Monsters of Artheria, (Monster Manual II edition)

Today we cover the various humanoids in Monster Manuals II, the only monster manual that didn't get remade in 3.5. Which is a shame, because they have a lot of core monsters that get a lot of use, like gem dragons, thri-kreen, and the phoenix. As such,  making the corruption adjustments are a tad more difficult, (no 'monster as a playable race' entry after everything.) but thankfully there aren't that many entries.

We will go in the order of appearance in the book, which starts us out with the bee people, the abeil. The abeil are lawful hive dwellers, and in my world, they aren't from the material plane. They live on Mechanus, and are in constant competition with the formians. The only change I'm making to the abeil is that they are now a Lawful Outsider.

The next humanoid we have is called the boggle, and it is a small, blue skinned, primitive thief creature. Really agile, and the ability to cast dimension door 6 times a day is what sets them apart. I'm doing another 'easy cop out' style corruption, boggles become Genlocks when corrupted, following their abilities. Boggle genlocks lose the ability to rage 3/day, but keep the dimension door 6/day ability.

Then we get to our first actual race I'm doing some corruptive work on, the Braxat. Humanoid rhinoceros, with a massive superiority complex... and rightfully so. This is one of those monsters that make the mindflayer look like an easy encounter. They have good physical stats, a breath weapon, awesome spell like abilities, (Confusion... feeblemind... dimension door at will... awesome.) then they have mindblast, just like the mindflayer. Braxat live in Entrar, and willingly serve the Death Giants as enforcers, getting their own slaves, and special camps. Corrupted braxat become huge, much more lithe creatures, (With even more spikes...) that take extreme advantage of their innate spell abilities. Corrupted braxat double their breath weapon damage, from 3d8 to 6d8, half profane and half cold damage, and the range of their mind blast goes from a 30' cone to a 60' cone. Stats increase like so: +8 strength, +10 dexterity, +8 constitution, +6 all mental stats, +3 natural armor.

(Corrupted Braxat gain supernatural agility, and even more formidable innate powers.)

Next we move on to the underdark dwelling desmodu, large, bat-like humanoids, that prefer to be left alone to tend to their caverns of giant bats. Life was never easy for this race, caught between the far more brutal underdark races and their perpetual warring and slave taking. The corruption has been no different for them, while the dwarves, drow, and kuo-toa typically leave the desmodu alone, mindflayers, aboleths, and beholders still enjoy enslaving the large, strong bat people, and the corruption loves seeking out desmodu caverns, not only for the humanoids to corrupt, but the immense amount of giant bats that they keep. When corrupted, desmodu become larger, menacing werebat creatures, with more powerful sonic attacks, and the ability to fly entirely on their own. Their riding bats often gain similar sonic based attacks. Desmodu gain fly 60', +4 to strength, +6 to dexterity, +4 to constitution, and +2 to all mental stats. Their sonic attacks increase in power as well, and they gain another attack form. They have the single shot ray still, which now deals 10d6, double the base damage, they may also fire it in a 30' cone, for 5d6 damage, and they may to a 30' radius burst that deals 2d6 damage. Each attack allows a save DC 10+1/2 HD + con mod or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. The single ray version stuns for 2d4 rounds.

(Corrupted Desmodu eating... something.)

The next monstrous humanoid in MMII is the ethereal doppleganger... which even in the title states is from the ethereal plane. As such, they are actually an outsider, and may not be corrupted.

It is quite a jump to the next humanoid, and it is the ocean dwelling Kopru. This race is a very evil, mentally powerful race that has some visible similarities to mindflayers, they might even be related, as the Kopru also may psionically dominate humanoids in a similar fashion. On Artheria, the kopru are loosely allied with the sahaugin, though the evil, greedy natures of both races often conflict and they turn on each other. The more warlike sahaugin are often the victors of these wars. The corruption seeks out the Kopru as well, just like it does the mindflayers, as they become something truly horrible. The Kopru's size increases to large, and they gain +6 strength, +2 dexterity, +4 constitution, and +4 to all mental stats. Not the best stat increases, but they gain two abilities from their mind flayer cousins that should never be underestimated, mind blast and brain eating. The corrupted form also has more limbs, and a poison stinger, and can make 6 claw attacks per round, increased from the 2. They can sting for 1d6, with a 1d6 strength and dexterity poison. The size of all the Kopru's natural attacks increase by 1 dice size as well. (1d6 to 1d8, for example. The will save for the Kopru's mind blast is 10+1/2 HD + int. mod.

(Corrupted Kopru are as terrifying as their mindflayer cousins.)

