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Mind if I pedantically complain that monster manuals butcher myth/folklore/fairytale?
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<blockquote data-quote="VelvetViolet" data-source="post: 7579417" data-attributes="member: 6686357"><p>I’ve always been frustrated by the inordinate focus on violence in RPGs. Plenty of fantasy stories resolved encounters with non-violent solutions.</p><p></p><p>I’m not suggesting adding mental/social hit points or using a genuinely universal task resolution mechanic a la Risus, but I wish the rules had offered XP for any method of conflict resolution. </p><p></p><p>I wish monster manuals had organized monsters by their archetype and provides guidelines on customizing them. Right now fantasy games suffer a huge problem with monster bloat. </p><p></p><p>I wish monster manuals included references to the original myths, if any.</p><p></p><p>That’s what I loved about the recent monster book from Pendelhaven, since it compiles monster archetypes from myth and fairytales with sources and synopses of some common stories that feature them.</p><p></p><p>I like to explore expanding on the monsters myself too. The minotaur always seemed a silly unnecessary multiplication to me until I read an ecology post on the hackslashmaster blog which gave helpful ideas like “the minotaur is a curse that traps you in a maze of your own making” among other ideas. I was so inspired I decided to write a blog series expounding on my ideas and references to other game books I read, which I still have yet to finish.</p><p></p><p>As I said above, I wish that monster books referenced their sources, if any. I wish they organized by comparative mythology archetypes rather than individual monsters. I wish they were more creative in how the expounded on existing monsters, too.</p><p></p><p>But if killing is the game, then maybe that’s unnecessary.</p><p></p><p>I think making things more mundane runs the risk of making them boring or silly. However, even in mythology you see myths become mundane. For example, there were a bazillion gods for every piece of land and sea. Tree nymphs, cloud nymphs, river gods, mountain rustic gods, hearth gods, etc. You could walk a dozen feet without stepping on a god.</p><p></p><p>At this point I don’t know what to say that I haven’t said already.</p><p></p><p>A lot of D&D monsters have names which are synonymous in real dictionaries. Particularly the words that originates from post-Christian Celtic folklore.</p><p></p><p>Oh, you have to watch that collegehumor video that contrasts Tolkuen elves and Christian elves! It is totally hilarious.</p><p></p><p>The original source is a great start, but sometimes it isn’t enough. I loved how the hackslashmaster blog devised a lot of really surreal ideas in its ecology series.</p><p></p><p>Try reading this book of Armenian fairytales and then tell these protagonists are “fairly mundane.” They most certainly are not!</p><p></p><p> <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46944" target="_blank">http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46944</a></p><p></p><p>Ditto.</p><p></p><p>I think there was an OSR book with “lion” in the title where the monsters were stated to have multiple versions due to folklore or something. I’d have to check again to be sure.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, this is probably no more obvious than in the case of trolls. They vary immensely by country: <a href="http://humoncomics.com/trolls-from-four-countries" target="_blank">http://humoncomics.com/trolls-from-four-countries</a></p><p></p><p>I’m pretty sure there are monster books which use the premise of taking ideas directly from folklore. I think the vampire monster book “Out for Blood” used this premise. It even included obscure ones like the kalikantzari (or however it’s spelled), a Balkan goblin/imp that saws through the world tree except when take Christmas holiday to ride chickens and harass people. </p><p></p><p>Honestly, folklore is full of situations that would make great D&D encounters. It’s a tragedy they aren’t being exploited.</p><p></p><p>Very sage advice.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="VelvetViolet, post: 7579417, member: 6686357"] I’ve always been frustrated by the inordinate focus on violence in RPGs. Plenty of fantasy stories resolved encounters with non-violent solutions. I’m not suggesting adding mental/social hit points or using a genuinely universal task resolution mechanic a la Risus, but I wish the rules had offered XP for any method of conflict resolution. I wish monster manuals had organized monsters by their archetype and provides guidelines on customizing them. Right now fantasy games suffer a huge problem with monster bloat. I wish monster manuals included references to the original myths, if any. That’s what I loved about the recent monster book from Pendelhaven, since it compiles monster archetypes from myth and fairytales with sources and synopses of some common stories that feature them. I like to explore expanding on the monsters myself too. The minotaur always seemed a silly unnecessary multiplication to me until I read an ecology post on the hackslashmaster blog which gave helpful ideas like “the minotaur is a curse that traps you in a maze of your own making” among other ideas. I was so inspired I decided to write a blog series expounding on my ideas and references to other game books I read, which I still have yet to finish. As I said above, I wish that monster books referenced their sources, if any. I wish they organized by comparative mythology archetypes rather than individual monsters. I wish they were more creative in how the expounded on existing monsters, too. But if killing is the game, then maybe that’s unnecessary. I think making things more mundane runs the risk of making them boring or silly. However, even in mythology you see myths become mundane. For example, there were a bazillion gods for every piece of land and sea. Tree nymphs, cloud nymphs, river gods, mountain rustic gods, hearth gods, etc. You could walk a dozen feet without stepping on a god. At this point I don’t know what to say that I haven’t said already. A lot of D&D monsters have names which are synonymous in real dictionaries. Particularly the words that originates from post-Christian Celtic folklore. Oh, you have to watch that collegehumor video that contrasts Tolkuen elves and Christian elves! It is totally hilarious. The original source is a great start, but sometimes it isn’t enough. I loved how the hackslashmaster blog devised a lot of really surreal ideas in its ecology series. Try reading this book of Armenian fairytales and then tell these protagonists are “fairly mundane.” They most certainly are not! [url]http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46944[/url] Ditto. I think there was an OSR book with “lion” in the title where the monsters were stated to have multiple versions due to folklore or something. I’d have to check again to be sure. Anyway, this is probably no more obvious than in the case of trolls. They vary immensely by country: [url]http://humoncomics.com/trolls-from-four-countries[/url] I’m pretty sure there are monster books which use the premise of taking ideas directly from folklore. I think the vampire monster book “Out for Blood” used this premise. It even included obscure ones like the kalikantzari (or however it’s spelled), a Balkan goblin/imp that saws through the world tree except when take Christmas holiday to ride chickens and harass people. Honestly, folklore is full of situations that would make great D&D encounters. It’s a tragedy they aren’t being exploited. Very sage advice. [/QUOTE]
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