Do you Reskin very many Monsters, or do you just use what's in the MM?

Razor 007 · December 24, 2020, 05:39:39 PM

How do you populate your adventures with Monsters?

VisionStorm · December 24, 2020, 05:55:16 PM

I make it up as I go along. If you encounter a humanoid creature in my campaigns, expect it to have class and levels, like a player character, and for their creature template to be used as a "race". All my goblins are a combination of fighters and rogues (some single, others multi-class), with a wizard thrown somewhere in the group, orcs are fighters, barbarians and sometimes rangers or clerics, etc. Even when using creatures I tend to use the MM entry as a base for reference, then modify them for my purposes. I don't rely on the books for stuff.

Chris24601 · December 24, 2020, 06:32:40 PM

Depends on the system.

My fantasy system outright tells GMs they should reskin things for variety (flipping damage types and resistances for example) and only need to use the actual build from scratch rules if you can't find something that fits (or if you enjoy monster building obviously).

World of Darkness? All I need are a couple relevant dice pools that I can decide on the fly. The same for my d6 based Star Trek game.

Chainsaw · December 24, 2020, 07:00:21 PM

It's a mix of MM critters, which I think are good for the commonality of experience, and silly ass shit I make up, which I think are good for keeping people on their toes.

Mistwell · December 24, 2020, 11:05:36 PM

When last I DM'ed (which is more than a year ago) I was reskinning like mad. My players learned to never trust their many-years body of knowledge about what foes could do based on them looking like something they'd encountered in prior games.

Arkansan · December 24, 2020, 11:22:37 PM

I use MM monsters but I liberally sprinkle in shit I made up. It's nice to see players encounter a monster that their only possible knowledge of has to come from in game sources, which are contradictory and unreliable.

Abraxus · December 25, 2020, 01:02:36 AM

One of the reasons I liked 3.5/Pathfinder is the templates that can be added to an existing monster in the MM. It is still the same creature yet also different.

jeff37923 · December 25, 2020, 01:13:55 AM

Quote from: sureshot on December 25, 2020, 01:02:36 AM
One of the reasons I liked 3.5/Pathfinder is the templates that can be added to an existing monster in the MM. It is still the same creature yet also different.

That is one of the great aspects of D&D 3.x, and one reason why I keep the books around.

I like to have the intelligent monsters form alliances and nations. The last Labyrinth Lord game I ran had goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears as one nation - the UGSR, Union of Goblinoid Socialist Republics.

mightybrain · December 25, 2020, 06:35:08 AM

I usually use them as they are just through laziness. But when I have more time to prep, I'll sometimes add class levels.

JeffB · December 25, 2020, 08:12:10 AM

Not so much for T/OSR D&D.

But all the time in Dungeon World, 13th Age, FFG Star Wars and 4E (when I used to run it).

GameDaddy · December 25, 2020, 09:53:00 AM

I mix it up. Bring enough classical monsters to establish a pattern, and then throw in a surprise here and there. Keep the players wondering, make sure they don't become complacent or the fantasy world boring.

Theory of Games · December 25, 2020, 12:43:24 PM

I try to have them everywhere.

It's a fantasy setting. So, as the party travels, I describe a herd of Pegasus flying above or a hive of giant ants working their pyramid-mound in the distance or giant spiders working their webs in a dense forest. They don't attack the party, they're just THERE.

It highlights a fantasy setting: the players "see" fantastic things.

I stick to normal stat-blocks normally, to respect characters with "Knowledge: Monsters". I need to reward them for buying that skill/feat that gives them information useful to the party.

Opaopajr · December 25, 2020, 04:09:17 PM

I try things RAW (rules as written) first, either as GM or Player, then I alter as setting and campaign scale demands.

Also I see no sense ROFLStomping 1st lvls in the hopelessly fucked isle of surrounding persnickety dragons.

That's more social & explore than combat until PCs can reach an area where they can survive combat. I may not label my regions with "level appropriate" tags, but I will have a mix of them where players are free to bite at the world from different angles and see what they can chew.

Ghostmaker · December 25, 2020, 05:23:33 PM

I've altered or tweaked monsters if I wanted to do something amusing. Spectators, for example, don't look as much like beholders -- they have what looks like a normal (albeit oversized) human mouth and teeth. Makes for a very weird image

consolcwby · December 25, 2020, 10:13:15 PM

A long time ago I used Gamma World's mutations tables to create some interesting combinations. But, OSR aside, anyone can still do something like this if they know enough about monster design. (Had a blind troll with 5 arms who was resistant to magic ~ replacement for radiation ~ and spit acid. The WTF look on the players' faces always made my day!)