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This is my third attempt to make visual, easy-to-grasp description of monster, now with core 3.5 monster - the bulette. Well, actually, I have no strength to comment this after all this work... So, the picture:
Wait, that's not all! See bonus comic strips about bulette's feats and leaps.
I appreciate criticism and opinions, as I want to improve and perfect the idea.
Wow!!! Excellent. I can just imagine a book filled with this kind of monster layout, plus some ecology in the vein of the Dragon Mag ecology articles of old.
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I was the biggest fan of your other monster you did this way and I absolutely love this one too. I said before this was a great way of introducing a newly designed monster because you can show off what makes it cool. But now that you've done it on a monster from the MM I see a whole different benefit. Do you realize how easy this makes a bulette to DM?
If I open up the 3.5 MM to "Bulette" I get a statblock like any other and the information that the bulette attacks things it senses from below ground. If I try to run that as a random encounter I'm not likely to get anything more creative than "claw claw bite."
If I opened up a monster manual to your Bulette as a random encounter, that encounter is going to be so awesome it will look like I prepared it! That Bulette's going to have an fearsome furrow crisscrossing the ground and knocking people off their feet, it's going to mow on the party's shields with its giant jaws, it's going to burst up like something out of Jaws and pull a player beneath the surface. (I would totally panic at that). It's going to be totally different from, say, fighting a huge monstrous scorpion, even though that has essentially the same statblock of claw, claw and grapple.
Best of all, I can run this right out of the manual because all the rules are right where I need them. Who keeps enough of the definition of "burrow speed" in their head to remember it doesn't leave a tunnel behind?
The pictures are what get your attention first. But this way of presenting monsters has so much going for it beyond the pictures. You have added a ton of value here. I've already mentioned the tactics, which are really creative and you must have put a lot of thought into. The encounter suggestions are also creative -- I totally want to run that one where the bulette bursts up in the middle of another combat.
Just looking at your list of "suggested feats" makes me realize every other monster that offers Hit Dice advancement is underdesigned. Every monster should come with a list of appropriate, interesting feats. You can advance it in a flash and keep it unique.
These are things that any monster designer can do to add a ton of value to their monsters. Knowing what "niche" you designed a monster for lets you make much better strategy and feats for them. If you didn't understand a bulette was supposed to be a "land shark," you'd never figure out attacks like these. (My impression from the MM description was that it was like a cross between a remorhaz and a bear -- bursts out from underground, then claws you.) The original designer basically left his design half done -- he gave it the stat block it needed, and never explained how to use it.
You know, in my perfect world, this kind of major advance in monster presentation is the sort of thing that would justify a new edition of the game. I would be very happy to trade in my 3.5 Monster Manual for one full of your designs -- a book of monsters that guaranteed cool encounters and showed me how to run them.
Last edited by Noumenon; 20th December 2008 at 12:30 PM..
Regarding your Bulette leap comic -- it kind of looks like what's really happening is the wizard cast charm monster on the Bulette and then started scratching his belly...
The encounter suggestions are also creative -- I totally want to run that one where the bulette bursts up in the middle of another combat.
For that idea you should thank 4E monster manual. Bulette is one of monsters that really _are_ superior in 4E, comparing to previous editions. It burrows at speed of 6 squares tripping PCs on the way, it bursts from the ground in eruption of rocks, and when it's bloodied - it will retreat underground only to return healthy and with defense boost.
I still got some opinions with suggestions and criticism, so there will be a fourth try - some monster that resists going visual. That's how I will know limits to this design. Probably a true dragon - they have some much info, tables and spell-like abilities...
In my perfect world, of course, it's others, pro-developers, who make monsterbook like this, and with at least 300 pages %) Because I doubt I'll manage more than a mere dozen.
I would so buy a book built/made in this fashion.
It ROCKS! is an understatement.
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DM: [shouting] You cannot interrupt the DM's description of the room in order to gain a surprise round! - Joshua Randall
Books used last session - 3.5 Core Set, ELH, SC, PH2, MIC and many ideas yoinked from EN World.
In my perfect world, of course, it's others, pro-developers, who make monsterbook like this, and with at least 300 pages %) Because I doubt I'll manage more than a mere dozen.
I was thinking about bribing you with art supplies to do more. Take a poll, which creature do we want to see you do? The Roper is one creature where reading its stat block doesn't help you see how it plays at all -- see this thread. That would be one option. Another creature that's somewhat hard to visualize and would challenge your ability to fit in multiple complex abilities is the Air Elemental. For sheer visual difficulty, Blink Dog, Chaos Beast, Gray Ooze (it's transparent).
No stat blocks? That's like buying a player's handbook just for the descriptions of the powers, with no levels or damage included. It's got to have the stats because seeing a cool monster you can play is a lot cooler than just seeing some fictional monster. Forexample, I'd rather see a stat block saying what Dr. Octopus' arms do on a full attack than just see a picture of him and a little description of how he can use them as a backscratcher or a sewer snake.
This is really great! And I'm glad Noumenon linked to the other thread, too. You know, I'm not sure if I'd only ever want to see a monster done up like this, but I'd definitely be interested in monsters re-done like this (either SRD or other open content, but especially SRD monsters, which don't have much flavor or tactics anyway). The extra tactics and suggested feats are nice, too, but it's the graphics that really draw me in.
No stat blocks? That's like buying a player's handbook just for the descriptions of the powers, with no levels or damage included. It's got to have the stats because seeing a cool monster you can play is a lot cooler than just seeing some fictional monster. Forexample, I'd rather see a stat block saying what Dr. Octopus' arms do on a full attack than just see a picture of him and a little description of how he can use them as a backscratcher or a sewer snake.
But if the monsters are classic d&d monsters anyone can take their favourite edition and get some use out of it. What the hell is a full attack good for
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This is just fantastic stuff. Amazing presentation and incredible usefullness. I'll be using a bulette in an upcoming game and will print out your summary for use at the table.
A product made up of this kind of monster entry (or looseleaf cardstock entries) would get my $$$ in a heartbeat. I know you're not thinking of doing loads more, but might I urge some enterprising 3rd party to leap upon this idea and get to work? A great way of adding usefullness to 3e monsters!
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There is one third-party product that gives round by round tactics for many monsters, including some in the MM: Dangerous Denizens: The Monsters of Tellene. I do not own it. It was recommended in a thread where people were trying to collaboratively put together a manual of round-by-round tactics for monsters. That thread has tactics for
I know you're not thinking of doing loads more, but might I urge some enterprising 3rd party to leap upon this idea and get to work? A great way of adding usefullness to 3e monsters!
Yeah, that would be the best result from releasing a dozen such monsters as a free supplement. If it will demonstrate some success, I may convince some publisher that the idea worth trying.
Thanks for replies and support %)
The next step should be a tricky monster, to test this design's limits. A true dragon, I think.
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