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Message: <blockquote data-quote="arscott" data-source="post: 2153172" data-attributes="member: 17969">Okay, some of you people have really crappy notions about scariness.Scary isn't about some mechanical advantage that makes this monster somewhat more inconviniencing that the previous ten.  When I see a rust monster, I don't even get apprehensive.  The only thing a rust monster symbolizes is that the DM feels that he's given out too much treasure.Scary is when you wake up in the middle of the night shaking, covered in sweat.  And even when you've made yourself a cup of warm milk and fished your childhood teddybear out of the closet, you still can't shake the thought that something's out there, just waiting for you to close your eyes.It's gotten to the point where even monsters that are supposed to be terrifying are just blasé.  I was reading through the Lords of Madness preview, and when I read the section on the new featured abberation, I couldn't even feign interest.  The basic concept of "wearers of the skin" might have been interesting, but they ultimately boil down to yet another floating, tentacled abberation.The Arcana Unearthed eye things sound interesting, but if the players know ahead of time that they're going to lose an eye, what's the point?  The horrified potential of "without warning, some hideous beast rips your eyeball from it's socket" just turns into "eh, I saw it coming.  I cast cure blindess"Mechanics alone does not a monster make.  If you want something, then it has to be role-played to its potential.  It's not good enough to say "They look like squid people".  You have to show that these are aliens, with intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic.  And remember than inhuman outlooks and motivations applied to the Faerie court are just as creepy as those applied to Lovecraft knockoffs, if not creepier.</blockquote>

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