Hydra: The Fantasy Cockroach, But Cool

Ah, the hydra. A classic fantasy staple. Be it from Greek myth or just a typical fantasy adventure story or even Dark Souls, every knows and loves the hydra.

Unfortunately, if we’ve learned anything from the centaur or the cyclops, it’s that they don’t exactly hold up in Dungeons and Dragons. But who knows? Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Lore: Vengeful Blood

Oh, that’s a cool title. ‘Vengeful Blood’. I might have to use that in a book sometime.

At the dawn of time, Tiamat, queen of all evil and dragons, slew a rival dragon god, Lernaea, and cast her blood all across the multiverse. Each drop spawned a multi-headed hydra with a hunger matched only by their sire’s hatred. Over time, great warriors would prove themselves champions by defeating these beasts.

To be consumed by a hydra is a vicious and excruciating death. It systematically consumes anything it can reach within its territory, then moves on to hunt elsewhere. So great is their hunger that they may even turn on themselves like a snake devouring its own tail.

Naturally aquatic, hydras can often be found near bodies of water. Rarely do they take shelter from the elements, leading to a lack of a proper lair. It is only in colder climates that a hydra might bother making one. Make no mistake, however; homeless as they are, a hydra is cautious, leaving one head awake to keep watch when it rests.

You know, for a creature born from the death of a rival to Tiamat, the lore here is pretty disappointing. It can make for some cool, creepy set pieces. Perhaps the players can wander through former hydra territory and find no living things in sight. Or maybe you can get creative and come up with some plotline to resurrect Lernaea for a proper boss fight with their blood. What little the lore gives can be bended into some really fun plots or moments.

Design: King Ghidorah Joke

I’m sorry. But the Godzilla fanboy inside me couldn’t help me. Accurate or no, I can’t help it. I see a multi-headed golden dragon-like creature, and something just clicks in my brain.

My personal kaiju biases aside, this is a decent design. It’s definitely not anything new; what new can you do with a hydra? But this look is wonderfully effective.

Just look at those heads! Those are sinister as shit! You can practically hear its stomach growling as their hissing heads slowly move to surround you. And those legs may be short, but they’re some strong-looking dinosaur limbs; you can tell that you ain’t getting far if you try to run.

It isn’t an especially creative design, sure. But you can take one look and immediately know what you’re looking at. It ain’t creative, sure, but it sure as hell is effective.

Stats: Many Foes in One

This dude is a bargain bin for an encounter! You’ve got seven enemies all in one body!

At its core, the hydra is a pretty simple monster. It’s pretty damn bulky, with a decent AC and a near 200 HP pool. All it can really do is bite, which can be pretty dangerous depending on how many heads it has.

Killing it, however, is far from easy. All thanks to its unique ability: Multiple Heads.

So long as it has more than one head, this ability is in play. With that, the hydra has advantage on all saving throws against most status effects. Should it take 25 points of damage, one head will die. However, at the end of the turn, two more will take its place, restoring 10 HP each. The only way to prevent this is to deal fire damage in the time between its turns.

On top of that, it has Reactive Heads. With this, the hydra gets an extra Reaction for every head it has. Make sure your party is willing to use the Disengage action, or they’re gonna have to deal with a lot of Opportunity Attacks.

Also, as stated in the lore, one head is always awake. So… good luck sneaking up on it.

Placement

This was a mixed bag of a monster. Mostly positive! But mixed. The lore has potential, despite how sparse it is. Its design is simple, but wonderfully effective. Its stats are simple, but they can make for unique and difficult encounter. This fantasy staple has definitely earned a spot in line for any campaign.

With all that in mind, let’s put the Hydra on the Best of the Bestiary!

1. Beholder
2. Death Tyrant
3. Dragon Turtle
4. Green Dragons
5. Red Dragons
6. Blue Dragons
7. Black Dragons
8. White Dragons
9. Silver Dragons
10. Couatl
11. Behir
12. Aboleth
13. Sea Hag
14. Bronze Dragons
15. Brass Dragons
16. Copper Dragons
17. Gold Dragons
18. Chuul
19. Gibbering Mouther
20. Chimera
21. Death Knight
22. Fomorian
23. Bone Devil
24. Dracolich
25. Faerie Dragon
26. Hobgoblins
27. Night Hag
28. Green Hag
29. Ankheg
30. Hook Horror
31. Storm Giant
32. Hill Giant
33. Empyrean
34. Efreeti
35. Grimlock
36. Dao
37. Cloud Giant
38. Drow (all four of ’em)
39. Shadow Demon
40. Marilith
41. Drider
42. Aarackockra
43. Azer
44. Demilich
45. Spectator
46. Hydra <————————
47. Marid
48. Harpy
49. Half-Dragon
50. Cambion
51. Fire Giant
52. Animated Armor
53. Banshee
54. Basilisk
55. Yochlol
56. Bulette
57. Cloaker
58. Darkmantle
59. Doppelganger
60. Ghoul and Ghast
61. Ettin
62. Pit Fiend
63. Erinyes
64. Chain Devil
65. Bearded Devil
66. Barbed Devil
67. Spined Devil
68. Ice Devil
69. Djinni
70. Nalfeshnee
71. Glabrezu
72. Chasme
73. Grell
74. Barlgura
75. Horned Devil
76. Balor
77. Shadow Dragon
78. Vrock
79. Dretch
80. Gnolls (all three)
81. Goristro
82. Hezrou
83. Manes
84. Frost Giant
85. Duergar
86. Quasit
87. Dryad
88. Flumph
89. Goblin
90. Githyanki
91. Planetar
92. Imp
93. Clay Golem
94. Flameskull
95. Displacer Beast
96. Carrion Crawler
97. Githzerai
98. Grick
99. Rug of Smothering
100. Bugbear Chief
101. Bugbear
102. Flesh Golem
103. Vine Blight
104. Twig Blight
105. Needle Blight
106. Bullywug
107. Hellhound
108. Ettercap
109. Gas Spore
110. Cockatrice
111. Lemure
112. Homonculus
113. Solar
114. Deva
115. Gorgon
116. Hippogriff
117. Griffon
118. Cyclops
119. Centaur
120. Ghost
121. Fire Elemental
122. Water Elemental
123. Air Elemental
124. Stone Giant
125. Deep Gnome
126. Dinosaurs (All six of them)
127. Iron Golem
128. Stone Golem
129. Earth Elemental
130. Galeb Duhr
131. Helmed Horror
132. Flying Sword
133. Crawling Claw
134. Violet Fungus
135. Shrieker
136. Gargoyle