Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
"Monster density" and wilderness settlements in D&D campaign worlds
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Grainger" data-source="post: 6392891" data-attributes="member: 6779234"><p>An alternative to the problem of "monsters within civilised lands" is to compartmentalise them. Perhaps they are on different planes/parallel worlds, and the PCs can visit those worlds through portals. In that situation, the PCs are the "monsters", "invading" the other worlds. Perhaps if the PCs cause enough disruption, the inhabitants of the others worlds could organise an invasion of the PCs' plane...</p><p></p><p>Obviously, terrain is another way to limit monster populations. Lizardfolk might prefer to live in a swamp, and seldom stray far from their borders. Perhaps some Humans want to utilise the swamp, perhaps to get ingredients for medicinal treatments, and have run into problems with the Lizardfolk. Perhaps the Lizardfolk are starting to raid the fringe settlements. This solves the issue of "why don't they slaughter the entire population?". It's a similar thing to Viking raiders - they hit the English coast, but in general, anyone sufficiently far from the coast or a navigable river, was safe.</p><p></p><p>You can always fall back on "monsters coming out of the Underdark", too. The PCs can visit there, but also perhaps the monsters are coming out into more civilised lands. Maybe they don't usually come out, but perhaps changes below (changes in the balance of power) have caused some of the inhabitants to stray above-ground more. This could be in relatively unsettled areas, such as mountain ranges.... it still needs adventurers to deal with it, but peasantfolk aren't under direct threat... unless the adventurers/rulers fail to deal with it.</p><p></p><p>Just three ideas there which give the PCs plenty to do, but avoid the issue of Owlbears roaming around the Shire, killing Sam and Frodo, and a Dragon eating Bag End (it misheard, and thought someone was talking about a Baguette).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Grainger, post: 6392891, member: 6779234"] An alternative to the problem of "monsters within civilised lands" is to compartmentalise them. Perhaps they are on different planes/parallel worlds, and the PCs can visit those worlds through portals. In that situation, the PCs are the "monsters", "invading" the other worlds. Perhaps if the PCs cause enough disruption, the inhabitants of the others worlds could organise an invasion of the PCs' plane... Obviously, terrain is another way to limit monster populations. Lizardfolk might prefer to live in a swamp, and seldom stray far from their borders. Perhaps some Humans want to utilise the swamp, perhaps to get ingredients for medicinal treatments, and have run into problems with the Lizardfolk. Perhaps the Lizardfolk are starting to raid the fringe settlements. This solves the issue of "why don't they slaughter the entire population?". It's a similar thing to Viking raiders - they hit the English coast, but in general, anyone sufficiently far from the coast or a navigable river, was safe. You can always fall back on "monsters coming out of the Underdark", too. The PCs can visit there, but also perhaps the monsters are coming out into more civilised lands. Maybe they don't usually come out, but perhaps changes below (changes in the balance of power) have caused some of the inhabitants to stray above-ground more. This could be in relatively unsettled areas, such as mountain ranges.... it still needs adventurers to deal with it, but peasantfolk aren't under direct threat... unless the adventurers/rulers fail to deal with it. Just three ideas there which give the PCs plenty to do, but avoid the issue of Owlbears roaming around the Shire, killing Sam and Frodo, and a Dragon eating Bag End (it misheard, and thought someone was talking about a Baguette). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
"Monster density" and wilderness settlements in D&D campaign worlds
Top