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

Soel

First Post
More cool - Githyanki (especially after Guide to the Astral Plane and Incursion,)
Defilers (after the 3.5 treatment in Dungeon and Dragon Magazines.)
Ethergaunts (after Mechalich's stunning essays)

Less cool - Orcs (overdone and generic beyond reason)
Multi-Templated-how-was-this-sired? creatures.(actually, NEVER cool!)
 

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S'mon

Legend
Joshua Dyal said:
What's this? Which FFGB? I always thought the Skaven were the origin of ratmen specifically (although they were clearly based on existing were-rats).

I can't even remember, but not the original 7 (Warlock of Firetop Mountain through Island of the Lizard King) as far as I know. They had Skill 5 Stamina 4, pretty pathetic.
 

Shemeska

Adventurer
Less Cool:

Elves in all forms. And Sweet Jesus do they have forms. It's like someone nuked an elven nation and the elves got all warped by the radiation and like roaches in the rubble they just bred and evolved and spread out to feed and nance in the woods.

Orcs. Making them CE has ruined them in my eyes. May they commit ritual suicide and be promptly beaten up by the goblins in Acheron.

Devils: Bone Devils. Chain Devils. Bearded Devils. Horned Devils. Ice Devils. Whoever changed the Baatezu names back to the 1e versions has shamed themselves and is henceforth declared no longer human. Pack your bags nameless designer, we're shooting you into space.

More Cool:

Kobolds. They're so much cooler now. Meepo made them :)

Githyanki/Githzerai. You cannot make them uncool. It's not possible.

Tanar'ri: They're mocking the Baatezu now for having crappy names.

Yugoloths: Even that Int 16, stat neutered Ultroloth is looking cool compared to the 'devils' and he's laughing at them too.

Pit Fiend: He's still trying to play it cool and he's almost pulling it off despite being like a really cool kid forced to hang out with his brain damaged cousins who drank wood alcohol on a frat dare and trying to ignore them drooling or playing with themselves in public.
 
Last edited:

Ranes

Adventurer
Can't resist... thread... any longer...

More cool:

Kobolds - always liked 'em, like 'em even more with class levels and draconic overtones
Gelatinous Cubes - kudos to any daft idea that survives decades of gaming
Skeleton - yep, becoming a template was the best thing ever to happen to a bag of bones
Dragons - I like 3.x dragons more than those of any other edition

Less cool:
Drow - but it's the over-exposure thing - looking forward to my nephews growing up a bit more, so I can introduce drow to a new generation
Halflings - I want my JRR rip-off back
 

Thondor

I run Compose Dream Games RPG Marketplace
Ranes said:
Halflings - I want my JRR rip-off back

I have to agree I believe I threw my newly purchased PH across the room when I learned that all halflings no, no my hobbits, were suddenly wandering gypses. I read this shortly after putting away my much loved Return of the King to it's bookself. What? could you change anything more completely?
Couldn't they have done that with the gnomes instead - wandering genius tinkerers? No one had a clear idea what there niche was anyway.
And Gnomes thanks, now that there getting a +2 to con no one get's a non-physical stat adjustement. I want my +1 int back!
 

arwink

Clockwork Golem
Less cool
Beholders - they started going downhill the first time I put one in the game seven or eight years ago, and they've kept going since then.
Trolls - Over the years, I've just grown tired of the DnD troll

More Cool
Ogres - 3e made my favorite monster cool as heck and easily adaptable.
Gnolls - Not sure why, but after years of ignoring them in 2e they made a strong showing in my 3e campaigns.
 

Ry

Explorer
How can people not have mentioned the manticore?! I mean, the 3E drawing of that baby breathed new life into what had been a sphinx with a messy home life.
 

Dragonhelm

Knight of Solamnia
More Cool:
Agree with kobolds and dragons on this one. Kobolds have personality now and dragons are truly fearsome.



Less Cool:
Displacer beasts. The 3e picture of it is abysmal. Poor thing is starving to death. I prefer the more panther-like version in the 2e Monstrous Manual.

Drow. This is a race that has had so much overexposure it isn't funny. They are to D&D what Wolverine is to the X-Men. Eberron has been good to the drow and I like the scorpion association. Still, that doesn't erase what has come before.

Halflings. They will always have hairy feet in my book. Now they're quirky miniature humans that have ripped off elements of every other halfling-style race out there. I want the Tolkien ripoffs back.
 

Steel_Wind

Legend
Less Cool: The Underdark and all its denizens. Yes Mr. Mind FLayer, Beholder and Ms. Drow: You are collectively done to death and *boring boring boring*.

Cool, butl not as cool as once long ago: Vampires. So over done they've made entire game systems about you. Boring.

Wyverns: An iconic creature they lost an opportunity to make more cool

Death Knights: All the cool PrCs seem to make this template a tad boring now...

More Cool:

Ghouls: A free willed undead with boundless options
Skeletons: Best Template EVAR
Demons and Devils: That's better. Tannery and batamazuuule? *spits*
Dragons: Still cool, but they've peaked. It's all downhill from here I think.
Goblin: Throw in a Blue. This is a cool race. You can base an entire campaign around these
Giants: deadlier than ever
Gnolls: Gnolls are clearly about to have a breakthrough in coolness.
Yuan-ti: I agree - these have become more cool

Never was Cool: Tarrasque
 

The Shaman

First Post
Hot! Demi-lich
Not... Lich

Hot! Swarm
Not... Kobolds

Hot! Greyhawk drow
Not... Forgotten Realms drow

Hot! Dire animals
Not... Magical beasts

Hot! Tarrasque
Not... Tarrasque

Hot! Giants
Not... Ogres

Hot! Kuo-toa
Not... Sahuagin

Hot! Ixitxachitl
Not... Aboleth

Hot! Lizardfolk
Not... anything else... :)

Hot! Spriggan
Not... Duergar
 

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