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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alcamtar" data-source="post: 257992" data-attributes="member: 3842">I agree completely with pretty much everything you said. I much prefer unique monsters, both as a player and a DM. And I really hate the "all trolls are X" approach, as well as the laundry list of special abilities... every monster with tremorsense works the same way? What is that all about? Monsters should be scary and unpredictable. It's so annoying to read a conversion from a movie or game and then find a poorly-matched D&D monster in there, just because it has the same name and "this is the way it's done in D&D".The "this is the way things should be done - we are professionals and we know what we're doing" attitude goes all the way back to Gygax, who was flat-out condescending at times. He was also fond of saying "beware of imitations, and accept only approved D&D brand products." But a lot of players buy into this marketing line, looking askance at original creations because "it's not official" and "it wasn't done by a professional" and "I don't trust it". That's naive and lazy, IMO.Someone said that without the MM you wouldn't know how to design your own monster. To this I respectfully reply, "it's because you didn't try". The writers did it -- there had to be a "first monster" -- and so can you. Sure it's intimidating the first time, but it really isn't hard. My cat can't catch birds. It's not that he's incapable or lacks the instinct; cats are natural bird catchers. But he never really tries. He takes a few steps, sits down, goes back to his food dish. Why put out the effort when you can be fed? So instead he gets fat and lazy and complacent, and misses out on part of the experience of being a cat. People are naturally creative too, especially gamers. It's interesting to see the huge abundance of fan-created d20 material, and at the same time everyone is cautious about actually using it or allowing it in their games.Someone else said the DMG was dispensable but the MM was essential for CRs. I just wanted to point out that without the DMG, CRs are extremely limited. Yes the MM has a very brief explanation of what they mean, but no guidelines at all on how to do multiple creatures in an encounter, award experience, etc. (I 'm not fond of the CR system anyway, but that's a different topic.)To each his own, I guess. None of this breaks the game, but it does influence the overall D&D subculture and has a retarding effect on it I think. (I mean "limiting" not "stupid".)</blockquote>

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