Vampire Bestiary

Upper_Krust · Jun 8, 2010

Pssthpok said:
I feel the urge to give Krust a kick here and there. He should know I mean him no harm.

I love you too amigo!

I do need a kick up the backside now and again.

As an aside, though, what kind of notes are you talking about here?

Everything. Monster ideas. Monster research. Different powers. Hierarchies. Adventure ideas. Encounters. Tactics. Mini-sketches.

Plus a lot of streamlining. Such as I'll sort out the hierarchy for the Giant entry in the Vampire Bestiary and then I'll go over it as see the weaknesses and redo it.

How can you create so many notes and so little (pardon me) substance?

If I knew that I could sort it out.

Its just the immediacy of a pen and notebook, which is why I think something like an iPad may be an interesting way around it. Plus I really like the idea of digital illustrations, you can make a complete mess of an illustration and you don't need to start over again.

I'd think at this sort of ratio, you'd just try to publish the notes!

There wouldn't be a single working stat block in the notes. Plus it would all be a jumble of a mess.

Upper_Krust · Jun 10, 2010

Upper_Krust said:
What I do like are the new stat blocks in MM3. I toyed with the idea of updating my own, but upon further examination the only major improvement for me within the new stat blocks are the subdividers between Traits; Standard Actions; Minor Actions etc. I may still just throw those in, but what I have noticed is that a lot of my stat blocks are a tad bigger than theirs and I think even adding 3-4 new lines per stat block might throw some of them off kilter (onto a second column) - I'll wait until the book is 100% written and then decide.

As Alzrius knows, there was a problem with the VB stat blocks which I only noticed when I converted the file into a pdf. Given that I have to correct all the stat blocks it actually occured to me it was a good excuse to convert everything over to the swish new Monster Manual 3 format. So thats what I have been doing the past day or two.

Upper_Krust · Jun 11, 2010

beej said:
This is beginning to feel like an annual affair, but now that the MM3 is close to coming out, the previews are hinting that the damage values for monsters may have been upgunned. Did you notice this as well, U_K? And do you plan on waiting for the MM3 to get a feel of the new damage values? Or would you rather just finish the Vampire bestiary and worry about the damage values after?

I just read the Greg Bisland interview where he notes some monsters had their damage increased by 30-40%. Of course he doesn't say its universally applied. Though he does comment that its more like +5 to Paragon Tier and +10 to Epic tier.

Jumping damage one column to the right would seem the best (quick fix) approach.

Which would mean the new High Damage Column would be:

3d6
3d6
3d8
3d8
4d6
4d6
4d8
4d8
4d10
4d10

Whereas the new High Damage on Limited Expressions would be:

4d8
4d10
4d10
5d10
5d10
6d10
6d10
7d10
7d10
8d10

I dunno, it will be interesting to see how widespread the differences are in Monster Manual 3.

Alzrius · Jun 16, 2010

Hey everyone! I don't know how it took me over a week to start talking about this, but I wanted to go over the Vampire Bestiary a bit, though I won't be talking specifics without U_K's say-so.

First off, having looked over what is (I believe) the book's first incarnation in PDF format...it's not done. It's not even almost done. Now, I say this knowing that what U_K sent me didn't have a number of finished(?) art pieces, and several entries that were hand-written but not added to the book yet...but it's not done. There's still plenty of work left to do with stat blocks, descriptions, and art.

In other words, I wouldn't be holding my breath on this book's release. It will come out relatively soon, but its release doesn't seem imminent.

The good news? The book looks frickin' awesome...and I don't even like 4E! The best parts, for me, were some of the more general sections at the beginning on using various sorts of encounters; some truly brilliant stuff here. Plus, what monsters are finished here are damn inspirational - enough so to remind me that U_K's stuff is always worth the wait (though he does tend to milk that little proviso for all it's worth). But yeah...3.5-conversion guys, we're going to have our work cut out for us.

So that's where the book is now. It's slowly nearing release, and when it does hit the virtual bookshelves it won't be a disappointment.

Rhuarc · Jun 16, 2010

Thanks Alzrius, looking forward to it! Good to know that the content will be worth the wait

Belzamus · Jun 16, 2010

Count me in for converting still. Can't wait. Glad to hear U_K hasn't slipped his awesomeness standard.

paradox42 · Jun 16, 2010

So, next year then? Cool, I can do 2011. :lol:

In the meantime I'll continue advancing my old cosmos past the Grand Nexus and check out Pathfinder for integration.

Upper_Krust · Jun 16, 2010

Hiya mate!

Alzrius said:
Hey everyone! I don't know how it took me over a week to start talking about this, but I wanted to go over the Vampire Bestiary a bit, though I won't be talking specifics without U_K's say-so.

First off, having looked over what is (I believe) the book's first incarnation in PDF format...it's not done. It's not even almost done. Now, I say this knowing that what U_K sent me didn't have a number of finished(?) art pieces, and several entries that were hand-written but not added to the book yet...but it's not done. There's still plenty of work left to do with stat blocks, descriptions, and art.

In other words, I wouldn't be holding my breath on this book's release. It will come out relatively soon, but its release doesn't seem imminent.

I have a cunning plan as regards that. I'll email you later to hear your thoughts before breaking it to the masses*.

*Or at least the hand full still sticking around.

The good news? The book looks frickin' awesome...and I don't even like 4E! The best parts, for me, were some of the more general sections at the beginning on using various sorts of encounters; some truly brilliant stuff here. Plus, what monsters are finished here are damn inspirational - enough so to remind me that U_K's stuff is always worth the wait (though he does tend to milk that little proviso for all it's worth). But yeah...3.5-conversion guys, we're going to have our work cut out for us.

So that's where the book is now. It's slowly nearing release, and when it does hit the virtual bookshelves it won't be a disappointment.

Thanks very much for the kind words.

I'll have a new, much tighter document for you by Sunday, then you can hopefully come back and say - okay, its nearly done. Some interesting new stuff too.

Upper_Krust · Jun 23, 2010

Hi all!

Just wanted to mention that I got Monster Manual 3 today in the post.

Have spent about an hour with it so far and my first opinion is that the book is excellent.

Lots of epic material. Lots of similarities to directions I am taking with my own ideas (as regards grouped entries).

One very interesting side of things is the almost total absence of solo monsters in the book.

The book doesn't go into details on how the new monster stats are determined there doesn't seem any set pattern (some paragon tier enemies are dealing 4d8 base damage).

I'll hopefully get some more time with it over the next day or two...only got 2 hours sleep this morning and I feel thats about to catch up with me very shortly. :yawn: