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07/08/2013 - Legends & Lore Monsters and the World of D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="GX.Sigma" data-source="post: 6154178" data-attributes="member: 6690511"><p>I'll just cross-post what I put in the comments:</p><p></p><p>As someone who had never heard of an ettercap until reading this, the monster entry doesn't do a great job of explaining it. For one thing, it doesn't say that the spiders they herd are giant ones until the end of the second paragraph. Up until then, I was confused what was so interesting about the fact that they keep tiny harmless bugs as pets.</p><p></p><p>This is also really sparse (especially compared to the 2e gold standard) and doesn't really tell me what an ettercap is. It says what kind of creatures they like and what creatures they don't; but none of it tells me what an ettercap is, or why I should care, or how to use it in an adventure.</p><p></p><p>I looked at the 2e monster entry, and here's all the things it mentions that this description doesn't--all of which are useful for adventures, and are important to having a nice meaty monster description:</p><p></p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A much better nutshell ("Ettercaps are ugly bipedal creatures that get along very well with all types of giant spiders. These creatures of low intelligence are exceedingly cruel, very cunning, and are skilled in setting traps – very deadly traps – much like the spiders that often live around them.")</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A physical description</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They have no real language, and express themselves in high pitched chittering noises</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They secrete lethal poison, an ounce of which is worth 1000 gp in the open market</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They love using traps, especially traps incorporating webs from themselves or their spiders</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Different individuals prefer different trap designs, so each ettercap encounter should be different</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A physical description of their nests</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They do not keep treasure, but there may be treasure from dead adventurers lying around</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They live alone (or rarely as mated pairs)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Males and females are identical</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They eat meat</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">After killing a victim, they immediately devour as much of the corpse as possible before leaving the rest for scavengers (though they do share with their spiders)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">An ettercap can eat an ogre in one sitting</li> </ul><p></p><p>I fail to see how this new monster description adds "more depth," other than the detail that they eat pixies to turn into araneae.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GX.Sigma, post: 6154178, member: 6690511"] I'll just cross-post what I put in the comments: As someone who had never heard of an ettercap until reading this, the monster entry doesn't do a great job of explaining it. For one thing, it doesn't say that the spiders they herd are giant ones until the end of the second paragraph. Up until then, I was confused what was so interesting about the fact that they keep tiny harmless bugs as pets. This is also really sparse (especially compared to the 2e gold standard) and doesn't really tell me what an ettercap is. It says what kind of creatures they like and what creatures they don't; but none of it tells me what an ettercap is, or why I should care, or how to use it in an adventure. I looked at the 2e monster entry, and here's all the things it mentions that this description doesn't--all of which are useful for adventures, and are important to having a nice meaty monster description: [LIST] [*]A much better nutshell ("Ettercaps are ugly bipedal creatures that get along very well with all types of giant spiders. These creatures of low intelligence are exceedingly cruel, very cunning, and are skilled in setting traps – very deadly traps – much like the spiders that often live around them.") [*]A physical description [*]They have no real language, and express themselves in high pitched chittering noises [*]They secrete lethal poison, an ounce of which is worth 1000 gp in the open market [*]They love using traps, especially traps incorporating webs from themselves or their spiders [*]Different individuals prefer different trap designs, so each ettercap encounter should be different [*]A physical description of their nests [*]They do not keep treasure, but there may be treasure from dead adventurers lying around [*]They live alone (or rarely as mated pairs) [*]Males and females are identical [*]They eat meat [*]After killing a victim, they immediately devour as much of the corpse as possible before leaving the rest for scavengers (though they do share with their spiders) [*]An ettercap can eat an ogre in one sitting [/LIST] I fail to see how this new monster description adds "more depth," other than the detail that they eat pixies to turn into araneae. [/QUOTE]
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