BX Monsters A to Z: Ape, White

 Back to the Basic Rules for a rather curious creature: the White Ape. Unlike many normal animals of D&D, these white-furred, nocturnal cave-dwellers have no direct analog in our real world, so far as I know. Nonetheless, they're similar and plausible enough to warrant "animal" status, as opposed to some more fantastic categorization. They're also a clear and early departure from the cliched assumption of D&D as straight-up fantasy medieval Europe. 

Despite what my brother thought due to the placement
of this image in the book, this is NOT a bandit.

These dudes are pretty tough for Basic-level adventurers, with a respectable AC of 6 and 4 Hit Dice, the same as a black bear. Their damage isn't tremendous, but two attacks at 1d4 each is nothing to sneeze at for low-level adventurers, and they're also capable of limited ranged combat, hurling rocks for 1d6. An encounter with up to eight of them is probably not a fight to pick if you can avoid it.

 The description indicates they are not intelligent, but I assume that means only relative to human-level intelligence. Their primitive use of projectiles seems to indicate they're at least in the same ballpark as real-world apes. In any event, I think they'd be much more fun if played with rudimentary intelligence rather than simple animal instinct. 

They're also savagely territorial, threatening anyone who approaches and attacking if this fails to scare off the intruders. Despite this, they're sometimes kept as pets by neanderthals. I could also see their territorial behavior making them useful as guards or sentries to all manner of more intelligent creatures, up to and including the occasional eccentric wizard, with their warning screeches serving as a sort of alarm. They'd likely be trained to stand down at some simple signal such as a whistle or short tune played on a particular instrument, allowing adventurers to peacefully bypass them if only they can discover the signal. (If Bugs Bunny taught us anything, it's that music soothes the savage beast, which I know is a misquote, but still a fun trope to play with.) I could imagine a clan of white apes still living in and guarding the same place long after their original master is gone, maybe even teaching and passing down their conditioned responses to generations of offspring. 

For a prudent and resourceful party, white apes can be a fantastic exercise in solving problems by avoiding combat. Play them as smarter than typical animals, and their limited intelligence can actually work against them, allowing them to be outsmarted by clever players. 

I never actually used white apes back in the day, but taking a fresh look at them now is inspiring some interesting possibilities. 

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