D&D General Monster Expectations

[Oofta]

Normal sized bards weren't enough? Now you have to threaten @Snarf Zagyg with supersized bards?

I suspect this could be @Snarf Zagyg's theme song

I like big bards and I cannot lie​

You other brothers can't deny​

That when a giant walks in with that big giant base​

And start singing in your face, you get sprung​

 

[KYRON45]

There's an online pun/humor game called Kingdom of Loathing. In it they have a place called Degrassi Knoll and Gnolls live there.

That sounds brilliant!!

 

[Micah Sweet]

When the DM introduces a monster to a new party in a new campaign for the first time are they under any obligation to stick to the monster manual (of any other creature book)?

If I say you encounter a band of Gnolls but I want that band to be CR 5 is that "screwing" the players expectations?

edit: i spelled Gnolls wrong.

Absolutely not. Players should react to what the PCs experience in the world, not what their players have read outside the campaign.

 

[Micah Sweet]

There's an online pun/humor game called Kingdom of Loathing. In it they have a place called Degrassi Knoll and Gnolls live there.

I love that game!

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Absolutely not. Stuff in MM is just examples, the GM can and should modify it as needed, or create monsters from scratch.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

That sounds brilliant!!

The whole Loathing game series is great. Kingdom of Loathing is the original, online/"MMO" game, though I use the term "MMO" very loosely, it's a browser game. There's also the single-player games West of Loathing, which is wild-west themed, and Shadows Over Loathing, which is Lovecraftian and early-20th-century themed.