Lamia (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the lamia is a magical beast.

Publication history
The lamia was introduced to D&D in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The lamia appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as having the upper torso, arms, and head of a human female, and the lower body of a beast, whose touch drains a creature's wisdom. The illustration was by David C. Sutherland III.

The lamia noble first appeared in the Fiend Folio (1981).

Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)
This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the lamia, known as the lamara, in Creature Catalogue (1986), and the Creature Catalog (1993).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
The lamia and lamia noble appear first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), and are reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).

The lamia was detailed in Dragon #192 (April 1993), in the "Ecology (Love-Life) of the Lamia". This article also described a relative of the lamia, the sa'ir.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)
The lamia appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)
The lamia appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).

The lamia noble appears again in Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (2007).

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)
The lamia appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), where it is described as a swarm of insects that inhabits the dead bodies of sentient fey (including elves, eladrin (an elf-like race), and gnomes), devouring their internal organs and using the hollowed-out bodies as a disguise. Every single insect is in the swarm is formed from the devoured soul of a sentient being.

Description
Lamia are hybrids, resembling animals such as lions, goats and deer, with a human torso and head coming up from where the animal's head would usually be. The upper body is fully humanoid, however, not bearing animalistic features such as scales, horns or fur.

Characteristics and habits
Lamias are chaotic evil creatures that prefer to dwell in deserts, ruined cities, or caves. They sustain themselves by drinking human blood and eating human flesh. To bring prey to them, they use a variety of abilities, including seduction, disguise, ventriloquism, illusions, mirages, and mirror images. With these they lure, entice and confuse those who wander into their midst into dangerous situations. Lamias do not wear any form of clothing or adornment. They seem devoted to chaos and destruction in their native habitats. They never venture more than 10 miles from their lairs. Lamias also have the ability to drain wisdom with their touch.

The lamia noble is a rarer type of lamia. These beings rule over other lamias and the locations they inhabit. Unlike normal lamias, they have the lower bodies of serpents. Males fight with curved swords and magic, while females only with magic. Lamia nobles are also capable of venturing further from their lairs than other lamias, and prefer to go into urbanized areas in the guise of a human to infiltrate human and demihuman societies. Lamia nobles are given to outbursts of senseless violence. They can speak all forms of human and demihuman language.