks the statues and returns them to flesh as food. I remember him.
@@twilightgardenspresentatio6384 yeah, such a cool idea.
Yeah stone to flesh on command. It was neat
I would love to read a story about a Maedar and a Medusa meeting and falling in love, sounds cute xD
Greek Mythology: Medusa is the name of an individual from the gorgon species that happens to be able to turn people to stone
D&D: Medusa is a species with the capabilities of turning people to stone, Gorgons are metallic bulls that can turn people to stone.
In Greek mythology, Medusa was one of three sisters known as the Gorgons. Euryale, Stheno and Medusa. Medusa was a priestess of Athena and, depending on which versions you care to use, was either seduced by Poseidon or just raped by him. A very beautiful woman, this act angered Athena who cursed the woman to become hideously ugly and with a gaze that turns anyone who meets her gaze. Mostly this just proves pretty much all the old Greek gods weee either horny bastards or jealous cunts.
@@mmasque2052 That whole story about her, Poseidon and Athena is actually a Roman myth, by a poet named Ovid. He was also noted for having strong anti-authoritarian views, which clearly influenced his work. If you compare his version of Athena to the ones you see in other myths, Ovid's version is almost a completely different character.
@@mmasque2052 dang, Thanks for the info lad. I thought she was turned because she begged Athena to grant her protection from any man being able to do that to her again. Thus placing this curse as a way to protect her. Different versions I guess. Didn’t know about the Poseidon part either always thought it was just a random dude
@@thegiantcrow7416 As I mentioned in my other comment, that is a Roman myth, by a poet named Ovid who was noted for having strong anti-authoritarian views, and so he portrayed all the gods in a bad light. Especially Athena for some reason.
@@TheHornedKing Ah that’s the Roman’s version by Ovid, thanks for the info lad
Not even 30 sec in and already right into the important stuff!
Good move, good move
All conventional mirrors have metal in them. A glass mirror is actually a class case over a thin layer of sliver to protect is from scratches.
Since we're getting into serpentine folk, I would love to see more lore on Yuan-ti!
They already did that
@@verixelle they already made a video on it? Was it taken down?
Now I want to include a Medusa in my game that terrorises a small region, and if investigated further, it can be discovered that her mate was killed by adventurers and she's out for revenge, so it is possible to negotiate with her to find the people who did this if she stops with her rampage.
I know medusas (medusae?) are supposed to be evil, but I like to include the occasional "oddballs" to throw at my Players.
Why not have a Medusa, that secretly protected the region from other monsters and things like bandits? The only thing the people know, is, that they *can't* enter that specific wooded area, or they'll be never seen again. Somehow, a few people discovered the Medusa and killed her beloved.
This could make for a great Story, possibly a tragedy worthy of the ones in ancient greece.
My view on alignment is that it's subjective and depends on who you ask. The villagers who've been losing neighbors to a local Medusa? While they have a beautiful new statue garden, they're going to think she's pretty evil. Ask her, and she'll tell you the villagers who killed her daughter are evil. I've used that plot point in a campaign, too. A Medusa has been going on a tear petrifying every villager she can find. Villagers will ask the players to kill the Medusa. If they do so, they'll find out that the villagers had killed a young Medusa before the attacks from the adult Medusa began with a line like, "We could handle the little one but the adult was too much for us." Players can get that information before killing the Medusa by carefully asking around the village about the exact timeline of the attacks. Players can also get the story from the Medusa if they talk to her instead of attacking. The peaceful ending is that there's a blind orphan girl in the village and the Medusa will adopt her and stop the attacks.
@@MichaelRainey Exactly, apart from demons and devils and maybe some gods, most people don't think of themselves as evil, they happen to be when compared to an external morale and/or POV.
Ah, Maedar. I’ve had a quest idea featuring these guys FOR YEARS. One disguises himself as an ordinary human and hires the party to find his wife, who was turned to stone in their home town by a rampaging basilisk. If the party investigates the town during the quest, they’ll find the town *intentionally* brought in the basilisk to fight something. That something is the Maedar’s wife, a Medusa, and if he manages to touch her stone carcass, she reverts back to normal and the party rolls initiative for a boss fight.
