Monsters that have gotten more cool/less cool over the years

Less cool: the fiendish/half-fiend template, and the half-dragon template. We got a lot of these early on and they are wearing out their welcome.

However, I would LOVE to see some flavorful variants of the fiendish/half-fiend templates. Ones more specific (half demon, half devil, half yugoloth, half daemon/demodand/whathaveyou). Those would go over very well with me. :)
 

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Jyrdan Fairblade said:
I'll agree that the Yuan-Ti have seen a rise in their coolness factor.

Getting less cool:

Kobolds -- What happened to the yapping horned dog-men of old? They now no longer fit in the goblinoid hierarchy.

Hobgoblins -- On one hand, the re-inforcement of their militaristic nature makes them stand out more from orcs. On the other, the fur thing just doesn't work for me.

I'd say that the Tarrasque has gotten less cool, but I've always thought it lame.

I think kobolds are way cooler now with their uber-trapper style and sorcerous way. They aren't in the goblinoid hierarchy but in the reptilian hierarchy due to the draconic bloodline they've discovered.

I agree about Hobgoblins; definitely makes the goblin armies the force to be reckoned with.

Tarrasque suck, Bullette rule!
 

less cool: al elves and elven subproducts. I blame the Complete book of Cheese


more cool: Orcs, I think mainly due to Warcraft.
 

EricNoah said:
Less cool: the fiendish/half-fiend template, and the half-dragon template. We got a lot of these early on and they are wearing out their welcome.

However, I would LOVE to see some flavorful variants of the fiendish/half-fiend templates. Ones more specific (half demon, half devil, half yugoloth, half daemon/demodand/whathaveyou). Those would go over very well with me. :)


have you read the novel Glass Prison by Monte Cook?

or used the old Dungeon adventure with the alu-demon?

edit: or God forbid.. Darley in T1-4
 

[retyping because the browser ditched my post... :( ]

IMO many cool monsters are getting watered down by too many options around, most notably the abuse of subraces (not anymore), half-races and loss of character restrictions.

Having a race of half-dragon is cool and can be a great addition to a setting. Having any possible combination between a dragon (any type) and another creature, means you're going to see a half-black half-gnome, then a half-gold half-minotaur, then another and another, then you have draconic bloodlines, and dragon-blooded sorcerers... at some point there are so many around that it's not so special anymore to be a half-dragon. [thank god, dragons are the most resilient D&D monster, so they STILL ARE totally cool! :) ]

Elves got their share with too many subraces (a trend finally over). If you have high elves, wild elves, aquatic elves, dark elves, sun elves, wood elves etc. in your game, what is still left about "being an elf" is not a strong archetype.

Drow are a cool race with very distinctive features. So kewl that people wanted to play one! Here starts the loss of restrictions, which takes away the "uniqueness" of drows. But after all, why having only evil drow priestesses and wizards, why not having also good drow rangers? And when you're tired of good drow rangers, why not a lawful half-celestial half-illithid half-drow monk with vow of poverty? However, do this over and over and it's not so special anymore to be a drow. After all, the lawful half-celestial half-illithid half-drow monk with vow of poverty is not really "more drow" than a lawful half-celestial half-illithid half-human monk with vow of poverty.

edit: So I have basically answered that I agree that Elves and especially Drow are IMXP the once who lost most appeal.

Now I also add that oddly the Elves have got a little help from the fact that half-elves suck, otherwise they'll be more half- than full- elves :p
 
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More cool: Owlbears. All they really did was give us a good illustration and all of the sudden they're creepy and scary abominations. Also, if possible, Illithid. I mean they were always cool but they just keep getting better. :)

Less cool: Elves. I won't even list Drow because I've never used them in any of my games.
 

Kobolds: They used to be described as "dog faced" but looking at their old 2e picture in the monstrous compendium http://cite.blanche.free.fr/cite/Creatures/KOBOLD.JPG I can't for the life of me figure out what dog they were supposed to look like. They were pictured as squat, rotund, stubby-fingered, flat faced, with big round bug eyes and voices that sound like "yapping dogs". Because they had less than 1 HD, PCs could attack, and slay with a single strike, as many kobolds as they had levels.

Then came the publishing of the 2e colour monstrous compendium book with artwork by DiTerlizzi IIRC. Suddenly kobolds did have their dog-like snouts, were lithe and just seemed like tricky little SOBs. The publishing of the Dragon Mountain boxed showed them in all their glory on their home turf, with multiple tribes with devious traps and clever strategies to twart even high-level PCs.

Third edition continued this upward progression; their artwork improved even more and they suddenly gained a proud heritage as the distant descendants of mighty dragons and capable sorcerors in their own right. Now kobolds can hold their heads high (or as high as they can get them) and be proud of themselves. Check it out: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG161b.jpg

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY KOBOLD! :D
 

Less Cool:

Bullywugs. . . Because they lost their hop attack and their camoflauge was watered down and they gave them the lame summoning bonus (or whatever the hell it is). My alt.bullywug is far superior.

Drow, of course.


More Cool: All humanoids - because added class levels makes sense. . .
 

Flumphs seem to have grown in coolness, although i know little about them anyway... I completly agree that as they have been overdone elves and drow have lost 'it'.
 

More Cool:

  • Halflings - Not just a hobbit ripoff anymore
  • Weirds - I like their new role as seers
  • Nightshades
  • Aberrations, Fey - some of the new ones are pushing the envelope

Less Cool:

  • All the playable races made by watering-down monsters just to get LA +0 or +1: changelings, mephlings, raptors, shifters, spikers, etc.
  • Humanoids, in general - way overdone
  • Genasi - Not worth their LA, not terribly exotic anymore.
  • Yugoloths - I love 'em, but their continued weakened stats in 3.5 has hurt them.
  • Giants - so few of them are truly gigantic
  • Undead - we have about 100,000 too many that should either have been a template or are a nearly the same as one or two others

Never Were Cool, but Now are Way Beyond Uncool:

  • Half-elves
  • Krenshar
 

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