Displacer beast

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Dungeons & Dragons creature
Displacer beast
Alignment
Type	Magical beast
Source books
First appearance

A displacer beast is a fictional creature from the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.

Contents 1 Publication history 2 Licensing 3 Ecology 3.1 Environment 3.2 Typical physical characteristics 3.3 Alignment 4 Society 5 Displacer beasts in Eberron 6 Creative origins 7 Other media 8 References 9 Footnotes

[edit] Publication history

[edit] Licensing

The displacer beast is considered a "Product Identity" by Wizards of the Coast and as such is not released under its Open Gaming License.^[1]

[edit] Ecology

Displacer beasts are fierce and vicious, and hate all other creatures. These sentient, magical cats often kill purely for pleasure, though they never fight among themselves. This beast uses a magical displacement ability, a form of illusion which causes it to appear to be a few feet away from where it actually is. This makes the creature hard to hit, while it attacks with its long tentacles.

The hide of a displacer beast has many useful magical properties, making it highly sought after by wizards and alchemists. Many thieves use the eyes of a displacer beast as good luck charms, believing that they will protect the bearer from detection.

[edit] Environment

Displacer Beasts live mainly in tunnels, sewers, and the Underdark.

[edit] Typical physical characteristics

A displacer beasts is a magical beast resembling a puma with a pair of powerful black tentacles sprouting from its shoulders, and two to four additional forelimbs. Displacer beasts are coloured blue-black, like a dark panther. The tentacles are tipped with horny edges which can inflict terrible wounds and resemble the club-shaped catching tentacles of a squid.

[edit] Alignment

Displacer beasts are neutral.

[edit] Society

[edit] Displacer beasts in Eberron

In the Eberron campaign setting, the displacer beast is the heraldic beast of the dragonmarked House Thuranni.

[edit] Creative origins

The displacer beast is inspired by the coeurl, a feline-like creature from the science fiction novel The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A. E. van Vogt.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Other media

Displacer beasts were included in nearly every one of the Final Fantasy video games, known as Couerl (also translated as Cuar, Cuahl, Quirl, etc) in reference to its original inspiration.^[2]

A displacer beast was also a creature in Douglas Niles's novel Darkwell and it kills the Calashite, Daryth, after a long chase-down.

[edit] References

• Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989).

• Mickelson, Bill. "Ecology of the Displacer Beast." Dragon Magazine #109 (TSR, 1986).

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Frequently Asked Questions. D20srd.org. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
2. ^ Gary Gygax Interview. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.

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