Editing Lamia (section)

==Dungeons & Dragons==
[[File:Lamia MM 2e.png|left|thumb|She may refuse to wear a bra, but at least she got her nails done.]]
[[Dungeons & Dragons]] lamias are totally different from other lamias. Since their first appearance in the Monster Manual for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition, typical lamias were described as [[centaur]]-like meldings of woman and quadruped beast. Their 2nd edition updated appearance, the Monstrous Compendium volume 2, specifically stated that their lower bodies can resemble goats, deer or lions, among other things - however, as all of the artwork for lamias has traditionally gone with the "lioness-taur" appearance, this has become cemented in peoples' minds as the "true form" of the D&D lamia. Although, strangely, their appearance in 3.5's Monster Manual depicts a ''male'' leonic commoner lamia.

However, the iconic snake-girl lamia has also appeared in D&D as well. Called the Lamia Noble, and coming in both male & female forms (males are sword-wielding [[gish]]es, females are spellcasters), it appeared for the first time in the [[Fiend Folio]] and was later reprinted in typical "subvariant small addition" in the Lamia's entry in the Monstrous Compendium - this lack of artwork for it is probably why few people remember it actually existed. It would not be updated to third edition until [[Expedition to the Demonweb Pits]], late in the game's run-time. The biggest difference from common lamia, aside from the added wizard/sorcerer spells, is that they can shapechange into human form.

[[Birthright]]'s unique awnsheigh, the Lamia, follows the lion-taur model.  A one-time exotic dancer, con-woman, and thief, she accidentally absorbed the tainted bloodline of a man dying on a battlefield when she murdered him to loot the corpse.  Years later, after killing and draining several others, she murdered the king of Besaiam and became ruler, constantly funding vainglorious monuments to herself.  Her main powers are her ability to instantly charm men, whether with a glance or an aura, and a touch that drains [[Wisdom]] and makes men into her fawning servitors.  Women are immune to these powers, which is one of the reasons she gets very... catty (hee) whenever pretty ladies are around, the other being that she is envious of her lost human beauty.  Between her various charmed puppets, she actually controls a decent-sized holding.

Lamias had their own Ecology Of article in [[Dragon Magazine]] #192. According to this article, noble lamias need human mates in order to propagate their species, as interbreeding with each other or with common lamias will only produce more common lamias. Likewise, the common lamias need to mate with humans to produce true offspring, as mating with each other will only produce sa'irs, which are savage beasts that have the forequarters of a goat-horned lion and the hindquarters of a goat... No, you didn't read that wrong; according to Drag-Mag, common lamias, despite looking like women from the waist up, are actually a species of [[dickgirl|hermaphrodites]] and so can impregnate and be impregnated as they see fit. Lamias of both "castes" have an annual week-long mating season in summer that drives them wild with lust and sends them looking for human baby-daddies/mommies; a sufficiently attractive human partner could cause them to go into heat outside of this time as well. According to Drag-Mag's statistics, adult commoner lamias are 60% likely to be lion-taurs, 25% likely to be goat-taurs, and 15% likely to be deer/antelope-taurs. Lamia nobles, according to this, can't actually copy spells from scrolls or spellbooks (remember, these were the days before monsters could have classes), so human wizards were especially prized captives.

Traditionally, lamias of all kinds are Chaotic Evil in alignment, being selfish, evil, cruel, lazy hedonists who use their innate ability to drain Wisdom in order to brainwash victims into serving them as slaves, mates and/or food; they don't respect any life other than their own, so the roles are ''not'' exclusive.

A variant lamia called a "Tigerus" is native to the [[Kingdoms of Kalamar]] 3.5 setting, making its appearance in the setting's personal monster manual, "Dangerous Denizens: The Monsters of Tellene". Unlike common lamias, these are a neutral-aligned species of tiger-taurs who live a stone-age style primitive lifestyle (to put this in perspective, ''cooking meat'' is a new and exotic idea for them, though quickly catching on). They lack the Wisdom drain of standard lamias, instead focusing on melee combat (pouncing and raking special attacks), and they sport [[druid]]ic spells that make jungle life easier, like Speak With Animals, rather than the standard [[sorcerer]] powers.

4th edition is an outlier in this regard, as its "lamia" has absolutely no relation to the model portrayed here and which it returned to in 5th edition. Instead, its "lamia" is a species of carnivorous scarab-like beetles native to the [[Feywild]] with a voracious appetite for fey flesh (although they'll eat humanoids if they can get them). Their standard hunting MO is to eat the poor bastards alive from the inside out, hollowing out the corpse so they can wriggle under the skin and use the skeleton to move the bug-bag corpse around as a disguise. This lets them get closer to fresh victims. Although this is an awesomely creepy monster idea, its poor choice of name alienated a lot of fans and so it's gone unused since.

Lamias returned in their traditional lioness-taur form in [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]].

Although it's not technically a Lamia, the [[Marilith]] [[Tanar'ri]] does look like someone fused an [[Amazon]] with a Lamia, gave her multiple arms, and then called it a day and her a demon. Likewise, the [[Lillend]] is a Celestial who looks like someone slapped wings on a lamia [[bard]] and dubbed her an angel.

===Midgard Lamia===
The [[Midgard]] campaign setting for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] features both lion-taur lamia and snake-taur lamia. The latter are playable, featuring in the "Unlikely Heroes" sourcebook, and they hate the former, whom they regard as pretenders and fakes; they seek to kill them wherever possible.

Midgard's serpentine lamia descend from humans warped into half-serpents by a demonic curse. Attributes of this include an insatiable sense of longing that most try to drown out with hedonism, stunted creative abilities, an obsession with cruelty and pain, and a warped gender ratio that causes females to outnumber males 3 to 1. Their cursed beauty means that, whilst not immortal, lamia stay beautiful and youthful-looking throughout their lives. They shun the gods and embrace arcane magic, but have a strange spiritual appreciation for the moon.

::Ability Score Modifier: +2 Strength, +1 Charisma
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet, Climb 20, Swim 20
::Type: Monstrosity
::Darkvision 60 feet
::Dangerous Beauty: You have proficiency in the Deception and Intimidation skills.
::Serpent Strike: You have advantage on attack rolls against a creature you have surprised, or that is charmed by you or your allies.
::Snake Body: You have advantage on saving throws and ability checks against being knocked prone. You can’t benefit from anything that requires legs or feet (such as magical footwear).

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Lamia 1e.jpg|1e
Lamia MCV2.jpg|2e
Lamia 3e.jpg|3e
Deathscarab Lamia.jpg|The 4e monster that temporarily borrowed the name. No, she's not wearing those beetles, the beetles are wearing that eladrin skin.
Lamia 5e.png|5e
Lamia noble 1e.jpg|Lamia Noble 1e
Lamia noble 3e.jpg|Lamia Noble 3e seemingly attempting a Naruto run
Chultian Lamia.png|Technically, she's a [[Yuan-ti]] Malison, but can you tell the difference?
</gallery>