When a snake gets long enough, the gorgon cuts it off at the root and tosses it away.

The amputated snake then develops into another gorgon.

Friendly bump for interest.

Also, input:

Maybe gorgans have different breeds of snake hair, and that plays into some sort of hierarchical structure. I do agree with the ceremonially masked traders of great wealth. Gorgans seem like they'd be pretty powerful and domineering individuals, very intimidating or convincing in affairs of monetary value.

If gorgons are so domineering and imperious, are there gorgon peasants? Seems unlikely. Probably they have slaves to do all the hard, but necessary work of a nation like tilling fields, farming meat, building homes, that sort of thing? Maybe cyclopses, keeping with the Greek theme?

>>14249377
My campaign is actually revolving around an unwilling apotheosis of one of the PCs, and it heavily involves yuan-ti (who are trying to stop her), couatls (who are beginning to worship her), and a medusa (caught between the valor of Tyr and the veil of Cyric).

Just because there isn't a direct link between yuan-ti and gorgons, doesn't mean you can't make one in your campaign.

>>14249508
That would be cool. They might not have peasents, but they might have lower-class gorgans, which still have slaves, just fewer. They still have influence, just less.

>>14249471
Why stop there? Maybe there are different types of gorgon that grow different animals for hair? Maybe there's an aquatic subrace of sea witch gorgons with lampreys and eels for hair? Or a slimy, swamp-dwelling race of slug-haired gorgon?

Hell, we could go even more exotic and silly and have gorgons with a mass of long-necked birds like egrets and herons for hair!

me like thread

>>14249565

That would be hilarious and amazing. Sidenote, I just had the image of royal gorgans that have cobras for hair, or large gorgans with anaconda hair that trails down to the floor.

God damn it, now I want to do this in a campaign!

>>14249517
What sort of link might there be, though? Are the yuan-ti a race of gorgon extremists, exiled from the isle of the rest of the race, for going too far and wanting to make everything too snakey? Or are they deranged humans who are weeaboo for gorgon culture and use strange magic and rituals to turn them into a facsimilie of what they wish they were?

Other suggestions and ideas welcome...

Me dusa.

>>14249595
Gargantuan gorgons with giraffe necks growing out of their heads.

>>14249565

The dreaded Fractal Gorgon has other Gorgons for hair.

If you're a fan of sexy Gorgon bitches, you should really read Incredible Hercules.

Also, If you're a fan of awesome comics, you should really read Incredible Hercules.

>>14249596
You should roll with that. Yuan-ti are chaotic evil, whereas gorgons are usually lawful evil. Hell, create an entire snake pantheon instead of just Merrshaulk.

>Fractal Gorgon greater deity

>>14249609

OH SHI-

>>14249608

Eh, not so much. Giraffes would just look silly and non-threatening. Though I assume that was the point haha

>>14249609

It's just Gorgons, all the way down!

Giant giraffe gorgons could all have Marge Simpson-style beehive hairdos.

>>14249596
I like the weeaboo Yuan-ti idea. The Gorgons fucking hate these losers who keep giving them a bad name and trying to imitate their shit. They turn them to stone whenever they see them on their island. They sell the statues back to the Snakaboos who buy them at top dollar because holy shit the Gorgons are really talking to us and look they even make statues of us!

>>14249653
There's a gorgon creation myth here, surely.
Gorgons are just the shed hairs of the fractal gorgon goddess. Naturally, the noble gorgon families come from the head, the politicos and merchant princesses from the eyebrows, the minor lords from the armpits and the peasants, well...

>>14249636
>Fractal Gorgon greater deity
Every gorgon on the fractal gorgon's head represents one actual gorgon. When a gorgon dies it's spot on the fractal gorgon is replaced by a gorgon further down. When a new gorgon is born a new one sprouts somewhere on the fractal gorgon's head/gorgon fractal.

>>14249662
Ha ha! Fuck yes!
I love this idea, this is brilliant. Machiavellian or enterprising gorgons might even see the yuan-ti as expendable, disposable servants, because, let's face it, they'll do anything a gorgon asks them to and they'll do it with a smile!

>>14249657

Ok, now that made me laugh.
>>14249670

Also hilarious.

