Monster book under consideration

[Whisper72]

Whitemage,

I didn't answer the poll as I do not buy PDf products myself (I like to have a book in hand...), so I'd be a poor guide from that perspective, however I do find the idea intriguing.

As for you 'abc', I think your focus should be to other way around...

I.e. While creating / writing up the monsters, keep 'option C' in mind, i.e. shy away from comparison / relations with the great wheel and the 'iconic' alignment 'exemplars', but completely do your own thing.

Maybe add a seperate chapter (small, maybe an appendix is better) on how to relate the new monsters/races to the already present denizens of the great wheel should DM's want to go for 'option A', or how to plug them into the 'iconic' cosmology of the great wheel as replacements.

The focus of your work should IMHO be on option C, the rest is best left up to the creativity of the individual DM's (with a little help in the appendix(ces)).

Hope that helps you a bit...

 

[Telperion]

Price: 6-9$
Page count: about 90

The book would be divided into 9 sections, one for each of the new planer 'races' (a system very similar to the way that baatezu or modrons are one race). Each race would correspond to one of the alignments, but my goal is to create each race with large differences from its associated Planescape race mechanicaly, socially (i.e. role-playing), and 'flavor-wise'. I plan to add more details when I have worked on the project a bit more. Khayman, I definatly won't make the monsters limited to the Great Wheel.
The idea is that the book would be useful for three things (of course, all three options will be addressed in the book):
A: Supplements to the existing races on the Great Wheel,
B: Replacements for said races, either because you didn't like one of the old ones or just because you wanted a different feel for that alignment's exemplars (I never liked the Slaad, personally), and/or
C: Monsters for non-core cosmologies, so that you can, for example, put CE exemplars in you homebrew planes without the monsters giving you the feeling that they have been 'imported from the Abyss'.

S&SS did this sort of thing with Creature Collection 3. Well, before that as well, but they only defined the various larger outsider groups in the third CC well enough to suit me. I loved it, but only because it fits the Scarred Lands setting so well and gives insight into the realms outside of the Material Plane (something that Scarred Lands didn't really provided until Edge of Infinity came out).

So while the basic idea is nice the usefulness of such a product is questionable. For a campaign setting with a great theme and need of individualized outsider groups it works very well. On a more general level: why bother? The basic stuff can be found in the MM, and while it isn't the greatest of monster books it gets the job done. Having already bought three campaign specific monster books and the MM I have lost interest in other products of this type. There are just so many critters to use as it is .

 

[d20Dwarf]

Read the SRD.

 

[jmucchiello]

Read the SRD.

Wil offers you excellent though terse advice.

Pay particular attention to the contents of legal.html as it contains a list of words (some of which are in your posts above) that cannot be included in an OGL/d20 work.

More terse advice: Put down the 3e/3.5e rulebooks, 2e rulebooks, Planescape supplements and other references to planar creatures and read the SRD again.

 

[Rauol_Duke]

Uh...never mind.

 

[Particle_Man]

Well, if the 9 races would sub-in for my concept of the "Afterlife races" that the prime material plane denizens would become after they died, depending on their alignment, I could see myself going for it for my homebrew idea. But it would live or die by its reviews.

 

[Shamshir]

Huh?

Would I be interested in WHAT product?

maybe you should withdraw your poll and start over...