A fun creep I made was a grub about the size of a football, that burrows through dungeons. He emits a soft glow that is bright enough to see dimly in a 5 foot radius. Inevitably, someone will pick one up as a torch alternative. That is when they will discover how they burrow so easily. They can barf up acid, and will do so on their hand, instantly melting it off. Also, they are attracted to loud noises, so when they scream, more come slowly wiggling over to them. Players can learn very quickly if properly motivated.
Checking out wildlife photographs can be helpful for both inspiration and to help with descriptions of whatever you rolled up. FWIW, flying snakes do exist -- they sort of glide off trees like flying squirrels and can even change direction in mid flight
I started on a personal monster manual the moment you suggested it or, saw it in these kinda circles. The next step is completely custom creatures instead of modifying what's already there. Thanks for such a great idea. It's like going the extra mile for something. I've done the same for various races already but of course it should be done in general.
TLDR: Great video, more people should watch this! Laser boobs... LMAO. That is almost as funny as 'taserface' Notes about spicing up standard monsters. There aren't 7 goblins, one of the four goblins cast mirror image. Yup, one of the orcs is shadow-walking or blink PCs hate blink. And my personal forever DM favorite: Skeletons spell stitched with a negative energy version of burning hands. I also like using apparently undefeatable monsters who have a real weakness or a need the party can fill. Like the drunk mountain giant who just wanted his peg leg back.
Love making strange and unique monsters for the players to encounter , really creates fear and the unknown along with strong OSR vibes. For creating them I usually look upon something from mythology and some other areas of inspiration and create something based off of several myths or a certain ideal in moral play. great videos as always a highlight of my week every time you put out a new video!
A lot of OSR games have that sort of creature generator, and they're easy to make to fit your campaign. We had one to generate weird space pets the PCs picked up around different starports. Basically using dogs as a base and adding one random ability and one random drawback.
I focus on monster behaviour. It's not necessarily unique and gonzo abilities that makes a monster interesting, but the way they appoach PCs. You can borrow from natural and mythical animals and think that this creature is an ambush predator or a very territorial herbivore. An ambush predator is going to attack if it has surprise advantage, and a pretty good chance at it. But if it can't take down a target and it looks like a protracted fight it will try to get away. A pack predator can have simple, instinctual manouvers like surrounding and flanking targets. The Monster Manual's ecology discussion was pretty great at this. All monsters had a commentary about what niche of behaviour they occupy.
Creating a monster encounter and Xp award CR. My last gaming shop group that played 3.5e WotC still applied AD&D Xp adjustment modifiers. Off hand memory was, .. +1 value for range weapon. +1 for Int 13 for tactics. +1 for magic or psionic below 3rd-level. +2 for magic or psionic above 3rd-level. +2 Invisibility. +2 poison. So a common goblin with rocks or short bows with dun cover poison arrows has a +3 Xp adjustment. If said goblin has rogue level and a good Hide ability = to invisibility, we go with whatever grants more Xp for the party can gain. Then we had poison tree frogs or toads for licking, they are hard to find " invisibility", fast Int/Dex:13+, and maybe AC:0 so totaling a +5 Xp adjustment for a half HD vermin. Could spit poison in hunter eye for tripping effect. Other than the D-trade, we had a set given amount of frogs, toads, and fish so we could run alchemical PC as DC comics Scarecrow or the Joker. 2.) Compare real world ecology and evolution, to fantasy world setting of random mutations of creating unique unintelligent monsters. A more modern setting would have such forest/wetland location set aside as game preserves to protect wildlife. In a fantasy world those locations would be trophy hunting zones for nobility.
HEHEHE .. Love this idea. Honestly I'm not a fan of tables like this because they tend to have limited repetitive results IMO but they do give great idea's and can prompt the imagination so I find them useful in that way. Really like your take on things as well. It would be interesting to play under you for sure.
Speaking as a nerd with a special fixation on rodents and mustelids, neither a shrew nor a weasel is a rodent. But as the category is clearly "small pest mammal; mammalian vermin" it fits. A capybara or even a beaver would probably just be "mammalian beast" under that kind of classification; this role-based form of defining creatures is also why many cultures of the ancient world defined a bat as a type of bird, and whales and dolphins as fish.
I like making up a special monster or two for larger adventures, partially since most early adventure modules seem to have a few new monsters specific to the adventure. The tables in The Tome of Adventure Design are pretty interesting and conveniently pre-made. Usually I come of with a physical description, determine physical abilities based on that, and tweak everything (including the size if needed for things to make sense) to fit the difficulty (and possibly the role) I want for the encounter.
I cannot recommend reading “Fire on the Velvet Horizon” enough. It has helped how I think about monsters a lot. “Tome of Adventure Design” can end you up with something you never would have come up with, but it does take a bit of time. I got a tiny quadrupedal bird that is undead with scales and a claw attack. Thinking of tiny dinosaur type bird (mix of scale and feathers) that have little forelimbs with syringe like claws that can latch on and suck your blood as they parrot back all the bad jokes of adventurers they have heard before sucking them dry. They move in swarms.
