Wheel of Time Spoilers and Speculation

[wicked cool]

what types of monsters should we expect? if there are a lot it will make or break this series (special effects?)

 

[Urriak Uruk]

what types of monsters should we expect? if there are a lot it will make or break this series (special effects?)

Beastmen (trollocs) and nazgul/dementers (myrdraal).

 

[Demetrios1453]

Beastmen (trollocs) and nazgul/dementers (myrdraal).

The Seanchan have their weird lizard-like mounts and their flying beasts, but they won't be common sights until later in the series.

And the trollocs are being realized through practical effects and prosthetics. So the monster SFX budget won't need to be huge...

 

[Steel_Wind]

There would also likely be draghkar, a winged vampire/demon like humanoid in the first season. There are two other fog tendril like unique creatures.

It's not a very monster laden series. Another handful are seen by series end, though there is a rideable pterodactyl like flying creature which appears later. The BBEGs in WoT are nearly all human, not monstrous creatures. The Trollocs and Myrddraals - which are the std troops of the bad guys, fade away from the screen after a time, too.

The enemy casters and human forces are the foes in the bulk of the series. It's VFX laden with spell effects and grand sets, but not that many more creatures apart from what you will see in Season 1.

The cost is in a multiplicity of sets, costumes, cast, and spell effects. There is a dreamworld that overlays the real world where a lot of action occurs throughout the series. Think of it as a combo ethereal/astral plane and you wouldn't be that far off. I wouldn't think that will be too hard to do. It's just more of the same sets as they have, with some silvery gray lighting filter added to it -- or whatever they may choose to represent that dream world (known as Tel'aran'rhiod.)

Lots of fireballs, lightning, explosions of earth and blade barriers though. That adds up.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

The Seanchan have their weird lizard-like mounts and their flying beasts, but they won't be common sights until later in the series.

And the trollocs are being realized through practical effects and prosthetics. So the monster SFX budget won't need to be huge...

I think nowadays, practical effects/prosthetics are more expensive than cgi (at least, more expensive than bad cgi). It's a ton of work to get practical effects working well, and its why we see so many properties rely on cgi that looks so unreal.