Played a game where my PC was a medusa polymorphed into a male monster hunter, looking for high skilled female warriors to become my babies' mama. He/she died in an epic fight being poison by a basilisk, in the final killing blow we both turn to stone. Once stoned it was observation if my PC was turn back to flesh he/she would just bleed out and die from system shock or poison and blood lost. There was a water fountain built around the two statues, and my medusa PC was celebrated as a hero each year and had a few dozen children. \
Another campaign joke, centuries later after being hero worship for a few generations as an epic warrior. A 12thlevel party brough my PC back to life to help deal with a demon threat only to find out the town's hero was an AD&D2ndE multi class 7th-level PC.
I have an easier way to read this janky lore: if they're all described differently, it must be because they are all different! Much like how there is not a singular method for creating a lich (in fact, pretty much all liches came to be with different rituals, considering their secrecy, wickedness, etc.), perhaps the same thing applies to medusas, where there are different origins for their transformation (and original race to begin with). You mentionned, among other origins, it being a consequence of bartering with fiends, the cost for getting what the medusa-to-be wanted (fame, beauty, eternal youth, etc.). Well, I don't see why bartering with Dispater and bartering with Juiblex - for an example of two quite starkly contrasting entities - would bring identical results? Smooth skin or scales? Beautiful, looking like an old hag or hideously monstrous? Actually beautiful or illusion effect? Humanoid or serpentine lower half? Is martial-oriented, just a noble or perhaps even a spellcaster? All of the above are possible, in my mind.
There are even different interpretations of Medusa in Greek myths.
a.) She was turn into a monster for failure to resist Poseidon's seduction .
b.) She was punish for seducing Poseidon.
c.) She was turn into a monster so she could take revenge on all men, then later prison on an island.
d.) She was already a monster or turn into a monster to strengthen her to guard a gate to the underworld to keep monsters from invading the lands of the living.
2.) Years ago ran a campaign where male medusa were just polymorph females to increase their numbers by breeding with human females. Over all females are guardians and males are prone to hunting other monsters & fiends. If a female medusa is traveling with an adventuring group, she takes the roll of party's protector scout/guardian.
Medusa, " Fear not, for you are now under my protection."
I wonder if the Yuan-ti could talk to Medusa's hair and ask what products it uses to fight dandruff .
Adventure idea: the group is sent to investigate the apparition of a medusa nearby a cave or a dense forest. Getting there, they see the medusa, and as It sees them, it turns around and start running at the same it blindfolds itself. By investigating the surroundings, the PCs can find a society of peaceful medusas who blindfold themselves in order to not affect other people, and the one that was seen in the surroundings were a young one trying to know the world
I’ve been working on a Domain of Dread with a Medusa Darklord so this was a gold mine, thanks man!
Sounds like a solid setup.
What are your plans for the Domain?
My approach would be from the angle of medusas being vain and egocentric, the Darklord would try to curate a Domain that was beautiful throughout, but in wanting it to remain beautiful despite decay and her ever-changing sense of artistic fashion, it would always result in violent purges/destruction. Maybe include touches such as petrified forests occuring from trees "naturally", and she no longer having her gaze because it now effects the land, similar to the effects of roaming mists in other Domains of Dread.
Kind of like Dementlieu with a little Borca, and focused more on the unachievable pursuit of artistic perfection, instead of the pursuit of power or keeping up appearances for socio-political reasons.
Gem-encrusted serpent golems and animated artwork could make for unique encounters. The citizens of the Domain are the offspring of particularly attractive individuals that were abducted by nefarious mercenaries that then sold them to the Darklord's servants at the Domain's only open border. The Domain might also have some of the best perfumes and cosmetics amongst the planes; but could there be a hidden cost?
Just some thoughts.
