Deep Dive - The Grell
The Grell, at first blush, looks like yet another drug-induced creature from the mind of Gary Gygax, but in actuality was created by Ian Livingstone and introduced in White Dwarf Magazine #12 (1979). White Dwarf Magazine was a fantasy/science fiction magazine that tended to focus on science fiction more, though they had a section called Fiend Factory where readers could submit their monsters to be featured in the magazine. You can see the influence science fiction had on the Dungeons & Dragons creations in the magazine, and the Grell especially looks like some sort of weird alien.
Interestingly enough, this issue is where we are introduced to the famous creature, the githyanki. While both creatures have survived the editions, and are present in the 5th edition, the githyanki is the famous celebrity of the two while the Grell still lingers in the background and within shadows, which I assume is fine with it as it is an ambush predator, dropping down on a creature’s head and attacking with paralyzing tentacles and deadly beak attacks.
AD&D - Grell
Frequency: Rare
No. Appearing: 1
Armor Class: 4
Move: 12"
Hit Dice: 5
% in Lair: Nil
Treasure Type: F
No. of Attacks: 11
Damage/Attack: 10x 1-4/1-6
Special Attacks: Paralyzation
Special Defenses: Immune to lightning
Magic Resistance: Standard
Intelligence: Average
Alignment: Neutral evil
Size: M
Psionic Ability: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
Level/X.P. Value: VI/840 + 5 per hit point
Fiend Folio, 1981 TSR Inc.
The Grell makes it’s official Dungeon & Dragons debut in the Fiend Folio (1981) and brings with it just a few more sentences than in the White Dwarf Magazine as well as a shiny new photo of it showing its huge size. The brief description provided covers what the Grell looks like, and we drill down a little more into what this strange floating brain with a beak and tentacles is all about. It’s all bad for adventurers.
The description in the Fiend Folio starts by describing the Grell as dreadful and fearsome. We are convinced that fearsome isn’t a word that should be used to describe them, though seeing a floating brain with a beak is disturbing. The Grell’s body is that of a giant exposed brain approximately 5 feet in diameter and in the middle of which is a long curved beak. Attached to the bottom of the brain-body are ten long tentacles, each of which are approximately 6 feet in length. The brain-body is a bland olive color with streaks of white while its tentacles are dark green. It’s such an odd and bizarre-looking creature that for once, we are left a bit speechless. Looking at this thing in it’s black and white glory, you would think pink and purple… but green works too…
Grells move through a complex levitation process, using its tentacles to steer itself in the direction it wishes to go. It is listed as having a maneuverability class of D in the description, which means that for all intents and purposes within the game, the Grell does fly. It is described a follows:
Class D: Creature that can turn 60’ per round and requires 2 rounds to reach full airspeed. Examples: pteranodons, sphinxes, mounted pegasi.
AD&D Dungeon’s Master Guide, pg 51, 1979
So, it takes our friend the Grell a little longer than normal to turn and face you and has the acceleration of an old lady. What the Grell can do quite effectively is hover in the air close to the ceiling and drop upon you or one of your unsuspecting friends as you walk through the archway in the abandon monastery. While the Grell is usually found underground, they do occasionally hunt in ruined or abandoned buildings.
When the Grell ambushes you, it brings all ten tentacles to wrap around your body, each inflicting 1-4 points of damage and each tentacle is covered in small spines that can inject venom that will paralyze its victim. This is where the Grell becomes an extremely dangerous creature, as the moment a player fails just one of those saving throws against paralyzation, all the tentacles and its beak automatically hit.
There are not many creatures found in AD&D that can land 11 attacks per round, especially at lower levels. Grells are one such creature, and for every round, and it is still attached, two tentacles will be holding on to you, and the remaining 8 tentacles will attack, along with the beak. This is extremely dangerous for anyone at lower levels, especially if the Grell waits behind a doorway and waits for the last character to enter the room… That’s right… we’re looking at you, magic-user with your 1d4 hit dice per level.