Honestly, since the hair is fleshy I figured that, like all fleshy bits of you, it grows to is natural size and then stays there, maybe altering a bit with age.

It isn't actually hair and probably shouldn't function as such. I assume you wouldn't have to feed it either. All your extremities normally get nutrients from your one mouth/stomach combo, why not your snake hair?

>>14249670
>>14249682

So, would this mean that to a Gorgon, their head-snakes are sacred? Perhaps they're considered blessings from the Divine Mother Nightmarish Monstrosity Made Entirely Of Gorgons Augh.

There could whole a kind of code around different kinds of snake hair. Size, type of snake, even colouring and scale patterns could be used to represent families or social strata.

Do gorgons feed their snake hair? Perhaps there are like the equivalent of salons in this island nation where gorgon girls go and sit in front of long mirrors and read magazines and chat about where they're going on holiday while specially trained gorgon hairdressers massage their snakes, rub special oils and ungeants into their scales and feed them choice little cuts of meat.

>>14249716
They can't do 'haircuts' per say, but female gorgons (especially when looking for a husband [do they have marriage customs?]) will stylistically paint the scales of their head-snakes to make themselves prettier. During colder weather they put little knitted snaky tube-sweaters on them.

>>14249747
It'd probably work better if all the snakes were coiled together. Snakefros for everyone.

>>14249377

#1 I could imagine that both Gorgons and Yuan-Ti were created by the same God, but while the Yuan-Ti still serve Merrshaulk, the Gorgons have cut themselves free from his influence.

The thing is, Yuan-Ti want to destroy everything. Everyfuckinthing.
The Gorgons again,wouldn't mind to enslave you,rape you and steal your last pants (in this order), yet they still see you as a somewhat usefull good. They simply are unwilling to destroy the world,as they would rather dominate it.

Regarding their hair,I assume the snakes are connected with the blood system of the Gorgon, making manually feeding them obsolete (though I could imagine they still feed them from time to time,be it to ensure their loyalty or to reward one particulary well-behaved snake.

Since being connected to the blood system would very likely also mean that the snakes are connected to the Gorgon's nervous system, removing would be unimaginable painful,much like tearing out a limb.
If the snakes possess their own complete brains and not just large nerve hubs,the cut should also bleed rather seriously,so I doubt that Gorgons ever will have a haircut (willingly,that is.)

I suppose that their hair either grows during their entire lifetime or that they can willingly control it's growth.
They need a damn god neck musculature anyhow if they don't want to risk breaking their neck if their hair doesn't behave.

I imagine gorgon farmers would have to specially breed a lot of their livestock so that they'd be born blind, thus immune to their petrification gaze.

I'm picturing eyeless, horse-like reptilian creatures that navigate their way via blindsense, perhaps mean, snapping dogs and hunting falcons that hunt via echolocation, like bats.

>>14249758
I like the idea better that the snakes move independently (the gorgon doesn't have direct control over them) but they work somewhat off of the gorgon's subconscious, so for instance an angry gorgon's snakes might instinctively hiss and snap at nearby people/things.

>>14249758
Man, I want to play a sassy, badass, blaxploitation-era, Foxy Cleopatra-style gorgon girl, now.

>>14249783
Suddenly you and the gordon adventurer are tied up together in the BBEG's dungeon.

"If we're going to die I think you should probably just come out and admit how you feel about me."
"I don't have the ssslightessst idea what feelingsss you ssspeak of."
"Ohh... so you don't know why your hair is rubbing against me like a bunch of tiny tubular cats in heat?"
"They're jussst doing it for warmth. Ssstupid human. It'sss not like I like you or anything..."

>>14249772
Which brings to mind what kind of sport would be present in gorgon society. Hunting is definitely a given: I would imagine that the gorgons would favor scent hounds, such as blue-ticks.

Would gorgons be nocturnal, diurnal, or a combination of the two given their natural darkvision?

>>14249377

>snake hair, how does that work

Not very well, I would assume.

I suppose that they don't have to be snakes, do they? They could very easily be prehensile tentacle-things, yes? Or even non-prehensile.

