"Bait Monsters" and the "Trained Mindset"

[med stud]

Not to quibble overmuch, but weren't the giants that created the clay man with a horse's heart animating it known as hill giants? Didn't the giant who stole Iduna(and her apples) refer to himself as a Storm Giant?

Not in the Swedish versions I have read.

 

[Lanefan]

As a DM, Giants in general are perhaps my favourite monster to run. They're big, they can give out damage by the bucketful, they're a fantasy staple, and the players always seem to like the feeling they get when they kill one.

It's something of a peg-point for me, when a party ticks over that undefinable point that says "Right. Now they're capable of taking on Giants!"; at that point the game truly gets underway.

Further, as a DM my stories sometimes (well, rather often, really) tend to have a Norse background to them. Which of course means my favourite Giants are - you guessed it - Frost Giants.

Ah, well...

And here's a slightly cynical idea: that the Giants and Dragons and other iconics will be spread out because they're the most popular inclusions in the mini packs, and what's in the mini packs will reflect what's in the current edition of the MM, and they want to sell more mini packs. Thus, there'll probably be a couple of different Giants and Dragons in each of the first several MM's...

Lanefan

 

[pemerton]

Did Creatures and Treasures have frost giants?

Yep. And like all RM greater giants, they are spell-users (from memory, I would guess 2x lvl PP on Ice Law, and they're probably 6th level or so, but with lots of hits and a 2x or 3x damage multiplier).

 

[Pale]

We have stumbled upon Mearls' secret plot to steal sales from the corporate monster that is Hasbro and hand them to the independent and passionate gamer-publishers!

If you can't beat, join 'em - and then betray them from within! Trojan Horses FTW!!

OK, I will add the caveat of "unless WotC forbids them doing that".

 

[Kunimatyu]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Metallic Dragons won't be in MM1 -- they'll get their own space and related creatures in MM2.

I actually don't hate this idea, as that way they can really be fleshed out, and then gem dragons could show up in MM3.

 

[Kunimatyu]

OK, I will add the caveat of "unless WotC forbids them doing that".

Frosts aren't the property of WotC the same way things like baatezu and mind flayers are.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Metallic Dragons won't be in MM1 -- they'll get their own space and related creatures in MM2.

I actually don't hate this idea, as that way they can really be fleshed out, and then gem dragons could show up in MM3.

The Capricious Copper Dragon is in Deserts of Desolation, and we're told that all but one of the 60 figures will be in the 4th edition MM. So there's a 1/60 chance your limb will hold...

 

[Pale]

Frosts aren't the property of WotC the same way things like baatezu and mind flayers are.

Extremely valid point. However, I could see Orcus not doing it if Scott asks him not to politely.

Of course, he could always stick Frost and Fire Jotuns in and be done with it.

 

[Li Shenron]

I'm not going to strip my vest at every monster I like which is going to be left out of the MM, even if Giants have always been amongst my very favourite...

But I want to say, that more that the fact that a couple of classic monsters are demoted to later books, what really really disappoints me is the reaction of those gamers that show no respect, and rejoice that a classic monster is removed because they didn't like it. I, for instance, never liked Kobolds but never ever I would be happy to see thousands of fans sad if Kobolds were removed from the MM.

Thumbs down!

 

[med stud]

I'm not going to strip my vest at every monster I like which is going to be left out of the MM, even if Giants have always been amongst my very favourite...

But I want to say, that more that the fact that a couple of classic monsters are demoted to later books, what really really disappoints me is the reaction of those gamers that show no respect, and rejoice that a classic monster is removed because they didn't like it. I, for instance, never liked Kobolds but never ever I would be happy to see thousands of fans sad if Kobolds were removed from the MM.

Thumbs down!

I don't think people rejoice because people get sad. It's more likely that they rejoice because there is more space for other monsters. Besides, as people have stated in the thread, add some HP, attack bonus, damage and cold resistance to a hill giant and you get the mechanics for a frost giant. After that you add a horned helmet, an axe and a bunch of winter wolves and white dragons. As a final touch, make the giant snow white. There, instant frost giant! It really takes a couple of minutes to do the whole conversion.