Minotaur (Dungeons & Dragons)

Minotaur
Characteristics
Type Monstrous humanoid
Image Wizards.com image
Stats Open Game License stats
Publication history
Mythological origins Minotaur

In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, minotaurs are a race of monstrous humanoids, resembling bull-human hybrids. Many minotaurs worship the demon lord Baphomet.

Publication history

The minotaur was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the D&D game.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)

The minotaur was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), where they were described as a bull-headed man, and a man-eater.[1]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The minotaur appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as a cruel man-eater, typically found in labyrinthe places in the wilderness and underground.[2]

The minotaur was one of the main player character races of the Dragonlance campaign setting. The Bloodsea minotaur appeared in the modules Dragons of Dreams (1985) and Dragons of Triumph (1986), and then appeared in the Dragonlance Adventures hardcover (1987). The Krynn minotaur also appeared as a player character race in Dragonlance Adventures.

The minotaur was detailed in Dragon #116 (1986), in the "Ecology of the Minotaur".[3]

Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)

This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the minotaur, in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977, 1981, 1983).[4][5][6] Minotaurs were also later featured in the Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1991), the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991),[7] the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994), and the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game set (1999).[8]

The monster ruler, Minoides, King of the Minotaurs, appeared in the Wrath of the Immortals boxed set (1992).[9]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The minotaur appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989),[10] and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).[11]

The minotaur is detailed as a playable character race in The Complete Book of Humanoids (1993).[12] The minotaur is later presented as a playable character race again in Player's Option: Skills & Powers (1995).[13]

The minotaur continued to play an important role in the Dragonlance setting in second edition. The Taladan minotaur appeared in the Time of the Dragon boxed set (1989). The minotaur of Krynn and the Thoradonian minotaur appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1990).

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The minotaur appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).[14]

Savage Species (2003) presented the minotaur as both a race and a playable class. The feral minotaur also appeared in this book.[15]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

The minotaur appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).

The faerzress-infused minotaur appeared in Underdark (2003), for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.[16] The greathorn minotaur appeared in Monster Manual IV (2006).[17]

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

The minotaur appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008).[18] Rules for playing minotaurs first appeared in Dragon #369, and they became a fully supported race in the Player's Handbook 3 (2010).

Minotaurs in Dragonlance

In the Dragonlance campaign setting, the minotaurs, which are also known as "Kothians", are a reasonably civilized and cultured race. They are most commonly found on the islands of Mithas and Kothas (named for the sons of the first Kothian emperor) and are renowned for their tactical brilliance, military strength and superb seamanship.

The majority of the Kothian race worships the evil deity Sargas, who is known to other races as "Sargonnas". Their pride prohibits them from acknowledging the two incarnations as one and the same. In Kothian society, Sargas is portrayed as a giant bull-headed god who is held in higher esteem than the petty god of vengeance and strife that the humans and other lesser races may fear or worship.

Standing in opposition to Sargas is Kiri-Jolith, god of righteous warfare who is known as "Emperor" to the minotaur race. To minotaur living in the mainstream of their own society, followers of Kiri-Jolith are nothing more than heretics and heathens, who are to be loathed, hated and killed on sight in the name of their primary deity, Sargas.

Other publishers

The minotaur is fully detailed in Paizo Publishing's book Classic Monsters Revisited (2008), on pages 40–45.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson. Dungeons & Dragons (3-Volume Set) (TSR, 1974)
  2. ↑ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)
  3. ↑ Gerard, Anthony. "The Ecology of the Minotaur." Dragon #116 (TSR, 1986)
  4. ↑ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by J. Eric Holmes. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, 1977)
  5. ↑ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Tom Moldvay. Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (TSR, 1981)
  6. ↑ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson [1974], edited by Frank Mentzer. Dungeons & Dragons Set 1: Basic Rules (TSR, 1983)
  7. ↑ Allston, Aaron, Steven E. Schend, Jon Pickens, and Dori Watry. Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (TSR, 1991)
  8. ↑ Slavicsek, Bill. Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (TSR, 1999)
  9. ↑ Allston, Aaron. Wrath of the Immortals (TSR, 1992)
  10. ↑ Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989)
  11. ↑ Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1993)
  12. ↑ Slavicsek, Bill. The Complete Book of Humanoids (TSR, 1993)
  13. ↑ Niles, Douglas and Dale Donovan. Player's Option: Skills & Powers (TSR, 1995)
  14. ↑ Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
  15. ↑ Eckelberry, David, Rich Redman, and Jennifer Clarke Wilkes. Savage Species (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
  16. ↑ Cordell, Bruce R, Gwendolyn FM Kestrel, and Jeff Quick. Underdark (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
  17. ↑ Kestrel, Gwendolyn F.M. Monster Manual IV (Wizards of the Coast, 2006)
  18. ↑ Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)
  19. ↑ Baur, Wolfgang, Jason Bulmahn, Joshua J. Frost, James Jacobs, Nicolas Logue, Mike McArtor, James L. Sutter, Greg A. Vaughan, Jeremy Walker. Classic Monsters Revisited (Paizo, 2008)

External links