Mike Mearls' Monster Makeover Suggestions HERE

[Nyaricus]

So, if your were Mister Mike Mearls, what monster would you submit to the drawing board for a Monster Makeover ala the Rust Monster or Ogre Mage?

I'm honestly just curious to see which monsters bug EN Worlders

For my submission, I'd probably do something simply (IMNSHO, YMMV, and all that), like make Bugbears large size again (like in AD&D) and have orcs and goblinoids all be one type (ala LotR) simply called "Orc". After all, why do we need another species of humanoids, when these two distinct groups (in D&D, in any case) are actually quite similar.

So, what would you do a Monster Makeover of?

Mods, while I know this is borderline houserules territory, I think General is a better place for it, for the time being. If you think otherwise, feel free to move it; I'm not picky

 

[blargney the second]

Bodak and/or vampire. Even undead need some lovin'.

The bodak's not a very useful creature to run, and the vampire somehow doesn't feel vampiric enough.

 

[Graf]

This is a good thread. I tended to just run monsters as-is without thinking about their composition directly (or I’d take a picture and just change the stats).

I don’t think you should be praying that he’s going to “fix” some sort of tichy game difference like “bugbears should be bigger” or “orcs need to be in a special monster class” though.
In three cases so far he’s picked monsters from 1st edition with lots of powers that haven’t changed since they were first developed and will benefit greatly from being overhauled.

My vote: drow
Their spell like abilities don’t make much sense and they’re irritating for both DMs who run them as villains* and Drizzt loving players who hate the LA. They’re a fixture of DnD; they may as well make sense.
*=In the Spider Queen mega adventure Wyatt make special items like “amulets of extra hitpoints” just to make them viable.

 

[gavagai]

There are some "iconic" monsters I think would be better off as 1 HD creatures ... mind flayers, for example. I'd love to have a 1 HD base Mind Flayer, with the assumption that every mind flayer the PCs ever meet will be at least 6th, 8th or even 10th level, most probably spell caster. That would allow mighty mind flayers to actually compete with punny humans on things like caster level or highest spell known (alternatively, one could go the cloaker road and say, they are all nth level sorcerers and further sorcerer levels stack, or something similar to this)

 

[Nyaricus]

This is a good thread.

Thanks I thought so too

I don’t think you should be praying that he’s going to “fix” some sort of tichy game difference like “bugbears should be bigger” or “orcs need to be in a special monster class” though.
In three cases so far he’s picked monsters from 1st edition with lots of powers that haven’t changed since they were first developed and will benefit greatly from being overhauled.

Absolutely; I wasn't expecting such, it's just somethign I'd change if I were him

Another thing is I'd start convert all the undead monsters to templates; they don't make sense any other way adn 3.5's change to making zombies and skeletons templates was a good start, but there are others needin' some love (Bodak, I am looking at you - and not just for that reason, you little death-gazing-bugger you )

 

[Imruphel]

Tanar'ri.

Two quick reasons:

1. Why are they immune to electricity? It makes no sense based on their environment or any flavour text I have read since this was decided in 2E.

2. If tanar'ri are exemplars of chaos and evil... um, why don't their various abilities reflect that?

 

[blargney the second]

Tanar'ri were really bad when they were kids: their moms grounded them permanently.

 

[Fat Daddy]

Tanar'ri were really bad when they were kids: their moms grounded them permanently.

Oooohhh. That's just awful. I liked it a lot!!

 

[Staffan]

There are some "iconic" monsters I think would be better off as 1 HD creatures ... mind flayers, for example. I'd love to have a 1 HD base Mind Flayer, with the assumption that every mind flayer the PCs ever meet will be at least 6th, 8th or even 10th level, most probably spell caster. That would allow mighty mind flayers to actually compete with punny humans on things like caster level or highest spell known (alternatively, one could go the cloaker road and say, they are all nth level sorcerers and further sorcerer levels stack, or something similar to this)

The mind flayer version in the XPH work like your last option, only they're psions instead of sorcerers (of course).

And let me tell you, that is a HUGE power-up for them (for one thing, they get +7 AC from inertial armor, the psionic version of mage armor). I had a mind flayer with one level of monk (CR 9) that came *this* close to killing a party of 8th level PCs. Of course, a grapple check in the 20s helped with that...

 

[Gold Roger]

The Vampire definitely needs a makeover. Not only doesn't it exactly fit the stereotype (which doesn't bother me to much), but it also sucks in gameplay. Actually they are such a good example for a badly designed monster, that I wonder why they wheren't first to get a makeover. Propably because they are a template.

I agree that drow could need a closer look as well.