Michael J. Tresca reviewed:
Reaper Miniatures 77159 Bones - GhastThis review is from: Reaper Miniatures 77159 Bones - Ghast (Toy)
The Battle of Emridy Meadows features seven ghouls in Gnarrag the Dog King's den, which is a little strange. Also, who has seven ghouls? Well now I have four thanks to the Reaper Bones II Kickstarter.
Gnolls as hyena intersects with ghouls in a curious way. H.P. Lovecraft's ghouls had a lot of canine-like features and hyenas have been (incorrectly) listed as scavengers and carrion-eaters. This may be why the two are associated with each other through their demonic deity, Yeenoghu. D&D ghouls don't look much like the ghouls of Lovecraft's stories -- a Lovecraftian ghoul isn't just a scavenging reanimated corpse but a full transformation into a new species -- and the hyena heritage of the gnolls fits the bill nicely.
Ghasts are another thing entirely. Lovecraft referenced them in The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath as looking nothing like ghouls. Vulnerable to sunlight, they hop around like kangaroos on hoofed feet and tear apart their prey. Although they have a strong sense of smell, they don't actually reek so bad that it would incapacitate someone. D&D took some strange liberties with them. But that's okay, because ghasts and ghouls look similar.
One of these ghast sculpts made an appearance as a minion of the vampire queen in the first Reaper Bones Kickstarter as a Necropolis Ghast, so that brings my ghoul count up to five. However, the sculpt has a lot in common with the zombie sculpt from Dungeon Command, which happens to be the exact sculpt as the terror wight from the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures game. Their appearance and posture is nearly identical with the exception that the ghast sculpt has no hair.
Gnolls as hyena intersects with ghouls in a curious way. H.P. Lovecraft's ghouls had a lot of canine-like features and hyenas have been (incorrectly) listed as scavengers and carrion-eaters. This may be why the two are associated with each other through their demonic deity, Yeenoghu. D&D ghouls don't look much like the ghouls of Lovecraft's stories -- a Lovecraftian ghoul isn't just a scavenging reanimated corpse but a full transformation into a new species -- and the hyena heritage of the gnolls fits the bill nicely.
Ghasts are another thing entirely. Lovecraft referenced them in The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath as looking nothing like ghouls. Vulnerable to sunlight, they hop around like kangaroos on hoofed feet and tear apart their prey. Although they have a strong sense of smell, they don't actually reek so bad that it would incapacitate someone. D&D took some strange liberties with them. But that's okay, because ghasts and ghouls look similar.
One of these ghast sculpts made an appearance as a minion of the vampire queen in the first Reaper Bones Kickstarter as a Necropolis Ghast, so that brings my ghoul count up to five. However, the sculpt has a lot in common with the zombie sculpt from Dungeon Command, which happens to be the exact sculpt as the terror wight from the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures game. Their appearance and posture is nearly identical with the exception that the ghast sculpt has no hair.
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