Gorgon upper-class could have ornate metal snake heads cast and encrusted with gems to cap the ends of their tentacles as a show of wealth and status.

why does everyone think a gorgon is a medusa??

picture very related

>>14249902
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon
>While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living, venomous snakes, and a horrifying gaze that turned those who beheld it to stone.

>>14249902
Obvious troll is obvious.

Cannot into Greek Mythology.

>>14249902
Medusa was one of the Gorgons, what you posted was made up for D&D

>>14249828
Gorgon sports? I think that gorgons would be into arena sports.

Two gorgons enter an arena, wearing special helmets, bound with leather straps so that their petrifying gaze doesn't work. Then, two dangerous beasts are released. The gorgons are awarded points by a panel of judges for the speed at which they manage to remove their bonds, petrify the beast and, for that matter, any interesting or dramatic poses struck by the monsters during their transformation from flesh to stone.

A combination of gladiatorial combat and escapology, with a touch of artistic flair for the cultured gorgon audience.

>>14249923
>>14249925
>>14249933

>>14249902
If I rember my greek mythology right there were three sisters and they were know as gorgons, one was named medusa and has had far more publicity than the other two.

>>14249902
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catoblepas

You can take that and your "dire" beasts and stuff them up your ass.

>>14249902
Silly troll. That's not a gorgon, that's a specially bred gorgon cow, from the island nation of Gorgos.

It's known as a gorgon throughout the rest of the world, in much the same way that a Persian cat is sometimes simply called a Persian in our world.

>>14249953
Why DID they change the name of the Catebolepas to "Gorgon" in later D&D versions? Doesn't make any damn sense.

>>14249970
> Japanese steel
Not something to be proud of, Medusa-lady.

>>14249998
Maybe it's all she could afford...

>>14249970

>Japanese steel
>implying what few iron deposits exist in Japan aren't riven with more impurities than a Chaos Cult

I imagine a gorgon nation would be a haven for creatures that would not otherwise be accepted elsewhere. I can imagine hag, rakshasa and harpy embassies, summoning devils being commonplace, that kind of thing...

>>14250018
So basically, it's Thay or Cheliax, depending on your setting...

Let's just get to it already.

>>14249942
>The name gorgon isn't from greek mythology
>Gorgon doesn't mean a medusa
>Trolling with a troll picture
Wut?

>>14249946
Medusa,Sstheno and Euryale... I did 3.5 stats for monstrous versions of a Sstheno and Euryale a while back... need to see if I can dig them up.

>>14250009
>Implying modern ore purification processes don't make the source of an ore immaterial.

It says forged in 2010. I'm pretty sure it wasn't made using those shitty ancient metallurgical methods.

>>14249994
They didn't.

The Gorgon in D&D has always been a metalic bull that breathed petrifying gas. The Catebolepas is a separate creature.

The term gorgon for this creature came from a medieval "beastiary", basically an encyclopedia of monsters.

http://tinyurl.com/LifeMagazineGorgon

>>14249970
>>14249970

Sauce?

>>14250152
Then what was the point of saying "Japanese steel"? They didn't go "All American Steel K-bar Knife".

The author specifically made a point of saying "Japanese Steel" to specifically imply it was superior to other steel for specifically "mystic Japanese Ninja Magic" or other similar bullshit.

Then again, since Marvel Comic's is actually FULL OF mystical ninja bullshit anyway, it's not that farfetched.

>>14250202
>Marvel Comic's is

What the fuck am I smoking. "Marvel Comics are".

In the conclusion of my last epic campaign (we were all around level 25) we fought a homebrew gorgon greater demon with annihalation gaze instead of petrifying gaze and 10 snake attacks with petrifying bite.

Could also go invisible at will and was displaced when not invisible, in addition to being a fuckawesome spear warrior.

(It was fun. Scary as shit and we perma lost 2 characters but it the loot was so cash)

An entire island nation of creatures with nature save-or-die attacks will make your players hate you and they will be right to do so.

>>14250202 The author specifically made a point of saying "Japanese Steel" to specifically imply it was superior to other steel

Plenty of high-quality steel blades are made in japan, and the author gives the details for her other weapons, which consist of a US combat knife and a pair of Polish machine pistols. I'm pretty sure you're just knee-jerk anti-weeabooing.

