Do you need 20000 monster statblocks?

Fifth Element · July 21, 2012, 04:26:55 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;561491I'm willing to bet that anyone who does have dozens of monster books probably hasn't actually USED all the monsters in their first book, or even half of them. Much less more than a tiny percentage of all subsequent books' monsters.

Well, yes, but it's not like you need to get through all the monsters in the first book before you have need of the second. There's always monsters in a book you'll never use, but there's all kinds that you will. Or at least hope to.

Libertad · July 21, 2012, 05:07:36 PM

I really like having a large assortment of pre-made monsters to choose from, especially in rules-heavy RPGs with a long NPC creation process.

However, I do think that Dungeons & Dragons can suffer from "monster bloat;" this is the case with a lot of undead in 3rd Edition, whose circumstances of creation and death are often interchangeable. But it's a lesser of two evils to me, so it's not much of a concern.

RPGPundit · July 23, 2012, 03:51:59 PM

Last night I re-formulated a piercer into a "giant amoeba". You know how? By changing its name to "giant amoeba".

RPGPundit

Bill · July 23, 2012, 04:19:56 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;563445Last night I re-formulated a piercer into a "giant amoeba". You know how? By changing its name to "giant amoeba".

RPGPundit

Ochre Jelly feels sad and unloved!

J Arcane · July 23, 2012, 07:08:44 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;563445Last night I re-formulated a piercer into a "giant amoeba". You know how? By changing its name to "giant amoeba".

RPGPundit

Apropos of nothing, "giant amoeba" is a character class in Hulks and Horrors.

Bill · July 24, 2012, 11:33:22 AM

Quote from: J Arcane;563522Apropos of nothing, "giant amoeba" is a character class in Hulks and Horrors.

I will have to check out Hulks and Horrors!

Ever since Dralasites in Star Frontiers I have wanted to play a giant ameoba!

The Traveller · July 24, 2012, 02:18:36 PM

Quote from: J Arcane;563522Apropos of nothing, "giant amoeba" is a character class in Hulks and Horrors.

I wondered what that blob in a spacesuit was on your Indiegogo page, thought it was a guy whose nannites got rearranged after a close encounter with a thirty gee braking burn.

Haffrung · July 24, 2012, 02:39:35 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;558751...or just a few dozen?

I have to admit I really don't get the necessity some people have to collect "monster manuals" of different kinds. I've never found the need for it in any of my fantasy campaigns; for starters, usually the list of monsters in, say, the basic 1e monster manual or the monster section of the Rules Cyclopedia has more than enough variety.

And beyond that, I find it much simpler to just take one of those, and put some slight spin on it (it can even be precisely the same stats but with a different physical appearance), than to have a collection of a dozen monster-books full of unique creatures.

Agree 100 per cent. I don't need every single encounter in every single adventure to be with a different monster. And once you get beyond 100 or so monsters, they start to become goofy. There's only so many variants of humanoids or giant insects or skeletal undead that you need. And as you say, if you're bored with, say, a ghoul, then just give your ghouls an extra ability (say, Cause Fear). Voila, new monster.

RPGPundit · July 25, 2012, 06:34:40 PM

Quote from: Bill;563456Ochre Jelly feels sad and unloved!

I randomly rolled an encounter with a piercer in a room where a piercer would not have been hidden at all; so instead I decided it was a nearly flat monster that clung to the ceiling, camouflaged, a flat round mass with hundreds of tiny sucker-like feet, waiting to drop on an unsuspecting opponent.

So basically, not an ochre-jelly style amoeba.

RPGPundit

GrimJesta · July 25, 2012, 11:04:29 PM

It depends.

I felt that BECMI didn't have enough creatures to flip through in order to get "cool ideas", but I felt that 2e and 3e had waaaaay too many (I have yet to see the MM for 4e beyond a quick glance; my case of explosive vomiting brought on by what I saw made any further perusal impossible). I did feel that AD&D1e had a good amount.

Fuck, I'm such a 1e fanboy.

-=Grim=-

The Butcher · July 25, 2012, 11:29:26 PM

Quote from: GrimJesta;564523I felt that BECMI didn't have enough creatures to flip through in order to get "cool ideas", but I felt that 2e and 3e had waaaaay too many (I have yet to see the MM for 4e beyond a quick glance; my case of explosive vomiting brought on by what I saw made any further perusal impossible). I did feel that AD&D1e had a good amount.

Fuck, I'm such a 1e fanboy.

I hear you. When it comes to spells and monsters and comprehensive procedures for dungeon crawling, 1e is king. B/X, BECMI and RC are a bit lacking, especially in the aberration and demon/devil departments.

But generally speaking, I mantain that 2e had the best Monster Manual (or was it "Monstruous Manual"?).

The Traveller · July 26, 2012, 02:46:14 AM

Quote from: GrimJesta;564523I felt that BECMI didn't have enough creatures to flip through in order to get "cool ideas", but I felt that 2e and 3e had waaaaay too many

See I don't get this, how is it possible to have too many? You don't need to use more than a handful if you don't want to.

StormBringer · July 26, 2012, 02:55:55 AM

Quote from: The Butcher;564534But generally speaking, I mantain that 2e had the best Monster Manual (or was it "Monstruous Manual"?).

I would be with you 110% if they had only stuck to the 'one page one monster' format. Even if that back page was crappy artwork, it would be better than trying to use it as intended (ie, to make my own compilation of monsters) only to be foiled by the monster on the reverse side that I don't want in there.

Teazia · July 26, 2012, 04:12:49 AM

Quote from: StormBringer;564571I would be with you 110% if they had only stuck to the 'one page one monster' format. Even if that back page was crappy artwork, it would be better than trying to use it as intended (ie, to make my own compilation of monsters) only to be foiled by the monster on the reverse side that I don't want in there.

Monstrous Manual was the hardback book, Monster Compendiums was the collection of loose pages that had one monster per side or so (later MCs were softies though). It would have been cool if they had 1 monster per page (both sides), then there would have not been problems with alphabetizing the collection!

Spike · July 26, 2012, 07:38:13 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;564436I randomly rolled an encounter with a piercer in a room where a piercer would not have been hidden at all; so instead I decided it was a nearly flat monster that clung to the ceiling, camouflaged, a flat round mass with hundreds of tiny sucker-like feet, waiting to drop on an unsuspecting opponent.

So basically, not an ochre-jelly style amoeba.

RPGPundit

Wait... wait... I know this monster. There was a whole species of floor/wall/ceiling critters, flat panels... the name escapes me, but I know it's there...

I think the ceiling one was in MM2...