D&D General Monsters and their relationship with nature

[Doug McCrae]

Elemental – purified nature
Giant – power of nature
Nymph – beauty of nature
Hag – destructive nature
Dryad – nature (oak)
Treant – nature (tree)
Nixie – nature (fresh water)
Savage humanoid – bestial man
Lycanthrope – bestial man within civilised man
Undead – rejection of nature
Aberration – outside nature
Golem – man’s use of nature
Outsider – human concepts

 

[aco175]

I do not know what you are angling at here. Is there a discussion?

 

[Tony Vargas]

Looks more like Monsters as symbolic representations of Nature.

 

[Celebrim]

Clicked on the thread for the science. Got philosophy instead. Meh.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I do not know what you are angling at here. Is there a discussion?

I'm trying to understand the D&D monster categories mostly so that if I come up with a concept, I have a better idea where to put it.

Are my categories correct? Frex do giants really represent the power of nature or do they represent only unliving natural forces? Would it be appropriate to create a plague giant or a sun giant for example? Would the notion of plague be better associated with demons, for instance, rather than giants? Do these ideas fit with those already established in D&D?

 

[Doug McCrae]

And what's missing? It seems to me that D&D has sufficient highly magical representatives of nonliving natural forces - giants, elementals - but lacks plant and animal spirits. Dryads are hella specific. So is the cat lord. I'm thinking of beings that are below gods in power and stature, but aren't just animal or plant people like gnolls and myconids.

Though it could be argued that giants aren't terribly magical, and are basically just big people, until you get up to cloud giants. D&D has a strong tendency to de-magic its monsters relative to the source material, making almost all of them just people - mortal, tangible - with limited magic powers.

 

[Tony Vargas]

And what's missing? It seems to me that D&D has sufficient highly magical representatives of nonliving natural forces - giants, elementals - but lacks plant and animal spirits. Dryads are hella specific. So is the cat lord. I'm thinking of beings that are below gods in power and stature, but aren't just animal or plant people like gnolls and myconids.

So like the idea of the primal spirits, but with actual stats?

Though it could be argued that giants aren't terribly magical, and are basically just big people, until you get up to cloud giants.

They do have clear elemental connections - Stone, Frost, Fire, Cloud/Storm, but for the lowly Hill Giant and some of the other variations.

D&D has a strong tendency to de-magic its monsters relative to the source material, making almost all of them just people - mortal, tangible - with limited magic powers.

Really?
I mean, Demons et al are mortal/tangible, when visiting the prime material in what are essentially astral bodies, but kill 'em and they reform on their home plane.

 

[77IM]

The one that stands out to me as a bad fit is "Hag – destructive nature." Hags are hateful, deceptive, and insidious, but they're not overtly destructive. I might equate them with something like "Lure of Nature." (Using "lure" in the sense of fishing. You are the fish.) Maybe they are like diseases, or a force of decay?

For "Destructive Nature" I would turn to the biggest, baddest monsters of all -- the ones that brought earthquakes, thunderstorms, and pestilence in their wake; the ones that could trigger a panic just by flying over a city; the ones frequently prophesied to destroy the world; the ones who trigger species-memory of our ancient reptilian predators; the ultimate monster featured in so many myths and legends...

 

[Doug McCrae]

For "Destructive Nature" I would turn to the biggest, baddest monsters of all -- the ones that brought earthquakes, thunderstorms, and pestilence in their wake; the ones that could trigger a panic just by flying over a city; the ones frequently prophesied to destroy the world; the ones who trigger species-memory of our ancient reptilian predators; the ultimate monster featured in so many myths and legends...

Godzilla?

 

[Tony Vargas]

Godzilla?

I'm sure he was going for 'dragon.'

But, D&D's resident Kaiju is the Terrasque.