>>14250180 Sauce?

see >>14249611

>>14250344
Anti-weeabooing, yes.
Knee-jerk, no.

Also, enough metallurgy, back to snake-chicks.

>>14250325
This is something of an issue if you want any of these details to be relevant to anyone involved in the game besides you. They'll need some kind of protection if they're expected to actually go there voluntarily, and it has to be something good, a pair of glasses that can oh so conveniently be broken or stolen from them isn't going to cut it for any player that hasn't gone full retard.

contributin'

>>14250085

From the thumbnail I thought it was a naked gorgon, with the black censor bar over her eyes, and thought that was a cool idea.

Then I saw that it was actually just sunglasses.

Aren't gorgons supposed to be fuck beautiful and the whole ugly thing was a curse?

oddly enough, monster vault 4e has medusae like yaun-ti.

http://digitalmedusa.com/medusa/

handly link.

>>14251157

Yep. The Gorgon sisters were legendary in their hotness. They were priestesses of Aphrodite.

Medusa was so beautiful, in fact, that she was said to rival the beauty of the gods. Poseidon got a huge boner and tried to seduce her; when she turned him down he chased her all the way to Aphrodite's temple, where he threw her down and raped her on the temple steps.

Rather than answer Medusa's cries for help, Aphrodite -who was pissed that one of the Gorgon sisters had the AUDACITY to be raped on the steps of HER temple- cursed Medusa to be a horrible snake monster so that no man could ever find her beautiful again.

On a side note, when Perseus later cuts off Medusa's head and Pegasus and Chrysaor spring from her body, the two are her children that resulted from the rape.

tl;dr -greek gods are fucking dickholes, man.

>This thread

>>14250094

Ok, found the stats, looked them over quickly (skimmed, really, just to patch any glaring problems).

As with most of 3.5 creators, Challenge Ratings are pure guesswork, so caveat emptor and whatnot.

I'm seeing a sort of religious nation/cult of snake deity worshippers, so strong in their faith and conviction that they have changed their bodies to become more snake-like. Gorgons can be the priestesses, wearing ceremonial masks almost at all times.

Fuck yeah SMEK SMEK THREAD!

>>14250202

Modern Japanese steel is known as some of the best in the world as they have some of the best processing technology around.

VG-10 for example:
"VG-10 is considered a "super steel," because it is designed to maintain sharpness and durability without becoming brittle, a major fault normally associated with exceptionally hard steel. This quality is ideal when extreme sharpness is desired, as most other steels will not take or keep an edge like VG-10."

I have a medusa PC (idea) with Vow of Poverty, Vow of Non-Violence and Vow of Peace. The original idea was she would have to protect the statues...upon further reading, even the author of the vows noted that turning someone into stone isn't breaking your vow (since it does no damage). And breaking the statues isn't breaking the vow either (since it doesn't kill them; just makes it very hard for the targets to escape their prison since the statues would need to be rebuilt).

>>14251466

It wasn't Aphrodite who cursed Medusa, it was Athena - goddess of wisdom, civilization and justice among other things.

So it's even higher on the dickery meter by modern standards.

>>14254574
I want the full picture

>>14254574

This can't be the whole picture, sauce please.

>>14254688
>>14254694
titmind

>>14249670
I had never considered what Gorgon pubes were made out of. Eeep!

>>14254758
ITT: Pubes are PEASANTS

>>14254758
It's a good thing Grogons come from shed god hair, because no male in his right mind would willingly bring his penis anywhere near that next of snakes.

>>14254574

Does anyone have sauce?

>>14254497

This is so awesome I'm stealing it right now.

Statting up.

>>14254688
>>14254694
>>14255141

Search medusa on rule34. First picture.

>>14255141
>>14254694
>>14254688
http://nesoun.deviantart.com/
it is done by the same artist that did this

>>14254837
Medusa Snakes only do 1d4 damage.

DR 5/magic is all you'd need to shake that off.

>beginning of this thread
OHFUCKYEAHCONSIDERTHISSTOLEN
>gorgon girl discussion
...
>image dump
>mfw

I prefer the idea that medusae only have a few snakes from their head and the rest are hair. Also serves to explain why they aren't as effective as 50 million snake bites

Snakes and ladies.

