Editing Sphinx (section)

==D&D and Pathfinder==
===D&D===
Okay, to begin with, one has to remember that sphinxes appeared in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], when [[Monster Manual]]s liked to try and be "realistic", but tended to fail hilariously - witness the absurdity of [[medusa]]/maedar mating outcomes. D&D basically throws together the Greek and Egyptian sphinxes, ending up with four separate kinds:

* ''Gynosphinxes'' are your standard Greek sphinx with some Egyptian thrown in. Falcon-winged lionesses with human heads and tits. Highly intelligent, love riddles, natural spellcasters. Drawn to guarding sacred spots. Don't usually eat people, but won't hesitate to do so if hungry, bored or insulted, especially if said person is a moron.
* ''Androsphinxes'' are the male, more good-natured equivalents to gynosphinxes. Even smarter and more magically powerful. Don't like company much, and pretty prudish.
* ''Criosphinxes'' are fairly dimwitted ram-headed falcon-winged lions. Some minor [[druid]]ic abilities, but mostly just beasts.(also all male)
* ''Hieracosphinxes'' are savage, rapacious, totally evil falcon-headed falcon-winged lions. (also all male)

So, here's the weirdness: only gynosphinxes are female, and all others are male. Gynosphinxes and androsphinxes are only born to androsphinx fathers - but androsphinxes don't like sex. Criosphinx and hiracosphinx babies meanwhile can only be born to criosphinx and hiracosphinx fathers, respectively, but gynosphinxes are only attracted to androsphinxes. So you have a species where the females desperately try to get laid from the one set of menfolk that can give them daughters, whilst the criosphinxes have to bribe the gynosphinxes for procreation, and the heiracosphinxes have to outright rape their way to fatherhood. Seriously, the fuck? Was this cooked up by bitter incels with a [[furry]] streak or some shit?

Whilst the above is the classic setup for sphinges, there are some other, more obscure branches of the D&D sphinx family tree.

In [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], there are also ''Dracosphinxes'' and ''Astrosphinxes''. The former are Chaotic Evil sphinxes who have the head and forelimbs of a [[Chromatic Dragon|Red Dragon]]; coming in both male and female form, the dracosphinx is an arrogant, greedy monster who seek to prove themselves the strongest and cleverest creatures around, which in their worldview defines who has the right to live. They can spew fire and have the spellcasting prowess of an [[illusionist]]. The latter are insane wingless sphinx-kin who are found scattered throughout [[Spelljammer|Wildspace]]; resembling bipedal, scale-covered cats with clawed human-like hands and heads resembling a goat's skull, these mad creatures pose insane "riddles" to anyone they met and then kill them when they can't answer, which means they are often found inhabiting ruined worlds they have emptied of life. Mindlessly homicidal and capable of both breathing sleeping gas and shooting lightning bolts out of their eyes, they are extremely dangerous creatures.

3rd edition has the Loquasphinx, a sphinx-kin race associated with Truename Magic, which is about the only thing (apart from a more sensible attitude towards sex) that separates them from andro- and gynosphinxes, which they otherwise perfectly resemble. The Loquasphinx was introduced in 3.5's [[Tome of Magic]] sourcebook. 3e's Sandstorm also introduced four new "beast-headed" sphinx varieties, which are implicitly outside of the fucked up four-way sexual cycle of the "core sphinxes".
* The ''Canisphinx'' is a Neutral Evil jackal-headed sphinx that completely lacks magic, roaming the deserts and arid plains in search of prey to hunt and kill. They explicitly exist in both male and female forms, and sometimes hunt in mated pairs.
* The ''Crocosphinx'' is a savage and aggressive Chaotic Evil sphinx breed that has the body of a lion, the wings of an falcon, and the head & tail of a crocodile. It's possible they come in both genders, but they are known to regularly interbreed with normal crocodiles. They spend most of their time lurking in bodies of water and waiting to ambush prey, and are basically just a nastier crocodile with claw & rake attacks in terms of combat and culture.
* The ''Saurosphinx'' is a [[dinosaur]] (or at least lizard) headed sphinx that is not especially intelligent, but also not inherently evil. Typically True Neutral, they love to engage in conversation and are widely considered the most civilized of sphinxes, even traveling long distances to listen to sages and scholars. Amongst the weakest sphinxes, with no magical abilities whatsoever, they are sometimes preyed upon by the nastier sphinx breeds.
* The ''Threskisphinx'' is the only Good aligned sphinx in the Sandstorm book (Neutral Good, to be precise). Like the hieracosphinx, they have a basically [[griffon]]-like appearance, with the body of a lion and the head & wings of an ibis. Favoring lakeside and riverside dens, they are widely considered the sages of the sphinx races, and have a particular aptitude for crafting magical items.