@@derekstein6193 It’s a city-state like from Ancient Greece. She was the daughter of the king but had no interest in ruling the city, she wanted to be a sculptor instead. She was convinced she was amazing at it, but in reality she was mediocre at best and her sculptures were never really lifelike. A visiting prince came from another city-state, saw her sculptures and laughed in her face. Enraged, she prayed to any power that would listen to make her the greatest sculptor the world had ever seen, and she was turned into a medusa. Her first victim was the prince, after which she and her city were turned into a Domain of Dread. Her once-beautiful city is now in ruins and her citizens became grimlocks, so even though her sculptures are now incredibly lifelike (since they’re really petrified people) nobody can appreciate her talent and it eats away at her
For most modern day mirrors, the reflection doesn't come from the glass, but the coating on the back (or front if you're talking about those one way mirrors used in interrogation rooms.) That coating is mostly a metal oxide painted on the back and allowed to dry or cure. Since it's a metal, of course it's going to reflect her gaze.
0:00 (the literal beginning of the video)
Medusa: hey my eyes are up here
Fighter: I've made my choice already
Rhexx: "How do the Medusa reproduce?"
Well, considering that a Medusa is a subspecies of Lamia and I've read more then enough doujins to know how those reproduce, I would go so far as to assume they do it much in the same way. Considering some of the Lamia doujins actually feature the Medusa subspecies.
Ah, a man of culture, I see
😏
As a DM, I've always ruled the medusa's gaze can be turned off for brief periods of time,then turned back on when desired (no action tequired).
I kinda rule the same. That it's an ability that needs to either be turned on or off (I usually go with it needing to be turned on) but it's not an inherent thing.
A gorgon needs to learn how to turn off this ability. Many don't bother, after being cursed, they have some pretty low self esteem, but the ones that do can work and be in public.
Hearing about Maedar gives me a funny idea. A group of adventurers finds a gray skinned "human" baby in the lair of a medusa after defeating her and her mate. The young Maedar is raised as a human, but as an adult instantly falls in love with a Medusa on first sight. Torn between his upbringing and his new love, the Maedar convinces his new wife to move with him to a small town where they open a shop. Hijinks ensue.
Me, freshly blinded: “S’up, girl! Good luck turning me to stone, now!” 🤙🏾😎😁
Cringe much
@@verixelle - Point being?
@@mathisntmybestsubject8440 If you're blind how do you know you're not flirting with a tree? Could still work out, might be a dryad pirate hiding in there cryin' 'Shiver me timbers, a man! Arrr!' Nautical and arboreal, my God.
Unless you're Daredevil you'd still be in big trouble from being blind in front of an enemy!
Zattoichi. GG.
The combat proficiency comes from the Medusa's Spartan upbringing. Athenians hated the Spartans and Spartan Heiresses and slandered them in the Arts whenever and however possible. Edit: the appearance shift of the Medusa was part of TSR's Great De-Gygaxing, shifting away from femme fatale monsters for female players.
Mirrors tend to be metal, people started to add glass to them to protect the metal used when clear glass became easier to make. Most early glass were tented with impurities due to needing more flux to get the glass to a workable temp making.
I’ve used Medusas, bugbears, rakashas and so on as npcs. One of my longest running npcs was actually a gargoyle..
Your videos this month have been solid.
I was expecting an explanation on why dnd has a race called Medusa that look like the gorgon Medusa. But also have a race of gorgons that are... large, metallic, cattle. 🤷♂️ At least they can still turn people into stone.
Medusa who has a full face mask is a great idea. Thank you again for ideas an indepth lore that helps my table have a quality time. P.S. gentle repose that medusa head while its fresh.
Another great video another request for dwarves and magic runes please.
Did he ever do the gorgon.
I have a odd question, many monsters use magic most falling under sorcerer but what are the other classes most monsters fall under.
Okay Vaughn, you have won me over. I have seen your comments over the months but I have been siding over easier videos (a dwarf video would be huuuge). I have a PDF that i am currently finishing writing, but right after that I will get to work on that Magic Rune video for you. I am hoping of having it perhaps at around mid march, maybe late march. That's my goal!
Hold me to this.
Aside from innate spellcasting which gives specific spells with no care for spell lists which is the most popular form of Monster spellcasting I believe wizard and cleric are the two most popular spellcasting class lists used
Such a wonderful creature to use as a DM
"But my gaze was supposed to turn you into stone!"
"I'm already rock hard baby!"
I just remember that they were a massive pain in the a in pathfinder: kingmaker.