One major… weakness? of the Grell is the fact that you can target their tentacles. Anytime they take damage from your attacks, they become inoperative, though they’ll regenerate in 1-2 days later. This is great news if you want to keep the Grell alive and bring it home as a pet, not so great news as that damage doesn’t affect it’s Hit Points and you have to hit its brain-body to actually deal damage to the creature. One final mystery is that the Grell are immune to lightning, there is no reason given. Maybe with all of their tentacles rubbing along on shag carpet, they got used to the electric shocks?
2e - Grell
Climate/Terrain: Any
Frequency: Rare
Organization: Hive
Activity Cycle: Any
Diet: Carnivore
Intelligence: Average (8-10)
Treasure: U
Alignment: Neutral Evil
No. Appearing: 1-10
Armor Class: 4
Movement: Fl 12 (D)
Hit Dice: 5
THAC0: 15
No. of Attacks: 11
Damage/Attack: 1-4 (x10)/1-6 or by weapon
Special Attacks: Magical Items
Special Defenses: Nil
Magic Resistance: Nil
Size: M (4’ diameter)
Morale: Elite (13)
XP Value: 2,000
Monstrous Manual, 1993 TSR Inc.
The Grell appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix (1990) and is later reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993) with a few versions taken from the Spelljammer Campaign Setting. These Grell are still ugly, but now feature a rooster comb stuck in-between the lobes of its brain-body… for some reason. Apart from its weird looks, we also get a picture in color so we can bear witness to the greenish-pink body with green-ish teal tentacles complete with octopus suckers… It’s really starting to look like the Grell is made up of a bunch of leftover animal parts that some deity had lying around.
The Grell is now a creature that lives in a basic societal structure, which is great for the Grell as family is incredibly important. Not so great for a party of adventurers as Grell like to journey in average groups of 5. For a typical party of 4 adventurers, they each get their own Grell and the 5th Grell is there for moral support… or to help beak the barbarian to death. Because the Grell is now group focused, they live in a hive or colony like structure, like bees or ants, though they have a patriarch that calls the shots and leads the group of Grell.
The floating brains still prefer to attack by hovering around the ceiling and dropping down onto unsuspecting creatures, and they still have venom to paralyze their prey. The description now puts a time limit on the paralyzation effect, and, as a potential victim, you aren’t going to like it; 5d4 rounds. The Grell also like to drop down, paralyze its target, and then while grabbing onto dinner, will levitate to the ceiling and pummel it to death with its tentacles and beak attacks that automatically hit. Also of importance, it’s clarified that the Grell can attack more than one opponent each round. The wording in the previous edition might lead you to believe that once a Grell had paralyzed a target, it would focus on only that target. Now, one Grell can paralyze up to 5 creatures at a time, holding them fast for up to 20 rounds, while its friends hover around and bitch slap the cleric to death.
But wait, it gets even better! For the Grell, only for the Grell. In 2nd Edition, they introduce the worker/soldier, philosopher, and the patriarch types of Grell. The Soldier Grells can use weapons, and it isn’t just swords and maces. They have two very specific weapons that they are trained to use: the tip-spear and lightning lance. The tip-spear is an edged metal head that is placed over the end of a tentacle and held in place by suction. This weapon deals 1d6 slashing damage or 2d6 when used to impale a target… like when the Grell falls from the ceiling above and crash lands on top of you. Targets must still make a paralyzation saving throw when attacked in this fashion, which is horrifying for anyone dealing with 10 tentacle attacks that all are made with tip-spears and they still have to deal with probably getting paralyzed and eventually pecked to death by a floating brain with a rooster comb… It’s probably best no one talks about the Grell, as that is just an insulting death.
Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix II, 1991 TSR Inc.
The next weapon the soldiers use are the lightning lances, which are… vague and well, they deal lightning damage and that’s something. Very little information is given on them beyond that they deal lightning damage and have 36 charges a day. This lance was originally from the Grells featured in Spelljammers, so it might just be a way of ingratiating them into the Spelljammers world. Still, no information about why they are immune to lightning damage though.
