The D&D Chimera – Randomized!

Chimera – the spawn of powerful beast of legend, a creation of a mad wizard or poor fool’s curse by a demonic prince. However a chimera comes into existence we can all agree the three-headed Dungeons & Dragons creature with the tenacity of a dragon, stubbornness of a ram and ferocity of a lion is pretty freaking cool. What could be better right? What about the petrifying gaze of a basilisk, the strong back of a mule and the rust monsters ability to corrode the tools of the enemy?

This article brings you another randomized fifth edition D&D monster.

Where do chimera come from?

Chimeras are fascinating creatures that have worked their way through mythology, pop culture and even science. They have a longstanding place in the mythologies of the old world, but the Greek telling of Chimera, daughter of Typhon and Echidna, is probably the most popular.

Chimera didn’t stay in the pages of the Illiad though, she soared into pop culture. Artistic depictions of chimera throughout all mediums have reshaped the vision of this creature, defining it as more than the amalgamation of lion, serpent and goat. The term even showed up in the world of genetics.

Although Genetic Chimeraism is something I am vastly under qualified to explain, I recommend you do your own research, if biology and gene study is your thing that is. I found it pretty damn interesting. All of this circles around to how the chimera has evolved to fit into D&D.

The three-headed beast with the body and head of a lion; the head, wings and breath weapon of a dragon; and goat head and hind legs, is pretty iconic. With art and science shifting Chimera from the name of a Greek monster to a being composed of multiple other beings, let’s play around with expectation. Let’s continue to expand how we define chimera.

 

How can we mix things up?

What follows are some tables we can roll on to make our own chimera. For my sanity I maintained that a chimera will only be made up of three different creatures, after all that is how they are depicted in the Monster Manual. Before we can give the chimera heads we have to start with a body.

Basic Chimera

The first table provides the right head and rear of our chimera, complete with hind legs. Also its starting size will be found here.

Right Head

The middle head will shape the overall look of our chimera, providing the chest and front legs of our creature as well. These creatures all have some form of attack that focuses on their front legs.

Middle Head

All right, we are almost done. This table determines the creatures left head as well as its tail. Most of these heads also come with a special attack, usually a breath weapon. However, I threw in a few odd balls for fun.

Left Head

For those with patience and who want their whole creature in a single click I have provided a table that will roll up all three heads at once. Bear in mind it takes a bit longer.

Roll that chimera!

Looking at your creature you may well notice that some of these things don’t seem to add up, and you are right. For instance if we combine a dragon (which gains a 30 ft. fly speed) and a roc (which also gains a 30 ft. fly speed) how do these things reconcile? The answer is the speeds are added together, resulting in a creature with 60 feet of flight. What needs to be decided is what this looks like. Does the chimera have a set of dragon wings and a set of bird wings? A single set of huge leathery wings with feathers covering parts of them? That is up to you. The tables provide the three creatures, it is your job to put them together.

Example chimera

I took a bit more care with my balance with this creature than I did my Beholder Randomizer. When all is said and done, the new chimera should fall into a challenge rating 5 to 7. With hundreds of combinations, it is hard to say how successful I was. This was a fun project and I am excited to jump into the next one. Of course there is one thing left to do. Lets make a chimera!

Right Head: Spider

Climb speed: +15 ft.

Spider Climb: The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Web Walker: The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.

Darkvision: 30 ft.

Size: Small

Middle Head: Black Bear

Climb Speed: +15 ft.

Claws: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) slashing damage.

Keen Smell: The bear has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.

Size: one size category larger

Left Head: Crocodile

Bite and hold: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5ft, one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage and the target is Grappled (escape DC 15). Until this grapple ends, the target is Restrained, and the crocodile head can’t bite another target.

Hold Breath: The crocodile can hold its breath for 15 minutes.

Custom Chimera

Putting these together isn’t too difficult. It’s left head has the strong jaws of a crocodile, and I think for the sake of its abdomen it will not have a tail. Its broad chest and front legs are covered in grizzly head that matches its middle head. This hair continues down its back and onto its bulbous diamond shaped abdomen. Much like that of a tarantula. Four hairy legs protrude from the place where its abdomen meets its barrel chest. Its three great heads, bear, crocodile and spider are ready to rend the flesh from its prey as it drops down on them from above.

This chimera lives mostly underground, but its need to eat and hibernate keeps it close to the surface. I prefers caves with back ends where it can spin a web and rest. It is intelligent enough that it will set snares with its webbing in the woods, as well is dig itself a hovel where it hides itself much like a trap door spider. It attacks by springing out with its crocodile jaws and dragging its prey into the depths of its hiding place.

There you have it. You now have all the tools to create your own chimera. Comment, let me know what I did well, what I could do better. Find me on twitter @Randomized_Guy and leave suggestions of what creature you would like me to randomize next. If you haven’t visited the Nerdarchy Discord I am on there often and am happy to take suggestions.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Kienata for the suggestion of the chimera and our Nerditor Doug for encouraging this series. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: All I did was enthusiastically support this idea! Keep ’em coming. What will Randomized Guy randomize next?!]

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