Honestly, after hearing the confliction about how Medusa's appearance is/works, I like to think that her facial features work like Buffy The Vampire Slayer's vampires work: normal enough until they shift their face to full "I'm a vampire! I'm gonna eat you!" look. Just my thought opinion
In Drizzts second book he puts a sack over his head to prevent himself from being petrified while ambushing a basilisk in the under dark tunnels jumping onto it from a stalagtite and killing it while by himself and while being blinded from wearing the sack.
I think the the medusa gaze and the basilisk gaze work differently depending on wich edition you are looking at, or if you read some lore.
are there any undead medusas? i wonder if they lose their petrifying gaze as an animated/resurrected rotten corpse.
He mentioned a rule for losing a foot of range on the gaze per day dead so yes until no
Their gaze comes from a curse, not a natural ability, so I'd say they'd get to keep it.
@@CidGuerreiro1234 It was also mentioned that the ability gets weaker as the severed head rots. So presumably an undead medusa either wouldn't have the ability or the ability would be a lot weaker (easier to save against).
I believe that regular mirrors in DnD are glass with a silver backing for the reflection. But it's always possible I'm wrong or that's just for specific mirrors
No, he screwed up.
While I got no issues with the creature itself, the fact that its called "medusa" and not a gorgon annoy the hell out of me as a mythology nerd. Its even more annoying when there is another creatue called gorgon in the game buts its nothing like an actual gorgon. Its just frustrating.
hahah thanks, now i dont need to rant about it xD
Yeah, that's my pet peeve too.
Well it's literally just what some Tolkien nerds wrote in their basements and not literal overwriting canon on the myths of Greeks. Unless you think literally think Olympus has gods, do whatever
For the bow there is also the classic Medusa from Clash of the Titans
My favorite DnD art for the Medusa is from A Practical Guide to Monsters, which was a lore supplement released in 2007 right before 4e came out. The book was similar to 5e's Young Adventurer's Guides, intended to get kids interested in the world of DnD without all the boring mechanics. The picture itself, however, showed a Medusa and her daughter, both depicted as apparently normal human females other than their serpentine hair.
It would be cool if looking in a mirror gradually turns the Medusa into stone over time, causing stone scales to grow
Wow! There is so much here that I never knew at all ! 😲
I knew of the Maedar but didn't know how they fitted in to the Medusa lifecycle, and the egg-laying part of the reproductive cycle is fascinating. ✨😃
Thanks, MrRhexx. 🙏 Great video. 👍
M 🦘🏏😎
So many images of the best Medusa/Gorgon from MTG: Vraska. Since there are MTG based D&D sets, specifically Theros and Ravnica. It is important to mark the main difference between the Ravnican Medusa (such as Vraska) and that of main D&D. The Therosian Medusa/Gorgon is pretty much the same as the greater medusa from main D&D, serpentine body and all. The Ravnican Medusa however is somewhat different. 1. The Ravnican Medusa's hair is serpentine and thick, but lack the snake heads of normal medusas. 2. Ravnican medusas petrification ability is fully under their control, and they can chose to selectively use it or not, allowing them to interact normally with others without risking petrification. Indeed, the aformentioned Vraska is currently dating a human mind mage.
I really wish they were just called Gorgons. In Greek Mythology Medusa was a single member of the race of Gorgons and she had two unnamed sisters. She was named because it was her that Perseus had to get the head of and return to his mother's suitor.
Ye if D&D was gonna take from Greek Mythology the least they could do is actually do it right
"And I say onto you, find the Gorgon Sandra and bring her head to me"
I was hoping to find a comment like this.
They did make a separate creature named a Gorgon (a magical beast resembling bulls seemingly covered with metallic scales with a petrifying breath weapon in the form of green mist), though. They've existed since 1st edition, so both creatures were contemporary.
@@Harrowed2TheMind Sure, but it feels weird to some people that a "gorgon" is a metal bull that can petrify things. As opposed to a lady with snake hair. Obviously we don't expect it to change after all this time. Just a thing worth commenting on. :)
I'm running a Theros campaign and plan on throwing one of these at them. This video is extremely useful. Thank you
Modern mirrors use a thin coat of silver underneath a layer of glass. The glass is mainly just for keeping the delicate silver layer from rusting, bending, or otherwise being ruined; it's the silver that actually reflects the light and acts as a mirror. So even a modern mirror would work for this.
