steeldragons
Steeliest of the dragons
To answer ForeverSlayer's actual question of the thread, I think most of it has been said. Shemeska's list hits most of my nails.
1) Art. Good art. New art. Not rehashed.
2) Fluff. Good fluff. Maybe some new/revised fluff. But yeah, not on the "classic" monsters. Change for change's sake is NEVER desirable.
3) Included in the fluff, a few tidbits that I might be able to hook an adventure off of. This includes things like eating habits/preferred diet, culture (if any, human-/goblinoids mostly, obviously), preferred environment or terrain, attack patterns/tactics (if any). None of it has to be lengthy or overly detailed. But enough that if I don't want to customize it (for those times one just needs a "polar-snow-owlbear" or "desert-dwelling camel-satyrs"), I don't have to.
4) I would ESPECIALLY like one of those silhuoetted "size" charts like I've seen in the pages of someone's bestiary/menagerie book. Show me what the creature actually looks like beside a human figure. Telling me something is "large/huge/colossal" means different things to different people. Being able to show the players "This is the behemoth....and thiiiis itty bitty bit here, is you." Even things like "7' gnolls or 9' ogres" take on a totally different slant when you can see what that actually looks like beside an average human (esp. for everyone playing smaller than human races!) It automatically gives the combat/encounter a drama and urgency that even my best verbal descriptions can't evoke.
5) The crunch. The "stat block." As bare minimum as I need to play the game...What's its HD, AC, number of and damage from attacks, perhaps a "number appearing" i.e. whether it is a social/solitary/herding/swarming/etc. creature, Special Abilities and/or Defenses (Magic Resistance would obviously be necessary for certain things)...I think that's about it. Optional/module rule extras tacked on the side/sidebars will, I imagine, be necessary...for whatever modules they offer out of the gate.
I think that about does it for me. I'd say most of the "classic creatures" from across the editions could be done in a nice 2 page spread, but certain others or minor "monsters" might not need more than one. I would say, absolute maximum (I'm thinking for things requiring LARGE groupings, like dragons and giants, demons/devils, etc.) 1 page per individual type.
So, if they're going to start the game with 5 dragons then 5 pages of dragon...maybe 6 with a general/applies to all dragons opener page. Just for an example, true believers, please don't spam me with "there have to be more than 5 dragons!!!" I know. Thanks. It's just an example.
But other than those kinds of "large category" critters, most everything else should be doable in no more than 2 pages.
--SD
1) Art. Good art. New art. Not rehashed.
2) Fluff. Good fluff. Maybe some new/revised fluff. But yeah, not on the "classic" monsters. Change for change's sake is NEVER desirable.
3) Included in the fluff, a few tidbits that I might be able to hook an adventure off of. This includes things like eating habits/preferred diet, culture (if any, human-/goblinoids mostly, obviously), preferred environment or terrain, attack patterns/tactics (if any). None of it has to be lengthy or overly detailed. But enough that if I don't want to customize it (for those times one just needs a "polar-snow-owlbear" or "desert-dwelling camel-satyrs"), I don't have to.
4) I would ESPECIALLY like one of those silhuoetted "size" charts like I've seen in the pages of someone's bestiary/menagerie book. Show me what the creature actually looks like beside a human figure. Telling me something is "large/huge/colossal" means different things to different people. Being able to show the players "This is the behemoth....and thiiiis itty bitty bit here, is you." Even things like "7' gnolls or 9' ogres" take on a totally different slant when you can see what that actually looks like beside an average human (esp. for everyone playing smaller than human races!) It automatically gives the combat/encounter a drama and urgency that even my best verbal descriptions can't evoke.
5) The crunch. The "stat block." As bare minimum as I need to play the game...What's its HD, AC, number of and damage from attacks, perhaps a "number appearing" i.e. whether it is a social/solitary/herding/swarming/etc. creature, Special Abilities and/or Defenses (Magic Resistance would obviously be necessary for certain things)...I think that's about it. Optional/module rule extras tacked on the side/sidebars will, I imagine, be necessary...for whatever modules they offer out of the gate.
I think that about does it for me. I'd say most of the "classic creatures" from across the editions could be done in a nice 2 page spread, but certain others or minor "monsters" might not need more than one. I would say, absolute maximum (I'm thinking for things requiring LARGE groupings, like dragons and giants, demons/devils, etc.) 1 page per individual type.
So, if they're going to start the game with 5 dragons then 5 pages of dragon...maybe 6 with a general/applies to all dragons opener page. Just for an example, true believers, please don't spam me with "there have to be more than 5 dragons!!!" I know. Thanks. It's just an example.
But other than those kinds of "large category" critters, most everything else should be doable in no more than 2 pages.
--SD
