Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Monster Design in D&D Next
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 5942770" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>I like Hook Horrors. They first appeared in "Quest for the Heartstone" where the party has to take them on in numbers...fun times!</p><p></p><p>That said, I don't like what I see in that example of a monster write-up:</p><p></p><p> - still using 3e stat bonuses (Str 18 = +4, Int 6 = -2, etc.); so much for flatter math</p><p> - this thing can really give out the pain (potentially 1d10 + 2d6 + 8 vs. two different characters per round - ouch!), which tells me 5e characters are either likely to have lots of h.p. or are going to die against monsters like this; again looks bad for the flat math (likely) or the no-death types (unlikely)</p><p> - presentation (which admittedly is a work in progress) looks even drier than 4e, and I didn't think that was possible</p><p> - presentation again: that write-up is WAY too long! 20 lines not including wrap-arounds, to say what could be said in about 4 lines (again ignoring wrap-arounds) - each stat, for example, does not need its own line!</p><p> - combat design is still obviously highly turn-based, as per the example on hiding from it; going strictly by that wording a character can start its turn hidden behind an object, move into view to do something, then move behind an obstruction and remain hidden if it ends its turn there - watch the fox???</p><p> - some obvious details are missing: </p><p>** surprise (for and against); </p><p>** hit dice or fight level or BAB or anything that indicates how good it is at fighting if using anything other than its hooks (e.g. if it decides to drop a rock on someone before leaping down, what's the attack modifier?); </p><p>** morale or any other indication of whether it will ever do anything other than fight to the death if-when met by adventurers</p><p>** can it see by means other than echolocation, does it have eyes that function when there is light?</p><p>** can it voluntarily drop impaled opponents once it's had its free bite, in order to get the full impale-bite routine for each hook next round? Or does it have to hang on to impaled opponents until they wriggle free?</p><p></p><p>Lan-"shake it up baby, now (shake it up baby) - twist and bite (twist and bite)"-efan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 5942770, member: 29398"] I like Hook Horrors. They first appeared in "Quest for the Heartstone" where the party has to take them on in numbers...fun times! That said, I don't like what I see in that example of a monster write-up: - still using 3e stat bonuses (Str 18 = +4, Int 6 = -2, etc.); so much for flatter math - this thing can really give out the pain (potentially 1d10 + 2d6 + 8 vs. two different characters per round - ouch!), which tells me 5e characters are either likely to have lots of h.p. or are going to die against monsters like this; again looks bad for the flat math (likely) or the no-death types (unlikely) - presentation (which admittedly is a work in progress) looks even drier than 4e, and I didn't think that was possible - presentation again: that write-up is WAY too long! 20 lines not including wrap-arounds, to say what could be said in about 4 lines (again ignoring wrap-arounds) - each stat, for example, does not need its own line! - combat design is still obviously highly turn-based, as per the example on hiding from it; going strictly by that wording a character can start its turn hidden behind an object, move into view to do something, then move behind an obstruction and remain hidden if it ends its turn there - watch the fox??? - some obvious details are missing: ** surprise (for and against); ** hit dice or fight level or BAB or anything that indicates how good it is at fighting if using anything other than its hooks (e.g. if it decides to drop a rock on someone before leaping down, what's the attack modifier?); ** morale or any other indication of whether it will ever do anything other than fight to the death if-when met by adventurers ** can it see by means other than echolocation, does it have eyes that function when there is light? ** can it voluntarily drop impaled opponents once it's had its free bite, in order to get the full impale-bite routine for each hook next round? Or does it have to hang on to impaled opponents until they wriggle free? Lan-"shake it up baby, now (shake it up baby) - twist and bite (twist and bite)"-efan [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Monster Design in D&D Next
Top