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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 4562028" data-attributes="member: 54707">I took care of that problem years ago by developing a set of Classification Traits for Monster Design, and by developing korruh as an after-effect of exposure to Elturgy.I take creatures from Myth, the Monster Manual, and other sources, then modify the creatures from that point onwards. I also have a built in background/milieu advantage.In my world, which is actually two different worlds, most monsters (as the term is normally used, not just as a gaming sense or description) come from a world parallel to our own, inhabited by entirely different creatures an beings (Elves, Giants, etc.). In that world magic is real (indeed it is their chief source of power and energy, as chemical sources are to us) and works. However it also has side effects. If any creature, from Elf to Animal to Insect is exposed to powerful enough magic, or to continuous magic (in that world it is called Elturgy) then there is a chance that it will, for lack of a better term, mutate or alter. That process is called Korruh, related to the human word for corruption.Korruh can be benign and have effects as simple as being forever after extraordinarily sensitive to the presence of magic, or as malignant as turning ordinary creatures into monsters, chimeras (as the Greeks meant the term, for a monstrosity which is a combination of different, usually animal traits), gargantuan monstrosities, or even elves and such into vicious, murdering, bloodthirsty brutes. (For instance their are no Hobgoblins in my setting, instead there is one Hobgoblin (that is what humans call him, elves call him by another name, and that single Hobgoblin is a serial killer, has skin that can camouflage itself and change color, he is extremely stealthy, cunning, and a very large predator who is strong and loves to murder for sport) and that Hobgoblin is extremely dangerous and brutal. He has murdered scores of both Eldeven peoples and humans. So I took the Hobgoblin of legend and myth, and from the Monster Manual and created an entirely unique and vicious monster who operates like a recurring NPC of a very evil and treacherous nature. So although there are no Hobgoblins, there is a single and more than dangerous enough Hobgoblin. He's far more powerful, cunning, and vicious than Hobgoblins in the Monster Manual, and although he is very much a monster, he is very much a different kind of monster than the typical MM hobgoblin.So it is korruh that creates the monsters, and every such monster is a unique creature, though I can also use other sources to provide the monster templates. Once though you have the classification trait system all you really have to do is allow for the physique and appearance features, size, and what exactly the Korruh has done to the victim to create the monster, and then you have your monster. Korruh can create monstrous beasts who are basically benign, but outcasts because of appearance, and it can cause a person to remain absolutely unchanged in appearance and still be hideously twisted and evil on the inside. So the players cannot guess either the traits it will impart, or who is really a monster, because aside from those creatures it has changed in appearance, a monster could be anyone. Or anything. Korruh can also cause great pain, make one suspected to injury or disease, or make one long-lived and practically immune to most diseases, can make some clever, some cunning, and some mindless brutes.But it is pretty easy to create monsters with such a system.It is also easy to develop unique character traits and abilities through such a methodology. For instance an elf exposed to powerful magic might develop the ability to see in the ultraviolet spectrum, or developing hearing like a wolf, or skin as tough as tree bark. So it can have detrimental effects, and useful effects, and it can create both unique monsters and unique character traits as well. On our world, the human world, magic or elturgy is non-existent, but Thaumaturgy, or Wonder-Working, or miracles, or Divine magic, is real. It does not cause korruh, but then again monsters from the other world can escape to our world, and creatures form our world can make it to the other world. So a lion or tiger, which is to us a dangerous beast would seem a monster in the other world, where they have no lions, or tigers, or bears.  then once there (in the other world) a man, a lion, a tiger, or a bear could become a monster by being exposed to elturgy in the same way native peoples and creatures are exposed. So monster creation is an on-going process. And every monster created is in some way unique to itself. (Thaumaturgy though does not always work like typical D&D Divine magic. It comes from God and God determines what the spell effects will be and so forth. If a cleric has been exemplary and good then a spell might increase in effect, act as a higher level spell, last longer, or act upon everyone surrounding the cleric, even non-intended targets. It might even develop into another spell entirely. If a cleric has sinned or been lax then a miracle might backfire, might act as a curse, might have diminished effects, or