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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 9237992" data-attributes="member: 6801845"><p>Most of the enemies the PCs will meet in my campaign are human or were summoned from another realm by humans. So in one game I have a cult that is communing with eldritch horrors, pulling in aberrations or transforming themselves. I guess you could say this involves multiple species, but the creatures the group have faced are definitely not native to Midgard (prime material plane in D&D parlance). </p><p></p><p>Other than that, most monstrous species don't originate from Midgard. Goblins, ogres and trolls come from the feywild although only goblins are all that common. Orcs and giants are from Jotunheim (land of the giants) and orcs aren't even a species that can reproduce on their own. One of the few monstrous races created indirectly by the gods are gnolls, which are the result of a defeated giant demi-god who's comatose form rests in Midgard.</p><p></p><p>In addition, there are only a handful of monstrous types in any given region. There isn't ever really a crossover in regions between "advanced" monstrous creatures other than goblins. Goblins may be found just about anywhere but goblinoids (e.g. hobgoblins) are mostly restricted to a couple of regions. In other regions orcs and potentially giants dominate. </p><p></p><p>Other less intelligent monsters vary by region, but again there's not a lot of crossover, different regions have a different bestiary much like we have cougars in North America but not Asiatic lions.</p><p></p><p>Undead are a bit different because most are just different ways of malevolent spirits manifesting themselves, or are cursed to live on past their normal life.</p><p></p><p>So I typically limit it to less than 16 species, with potential exceptions for aberrations and undead. There are occasional "What the heck is that!" monsters now and then of course, because why not have the PCs attacked by some creature never seen before once in a blue moon?</p><p></p><p>One thing that video games do that I avoid is having a new monster every few miles. I get it in video games, it's just part of their nature. But for the most part monsters are few and far between unless you go looking for them or they're part of an invasion force.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 9237992, member: 6801845"] Most of the enemies the PCs will meet in my campaign are human or were summoned from another realm by humans. So in one game I have a cult that is communing with eldritch horrors, pulling in aberrations or transforming themselves. I guess you could say this involves multiple species, but the creatures the group have faced are definitely not native to Midgard (prime material plane in D&D parlance). Other than that, most monstrous species don't originate from Midgard. Goblins, ogres and trolls come from the feywild although only goblins are all that common. Orcs and giants are from Jotunheim (land of the giants) and orcs aren't even a species that can reproduce on their own. One of the few monstrous races created indirectly by the gods are gnolls, which are the result of a defeated giant demi-god who's comatose form rests in Midgard. In addition, there are only a handful of monstrous types in any given region. There isn't ever really a crossover in regions between "advanced" monstrous creatures other than goblins. Goblins may be found just about anywhere but goblinoids (e.g. hobgoblins) are mostly restricted to a couple of regions. In other regions orcs and potentially giants dominate. Other less intelligent monsters vary by region, but again there's not a lot of crossover, different regions have a different bestiary much like we have cougars in North America but not Asiatic lions. Undead are a bit different because most are just different ways of malevolent spirits manifesting themselves, or are cursed to live on past their normal life. So I typically limit it to less than 16 species, with potential exceptions for aberrations and undead. There are occasional "What the heck is that!" monsters now and then of course, because why not have the PCs attacked by some creature never seen before once in a blue moon? One thing that video games do that I avoid is having a new monster every few miles. I get it in video games, it's just part of their nature. But for the most part monsters are few and far between unless you go looking for them or they're part of an invasion force. [/QUOTE]
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