In Magic: The Gathering, they are called gorgons which is also what they were called in Greek mythology. Medusa was the name of a specific gorgon. Now that WotC has come out and said that MTG and D&D are in the same universe/multiverse, what is the reason that some are called gorgons (the MTG ones) and some are called medusas (the D&D ones)?
My guess would simply be local slang, since there is no difference for the most part (IIRC, the Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica specifically says to use the Medusa stat block for normal Gorgons).
@@VelociraptorsOfSkyrim that might be, but this gets even more confusing when you realize that a gorgon in DnD is a completely different monster: an iron-plated, bovine-looking monstrosity.
@@RubrDuky1 Again, local slang. There doesn't appear to be any physical differences between the two.
Imagine the disappointment when you manage to kill a medusa, lop off her head, then die of a snake bite when you grab the head.
As always an amazing job fleshing out an old favorite that really doesn’t get the love she deserves.
This video actually inspired me to create a medusa to serve as a sort of hermit sage that gives the party advice, and is actually a practiced healer known for healing petrification to those who need it. When he was younger he was your typical vain, arrogant potential medusa, who made a deal with a devil to gain eternal youth for his soul. The twist was that he would turn into a medusa and be hunted by heroes who would try to slay him, damning his soul to the hells.
As he lived like an outcast he began to reflect on his life and choices, wondering why he wanted eternal beauty so bad. He determined that he wanted others to love him because he didn’t feel loved by himself. So he decided to rebuild himself as a person he could respect, studying alchemy, medicine, and magic to help people.
Hope players don’t immediately kill him after finding out he has snakes for hair, but that is the risk we DMs run. :p
Fun idea! Create a city with the medusa and maedar as a ruling sectioned off part and the meadar are the go between. The city would actually be the human offspring un petrified. Those brought out would be the low nobles. Branded, tattooed or being carved when stone with the mothers symbol to show status and prevent inbreeding.
21:45 you could say he had a "hard death!"
Im the dm of a eberron campaign, and I plan for a couple of Medusa npcs and the cool thing about eberron is that there is a place for Medusa to go, and live in isolation so they don’t petrify anyone
According to the official Novels, Medusa in Eberron can see though the eyes of their snakes, so they can keep their own eyes closed interact safely with other people.
@@LostInNumbers extra information about eberron is always helpful, thanks
I am playing an Eberron Campaign at the Moment, and to learn the world I've read a couple of Eberron books, somehow both featured Medusas. Ebberon have some interesting deviations from the Ferun lore when it comes to Medusa.
For one, all monster races in Eberron can have any alignment, so decent Medusa are totally a thing. For example In the City of Towers, we meet "Stone Eyes" the self appointed sheriff of Malleon's Gate slum in the city of Sharn.
Another difference is that "Stone Eyes" is male Medusa. In Eberron Medusa are a naturally occurring race, with both female and male members. Another cool feature is that Medusa in Eberron can see though the eyes of their Snakes, and so they can keep their main eyes closed to accommodate other creatures. The books explicitly describe them as having scaly Skin, and finally they appear to not have any issue with Mirrors, as in the Queen of Stone, the eponymous queen, have a large Mirror in her sleeping chamber. The book explicitly points that this fact contradict the belief that Medusa can petrify themselves by looking into mirrors.