might fail entirely. God, or gods in the case of pagan divine magic, determines the ultimate outcome of the spell, not the cleric. So Thaumaturgy has peculiar and unforeseen side-effects much as elturgy does, but different in outcome. Sometimes clerical magic works just like in the book, and sometimes God rewards good behavior and punishes bad clerical behavior by altering their miracle working abilities.) In my setting though monsters are rarely encountered, maybe one or two per dungeon or ruin (as an generalized example) but when monsters are met the party has to try and determine if the monster is a real, or an apparent threat, what it really is, and what it can do (none of which they know beforehand). If it is a real danger and a threat, then it is a very, very dangerous threat indeed. One or two monsters per adventure would be the equivalent of all the monsters in a typical, commercial adventure. Or you might think of it as in mythical terms. One Hydra is more than a handful for Herakles and his entire party. An entire expedition is built around one miniature, or one chimera, so dangerous and vicious are they, including the dangers of environmental advantages and elements in which they live and operate. Otherwise the party (during an adventure) fights human enemies (Persians for instance, or Vikings), against or with Elves and Giants, etc., against criminals, pirates, mercenaries, traitors, barbarians, and so forth.Often it ends up something like this, the details varying but the general elements usually coherent: the party fights against human or non-human enemies, while simultaneously having to eventually engage a monster (or having to engage a monster in a series of running and pitched battles throughout the entire course of the adventure - I usually run monsters not as mindless brutes but as cunning and clever, and well aware of the tactical advantages of ambush, surprise, retreat, and on-going harassment, unless trapped monsters do not fight to the death and to their own disadvantage, rather they fight to kill), while also having to achieve their mission, and sometimes engaged against supernatural foes, or operating with supernatural allies. And often, given the nature of the missions the party has to accomplish, their work must be done covertly or at least as quietly as possible.So the monster part is usually the easy part of the equation as far as my players and I are concerned. But by designing monsters in that way things like hit points and armor class and challenge rating become far less important than questions like; is this thing really a monster or does it just look like one, how much can I trust this thing, what can it do exactly, how dangerous is it, will it try to eat me, and how can I use this thing in some way to my best advantage? I agree with this idea, generally speaking, but I wasn't talking about "alien-ness" or non-human-ness in monster design, I was speaking of the qualities and traits which actually constitute what makes a monster specifically different from a person. For instance in game terms a war-hound which has been let loose against you is a monster, if you have to fight it to prevent it from mauling or killing you or a comrade. But if it is your war-hound, and fights alongside you as a partner, then it is not a monster despite the fact it is not a human.Elves who are allies are not monsters, Drow who are raiding villages, hanging children, and raping women obviously are.And those traits are what I was discussing, the actual traits that constitute not alien or monstrous appearance, but alien or monstrous behavior.It is behavior in my opinion that creates a monster, not mere appearance, which although it might be odd, disturbing, or even outright monstrous to the sight, might not describe the true nature of the beast, but only his outward aspects.And that is what I'm talking about by saying many fantasy RPGs, and D&D in particular have become little more than vehicles to confuse appearance and other tertiary aspects of gaming capabilities, such as hit points, armor class, alignment, etc. with what really constitutes a monster - with how dangerous a monster would really be, and how it would actually behave. Maybe I should have made that clearer or explained my actual point in a better fashion, or maybe it is just one of the built in limitations of language, that people can easily misunderstand what you thought you made clear through no real fault of either party.I've already started the devising of such a blog on this site, which I've decided to call Tome and Tomb.It will detail my writings on gaming and design, and possibly some other material on subject matters like history, politics, religion, art, science, and pop culture.I've always wanted to do a blog on Gaming related matters, but just didn't really have the time to create a new one with my work schedule, and I didn't really know how to go about marketing it or developing a readership base. It seems like here that it might have a built in audience.We'll see anyways, and thanks again for the help.I've got to get back to work. If one of us doesn't yak again before Thursday then Happy Thanksgiving everyone.</blockquote>

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