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<blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 8507503" data-attributes="member: 2209"><p>I go for a mix of staples to anchor my players in the fact that it is fantasy D&D we are playing. So when the "big ole cattywampus" the swampers have been talking about shows up and ambushes the party and turns out to be a displacer beast the party goes "right, good old D&D."</p><p></p><p>The familiar knowledge base can also be a flavor tool, such as if the party hears about an underground mind flayer slaver being a political power in the criminal underworld of the city the party can fill in some unstated blanks on their own without the DM having to explain known different aspects of the new monster, the players can stay in character and keep the flow going without stopping for a DM background information dump.</p><p></p><p>You can use all 3rd party monsters across the board and get a lot of surprise, but it will feel a lot more alien than normal D&D. That can be fine, Dark Sun in particular went pretty hard in this direction to great effect IMO, but it is a specific flavor/tone choice.</p><p></p><p>Sprinkling in a mix of new and familiar fantasy monsters feels very classic D&D to me and is a tone I enjoy and generally go for as a DM.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Voadam, post: 8507503, member: 2209"] I go for a mix of staples to anchor my players in the fact that it is fantasy D&D we are playing. So when the "big ole cattywampus" the swampers have been talking about shows up and ambushes the party and turns out to be a displacer beast the party goes "right, good old D&D." The familiar knowledge base can also be a flavor tool, such as if the party hears about an underground mind flayer slaver being a political power in the criminal underworld of the city the party can fill in some unstated blanks on their own without the DM having to explain known different aspects of the new monster, the players can stay in character and keep the flow going without stopping for a DM background information dump. You can use all 3rd party monsters across the board and get a lot of surprise, but it will feel a lot more alien than normal D&D. That can be fine, Dark Sun in particular went pretty hard in this direction to great effect IMO, but it is a specific flavor/tone choice. Sprinkling in a mix of new and familiar fantasy monsters feels very classic D&D to me and is a tone I enjoy and generally go for as a DM. [/QUOTE]
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