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<blockquote data-quote="sjmiller" data-source="post: 2712266" data-attributes="member: 17262">A couple of years ago I was asked to take over the role of DM for a group of friends.&nbsp; I was not part of the group under the old DM, but let us just say there were issues with his gaming style.&nbsp; The group have been playing for a long time, with years of 1st and 2nd Ed AD&amp;D under their belts.&nbsp; Deciding to give myself a bit of an advantage, I decided to go with the new edition of D&amp;D (3e at the time).I wanted to avoid some of the classic tropes of D&amp;D, so I tried to use ideas and monsters that they would find refreshing and different, or at the very least, entertaining and fun.&nbsp; So, dwarves became the evil monotheistic bad guys; litorians and faen from Arcana Unearthed were added; and a swampy/marshy area was their starting base of operations.&nbsp; I wanted something else, so I started brainstorming.After lots of trial and error, I came up with a great name: Children of Gruumsh.&nbsp; Thenthe ideas started flowing.&nbsp; They are devout followers of the god, living in the swamps and forrests near a corrupted and fallen elven citadel.&nbsp; Picture a centaur, but instead of half man and half horse they are half orc and half boar.&nbsp; I came up with stats (thanks to Savage Species) and prepared the first encounter.The party was preparing an ambush on some lizardmen who had been menacing the party for some time.&nbsp; The noise and the smell of blood attracted the attention of a Child of Gruumsh who was leading a couple of boars near the area.&nbsp; The boars came through first, which startled the party.&nbsp; When the Child of Gruumsh came through the trees the players (not just their characters) stopped and asked, &quot;what the heck is that thing!?&quot;After a long, hard battle, the Child of Gruumsh (referred to by the party as a &quot;Borc&quot;) was defeated.&nbsp; This was towards the end of the day, so we called it a night at that point.&nbsp; After the game ended several players came up and told me that the &quot;borc&quot; was totally unexpected and a lot of fun.&nbsp; They looked forward to playing the next session.&nbsp; The &quot;borc&quot; encounter has been a highlight of the campaign, and is something that is mentioned periodically well over a year after it occured.So why am I telling this story?&nbsp; Simply to say that adding variety, changing things up, can make even the most jaded of old school players sit up and take notice.&nbsp; Variety makes the game exciting, and coming up with your own monsters is one way of making the game a fun challange for all involved.Thanks for listening.&nbsp; As for a product selection, I've been thinking about getting &quot;Tournaments, Fairs &amp; Taverns&quot; but finances have been tight.&nbsp; That would be my choice if selected.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="sjmiller, post: 2712266, member: 17262"] A couple of years ago I was asked to take over the role of DM for a group of friends. I was not part of the group under the old DM, but let us just say there were issues with his gaming style. The group have been playing for a long time, with years of 1st and 2nd Ed AD&D under their belts. Deciding to give myself a bit of an advantage, I decided to go with the new edition of D&D (3e at the time). I wanted to avoid some of the classic tropes of D&D, so I tried to use ideas and monsters that they would find refreshing and different, or at the very least, entertaining and fun. So, dwarves became the evil monotheistic bad guys; litorians and faen from Arcana Unearthed were added; and a swampy/marshy area was their starting base of operations. I wanted something else, so I started brainstorming. After lots of trial and error, I came up with a great name: Children of Gruumsh. Thenthe ideas started flowing. They are devout followers of the god, living in the swamps and forrests near a corrupted and fallen elven citadel. Picture a centaur, but instead of half man and half horse they are half orc and half boar. I came up with stats (thanks to Savage Species) and prepared the first encounter. The party was preparing an ambush on some lizardmen who had been menacing the party for some time. The noise and the smell of blood attracted the attention of a Child of Gruumsh who was leading a couple of boars near the area. The boars came through first, which startled the party. When the Child of Gruumsh came through the trees the players (not just their characters) stopped and asked, "what the heck is that thing!?" After a long, hard battle, the Child of Gruumsh (referred to by the party as a "Borc") was defeated. This was towards the end of the day, so we called it a night at that point. After the game ended several players came up and told me that the "borc" was totally unexpected and a lot of fun. They looked forward to playing the next session. The "borc" encounter has been a highlight of the campaign, and is something that is mentioned periodically well over a year after it occured. So why am I telling this story? Simply to say that adding variety, changing things up, can make even the most jaded of old school players sit up and take notice. Variety makes the game exciting, and coming up with your own monsters is one way of making the game a fun challange for all involved. Thanks for listening. As for a product selection, I've been thinking about getting "Tournaments, Fairs & Taverns" but finances have been tight. That would be my choice if selected. [/QUOTE]

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