Dungeons & Dragons/Monsters/Ki-rin

In the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game, the ki-rin are magical beasts. They are based on the mythological Qilin (or kirin in Korean and Japanese).

Publication history
The ki-rin first appeared in the original Dungeons & Dragons game supplement Eldritch Wizardry (1976).

The ki-rin appeared in the first edition in the original Monster Manual (1977).

The ki-rin appeared in the second edition in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), and reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993). The psionic variant of the ki-rin appeared in The Complete Psionics Handbook (1991).

The ki-rin appeared in the third edition Oriental Adventures (2001).

Description
Ki-rin are always lawful good.

Ki-rin worship Koriel.

Ki-rin resemble unicorns somewhat. They are powerful spellcasters, and roam the skies looking for good deeds to reward, and malefactors to punish.

Ki-rin are a race of aerial creatures whose hooves rarely touch the earth, for they dwell amid the clouds and behind the winds. Females are never encountered and Ki-rin are always solitary. They sometimes aid humans if the need to combat evil is great. The coat of the ki-rin is luminous gold, much as a sunrise on a clear day.

Influence
An obituary to Gary Gygax specifically highlights the Ki-rin as an example of the way in which D&D embraces world culture and folklore.