My two greatest fears.

What would happen if a Gorgon was born blind?

>>14257884
Why would that matter? They still have eyes, there's nothing to suggest that blindness would affect their power (unless you physically damage their eyes), perhaps...

>>14257931
It's petrifying GAZE, and blind critters are immune to it. Leads me to believe that, if at least her main eyes were blind, she can;t do the stone thing.
Can they see through the snakes?

>>14249770

I can imagine that, in a society of Gorgons, a Gorgon who broke the law to an extreme may have her snakes cut off as a symbol of what she has done. Imagine, in a society where your hair is alive and is used as a status symbol, the pain and humiliation of having it lopped off and cauterized so it can't grow back.

>>14257988
lopping off their head doesn't stop the petrifying from working

I fail to see how genetic blindness would remove it

I liked the bit of fluff for the Maedar in the second edition Monster Manual. The male of the Medusa species. Incredibly strong, and immune to all petrification effects. When his mate had petrified a victim, he would smash it to pieces with his bare fists, then use his Stone To Flesh innate power to turn the chunks into food, as needed. They were incredibly rare and highly prized mates, often well protected by the females. See if you can work something like that in, OP.

>>14257988
So the colour red doesn't exist because blind people can't see it?

The Medusa's gaze attack only requires the person to see THEM, not them to see the opponent.

Perseus was such a dick. Medusa was just chilling in her cave, living out a miserable existence, when bam, in comes an adventurer blessed by the gods with a bunch of magic weapons. She got the raw end of the deal, too... both Euryale and Stheno were immortal. (Though I believe Stheno died later at the hands of the gods... she was too dangerous or something like that. Can't... quite... remember.)

Poor girl... never got to have her snakes massaged at a beauty salon....

As an aside, Homer only mentions one gorgon (not even by name), and describes her as a terrible creature of the Underworld. The three sisters and the beauty aspects were incorporated into the myth later.

>>14258139
>Poor girl... never got to have her snakes massaged at a beauty salon....
I have no idea why I love this idea so much... or why I feel a little jealous?

>>14258186
I know! Maybe because snakes are sexy? And we all have a soft spot for monsters? Especially sexy female monsters?

I might as well ask this question here.

Does anyone know the name of a foreign animation of three singers going through procedures that make them into gorgons, and during a concert they turn everyone to stone; even the ones watching over the television?

A man, a cross eyed women, and a swot team try to kill the sisters, but they all fail and the cartoon ends with the man being turned to stone by their singing.

Three years later and I still can't find the name of it.

>>14258234
Nope. Go back to /d/, creep.

>>14258234
Maybe...
I wouldn't mind working at a Medusa Salon, thinking about it.

>>14258253
Never been to /d/.... do they have gorgons getting pedicures there? Or perhaps one quietly enjoying a milkshake in an old-fashioned ice cream shop, her snakes licking delicately at the whipped cream?

>>14258553
You could say that his cock was petrified?

I do believe that you need a gorgon with gorgons for hair, infinitely recursive gorgons.

so what would be the highest ranking breed of snake hair?

king cobra would be the most obvious choice
would different breeds grant different abilities?

anaconda gorgons would be larger, and capable of swollowing humanoids whole
spitting cobras would have a ranged snake spit spray attack

>>14258296
>gorgon enjoying a milkshake, snake-hair licking the whipped cream

drawfag needed. this is too cute to leave alone

>>14258296
>>14259260
>givemeallyourmoney.jpg

rolled 1, 1, 1, 1 = 4

Cooool.

>>14258629
>Thatisthejoke.jpeg

>>14259223
Medusoid Races.

Viper
The common Medusa, no other stat changes.

Cobra, Spitting
Can spit or spray poison. Poison is the same, but it becomes a contact poison that can be delivered as normal, or spit as a ranged touch attack. On a roll of a natural 20 on this attack, the victim must also succeed a reflex save (at the same DC) or be blinded for 1d4 minutes due to the toxin compromising a vital location(creatures immune to critical hits are immune to this blinding attack.

A Spitting Cobra medusa can poison any handheld weapon as a free action, but cannot also spit poison in the same round.

Cobra, King
Commanding Presence, +4 Bonus to Charisma. A King Cobra Medusa also has a domination gaze(in addition to her other gaze attack), which can Dominate(as the spell) any humanoid or monstrous humanoid with an alternate gaze attack. The DC is (10 + 1/2 HD + Charisma modifier) and is otherwise identical to another gaze attack. This effect is permenant, however characters still get additional saving throws to shake off the effect as normal if compelled to perform an action that violates their personality and alignment(a successful save means they break the effect as normal).

A King Cobra medusa can suppress one or both gaze attacks as she wishes, but only one can operate at a time.

>>14259952
Constrictor
These medusa are larger than normal, both taller and more muscular. Constrictor Medusa lose their poison ability and have -2 dexterity compared to standard medusa. However they have +4 Strength, +2 Constitution, and the Powerful build racial trait as well as a +4 racial bonus on grapple checks. They lose their Snakes as a natural weapon, instead gaining a Slam attack (1d8) and the Improved Grab and Constrict special attacks. Their constrict attack deals slam damage plus one and a half times the Constrictor's strength bonus.

A Constrictor Medusa who has pinned an opponent can prevent them from averting their eyes from the Medusa, and automatically forces a second save (in addition to the normal save required each round) for each round they maintain the pin.

Pit Viper
These Medusa are consummate hunters. They have +2 Intelligence and +4 Wisdom, as well as the Scent special ability. Pit Viper Medusa gain Track as a bonus feat.

Mamba, Green
Arboreal in nature, Green Mamba Medusa are deadly predators with extremely potent venom, and amazing climbing skills. A Green Mamba Medusa has +4 dexterity and gains a +2 racial bonus to the saving throw DC of her poison. Additionally they have a climb speed equal to their base land speed, and can move through treetops easily, gaining the Brachiation feat for free as a bonus feat. A Green Mamba medusa can use her strength or dexterity score, whichever is higher, for her climb checks.

>>14259956
Sidewinder
Devilishly fast and particularly combative, Sidewinder medusa have a base land speed of 40ft. Once per hour, they can Sprint, traveling ten times their base movement speed (or 400ft) as part of a charge action.

Sidewinder Medusa are more dangerous in combat, and can make two attacks per round with their snakes.

Sea Serpent
Dangerous aquatic hunters, Sea Serpent medusa have +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, and a swim speed equal to their base land speed. a Sea Serpent Medusa can hold her breath underwater for one hour per point of constitution without requiring air.

Milksnake
Pale and willowy, Milksnake medusa have +2 Int and +2 Charisma. Their snake attack carries no poison, however they can use Stone to Flesh and Animate Objects each once per day as spell-like abilities (caster level is equal to her HD).

... these are just off the top of my head, but I hope it at least gives some ideas or inspiration.

>>14259952
Oh, ranged touch attack at 10ft range... I think 10ft was about right, maybe as much as 20ft.....

Do they have snakes for pubic hair too?

>>14260559

Yes.

>>14260559
the greek legends did not cover that, however they stated that they changed the hair on her head to be snakes, so basicly they said nothing about armpit etc.

>>14260559

Only if you want them to.

>>14260559
No.

>>14260621
This picture is silly. Where are all the snakes that would be on her legs if all of her hair was snakes?

>>14260719
It's silly to have snakes for pubes and undarms even though your OTHER dense patch of hair is all snakes.

The simple fact that you can sit there and declare that having snakes for head hair is intelligent and normal, but having it anywhere else is "silly" makes me wonder.

(PS either the rest of her body is scaled, hairless and smooth, or the picture isn't drawn to the level of detail that would let you see them. There are plenty of reasonable reasons that you don't see them.

At least as reasonable as any need to be when you're discussing a magic snake-haired lady with petrifying eyeballs.)

Snake Bump

Am I mistaken or didn't the gorgons have Silver and/or Golden wings?

>>14263237
Depends on the version of the story. Early interpretations of the Gorgon were monstrous featuring brassy claws and wings, disfigured faces with serpent locks, etc.

The story of Medusa being cursed from beauty was a later adaptation.