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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6256245" data-attributes="member: 42582">I know. I gave a story reason - "it's magic". Hence my players have the expectations that they do: they expect that crazy wizards, demon cultists, servants of Torog, etc will have abilities to bring to bear that the PCs have not themselves mastered, and probably never will.This is one trope, yes. Another is that spells are granted by horrors that the mind of man was not meant to know! My game leans somewhat more in that direction (especially because, in 4e, there is in fact no such thing as copying an attack spell from a spellbook).Some selections from the 4e MM, starting at the start but then cutting to Mearls' favourite:Aboleths are hulking amphibious creatures that hail from the Far Realm, a distant and unfathomable plane. They live in the Underdark, swimming through drowned crannies or creeping through lightless tunnels and leaving trails of slimy mucus in their wake. Malevolent and vile, aboleths bend humanoid creatures to their will, and more powerful aboleths can transform their minions into slimy horrors. . . Sometimes aboleths live together as a brood or even in a collection of broods. . . Abominations are living weapons that were created during the ancient cosmic war between the gods and the primordials. Some of these creations were enormous, others small. Some were singular beings of terrific power, while others were legion. A few abominations stand apart as failed or incomplete divine experiments that have either been locked away or forgotten. . . Angels exist as expressions of the Astral Sea, sentient energy in humanoid form. They most often serve the gods, so some believe that the gods created them. In reality, angels are powerful astral beings who appeared during the first moments of the creation of the Astral Sea. Different types of angels have different callings; they are literally manifestations of celestial vocations. Perhaps it was the needs of the gods that caused the astral stuff to spew them forth, but it was not a conscious act of creation. During the great war between the gods and the primordials, angels offered themselves as warriors to the gods that best encompassed their calling . . . ************* Hook horrors drag victims to their deaths using their powerful hooked arms. These pack omnivores scour the Underdark in search of live prey, foraging when necessary. Hook horrors communicate with one another using a complex series of clicking noises they make with their mouths and carapace. The eerie clicks echo in the Underdark, warning prey that death is near. . . Hook horrors are so good at climbing and jumping that they often attack from an unexpected direction. . . A hook horror sometimes flings a tasty victim at the feet of its packmates . . . Hook horrors live in total darkness. They can see in lit environments, but in the dark of the deep earth they navigate using echolocation. They also make clicking noises to communicate with one another. An Underdark explorer might become aware of nearby hook horrors by these noises. . . Although they hunt in small packs, hook horrors also gather in larger groups called clans. A particular clan, ruled by its strongest egg-laying female, ranges over a wide area in the Underdark. Its members defend clan territory fiercely from any intruder, including unrelated hook horrors. . . Hook horrors are omnivorous but prefer meat to plants. Rumor has it that they prefer the flesh of drow over any other. Not surprisingly, drow slay wild hook horrors and take young and eggs to raise as slaves.Obviously what counts as a "story idea" is to a significant extent in the eye of the beholder. But these monsters seem to me all to have pretty clear and strong places in the world, with associated lore. I don't see the oft-mooted contrast with earlier MMs.</blockquote>

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