Going back to the rest of Grell society, we now know that the Grell has a very strict hierarchy, where the hive is led by a Patriarch. Below the Patriarch is a small group of Philosopher Grell who then give their orders to the worker and soldiers. While the Grell prefer to live underground, in certain campaigns, like with Spelljammers, they can travel by ship. The ship can only be controlled by the Patriarch, whose body is somewhat fused into the vessel, and they can open a sort of bizarre dimensional passage to take them across space. Also, if things are hopeless for the Grell and they are attacking another spelljammer, the Patriarch can force their ship to turn into a humanoid, robot thing that can punch other ships and shoot lightning out of a massive halberd that the ship wields. I’m not sure future editions can ever match how totally badass that must look like.
3e/3.5e - Grell
Medium-Size Aberration
Hit Dice: 5d8+10 (32 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 5 ft., fly 30 ft. (perfect)
AC: 16 (+2 Dex, +4 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 14
Attacks: 10 tentacles +4 melee and bite -1 melee
Damage: Tentacle 1d4+1 plus paralyzation, bite 2d4
Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. with tentacle)
Special Attacks: Improved grad, paralysis
Special Qualities: Blindsight 60 ft., flight, immunities, tentacle regeneration
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +4
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 9
Skills: Hide +12, Listen +4, Move Sliently +12, Spot +8
Feats: Flyby Attack
Climate/Terrain: Any land or underground
Orgnization: Solitary, pair or pack (3-7)
Challenge Rating: 3
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: 6-10 HD (Medium-size); 11-15 HD (Large)
Monster Manual II, 2002 WotC
The Grell takes a bit of a backseat and has to wait until it appears in the adventure Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (2001) where it is used as an ambush monster and some evil wizards are summoning them through a portal. After a brief appearance, they are then brought forth in the Monster Manual II (2002) where nothing really changes for the Grell except for its picture. Actually, the picture for it in the adventure gives it teeth inside of the beak, which is horrifying, but on future artwork, none of them feature those teeth… which, while it looks more natural, is a lot less scary.
The information and artwork provided clarify that the brain-body is actually leathery, pink-grey skin with dangling pink tentacles with hollow spikes designed for injecting venom into a creature. We lose the rooster comb, and our beak becomes a fearsome and striking part of them, not just an afterthought from before. The Grells are back to being solitary hunters and are smart enough to know how to ambush groups of adventurers and they are cruel and merciless.
Nothing new on the Grell is really put forth in this edition until Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations (2005) comes out and brings with it a ton of information on our favorite aberrations, like aboleths, mindflayers, beholders, and, of course, our favorite floating brain creature, the Grell. The book goes into some detail about Grell society, reaffirming that it is ruled by a Patriarchy Grell and that the Philosopher Grells can cast spells, interestingly it does give a lot of information about how Grell society is focused around a consensus, and that even though there is a patriarchy in place, every Grell’s opinions and ideas are equal and valuable… though some Grell are just more equal than other Grell. Grell that are stronger, can cast more magic or are better inventors have more weight to their words, but every Grell has a chance to make their opinions heard.
Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations, 2005 WotC
The anatomy of Grells are also revealed, they have thick leathery skin that is several inches thick, their tentacles are made of hundreds of ring-shaped muscles sheathed in thinner leathery skin, and their spikes and beaks are actually made of similar material to the calcified shell of an oyster than bone. They also have no eyes and instead perceive their surroundings through vibrations and noise in the air, as well as they have the ability to sense electric currents that every creature puts out. They can even use this electrical-perception to distinguish different materials from one another, though this sight is very limited, only going out to about 60 feet, which means if your sneaky rogue is 61 feet away from them and isn’t making any noise, they might be able to catch the Grell unaware.
