Gruesome Twosome

Since most of my reviewing of the SRD monsters and re-conceiving them for the Strange New World of Weird Adventures is really a rejection process, I decided to forgo a tedious run-through of them all and focus on some that are easily re-imagined--like the classic lizardman and the hell hound...

“I’ll Kill You Alligator Man! Just Like I’d Kill Any Four-Legged Gator!”

Gator-Men are a species of reptilian primitives found in the New World. They are currently confined to the remote swamps and wetlands of the South, like the Mirkwater Swamp, and the Great Pahayokee Marshes. These areas serve as reservations for them, though constant vigilance is required to keep them in line. In the Southern New World continent of Asciana, vast areas of riverine jungle still belong to their fierce tribes.

Gator-Men in the Northern continent of the New World live in small tribes and eke out a marginal living trapping and fishing. Lurid pulp stories credit them with a taste for human flesh (and sometimes, a perverse lust for human women), but they are more likely to steal and eat human pets, and there are no verifiable accounts of amorous extra-species advances. They do have a love of alcoholic beverages, which are provided to them by unscrupulous traders. This only increases their natural surliness and propensity for violence.


Hell Hound on My Trail
Also called black dogs, these supernatural creatures have been known to haunt certain cursed families from the Old World. They are creatures of vengeance, which can be called up by aggrieved witches or conjure-folk to hunt down the offending party, and drag his soul to hell. Particularly powerful sorcerers might be able to bind a hell hound to their service for a time as a guard dog, though the spiritual price is no doubt high.

As no less an expert than Robert Johnson tells us, they may sometimes stalk the sinful on dark nights, in remote places.