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Brainstorming: Getting Rid of the Monstrosity Creature Type
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<blockquote data-quote="Levistus's_Leviathan" data-source="post: 8704919" data-attributes="member: 7023887"><p>Since the D&D movie trailer dropped, there's been a bit of discussion on how Owlbears and similar monstrosities that are just combinations of two different animals (Griffons/Hippogriffs, for example) and are natural to the worlds of D&D should probably be reclassified as beasts instead of "monstrosities". While I agree, I personally would go a bit further. I would get rid of the creature-type of "monstrosity" entirely. It's such a diverse creature type that it basically has no meaning and is mostly used as a dumping ground for monsters that WotC gave up on trying to fit into another creature type. Some of them might be easier than the others, but here's my attempt (I'm using D&D Beyond, so this will be organized alphabetically and separated by the products they're included in). </p><p></p><p>[SPOILER="Monster Manual Monstrosities"]</p><p>Ankheg - Beast</p><p></p><p>Basilisk - Beast</p><p></p><p>Behir - Beast?? (Maybe a creature type for "fleshy creatures made/warped through magic" would be good?)</p><p></p><p>Bulette - Beast</p><p></p><p>Carrion Crawler - Beast</p><p></p><p>Centaur - Fey</p><p></p><p>Chimera - Fiend? Aberration? Like the Behir, this is a creature created by another creature, so maybe we can keep the "monstrosity" creature type so long as the definition is restricted to "living creatures magic + artificial selection?"</p><p></p><p>Cockatrice - Beast</p><p></p><p>Darkmantle - Aberration? Beast? Shadow-creature?</p><p></p><p>Death Dog - Fiend? Undead? Beast? </p><p></p><p>Displacer Beast - Fey</p><p></p><p>Doppelganger - Fey? Aberration? </p><p></p><p>Drider - Fiend? </p><p></p><p>Ettercap - Beast or Unseelie Fey</p><p></p><p>Gorgon - Construct</p><p></p><p>Grick - Aberration or Beast</p><p></p><p>Griffon - Beast</p><p></p><p>Guardian Naga - Celestial</p><p></p><p>Harpy - Humanoid</p><p></p><p>Hippogriff - Beast</p><p></p><p>Hook Horror - Beast</p><p></p><p>Hydra - Dragon or Beast</p><p></p><p>Kracken - Celestial (because they were created by the gods) or Beast? </p><p></p><p>Lamia - Fiend? </p><p></p><p>Manticore - Beast or Fiend</p><p></p><p>Medusa - Humanoid</p><p></p><p>Merrow - Fiend or Humanoid</p><p></p><p>Mimic - Beast? Aberration?</p><p></p><p>Minotaur - Humanoid</p><p></p><p>Owlbear - Beast</p><p></p><p>Peryton - Beast or Fey</p><p></p><p>Phase Spider - Aberration? Fey? Beast?</p><p></p><p>Piercer and Roper - Beast? Aberration?</p><p></p><p>Purple Worm - Beast</p><p></p><p>Remorhaz - Elemental or Beast</p><p></p><p>Roc - Beast</p><p></p><p>Rust Monster - Beast</p><p></p><p>Sphinxes - Celestial (I'm honestly baffled they weren't already)</p><p></p><p>Spirit Naga - Fiend</p><p></p><p>Tarrasque - Celestial? Beast? </p><p></p><p>Umber Hulk - Beast? </p><p></p><p>Winter Wolf - Beast or Elemental</p><p></p><p>Worg - Beast</p><p></p><p>Yeti - Humanoid or Beast</p><p></p><p>Yuan-Ti - Beast, Fiend, or Humanoid</p><p>[/SPOILER]</p><p></p><p>(Monstrosities from other products will be added later.)</p><p></p><p>Note: These classifications do not take game balance into account. These are entirely based on which creature types I feel they would best fit into. I know it would be overpowered for a druid to turn into a Cockatrice or Basilisk. However, if I were in charge of designing 5e, there would be other changes that I would make in order to prevent these classifications from becoming a problem for game balance. (Mainly by having Wild Shape be based around customizable stat blocks built in the Druid Class, not having the player choose from beasts in the Monster Manual.) </p><p></p><p>If you disagree with any of these classifications or have any recommendations for the ones I'm questioning, feel free to comment below.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Levistus's_Leviathan, post: 8704919, member: 7023887"] Since the D&D movie trailer dropped, there's been a bit of discussion on how Owlbears and similar monstrosities that are just combinations of two different animals (Griffons/Hippogriffs, for example) and are natural to the worlds of D&D should probably be reclassified as beasts instead of "monstrosities". While I agree, I personally would go a bit further. I would get rid of the creature-type of "monstrosity" entirely. It's such a diverse creature type that it basically has no meaning and is mostly used as a dumping ground for monsters that WotC gave up on trying to fit into another creature type. Some of them might be easier than the others, but here's my attempt (I'm using D&D Beyond, so this will be organized alphabetically and separated by the products they're included in). [SPOILER="Monster Manual Monstrosities"] Ankheg - Beast Basilisk - Beast Behir - Beast?? (Maybe a creature type for "fleshy creatures made/warped through magic" would be good?) Bulette - Beast Carrion Crawler - Beast Centaur - Fey Chimera - Fiend? Aberration? Like the Behir, this is a creature created by another creature, so maybe we can keep the "monstrosity" creature type so long as the definition is restricted to "living creatures magic + artificial selection?" Cockatrice - Beast Darkmantle - Aberration? Beast? Shadow-creature? Death Dog - Fiend? Undead? Beast? Displacer Beast - Fey Doppelganger - Fey? Aberration? Drider - Fiend? Ettercap - Beast or Unseelie Fey Gorgon - Construct Grick - Aberration or Beast Griffon - Beast Guardian Naga - Celestial Harpy - Humanoid Hippogriff - Beast Hook Horror - Beast Hydra - Dragon or Beast Kracken - Celestial (because they were created by the gods) or Beast? Lamia - Fiend? Manticore - Beast or Fiend Medusa - Humanoid Merrow - Fiend or Humanoid Mimic - Beast? Aberration? Minotaur - Humanoid Owlbear - Beast Peryton - Beast or Fey Phase Spider - Aberration? Fey? Beast? Piercer and Roper - Beast? Aberration? Purple Worm - Beast Remorhaz - Elemental or Beast Roc - Beast Rust Monster - Beast Sphinxes - Celestial (I'm honestly baffled they weren't already) Spirit Naga - Fiend Tarrasque - Celestial? Beast? Umber Hulk - Beast? Winter Wolf - Beast or Elemental Worg - Beast Yeti - Humanoid or Beast Yuan-Ti - Beast, Fiend, or Humanoid [/SPOILER] (Monstrosities from other products will be added later.) Note: These classifications do not take game balance into account. These are entirely based on which creature types I feel they would best fit into. I know it would be overpowered for a druid to turn into a Cockatrice or Basilisk. However, if I were in charge of designing 5e, there would be other changes that I would make in order to prevent these classifications from becoming a problem for game balance. (Mainly by having Wild Shape be based around customizable stat blocks built in the Druid Class, not having the player choose from beasts in the Monster Manual.) If you disagree with any of these classifications or have any recommendations for the ones I'm questioning, feel free to comment below. [/QUOTE]
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