The Grell are labeled as “The Eaters” in Lords of Madness, but only because they love too, not because they need to eat often. They favor large meals, preferably any type of humanoid, and can last for months on a single large meal. They love to eat, and all Grell are hunters, there is no specific caste of Grell that do all the hunting for the colonies, every Grell takes joy in hunting and eating sentient prey.
Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations, 2005 WotC
Grell are not especially religious, though some colonies do pay some sort of respect to the mighty gods of devouring and eating, like Tharizdun or elder evils focusing on devouring everything. Eating is a huge part of Grell society and this extends to creatures outside of their colonies, they categorize all creatures into three categories: the Eaten, Inedible, and Great Eaters. The Eaten is anything that a Grell eats, this includes humanoids, beasts, or anything with sentience. They love hunting and sneaking up on their prey, and only enjoy eating still alive creatures. The next group is the Inedible, creatures that Grell might be able to kill, but can’t eat, this could be that the creature is a construct or some sort of ooze monster that the Grell just can’t digest. The final category are the Great Eaters, these creatures are the only things that Grell respect because they can be eaten by them. Mindflayers, aboleths and other horrors below can eat Grell, so Grell make sure they are especially respectful to these creatures… unless there is a group of Grell and they decide to just kill a Great Eater rather than be eaten.
Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations, 2005 WotC
Finally, our Philosopher Grell study a form of magic that combines alchemy and the science of the worlds they have journeyed from. Because Grell are from alien worlds, and might even originate in alien worlds like the Far Realm, they harness strange science and technologies that other creatures have no way of understanding. They use this power to create portals to new worlds, also known as hunting grounds, and they create magic items to help them with the protection of their colonies and to aid in their hunts. The Grell can create a specialized lance that can shoot lightning at their enemies and… well, just like previous editions, there is no real information on it besides it has a handful of charges every day and normal creatures can’t use it.
4e - Grell
Grell - Level 7 Elite Solider
Medium aberrant magical beast (blind) / XP 600
Initiative +9 / Senses Perception +9; blindsight 12
HP 156; Bloodied 78
AC 22 (24 while the grell has an enemygrabbed); Fortitude 19, Reflex 20, Will 17, Immune gaze
Saving Throws +2
Speed 1 (clumsy), fly 6 (hover)
Action Points 1
Tentacle Rake (standard; at-will) ✦ Poison Reach 2; +12 vs. AC; 3d8 + 4 damage and the target is slowed and takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends both)
Tentacle Grab (standard; at will) ✦ reach 2;+12 vs Fortitude; 2d8 +4 damage and the target is grabbed. The grell can only grab on creature at a time.
Venomous Bite (minor 1/round; at will) ✦ Poison Grabbed target only; +12 vs. AC; 1d8+4 damage, and the target is stunned
Alignment Evil / Languages Deep Speech
Skills Stealth +17
Str 12 (+4) | Dex 19 (+7) | Wis 12 (+4) | Con 14 (+5) | Int 10 (+3) | Cha 9 (+2)
Grell are back in 4th edition, and they don’t even have to wait for the second monster manual, instead, they are featured in Monster Manual (2010) and they are even part of a big iconic monster artwork on the first few pages that features a dragon, Grell, some weird slug monster, mindflayers and more! It’s like they are moving up in the world! … Though, the lore we are provided leaves a lot to be desired for these creatures.
Monster Manual, 2010 WotC
Grell are back to being solitary ambushers, though occasionally they will form up in small groups. They lose the ability to paralyze on a hit with a tentacle, though their tentacles can still poison other creatures… Also, their beaks can cause paralysis by just them beaking at the creature so… that’s different. While those are the basics for the Grell, we can now look at their ability to grab prey. They can grapple a single creature at a time and… that’s it. Welp… Let’s talk spears and lances! First, let’s go over the different Grell.
Monster Manual, 2010 WotC
The Grell are split into two different types, the Grell and the Grell Philosopher. The Grell Philosopher can dazzle with psychic powers and they are the only ones that can use the Lightning Lance… but, it’s not listed under equipment, which leads one to believe that it is no longer a physical object, but rather an innate ability that the Philosopher can fire at its enemies. So now, the Grell can wield lightning! Which makes more sense that they would be immune to lightning if they can summon lightning.
The last thing we will touch on for the 4e Grell is the artwork. This monster is back to looking like a pink brain with an orange chicken beak and grayish-pinkish tentacles that end in spikes. It’s not a very inspiring design, and the way the beak blends into its brain-body just makes the beak look like it is made of brain as well. Looking at the Grell, we just feel a bit of pity for it… it doesn’t really strike fear into your heart anymore.
5e - Grell
Grell / Medium aberration, neutral evil
Armor Class 12 / Hit Points 55 (10d8+10)
Speed 10 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)
Str 15 (+2) | Dex 14 (+2) | Con 13 (+1) | Int 12 (+1) | Wis 11 (+0) | Cha 9 (-1)
Skills Perception +4, Stealth +6
Condition Immunities blinded, prone
Damage Immunities lightning
Senses blindsight 60 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 14
Languages Grell
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Mulitattack. The grell makes two attacks; one with its tentacles and one with its beak.
Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 10ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d10 + 2) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The poisoned target is paralyzed, and it can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. The target is also grappled (escape DC 15). If the target is Medium or smaller, it is also restrained until this grapple ends. While grappling the target, the grell has advantage on attack rolls against it and can't use this attack against other targets. When the grell moves, any Medium or smaller target it is grappling moves with it.
Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. , one creature. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) piercing damage.
Monster Manual, 2010 WotC
The Grell are back, and much like in 4e, aren’t waiting for anyone! They are featured in the Monster Manual (2010) and while many things stay the same, a lot of things change for these weird floating brains. We are finally given a reason they can absorb lighting, and its because they can sense electricity and use it to see the world around them as well as what allows them to float around. So that’s cool. What’s not cool is that they completely remove any mention of the lightning lance, and while we have complained incessantly about it being a weird edition to the Grell… we also kind of miss it, it was a fun little lance of death.
The Grell are again restricted to being solitary hunters, though they occasionally form into small groups known as covens. There is no mention of arcane magic, alchemy or greater Grell capable of leading the Grell… so it’s going back to the original roots of 1e for the lore. Luckily, that means our tentacles can now do things! But, they get a single tentacle attack that gives the impression of multiple tentacles striking out and a single beak attack. While rolling 11 attacks every round would definitely slow the game down… it has kind of lost its flavor now. The Grell can make so many attacks and it was their thing, now they are like everything else make two hits and then on to the next creature.
Our Grell still see other creatures, especially those tasty humanoids, as food and keep the same three categories: edibles, inedibles and the Great Eaters that might want to snack on a Grell. Grell are smart enough to watch adventurers fight other monsters in the Grell’s domain and then sweeping in when everyone is exhausted and making off with an edible gnome or halfling. The Grell are smart, opportunistic and merciless when it comes to eating.
Their artwork is... Well, we are back to the pink brain monster with two neat rows of pinkish tentacles ending in spikes. They can retract these spikes slightly so that they can handle delicate materials, and the tentacles can release paralyzing venom and they can drag creatures with them using their tentacles... though only one creature at a time. Now... the most offensive thing about the Grell are their stupid beaks that look they were ripped off of an eagle and then superglued to their brain-bodies. It has a black tip with an orange base with nostril holes and it doesn't really look like it belongs on such a fearsome creature.
The Grell has changed very little over the editions, with the biggest change being its society. No edition can seem to agree on whether these creatures are the solitary, ambush monsters haunting our nightmares, or the worlds traveling colonies hunting all creatures. They all agree that the Grell are ever hungry, and humanoid is their favorite dish.
Got something you’d like to see a Deep Dive on? Let us know in the comments below!
If you enjoy our Deep Dive series consider
supporting us on Patreon and following us on Twitter!
