The Displacer Beast is another one of those original Dungeons & Dragons monsters that might not be super special, but it is well-loved. Our not-so-cuddly cat is a six-legged puma with tentacles, has one great ability and has always had great art. Not every creature can have the power of a lich, the lore of a dragon or the consistently hideous bad art of an otyugh, but these kittens deserve some love!

The Displacer Beast was inspired by the Coeurl, and this is one creature that we can’t blame on the twisted mind of Gary Gygax. The Coeurl is a feline-like creature from the 1939 science fiction story Black Destroyer by A. E. van Vogt, later incorporated into the novel The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950). In the book, our heroes are flying through the universe in their spaceship in search of excitement and adventure. They land on a planet that is mostly deserted, except for roaming herds of deer-like creatures. The crew plan on exploring the remains of an ancient civilization that once lived on the planet, a great city now reduced to ruins and ash. It is a deserted and desolate planet. Our villain, the Coeurl, approaches the ship, pretending to be an unintelligent animal, and quickly infiltrates it. In the story, the Coeurl is a wise and terrifyingly evil creature, black as night with cat-like features and barbed tentacles. It kills several crewmen before being tricked into leaving the now spaceborne ship in a rescue pod. The Coeurl then kills itself once it realizes it has been defeated.

Now that we have our Displacer Beast’s origin story out of the way, let’s jump right in. One of the nice things about a creature that hasn’t changed that much over the editions is that you can drill down and take a look at every little aspect of the creature, so get ready for it!

OD&D - Displacer Beast

No. Appearing: 2-5

Armor Class: 4

Move: 15”

Hit Dice: 6

% in Lair: 35%

Treasure Type: D

No. of Attacks: 2 tentacles

Damage/Attack: 2-8/tentacle

The Displacer Beast was introduced in the Greyhawk Suppliment (1975), it somewhat resembles a puma - if that puma had six legs and two tentacles growing from its shoulders. Its entire body is covered in a short black fur, and its eyes glow a hellish green. Pretty creepy, probably enough to put it at the top of the scary giant cat list.

Now displacement itself wasn’t a ‘thing’ in Dungeons & Dragons, meaning that the term itself wasn’t defined in the rules. The description of the Displacer Beast states that they always appear to be 3” from their actual position, leaving the reader to wonder if this was an illusion and therefore subject to the same rules as illusion spells. Well, good thing that in OD&D, those aren’t spelled out either! So where do we find a game definition displacement? In typical OD&D fashion, the rules for displacement are found in the description of another item (or creature in some cases), and the item, in this case, is aptly named the Displacer Cloak. The creature description states that for purposes of hitting them, the Displacer Beast is treated as a character wearing a Displacer Cloak.

The Displacer Cloak is described as a device that warps light waves to make the wearer appear to be up to 1” away from where he is standing. It makes it 10% harder to hit its wearer, whether by smiting or wand (add +2 to saving throws). Which just means our alien-cat is pretty hard to hit. A question that could be asked is that since it states that the Displacer Beast appears 3” away from its actual position and the cloak makes it 10% harder for 1”, does that mean it’s 30% harder to hit? As we have learned throughout doing these deep dives, the original games leave a lot to desired when it comes to rule clarification.

The Displacer Beast’s magical resistance is high, equalling that of a 12th level fighter. This is the 2nd highest tier available for saving throws in this edition of the game, meaning that the Displacer Beast is extremely resistance to magic. You can only get better if you were a level 13+ Fighting Man or a level 11+ Magic User, so that should put it into some sort of perspective as to how good they are against magic.

In battle, the Displacer Beast has one primary method of attack. Both of the tentacles on the displacer beast have sharp spikes covering them, allowing them to cause 2d4 damage each. It is a little disappointing that there were no claw attacks from our mean cat, especially since they have six total legs. One might assume that the extra set of legs and claws would have been a genetic mutation to help the Displacer Beast in battle, but this is not what the creators had in mind. Since they aren’t going to get a claw attack, we guess a bite attack is out of the question too.

The final line in the description states that there is great enmity between Displacer Beasts and blink dogs. Sounds like the set up to a great dog vs. cat story set inside the world of Dungeons & Dragons right? Well, if you think so, then it’s on you to create it since we are only given that Blink Dogs are always lawful and will always attack Displacer Beasts on sight.

Basic D&D - Displacer Beast

Armor Class: 4

Move: 150’ (50’)

Hit Dice: 6

No. of Attacks: 2 tentacles

Damage/Attack: 2-8/2-8

No. Appearing: 1-4 (1-4)

Save As: Fighter Level 6

Morale: 8

Treasure Type: D

Alignment: Neutral

The Displacer Beast is introduced in the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set (1977) and not much changes between these two editions. It is now described as a large black panther instead of a puma; to us, that makes it even more badass. In the hierarchy of large cats, the black panther is higher than the puma for sure.

The Displacer Beast still only gets to attack with its tentacles, each still dealing 2d4 damage each. It's claim to fame, displacement, changes only because the to-hit rules are changed. Now instead of being 10% harder to hit, any creature attempting to hit the beast has -2 to their attack rolls. It still always appears to be 3' from its actual position, and still receives a +2 bonus on all saving throws. They are sited as semi-intelligent beasts, nothing at all like the Coeurl, who were dangerously smart and had built whole civilizations.

Once again, the final line in the description is about the Displacer Beast’s feeling for the blink dog. Displacer Beasts hate and fear blink dogs, and will always attack them and anyone traveling with them. We’re telling you, there’s a great story behind this somewhere. Maybe other editions will shed some light on the subject.

AD&D - Displacer Beast