[[5e]] thankfully jettisoned the more fucked up aspects of sphinx type and breeding by dropping the prudishness of the andros and the existence of the crios and hiracos; however, there was evidently a miscommunication between the artist and the writers, as we wound up with a Mufasa-looking Androsphinx and a Gynosphinx with a clearly lion-like head, despite the text describing them both as having humanoid heads. In this edition, sphinxes are '''fucking hardcore''' when encountered in their lairs, though fortunately these abilities can be used only once each before requiring a short rest: they can force you to reroll your initiative as long as you're there; take a DC 15 save or age or de-age '''1[[D20]] YEARS''', creating an interesting case of "Adventurer babies wat do?" (healed by Greater Restoration, which the Androsphinx has); send you '''up to a decade back or forward in time''' (Wish to return); or shift itself and up to seven creatures it can see to another [[plane]], then return as a bonus action. So in other words, if you piss a Sphinx off it can just drop your ass into the fucking [[Abyss]]. Have fun swimming in The Gaping Maw, chucklefuck! Say hi to [[Demogorgon]] for me!

====Sphinx PCs====
{{dnd-stub}}

In Basic [[Dungeons & Dragons]], sphinxes were actually given PC stats in the [[splatbook]] "Creature Catalog 2: Top Ballista". Insanely powerful, their race-class went from level -10 to 3, and gave them a huge array of bonuses. These included a magical roar that was basically a breath weapon, magic resistance, saving throws as if it were a [[Fighter]] of double its actual level, and spellcasting abilities as either a [[Cleric]] (gynosphinx) or [[Wizard|Magic-User]] (androsphinx) - this was early version lore, before the two switched their associated spell-sets around in AD&D.

{{D&D1e-Races}}

===Pathfinder===
Pathfinder basically keeps the same setup as early D&D, but makes the species of sphinx depend on the relationship between parents (love causes andro/gyno mixed gender fraternal twins, lust causes crio, rape causes hieraco) rather than father's species.

Pathfinder has the Crinosphinx, a malevolent [[necromancer]] sphinx with the head of a jackal.

===Gallery===
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<gallery>
Androsphinx Monster card.jpg|A&D Monster Card
Sphinx MCV2.jpg|Monstrous Compendium vol. 2
Androsphinx MM 2e.png|2e Monstrous Manual
Androsphinx.jpg|''"An Androsphinx bears the head of a humanoid male on its lion's body."'' Sure it does, [[5e]].
Gynosphinx.jpg|''"A gynosphinx bears the head of a humanoid female. Many have the regal counterances of worldly queens, but some are marked with wild, leonine features."'' Looks like she's more than just "marked" with those features, [[5e]].
Gynosphinx Castle Spulzeer.png
Sphinx MC Planescape 2.jpg
Gynosphinx 3e.jpg|Mind you, 5e wasn't the first edition to have more lion-faced sphinxes.
Sphinx B1.png|[[Pathfinder]]'s more traditional sphinx.
Pathfinder Gynosphinx.jpg
criosphinx REF4.png|Criosphinx
hieracosphinx REF4.png|Hieracosphinx
Astrosphinx MC9.jpg|"WHAT IS THE SPEED OF BLUE?"
Dracosphinx MCAV2.jpg|Dracosphinx
1430443844176.jpg
</gallery>
</center>