Update SRD - Critters

[Lizard]

Oh goodie! One more thing to *$%& up my campaign.

Uhm, you know, you can still use the monsters YOURSELF. They aren't out of the game, just out of the SRD -- just like, say, most diseases, the XP chart, the traps, the sample dungeon, the descriptions of the monsters, the names of the gods, and plenty more...

 

[Frilf]

Point taken! Thanks for clearing that up, Jason.

 

[Hardhead]

Agreed, HellHound. SOME warning would have been nice. However, in many circles where I game, mind flayers, beholders, and carrion crawlers are much more a feature than dragons (who would, quite frankly, kick the liver out of most parties I've been in). Perhaps Mr. Valterra can shed some light on WotC's plans here.

I agree with what the poster right before me said. They're not gone from D&D. Just the SRD. So companies can't put them in their books anymore. That doesn't mean you still can't use them at home!

 

[MEG Hal]

You can say that again, Jason.

I do not know if that was funny or scary...prolly a lil of both.

Need to go change the cover of my new book on monsters as PC's called Barbaric Beasties I have a slaad and a Yuan-Ti fighting a beholder on it----oh crap



Ok kidding about the book, but lets wait and see what happens.

 

[Frilf]

I agree with what the poster right before me said. They're not gone from D&D. Just the SRD. So companies can't put them in their books anymore. That doesn't mean you still can't use them at home!

Just to get all my chips on the table here - I work for a company that puts out d20 stuff. So, the missing critters are a big deal to me. But, having said that, my gaming group will still have to fight beholders every other night or so

Thanks for the input, though.

Cheers!
Ian

 

[Henry]

I helped Jason out a little bit. After all those posts, his fingers were probably getting sore.

 

[HellHound]

(another double - sorry everyone)

 

[HellHound]

. double post

 

[Ranger REG]

::flicks on rant-o-matic::

To me, I just don't "get" this. Yuan-Ti I can *maybe* understand because they have an unnecessarily fanciful and pompous name that WotC might want to protect - but beholders, carrion crawlers, and mind flayers? Gimme a break! These creature's names are all common English words that anyone could slap together, hardly anything to make the exclusive intellectual property of whomever.

You could say the same for "Conan." But if you use the exact same likeness of Conan the Barbarian created by Ron E Howard, then you'd be infringing upon his trademark.

I believe the same goes for the aforementioned creatures. Wizards believe they are unique D&D monsters, both name and description. So they want to keep them for themselves, just as much as those iconic characters in the PH. Maybe they want to be the only ones to make products using them in the near future.

All in all, it makes the Wizards' D&D Core Rulebooks a bit more valuable.

But don't fret. There are other creatures that are in the formal SRD that you can use to publish.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

Wizards believe they are unique D&D monsters, both name and description.

So are owlbears.