B/X/R/X: Ape, White

September 11, 2017 bxrx dnd monsters moldvay rpgs

The B/X/R/X series is a remix of the monsters from the Basic & Expert D&D sets by Moldvay and Cook, inspired by similar work by Alex Schroeder. You can find the rest of the entries in this series here.

Ape, White

Armor Class: As Leather + Shield
Hit Dice: 4
Move: 120’(40’)
Attacks: 2 claws
Damage: 1d4/1d4

No. Appearing: 1d6(2d4)
Save As: Level 2 Fighter
Morale: 7
Treasure Type: Nil/Pelt, Teeth, Claw, Bone, Meat
Alignment: Neutral

These prehistoric albino apes fear the sun and all light and will howl and become incredibly aggressive when their undeveloped eyes see light cast their way. Neanderthals often train them as pack animals, keeping them blindfolded so as not to disturb them.

Skinning Monsters

PCs can skin dead monsters for their pelts, meat, bones, claws, teeth, and any other parts, given the right tools1. It takes 1 turn per HD of the creature. To skin the animal, roll under your DEX on 1d20 (Ranger types can subtract their level from the roll). Failure means the parts are ruined (either through your incompetence, or just through the damage taken during battle). Success means that you have the components listed under the creature’s Treasure Type2. Additionally, successfully skinning the creature means that you have a number of rations equal to the HD of the creature.

Pelt
White Ape pelts are worth 4d20 gold to Neanderthals.

Additionally, their parts can be used as components in these artifacts:

Cloak of Forgotten Caves
(White Ape: Pelt x4, Fire Beetle: Eye Stalk x1)
This cloak soaks up light from the sun and glows in the dark while underground. For every day spent outside it will give off torchlight underground for one hour.

Ape Buster Armor
(White Ape: Pelt x3; Tiger Beetle: Carapace x2)
AC as leather + shield. +1 AC versus missile attacks. +4 to hiding in caves.

Bloody Greaves
(White Ape: Pelt x2; Sabertooth Tiger: Claw x2)
Gives the wearer two claw attacks in melee which do 1d8 damage each. Additionally, it grants a +4 bonus to climb checks.

Primordial Crusher
(White Ape: Bone x2, Pelt x1; Pterodactyl: Beak x2)
Two-handed great axe which grants +1 to hit and damage against all prehistoric creatures. Can spark fire when struck against rock.


  1. A lot of GM discretion here, but in general, you need a knife (not a sword) to skin things.↩︎

  2. Congratulations, you’re now open to creating all sorts of fetch and collect quests that you can throw at your PCs as bonus missions (i.e. “Collect 6 White Ape pelts to construct the Armor of the Unbound Fang which turns pitch black in the moonlight to all who view it, except for those who have a tooth from one of the slain apes.”).↩︎



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