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Breathing New Life into your Monsters
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<blockquote data-quote="Rechan" data-source="post: 3928670" data-attributes="member: 54846"><p>Everyone knows that Hobgoblins differ from Orcs in style. Hobgoblins are militaristic and tactical, disciplined and strong, and orcs are savage neanderthals. But there is less a distinct difference with the plethora of monster races in the MM. Not to mention monsters upon monsters with the umpteen monster books out there. On the 4e boards, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=213489" target="_blank">the reaction</a> to the new Troglodyte resulted in scratching heads, and a lot of "Well, I never used/saw the use of Trogs". </p><p></p><p>Over on <a href="http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=213652" target="_blank">this</a> thread, an attempt to re-flavor kobolds were presented. The topic then changed towards other monsters. </p><p></p><p>To quote Carpe DM:</p><p></p><p>The monsters here aren't re-designed. Goblins are as goblins have always been - small and sneaky, but they are made a caricature, or better yet, an <em>identity</em> as a species. Ogres are still big brutes, but they have a more recognizable <em>image</em>. you meet one, and the personality pops into your mind, rather than the statblock. </p><p></p><p>My goal for this thread is a simple thing that is harder said than done: make a DM say aloud, "Wow! I thought those monsters were boring, but now I want to put that in my game!" and make a player say "Wow! I want to <em>fight</em> those guys!" </p><p></p><p>So I open the floor for breathing new life into your dad's D&D monsters. Let's not get away from what they <em>do</em>, what niche they fill in the D&D world, but rather, how to make them <em>feel</em>; 1) like the monster they are, and 2) how to differentiate them from everything else. How do they <em>behave</em> in (and out) of combat, how do they <em>look</em> beyond the obvious, etc.</p><p></p><p>A good place to start is using movies or books as inspiration. Paizo goblins remind me a lot of the monsters from <em>Gremlins</em>. Carpe DM used Aliens and Saw to inspire him with kobolds. This helps add elements to make them jump out of your imagination, rather than <em>just another monster</em>.</p><p></p><p>There are two routes that one can take here:</p><p></p><p>1) Monsters are <em>Monsters</em>. They are evil things, and they echo certain feels that reinforce they are <em>monsters</em>. The Ogres as mutated hillbillies, for instance. </p><p></p><p>2) Monsters are <em>kinda like people</em>; Eberron gives Orcs a story, allowing them to be druids and protectors of the world (thus freeing Elves of their hippy archetype). This lets the monster have a culture. Your Orcs could be mongolians riding horsepack, throwing spears and using nets.</p><p></p><p>In all honesty, I would like to focus on #1 for this thread, but I realize option 2 is also very popular; I love it when monsters are given cultures and made to feel real, but then that takes a little away from <em>killing them because they're monsters</em>; they become like people, and that takes the edge off. Some people, for instance, treat their orcs like unredeemable evil monsters that are just good for killin'.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rechan, post: 3928670, member: 54846"] Everyone knows that Hobgoblins differ from Orcs in style. Hobgoblins are militaristic and tactical, disciplined and strong, and orcs are savage neanderthals. But there is less a distinct difference with the plethora of monster races in the MM. Not to mention monsters upon monsters with the umpteen monster books out there. On the 4e boards, [url=http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=213489]the reaction[/url] to the new Troglodyte resulted in scratching heads, and a lot of "Well, I never used/saw the use of Trogs". Over on [url=http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=213652]this[/url] thread, an attempt to re-flavor kobolds were presented. The topic then changed towards other monsters. To quote Carpe DM: The monsters here aren't re-designed. Goblins are as goblins have always been - small and sneaky, but they are made a caricature, or better yet, an [i]identity[/i] as a species. Ogres are still big brutes, but they have a more recognizable [i]image[/i]. you meet one, and the personality pops into your mind, rather than the statblock. My goal for this thread is a simple thing that is harder said than done: make a DM say aloud, "Wow! I thought those monsters were boring, but now I want to put that in my game!" and make a player say "Wow! I want to [i]fight[/i] those guys!" So I open the floor for breathing new life into your dad's D&D monsters. Let's not get away from what they [i]do[/i], what niche they fill in the D&D world, but rather, how to make them [i]feel[/i]; 1) like the monster they are, and 2) how to differentiate them from everything else. How do they [i]behave[/i] in (and out) of combat, how do they [i]look[/i] beyond the obvious, etc. A good place to start is using movies or books as inspiration. Paizo goblins remind me a lot of the monsters from [i]Gremlins[/i]. Carpe DM used Aliens and Saw to inspire him with kobolds. This helps add elements to make them jump out of your imagination, rather than [i]just another monster[/i]. There are two routes that one can take here: 1) Monsters are [i]Monsters[/i]. They are evil things, and they echo certain feels that reinforce they are [i]monsters[/i]. The Ogres as mutated hillbillies, for instance. 2) Monsters are [i]kinda like people[/i]; Eberron gives Orcs a story, allowing them to be druids and protectors of the world (thus freeing Elves of their hippy archetype). This lets the monster have a culture. Your Orcs could be mongolians riding horsepack, throwing spears and using nets. In all honesty, I would like to focus on #1 for this thread, but I realize option 2 is also very popular; I love it when monsters are given cultures and made to feel real, but then that takes a little away from [i]killing them because they're monsters[/i]; they become like people, and that takes the edge off. Some people, for instance, treat their orcs like unredeemable evil monsters that are just good for killin'. [/QUOTE]
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