Loxo, or humanoid elephants, are the next race in MMII. These 2 trunked creatures live exclusively in the wild plains of Oniboros and in The Lost Lands. This nomadic race will often set up their camps in the shadow of the mighty cities of Onikidae and Todeosaka, though they still prefer life on the move. They are on good terms with almost all the other races of Oniboros, which is beneficial for them. While this race does have some mighty warriors, they are typically unable to defend themselves from many powerful corrupted creatures. When transformed, Loxo sprout spines all over their body, much like the braxat, and they become huge, physically imposing warriors. Loxo gain +12 strength, +2 dexterity, +6 constitution, and +2 to one mental stat. They lose the ability to hold items in their trunks, as horrid bone spikes grow from them once corrupted. They will stab with them though for 1d10 damage. Natural armor increases by +5, and the innate rage enhances, becoming greater rage. (+6 str. and con.)

(Add in one more spiked trunk and this is what corrupted Loxo look like.)

We are already almost done with Monster Manual II and all its strangeness. Next in line is the monstrous multi-limbed caterpillar like people, the Ormyrr. This magic loving huge sized race lives almost everywhere, they are found primarily in the underdark, but like to be able to venture out to the surface looking for magic. This race is not very numerous, which is lucky for us, as when they are corrupted they become horrible monstrosities. Corrupted Ormyrr lose their mind entirely, and become gargantuan sand worm like creatures. They still have their innate desire for magic items though, and while their body grows enormously, the creatures arms stay tiny, looking like a ridiculous sand worm/t-rex. The creature loses the ability to attack with weapons, but they will still use them to manipulate wands, staves, scrolls, and other magic items. Stats for a corrupted Ormyrr increase drastically, strength gets a +20 bonus, dexterity gains a +6 bonus, and constitution gains a +16 bonus. Intelligence suffers a -8 penalty however. Ormyrr's use charisma whenever they roll a use magic device check on one of their magic items.

(Corrupted Ormyrr bursting forth from the sands of Entrar.)

The two planetouched races in this book, the Chaond (slaad descendants) and Zenythri, (Lawful outsider descendants) are not playable, and are just humans with the planetouched trait. (These two were not on the original charts I had, they are now added.)

Next we have one of my favorite monsters of all time, the Spell Weaver. This race is a small, frail, 6 armed incredibly powerful casting race. In Artherian history, spell weavers arrived during the reckoning, encased in powerful ores capable of atmospheric entry, (this will be spoken of in my 'The Reckoning' post, later.) they landed, and proceeded to serve various Paragon and Psuedonatural masters. (Both epic templates, the warlock entry has more information about them.) Spell weavers, unlike the epic level monsters they serve, can be corrupted, however. It is incredibly difficult to tell a non-corrupt spell weaver from a corrupt one, the only difference is the corrupt versions have 8 arms and are slightly tougher, (Spell Weavers often attempt to hide these extra arms, knowing it is what gives them away.) though the innate spell casting mastery that they have does get buffed significantly. Spell weavers gain +2 to all physical stats, and +4 to all mental stats. They gain 2 extra arms, allowing them to cast even more spells in a single round than normal. A corrupt spell weaver can launch up to 8 level 1 spells in a round, or perhaps a 6th level and 2nd level, as long as the combined spell levels aren't over 8, the creature can launch them all in the same round. Corrupt spell weavers also cast spells as sorcerers of 5 levels higher than their own HD. (Thus a 10 HD spell weaver, like in MMII, casts spells as a 15th level sorcerer.) 

(Corrupted Spell Weavers are some of the deadliest magical creatures on Artheria.)

Thri-kreen are up next, this race lives exclusively in the deserts of Entrar, they spend almost their entire lives roaming the desert, fleeing from the Death Giants and corrupted creatures. They ally with the resistance under the blue dragon Darken whenever it is possible. When they are stolen for corruption, they become physically and psionically more powerful, and their color changes to a blue/green color. They gain +6 to all physical stats, and +4 to one mental stat of their choice. They also gain 2 extra psionic abilities, which may both be used 3/day, blink and dimension door. This is in addition to the abilities listed in the monster manual.

(Corrupted Thri-kreen are terrors of the desert.)

 The final race in the MMII is yak folk. For all intents and purposes, Yak Folk are the Oriental Adventures minotaur. They follow all the same rules for corruption that Minotaurs do, (including the always gestalt rules.) they just aren't universally corrupt. They live in the mountains and forests to the west of Onikidae, they used to be loosely allied with the orcs, trading magic to them for slaves. Today, they are in a struggle for survival against the corruption, all corrupted races on Oniboros are constantly attempting to assault the yak folk.

(Corrupted Yak Folk are as fierce as minotaurs.)

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers