White Wolf vs. Mongoose

[Kesh]

Well, I'm unemployed so I can't pick up anything right away. Hopefully though, I can get:

Creature Collection Revised
Ravenloft DMG
Ravenloft Tarokka Deck
Warcraft Manual of Monsters
... and of course the Babylon 5 books.

 

[sithramir]

My bets on the Mongoose.

GOOSE POWAH!

 

[Nightfall]

Of course I haven't read a lot about them. There was absolutely nothing about them that caught my eye in the one book that I have that had info in them. After the very good reviews about Creature Collection II, I gave the setting a second chance, and yet again it did not meet my personal expectations. I am glad that you enjoy it, though. It's just not my thing, and I'm not going to waste more money giving it a third chance.

That I can understand and semi-respect. However I do think you'll find the gods FAR more interesting if you had picked up the Divine and the Defeated...or even just the SLCS:Ghelspad.

I forgot to mention "silly" in my other post. When reading the books, I was overcome with the sense of silliness that I get when I watch a low budget horror movie. Some of the names alone are enough to make me giggle. Ferals? Blood Horror Demons? Grisley Minstrel Daemons? Please. That B-movie stuff just doesn't fit in with the tone of my campaign world, nor does it interest me.

Anyway, before I unintentionally slip further into "bash" mode, I'm going to end this post. I don't want to insult a fellow gamer's campaign setting because if a fellow gamer enjoys it, that's all that counts.

Right...and I suppose something like Grells, Mind Flayers and Beholders aren't? Come on. And don't get me started on some of the demons that are core. (Other than Balors and Succubi, I don't see a lot I enjoy...save from Armies of the Abyss.) I just wonder what kind of campaign world you run that if you use MM monsters...and yet not CC ones...Doesn't add up to me. Unless your running some kind of Conanesque/Cthulthuian horror campaigns, doesn't seem to me your arguement holds water.

 

[The Little Raven]

The 100% compatible isn't really true, though, as it uses a lot of custom feats, classes, spells, etc. that aren't in the SRD.

I'm sorry, but this has to be the most thoughtless comment I've seen on these boards.

So a product that introduces anything NEW isn't compatible with D&D, just because the new things added aren't in the SRD?

You mean to tell me that all my 3rd Edition D&D books (with the exception of the core books) are not 100% compatible with the system because they have NEW stuff?

This means that anyone who has spent any amount of money on anything but the core books has wasted their money, since none of the material is 100% compatible.

Heaven forbid.

 

[TwoSix]

I'm sorry, but this has to be the most thoughtless comment I've seen on these boards.

So a product that introduces anything NEW isn't compatible with D&D, just because the new things added aren't in the SRD?

You mean to tell me that all my 3rd Edition D&D books (with the exception of the core books) are not 100% compatible with the system because they have NEW stuff?

This means that anyone who has spent any amount of money on anything but the core books has wasted their money, since none of the material is 100% compatible.

Heaven forbid.

Not to put words in anyone's mouth, but what I think he was saying is that the EQ monster book used many feats and spells that were from the EQ main book, which would make the monster book less than 100% compatible with standard D&D. Unusable? No. But not 100% compatible? Definitely.

 

[Fiery James]

FDP Connections

For sure I'm picking up anything with a Fiery Dragon connection.

Look through the books and see which ones contain the names "Scott Holden-Jones" or "Mike Johnstone".

And I'm getting AU, of course. And supporting it with Plague of Dreams!! - an AU adventure co-written by Monte Cook himself.

- James

 

[Nightfall]

Go James! (Still a great fan of the FDP guys!) Karathis rules!

 

[Maraxle]

Right...and I suppose something like Grells, Mind Flayers and Beholders aren't? Come on. And don't get me started on some of the demons that are core. (Other than Balors and Succubi, I don't see a lot I enjoy...save from Armies of the Abyss.) I just wonder what kind of campaign world you run that if you use MM monsters...and yet not CC ones...Doesn't add up to me. Unless your running some kind of Conanesque/Cthulthuian horror campaigns, doesn't seem to me your arguement holds water.

Actually, I have yet to have a single Grell, Mind Flayer, or Beholder appear in my campaign. I could see myself using Beholders, as I don't have anything against them, but I haven't had a need for them.

My campaigns tend to be very humanoid-heavy. I like providing mostly intelligent adversaries for my players' characters. Also, given the type of characters and their personal motivations, it just makes more sense for them. That's not to say that I am opposed to having them encounter the occasional mindless terror, but due to the nature of the campaign, which has two separate but converging underlying themes, both rather humanoid-centric, they are generally unnecessary. Of those mindless terrors, a good percentage are of my own design.

I also tend to keep a fair number of unique, or exceptionally rare, monsters in my world. For instance, there is a certain mountain pass near the southern part of the continent that is home to about a dozen apparitions (ghost-like, but with different stats/powers) due to a bloody ambush that took place there years ago. The characters have never had the misfortune of meeting any of these spirits, as they are too terrified to attempt to traverse the pass when there is a chance of not making it through before sunset. Of course, I plan to engineer a situation where they will have to make a tough choice, namely risk the pass or face a known danger, but I digress.

Basically, I am aiming for a particular atmosphere that I find the types of creatures found in CC & CC2 don't fit into for me. My campaign takes place in sort of a dark world, with more covert than overt terrors. I favor the creepy feelings and fear of the unknown over the in-your-face, Friday the 13th style of horror. I like to use baby-snatching cultists, rather than Bloody Flesh-eating Terrorbeasts from the Netherworld. I like to use ancient curses causing a town's water supply to go bad, rather than an ever-bleeding god at the bottom of the sea turning all of the fish into brain-sucking demon sharks.

Also, I take exception to your use of the word "argument" in this situation. What part of "I don't like the book because the creatures don't fit my campaign" is an argument? I'm simply stating why I don't use Scarred Lands materials. I'm not trying to convince you, or anyone else, to stop using Scarred Lands materials. I think it's great that you've found a setting that you enjoy. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, actually. I'm just fielding the questions and attempting to clarify my answers.

 

[IanB]

The only 3rd party stuff I've not regretted purchasing is Malhavoc Press stuff. It has been enough to pretty much sour me on trying out anyone else's stuff - the chance of wasted money is too high for me to do it. My biggest beefs are the terrible average quality of the art and the dozens of rules errors that seem to be in every one.

I had high hopes for Tome of Horrors, and it was better than the other non-WotC/Malhavoc stuff I've picked up, but even it didn't really do it for me. I'm probably too opinionated about how I would have converted the monsters myself.

EDIT: I lied! Some of the 3rd party Rokugan stuff I've seen is good.

 

[Desdichado]

I'm sorry, but this has to be the most thoughtless comment I've seen on these boards.

So a product that introduces anything NEW isn't compatible with D&D, just because the new things added aren't in the SRD?

You mean to tell me that all my 3rd Edition D&D books (with the exception of the core books) are not 100% compatible with the system because they have NEW stuff?

This means that anyone who has spent any amount of money on anything but the core books has wasted their money, since none of the material is 100% compatible.

Heaven forbid.

Give me a break -- the most thoughtless comment on the boards? That's absurd. What I mean, since I apparently wasn't clear, was that you can't actually use the Monsters of Norrath book without also owning the Everquest book. Since it says in big letters on the back that it's 100% compatible with "third edition fantasy roleplaying" I assumed that I could use it by itself and the rest of the D&D stuff. In point of fact, you can't.