Sheshka (queen of stone) is a super medusa however. she has perfected her petrification ability and is smarter than the regular medusa (who are smarter than average humans)
Tried to get AJ interested in the Slayer's Guide series of the books about the lore and physiology of the various monster and human cultures, put out by Mongoose Publishing many years ago. These guides made really in depth ecologies for them, and the medusae were no exception. In the Slayer's Guides, medusae aren't susceptible to their own gaze, but like the basilisk, had a natural immunity. After all, there are reflective surfaces in nearly EVERYTHING, from the coins and gems they covet, to the wines they enjoy(Keith Baker's Queen Sheshka in Eberron). They also had the ability to "dim", their vision so one could gaze upon them without averting. They had in their covey, distinct clutch-mates (think family)being oviparous. Some Medusae can and do deal with humans, which were seen as prey, via contract. Once one can establish a relationship where one is considered close to equal footing with them, they can be grand friends via contract, which in their society they all interaction is by contract and they take contracts very seriously. Some medusae, when reaching a seriously advanced age, may sadly become what they call, "Serpentine", where they exile themselves from their covey and clutch and go into deep forests and live wildly, almost fully serpent. They collect/command a great wealth of the indigenous snakes an they are sent out to find information and bring it back to them, transferring the information upon the medusa's body much like bees' dancing. There's more, but as I said, it's a shame these guides were not more popular as they fleshed out their ecologies exceedingly well. They were made for Medusae, harpies, minotaur, Yuan-Ti, and many, many, more. If you can, try and get some of these older Slayer Guides for your edification because trust me, they add so much more to their overall lore.
Off topic: One of my kids got a comic of the major Greek gods. In one of them, (I think Athena) they give Medusa’s origin story: and the version they depict could have been a horror - with Medusa as the victim.
Basically a good looking mortal woman, Posideon decides to forces himself on her. Because she is so attractive another goddess is jealous of that “affair” and curses her to make her so hideous looking at her is death by ugly. Then medusa is forced flees to live completely alone.
Then a man come along and cuts her head off.
Don’t think they changed the story, as while reading it with her the other stories seem like I had heard them.
MrRhexx mentions Smite, I swoon and fall out of chair. Well played, hope to play you some day!
I am literally running a medusa boss encounter today MrRhexx is tabbing my campaign
Even modern mirrors are backed with metal. That's why they're opaque on one side. The glass is only really there as a protective cover for the very thin, extremely finely polished metal layer. Often they use silver, but tin, nickel, chromium and aluminium are all also options. There's also some designs that use a different transparent substance with a different refractive index, which is probably how you get mirrored windows and how your car's rear view mirror can be switched to a dimmer relfection at night by tilting it to a different angle. There;s also other much more complex designs for x-ray telescopes and such, but the only place you *might* have something like that is Spelljammer, and even then it's unlikely.
I ran a medusa encounter a bit over a year ago and I definitely struggled with figuring out how she would be a threat... this definitely answers it, if I ever run a similar encounter
Some people in the comments brought up an interesting point: if non-metallic reflective surface such as glass do not transfer the petrification curse effect, then any type of lense could potentially protect its user from a medusa's gaze.
It did bring up another interesting question in my mind: what about the silver salts of old cameras? Granted, you usually would need some kind of lense to focus the image, but what about a camera obscura type of contraption? Could the petrifying curse be reflected on it? And if yes, for how long? (I suppose the -1 to the save DC could very well be applied here as well)
The lore states that any reflective surface will do it. It doesn't matter if it is metallic or not. The stat block, however, states it must be a "polished surface." This means reflective pools of water wouldn't work, nor would a mirror that is all scratched up so you can't really see anything. This also means that viewing an illusion of the medusa, has no effect.
However, even more curiously, if you read the stat block further, it specifically states that the medusa must be able to see the creature to affect it with its gaze. That means someone staring straight into the eyes of a medusa, but under the effects of an invisibility spell or potion, would be perfectly protected. Not even a bonus to the save, the ability simply doesn't work.
This makes dealing with them far more trivial than the lore might suggest, not to mention that it has a range requirement. 30ft is only 6 squares, and despite them being decent combatants, it wouldn't take much for a few players to simply block them from approaching the mages and archers in the back, who can take out the medusa pretty effectively.
When it comes to natural evil creatures like medusa, I can think of a homebrew pc concept that works as a redemption story. Maybe the medusa found a deck of many things, and out of curiosity, drew the card that switches her alignment. So now wracked with grief and regret of her actions, she works to undo the wrongs she caused and find away to either return to normal, or be able finally be able to look upon others, without fear of turning them to stone?
There is a Lawful/Good succubus paladin that is canon to D&D lore (her name is Eludecia), which means that pretty much any creature can have any alignment, even when they have "Always Evil" in their monster manual description.
