#maelephant

Image by Thomas Baxa, © Wizards of the Coast. Accessed at the Fiend Folio Art Gallery here

[We’re back! It’s summer vacation, so I have time to actually create more monsters, rather than just pull from my back catalog. The maelephant originated in the Planescape Monstrous Compendium in 2e, made it into 3.0 in the sadly neglected Fiend Folio, and hasn’t appeared in D&D since. Which is a shame, since it’s got such a look. The lack of personality in its write-up may have hurt it, which I’ve done my best to rectify here.]

Maelephant CR 10 LE Outsider (extraplanar) This hulking humanoid resembles a cross between an elephant and a gorilla with fan-like ears and rheumy eyes. Its muscular arms end in clawed hands and a spike projects from the tip of its thick trunk.

Originally created by devils to serve as guardians, the strange anthropomorphic beasts known as maelephants are avaricious and keen sighted. Most maelephants still toil under the rule of devils, but some have managed to earn or purchase their freedom, and still others have escaped to other planes due to summoning spells. Even free maelephants feel a compulsion to guard things, and accumulate treasures ceaselessly. Maelephants are devious and paranoid, and maelephant lairs are full of blind alleys, hidden passageways and traps. Their knowledge of security measures and trap-making are sought out by fiends and mortals alike, and using maelephants as security specialists is not unknown among diabolists.

In combat, a maelephant is a cunning adversary despite its bestial appearance. A favorite tactic is to divide the battlefield using blade barrier spells, then batter opponents into them repeatedly. Their breath weapon ensures that those they face in combat rarely remember why—useful for them when guarding a prized item of their own or attempting to steal treasures to add to their collection. They are literally fearless and rarely retreat from a fight if protecting something. They are not suicidal, however, and may attempt to bribe a victorious foe into letting it live.

Maelephants are carnivores by vocation—they do not require sustenance, but enjoy the feeling of power that comes with devouring a smaller, helpless creature.  They are typically distrustful of others of their own species, and even cooperating maelephants will have treasures and traps that others in their regiment are unaware of. A maelephant stands nine feet tall and weighs about 800 pounds.