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5e: the demystification of monsters?
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<blockquote data-quote="GameDoc" data-source="post: 6028088" data-attributes="member: 53915"><p>This is an EXCELLENT point that I think got buried amid the Great Ogre Debate...</p><p></p><p>It also got me thinking about the use of monsters as NPCs and the use of "people" (humans and other PC races) as mooks. It seems like you can make monsters more mysterious at lower levels by having them be rare. Say your first adventure as 1st level characters is clearing out a gang of human bandits from the forest, trying to remove a curse inflicted on the local magistrate by an eleven witch whose minions are adventures charmed by her magic, or the like. Now pepper in monsters sparingly. The bandit captain has a pet owlbear that you have to deal with as he tries to flee. The witch summons a lesser demon when you finally infiltrate her lair. Or maybe no monsters at all until 2nd level.</p><p></p><p>Conversely, maybe an ogre can be a character. Maybe the one you face at 1st level isn't evil, just neutral and ill-tempered. But he'd be a good ally for helping you complete your quest. Help us clear out that goblin warren and you can have the lair and any food they've stored for yourself.</p><p></p><p>I think these are all possible with Next any prior addition of D&D. I 've seen less devoted to it by WotC than was done by TSR (but that could be faulty memory on my part). I do know, that after having spent several years in 4e, it's been hard to break my group from the idea that all monsters are there to kill and loot and that they might ought to avoid a fight from time to time. </p><p></p><p>Hopefully, with the focus on allowing different settings and play styles, as well as the general goal of recapturing the feel of older editions in Next, monsters as more than things to attack might get some more page space.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GameDoc, post: 6028088, member: 53915"] This is an EXCELLENT point that I think got buried amid the Great Ogre Debate... It also got me thinking about the use of monsters as NPCs and the use of "people" (humans and other PC races) as mooks. It seems like you can make monsters more mysterious at lower levels by having them be rare. Say your first adventure as 1st level characters is clearing out a gang of human bandits from the forest, trying to remove a curse inflicted on the local magistrate by an eleven witch whose minions are adventures charmed by her magic, or the like. Now pepper in monsters sparingly. The bandit captain has a pet owlbear that you have to deal with as he tries to flee. The witch summons a lesser demon when you finally infiltrate her lair. Or maybe no monsters at all until 2nd level. Conversely, maybe an ogre can be a character. Maybe the one you face at 1st level isn't evil, just neutral and ill-tempered. But he'd be a good ally for helping you complete your quest. Help us clear out that goblin warren and you can have the lair and any food they've stored for yourself. I think these are all possible with Next any prior addition of D&D. I 've seen less devoted to it by WotC than was done by TSR (but that could be faulty memory on my part). I do know, that after having spent several years in 4e, it's been hard to break my group from the idea that all monsters are there to kill and loot and that they might ought to avoid a fight from time to time. Hopefully, with the focus on allowing different settings and play styles, as well as the general goal of recapturing the feel of older editions in Next, monsters as more than things to attack might get some more page space. [/QUOTE]
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