@@CidGuerreiro1234 honestly I like the idea of good aligned creatures from primarily evil races to be a minority. To give them a more powerful character where even if their species isnt accepted, that creature can be and inspire of their kind.
@@patrickdees5256 Agree, they should always be an extremely rare case. Same for good creatures turned evil.
@@CidGuerreiro1234 agreed which I feel whole removing of a monster's alignment is dumb personally.
Maybe a medusa has magic scales, that give her chamelion like powers. Creating a kind of illusion around her skin
Can you do “what they don’t tell you about vampires”, please?
As a smart man once said „if medusa had bigger badonkas, less people would be turned to stone”
on the mirror thing, modern mirros are thin metal foils usually silver covered with glass for protection...
Fun fact you didnt mention. Apperantly Medusas can petrify you into different materials. In the official module Lost Laboratory of Kwalish there is a medusa that turns People into glass. And also there is high tech planar-space ship with CCTV and it states that you will be petrifyed if you'll look at the medusa through the screen. I dont know how Canon this is, but this is an official module
Love the video you think you could do one on explaining the weird magic of hags I’ve always been fascinated about D&D hags in general
21:47 "They reward the human with petrification" Yup, he leaves this world as he entered her chambers. . . . . rock hard
I like the idea of a Gorgon (I don't care what WotC says, that metal bull is not a Gorgon) wearing a blindfold so she doesn't petrify people but her snakes try and navigate for her and therefore is very clumsy.
Actually in greek mythology the Medusa was one individual gorgon. It was her name.
Yeah, yeah, i know, this is D&D and those are 2 different creatures in this world. Just wanted to be smart in the internet. :)
Keep it up!
Yeah u are right but în The protection of my metalic petrification bul, I love the name fore him.Just imagine a flock of gorgan is chasing you, roll inițiative 😄😄😄
I imagine the transformation into a full Medusa always happens at the worst possible time. You could have a plot point where the party discovers that a self proclaimed demigod king is actually a Medusa on the verge of transforming, just a few days before a big meeting between the leaders of multiple nations.
I'm a bit curious about what the yuan-ti think of Medusas and vice-versa. I imagine in Forgotten realms, they probably don't get along...
I have heard A LOT about planescape: torment, but I had never heard about it being set in a DnD universe before, that's really interesting.
"IMPOSSIBLE! Why don't you turn to stone?!"
"I'm already *Rock Hard BABY* "
Doesn’t the reflection thing contradict the myth? Perseus killed Medusa by looking at her reflection on a polished shield, but with these rules he would have been turned to stone instead
even glass mirrors are a sheet of glass on top of a reflective material, which is generally metallic, more specifically a very thin sheet of aluminium. thus even glass mirrors would petrify a medusa
Callig the monster type "a medusa" is almost like calling vampires Draculas. Message was a gorgon.
the metal bull uses it better.
😄😄😁
A fun thing about babies is that they can't focus on faces until they're about 8 weeks old.
This could mean that when a medusa's and a maedar's children hatch, they won't know if a child is a human or a maedar for 8 weeks. So it possible that after the adventurers kill the monster that they'll find a bunch of babies in the lair. Being good people, bring them to the local orphanage but unwittingly bring a baby meadar with them.
Legit deduction.
"She's what we call a double bagger. You wear a bag over your head in case the bag over her head breaks."
- Dane Cook, "My Best Friend's Girl" (I think)
The new lore seems closer to the original myth (a girl turned into a monster for her vanity). And it also opens doors to things like "a noble house matron has turned into medusa centuries ago but still holds power as a noblewoman and has human descendants".
Also IIRC Medusa as an archer started with Clash of the Titans (the original).
I wanna have an ancient gorgon who was once a powerful cleric, sorcerer, or wizard who wanted to preserve their beautify eternally, falling prey to the curse. However, centuries of isolation and meditation allowed them to shed their hubris and now they serve as a seer and lorekeeper, aiding heroes who seek out or stumble upon their ruined temple
Aaaagh these videos always inspires me to make a campaign myself, wish I had some people to play with also really like that most of your sponsors are DnD related