In classical mythology, Medusa was a beautiful maiden who served Athena, and was raped by the god Poseidon within her own temple. Athena was so angry that she cursed Medusa with venomous snakes for hair and an appearance that would turn viewers to stone.
Which makes Medusae (plural) a good D&D monster- they have supernatural powers and poison, as well as being physically threatening. But as far as storytelling, it doesn’t make a great deal of sense for a goddess to curse her own priestess for being attacked by another god. So what you can do is to flip that narrative- Medusa asked Athena for the tools to make sure that no man would ever again attack her, and Athena, taking pity on her assaulted priestess, granted the request, even though it was against her own teachings and alignment. This way, Medusa has some agency within the story, the transformation makes a whole bunch more sense, and even if Medusa has now become a monster which slays all who come close, there’s a cohesive story which has tragedy and pathos, even if it still begins with the terrible trope of rape as a learning/transformative tool. So have a think about other monsters which might be transformed people, any why and how they may have come to that shape. Perhaps the Beholder race came from a single body-dysmorphic creature, xenophobic to the extreme point of genocidal mutilation. Could some kind of Storm Giant come from a sorcerer who wishes to attain the true power of storms, and experimented with several transformative spells? Pathfinder has elves who become irredeemably evil spontaneously transform into jet-skinned and red-eyed Drow to reflect their hearts. If nothing else, this might make your PCs think again next time they want to cut the head off someone and use it as a weapon. Let’s hope so. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 7 February 2019) Comments are closed.
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