Monster Motivations

[Xavim]

I'm just curious as to what angle you put on your monsters being in the modern world. I mean, several varieties of Monsters would just try to get by, like in the Urban Arcana setting, and several of the more mindless would simply try to break things and have fun (especially goblins). But really, what motivations do you give your monsters?

I doubt all of the gnolls in the world aspire to be pimps. I'm just having a little trouble coming to terms with what fantasy monsters would want, and be able to get, in the modern world.

Mass destruction and general mayham would have to be limited with how fast word travels in this day and age and with the average soldier able to weild weapons rivalling the most powerful available magics, usual monster badassness is reduced.

 

[rbingham2000]

I'm just curious as to what angle you put on your monsters being in the modern world. I mean, several varieties of Monsters would just try to get by, like in the Urban Arcana setting, and several of the more mindless would simply try to break things and have fun (especially goblins). But really, what motivations do you give your monsters?

I doubt all of the gnolls in the world aspire to be pimps. I'm just having a little trouble coming to terms with what fantasy monsters would want, and be able to get, in the modern world.

Mass destruction and general mayham would have to be limited with how fast word travels in this day and age and with the average soldier able to weild weapons rivalling the most powerful available magics, usual monster badassness is reduced.

Let's see...

Grendel from Beowulf got seriously pissed when he heard the people praising God in song, because he was descended from Cain, the first mortal murderer, and despised all things holy, so he went on his rampage in order to make the people's lives a living hell.

Grendel's mother, of course, wanted vengeance upon Beowulf for killing her kid.

Didn't read that far into Beowulf, so I don't know about the dragon's motivations.

 

[dream66_]

I'd hardly think of Beowolf as an example for Modern tales

 

[Pagan priest]

In an adventure that I started, but never finished running, there were a pair of bugbear cops. Small town near the 4 corners area of Arizona. The sheriff of the town saw them as Mexican, most of the time.

As far as their motivation, they had learned early on that the locals had powerful weapons, so better to be the hand holding that weapon, and otherwise keep a low profile, take out their aggressions on drifters and random travelers.

 

[Wraith Form]

I doubt all of the gnolls in the world aspire to be pimps.

Mmmm, nope, sorry, actually they do.

 

[Skinwalker]

I like the train of thought that inspired this thread. A good story needs villains with motivations. I like to take real-world motivations and apply them to my creatures.

Sometimes I like to use Maslow's heirarchy of needs (familiar to most who took Psych 101) as a starting point...
http://www.jayjay.info/maslow.pdf
Look at a monster then look at the heirarchy. Think to yourself, what does this monster need? If its needs are met, then what does it want?
A few examples...

At the bottom level, you have physical survival. OK, food. How many creatures feed on humans? C'mon, this one should be easy. Maybe the dumber ones just go out and try to take what they want. They rarely live long, because of the heavy artillery mentioned in a previous post. But the smart ones learn to hunt, and usually manage to cover their tracks well enough to throw off those who don't want to believe in monsters or simply want to accept an easier answer (e.g., those missing people didn't just disappear; they were runaways/transients).

The second and third tier are Safety and Social Needs. And example of monster motivations based on this...
An Aboleth is about to lay eggs (Social need: procreation) so it goes about kidnapping nearby sailors and turning them into Skum to protect its young (Safety need).

On the fourth tier you have Ego needs, which focus on recognition from others and status. I could translate this into a game motivation by intoducing a struggle for territory. Say there is a gnoll gang (maybe a couple of them are pimps, but as said above not all of them strive to be pimps - chuckle). The leader wants to improve his status, and does this by attempting to increase his territory. Gang war ensues.

At the top tier, you have more challenging motivations. A ghost wants Revenge on its killer. A mad mage wants to gather all the power he can, oblivious of the forces that are manipulating him along the way.

Hope this little spiel helps. Remember: the monsters have needs and wants, just like humans. What does the monster need? What does the monster want?

 

[Old Drew Id]

I actually immediately thought of the hierarchy of needs when I read this thread, but you already beat me to it. This is exactly what I use when I try to plot out monstrous motivations.

 

[zenld]

I actually just use the old formula of "if i was a monster, why would i want to eat these people?" It seems to have worked so far.

 

[nobodez]

Gnoll Pimps, and other oddities

So, at first, I'd go through and see what, historically (at least, in a Shadow/D&D sense) these monsters have done and why. I recommend the Slayer's guides for this if you can find it for your monster.

Then, translate that to modern times, with a bit of the Hierarchy of Needs to quantify it all. Then, spice to taste with Medusa Hackers, Ogre Hockey/Football Players, Mind Flayer Ministers, Kobold Commandos, and the ubiquitous Gnoll Pimps.

Heck, you could even make it all make sense, the great hierarchy of Shadow. Put the Mind Flayers and Medusas on top, able to cooperate because they can get power through different means. Then put the Ogres, Trolls, etc. on the second tier as the enforcers. Then, have the Gnolls, Kobolds, Goblins, and otherwise on the bottom, as the grunts of the operation, doing the dirt work of both the top and middle tiers (since those pesky upper middle managers always have their own agendas). Oh, and call it Sceaduwe Inc. (Pronounced, in this case, as Skay-Do-We).

 

[Xavim]

Awesome guys, thanks for the help. Especially for that hiearchy of needs bit.