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<blockquote data-quote="KidSnide" data-source="post: 6083469" data-attributes="member: 54710">I like James Wyatt's &quot;<a href="http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Archive.aspx?category=all&amp;subcategory=wanderingmonsters" target="_blank">Wandering Monsters</a>&quot; column.&nbsp; Or, to be more accurate, I think it's a good idea.&nbsp; I'm never blown away by any of the ideas (after all, the whole point is that they should be familiar), but I like the idea of running through the monsters one-by-one and checking to see what the community thinks of them.&nbsp; But at the same time, I think the project has a serious flaw.&nbsp; The objective is to find the &quot;true&quot; / &quot;classic&quot; / &quot;consensus&quot; version of a monster.&nbsp; That's a fine goal (and an important part of D&amp;DN), but (1) not all monsters have a single true version and (2) going back to the canonical version of every race makes it very hard to write new material.&nbsp; The minotaur is the classic version of this.&nbsp; The &quot;cursed by Baphomet, and not a real race&quot; is a cool idea in principle, but it loses a lot when it's modified to be &quot;cursed by Baphoment, but now also a race.&quot;&nbsp; And at the same time, &quot;cursed by Baphomet&quot; doesn't make any sense if you also want to accommodate PC-playable Krynn-style minotaurs.For some races, there just isn't one single &quot;core&quot; that will satisfy everyone.And why limit D&amp;DN to a single core?&nbsp; Krynn minotaurs are cool because they are different from traditional minotaurs, just like Dark Sun halflings are cool because they are different from regular halflings, and Golarion goblins are cool for their eccentric differences from vanilla goblins.Yes, D&amp;DN should find a core for each monster, but it should also celebrate the variation.&nbsp; The default minotaur should be a regular breeding race, but the minotaur entry can also include a &quot;monsters cursed by Baphomet&quot; alternate backstory and a Krynn-style civilized seafarers alternate backstory.&nbsp; D&amp;DN is all about letting the DM customize the game.&nbsp; The monster manual should support that by helping DMs pick and choose which cool monster variants they want in their world.Thoughts?-KS</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KidSnide, post: 6083469, member: 54710"] I like James Wyatt's "[URL="http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Archive.aspx?category=all&subcategory=wanderingmonsters"]Wandering Monsters[/URL]" column. Or, to be more accurate, I think it's a good idea. I'm never blown away by any of the ideas (after all, the whole point is that they should be familiar), but I like the idea of running through the monsters one-by-one and checking to see what the community thinks of them. But at the same time, I think the project has a serious flaw. The objective is to find the "true" / "classic" / "consensus" version of a monster. That's a fine goal (and an important part of D&DN), but (1) not all monsters have a single true version and (2) going back to the canonical version of every race makes it very hard to write new material. The minotaur is the classic version of this. The "cursed by Baphomet, and not a real race" is a cool idea in principle, but it loses a lot when it's modified to be "cursed by Baphoment, but now also a race." And at the same time, "cursed by Baphomet" doesn't make any sense if you also want to accommodate PC-playable Krynn-style minotaurs. For some races, there just isn't one single "core" that will satisfy everyone. And why limit D&DN to a single core? Krynn minotaurs are cool because they are different from traditional minotaurs, just like Dark Sun halflings are cool because they are different from regular halflings, and Golarion goblins are cool for their eccentric differences from vanilla goblins. Yes, D&DN should find a core for each monster, but it should also celebrate the variation. The default minotaur should be a regular breeding race, but the minotaur entry can also include a "monsters cursed by Baphomet" alternate backstory and a Krynn-style civilized seafarers alternate backstory. D&DN is all about letting the DM customize the game. The monster manual should support that by helping DMs pick and choose which cool monster variants they want in their world. Thoughts? -KS [/QUOTE]

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