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Monster Design in D&D Next
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<blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 5941752" data-attributes="member: 87792"><p>It's a curate's egg. I like that they're keeping the 4e approach to the XP budget. But the monster itself? Urgh. No. It's <em>slightly</em> less flavoursome than the 4e version of the same monster, printed effectively as filler in the worst monster manual ever produced for 4e (the MM1). And <em>this</em> is what they use as a <em>Showcase?</em></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>What the designers think is important about the Hook Horror in order:</p><p></p><p>* You can't hide from it (screwing the rogue)</p><p>* It gets two attacks that grab</p><p>* The grab does damage</p><p>* It gets to bite grabbed foes</p><p>* It can climb</p><p>* Its level</p><p>* Its stats</p><p></p><p>Which are fundamentally the least important parts.</p><p></p><p>If you want to make a monster interesting you start with its psychology. How it moves - not just its movement modes. How it hunts. Those are what make a monster. Not having mechanics that are identical to an oversized crab that scuttles up to people, grabs them in its claws, and squeezes. Oh wait - it does impaling rather than crushing damage. There's literally your only mechanical difference from a giant crab with a carapace. </p><p></p><p>If you want to make your hook horror actually interesting, give it a "No one looks up" ability giving it advantage when attempting to hide on the ceiling, and a "Death from Above" attack; the Hook Horror can drop safely from a ceiling that is 30ft or lower and land on its feet as a free acttion. If it does so it retains any advantage it had for being hidden from its foe for the attacks it makes this turn.</p><p></p><p>Now. Instead of a crab that climbs instead of swims you have something really scary. A monster that hides on the ceiling, drops into the middle of the enemy, and then rends them into pieces.</p><p></p><p>(Some ideas stolen from Drek on rpg.net; his version of the Hook Horror dragged the enemies off but I'm going for more of a gore-monster here as that feels more like a hook horror to me.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Neonchameleon, post: 5941752, member: 87792"] It's a curate's egg. I like that they're keeping the 4e approach to the XP budget. But the monster itself? Urgh. No. It's [I]slightly[/I] less flavoursome than the 4e version of the same monster, printed effectively as filler in the worst monster manual ever produced for 4e (the MM1). And [I]this[/I] is what they use as a [I]Showcase?[/I] What the designers think is important about the Hook Horror in order: * You can't hide from it (screwing the rogue) * It gets two attacks that grab * The grab does damage * It gets to bite grabbed foes * It can climb * Its level * Its stats Which are fundamentally the least important parts. If you want to make a monster interesting you start with its psychology. How it moves - not just its movement modes. How it hunts. Those are what make a monster. Not having mechanics that are identical to an oversized crab that scuttles up to people, grabs them in its claws, and squeezes. Oh wait - it does impaling rather than crushing damage. There's literally your only mechanical difference from a giant crab with a carapace. If you want to make your hook horror actually interesting, give it a "No one looks up" ability giving it advantage when attempting to hide on the ceiling, and a "Death from Above" attack; the Hook Horror can drop safely from a ceiling that is 30ft or lower and land on its feet as a free acttion. If it does so it retains any advantage it had for being hidden from its foe for the attacks it makes this turn. Now. Instead of a crab that climbs instead of swims you have something really scary. A monster that hides on the ceiling, drops into the middle of the enemy, and then rends them into pieces. (Some ideas stolen from Drek on rpg.net; his version of the Hook Horror dragged the enemies off but I'm going for more of a gore-monster here as that feels more like a hook horror to me.) [/QUOTE]
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