“A tiny, hirsute, unpleasant-looking little
man squats here, wearing a burlap tunic and
a tiny white cap. Bloodshot eyes beneath bushy
brows take in the surroundings with a contemptuous
sneer.”
The Alp, let’s talk about it!
*tribal drumming*
Native to Germanic folklore the Alp (and not
to be confused with the Alp-luachra of Celtic
mythology), is almost a combination of a vampire
and incubus. But its distinction from those
creatures is its magical hat called a Tarnkappe
from which it draws its powers. The Tarnkappe
translates to “camouflage cap” or “cap
of concealment.” This cap acts as a veil
and gives the Alp the ability to turn invisible,
but the caveat is that the hat will always
remain visible even when the invisibility
is active. Oftentimes if an Alp loses its
magical Tarnkappe it will pay a hefty sum
for its return.
What the creature is best known for is the
ability to shapeshift into farm animals. At
will the Alp can shapeshift into a dog, cat,
pig, snake, a small white butterfly and some
say it can ride a horse and even fly like
a bird. It’s gaze also possesses an evil
eye which sheds malicious intent onto the
one who meets it.
An Alp attack is called an Alpdruck, the Alp
attacks its victims when they are asleep.
It does so by sitting astride on top of one’s
chest and slowly becoming heavier and heavier
until the crushing weight awakens the terrified
dreamer in a breathless state. The victim
awakes unable to move in the Alp’s wake
and this was probably the medieval explanation
for sleep paralysis, sleep apnea and night
terrors. All very scary and unpleasant experiences.
The Alp partakes in a number of mischievous
activities like messing with a horse. It will
often chew its hair, braid it into “elfknots,”
and twist its tail. It will also ride a horse
to exhaustion during the night, milk cows
dry (as it enjoys the taste of cow milk) and
for fun crush geese to death. The Alp in mythology
have been related to the supernatural elves
of the German mythos, whereas other parts
of Europe have taken the Alp and made it their
own. Similar creatures with the behavior of
the Alp include the Druden, Schratteli and
Old Hag. Common etymology would also refer
to the Alp as a mare, like in the word nightmare.
Though the Alp has also thought to have been
a demon or a creature created from the spirits
of dead relatives.
It varies on how an Alp is birthed into the
world, many believed that children born stillborn,
with cowl or hair on their pams may become
an Alp. Others believe a human or animal turns
into an Alp during the night, but the most
interesting theory is that an evil-being or
witch has summoned the Alp to torment others.
So possibly the Alp could conspire with a
Night Hag and help her torment villagers in
their sleep. Or maybe a Night Hag coven has
a battalion of Alps who go out into the surrounding
villages to torment villagers.
Protections against the creature in mythology
include hanging iron horseshoes from the bedpost,
laying a broomstick under your pillow, placing
a mirror upon your chest as you sleep or placing
shoes against the bed with its toes pointing
towards the door. There are many other ways
to protect yourself, but the one that stood
out to me the most was a prayer said before
going to sleep:
Elf, or also little elf,
you shall remain no longer
elf's sister and father,
you shall go out over the gate;
elf's mother, drude and mare,
you shall go out to the roof-ridge!
Let the mare not oppress me,
let the drude not pinch me?
Let the mare not ride me,
let the mare not mount me!
Elf with your crooked nose,
I forbid you to breathe.
Elves later in their lineage were seen by
common folk as threatening and demonic, hence
the association. Whereas drude in the prayer
refers to Druden, a creature very similar
in many ways to the Alp.
In the Creature Codex of Dungeons and Dragons
5th Edition the Alp is very similar to its
mythological interpretation, with a little
twist. Like we discussed the Alp in Dungeons
and Dragons is seen to be the result of deformities
in childbirth. From childbirth the Alp grows
up to torment mortals, but takes particular
delight in turning dreams into terrifying
nightmares, watching its victims toss and
turn in their sleep. The Alp’s tactics consist
of paralyzing its victims, sitting atop their
chest and forcing them to lie there in complete
and utter terror. It is also the farmer’s
bane when not stirring up fears in the unconscious
and will smother chickens, soil infants' diapers
and drain the cows milk dry. But whenever
people are up and about the Alp will hide
in plain sight. It normally turns invisible
or changes into a farm animal consistent with
the color white as its white cap doesn’t
change with it. But occasionally when the
Alp is excited it forgets this fact. This
could lead to some funny scenarios from seeing
a floating white cap in the house, to witnessing
a bull or horse munching grass with a silly
white cap atop its head.
The Alp is classified as a small fey creature
with a chaotic evil alignment and intelligence
of 10. It has 30ft of movement and damage
resistance to both cold and necrotic along
with condition immunities in the following:
charmed, exhaustion, paralyzed and unconscious.
It can see with darkvision up to 60ft and
speak Common, Sylvan and Umbral. The Alp comes
out at a challenge rating of 1.
As for abilities, the Alp has several interesting
ones. The first is Shadow Stealth which allows
the creature to hide in dim light or darkness.
The second is its famous Shapchanger ability
which allows all of itself ascept its cap
to polymorph into a small or tiny beast . And
for the third trait is its Sunlight Sensitivity
that is native to many creatures in Dungeons
and Dragons.
The Alp also has innate spellcasting abilities.
These include the following spells requiring
no material components: invisibility (self
only), silent image, sleep, bestow curse and
of course dream. As for actions the Alp has
something called the Sleeper’s Slap in which
he slaps an sleeping enemy forcing it to become
frightened. Adventurer’s may also attain
the Alp’s cap allowing themselves to turn
invisible as well. The Alp is definitely a
silly creature to put in your 5th Edition
Dungeons and Dragons game, but a mischief
maker nonetheless. I wonder what would happen
if a group of them got together. Would everyone
have insomnia and start fighting each other
due to the exhaustion of sleep deprivation?
Who knows, but I have used creatures that
plague dreams in my Dungeons and Dragons game.
It is definitely a weird plane of existence
to find yourself in, one where anything can
happen. Anyways my fellow warriors, that is
the Alp!
I hope all of you enjoyed the video, if you
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Anyways my warriors I will see you in the
morrow' when the sun rises upon the crested
hill and the winds bring the scent of glory
to our hearts.
*outro music*