@@BanditsKeep it’s definitely on the abstract and occluded side of things, but I’ve found it sparks my imagination a lot when I feel creatively bankrupt personally.
I like these kinda generators. I haven't tried making my own yet, but I like to use the custom demon generator for Forbidden Lands and the Random Esoteric Creature Generator for LotFP :) I like the FL one a bit better than the LotFP one, but the advantage of the LotFP is that it automatically generates stats for OSR/BX style games while any game stats from Forbidden Lands need to be converted still.
Turns out the real monsters are the friends we made along the way...
Or… turns out the real friends are the monsters we made along the way
Could be
🤣
Why not both?
A fun creep I made was a grub about the size of a football, that burrows through dungeons. He emits a soft glow that is bright enough to see dimly in a 5 foot radius. Inevitably, someone will pick one up as a torch alternative. That is when they will discover how they burrow so easily. They can barf up acid, and will do so on their hand, instantly melting it off. Also, they are attracted to loud noises, so when they scream, more come slowly wiggling over to them.
Players can learn very quickly if properly motivated.
Interesting- figuring out how to use these critters would be fun
Haha brilliant! Shop in the village is going to start selling tongs and a jam jar at exorbitant rates...
Checking out wildlife photographs can be helpful for both inspiration and to help with descriptions of whatever you rolled up.
FWIW, flying snakes do exist -- they sort of glide off trees like flying squirrels and can even change direction in mid flight
Ok, that’s scary 😦
A lot of times I don't need to look up mythical monsters or make up some chart when so many weird little buggers are already out there.
I used the charts & got 1/2 Man 1/2 Bear, 1/2 Pig. Great video thxs for posting it.
Awesome
The era of Manbearpig can begin.
I started on a personal monster manual the moment you suggested it or, saw it in these kinda circles. The next step is completely custom creatures instead of modifying what's already there. Thanks for such a great idea. It's like going the extra mile for something. I've done the same for various races already but of course it should be done in general.
That’s great, always fun to make it our own!
TLDR: Great video, more people should watch this!
Laser boobs... LMAO.
That is almost as funny as 'taserface'
Notes about spicing up standard monsters.
There aren't 7 goblins, one of the four goblins cast mirror image.
Yup, one of the orcs is shadow-walking or blink PCs hate blink.
And my personal forever DM favorite: Skeletons spell stitched with a negative energy version of burning hands.
I also like using apparently undefeatable monsters who have a real weakness or a need the party can fill.
Like the drunk mountain giant who just wanted his peg leg back.
Awesomely fun ideas! I could see the goblins not even knowing they are mirror images, that is just how they are
@@BanditsKeep OMG that's even better.
Love making strange and unique monsters for the players to encounter , really creates fear and the unknown along with strong OSR vibes. For creating them I usually look upon something from mythology and some other areas of inspiration and create something based off of several myths or a certain ideal in moral play. great videos as always a highlight of my week every time you put out a new video!
For sure
There is something charming about the older way of playing D&D where a lot of the encounters are like the party is going hunting or fishing.
Teach a man to fish, get a bunch of gold!
A lot of OSR games have that sort of creature generator, and they're easy to make to fit your campaign. We had one to generate weird space pets the PCs picked up around different starports. Basically using dogs as a base and adding one random ability and one random drawback.
Fun!
I focus on monster behaviour. It's not necessarily unique and gonzo abilities that makes a monster interesting, but the way they appoach PCs. You can borrow from natural and mythical animals and think that this creature is an ambush predator or a very territorial herbivore.
An ambush predator is going to attack if it has surprise advantage, and a pretty good chance at it. But if it can't take down a target and it looks like a protracted fight it will try to get away. A pack predator can have simple, instinctual manouvers like surrounding and flanking targets.
The Monster Manual's ecology discussion was pretty great at this. All monsters had a commentary about what niche of behaviour they occupy.
For sure
Creating a monster encounter and Xp award CR.
My last gaming shop group that played 3.5e WotC still applied AD&D Xp adjustment modifiers.
Off hand memory was, ..
+1 value for range weapon.
+1 for Int 13 for tactics.
+1 for magic or psionic below 3rd-level.
+2 for magic or psionic above 3rd-level.
+2 Invisibility.
+2 poison.
So a common goblin with rocks or short bows with dun cover poison arrows has a +3 Xp adjustment. If said goblin has rogue level and a good Hide ability = to invisibility, we go with whatever grants more Xp for the party can gain.
Then we had poison tree frogs or toads for licking, they are hard to find " invisibility", fast Int/Dex:13+, and maybe AC:0 so totaling a +5 Xp adjustment for a half HD vermin. Could spit poison in hunter eye for tripping effect. Other than the D-trade, we had a set given amount of frogs, toads, and fish so we could run alchemical PC as DC comics Scarecrow or the Joker.
2.) Compare real world ecology and evolution, to fantasy world setting of random mutations of creating unique unintelligent monsters. A more modern setting would have such forest/wetland location set aside as game preserves to protect wildlife. In a fantasy world those locations would be trophy hunting zones for nobility.
Indeed
Squid Shark Lobster or Sqiudsharkster.... Going to need a bigger boat.
Nice!
HEHEHE .. Love this idea. Honestly I'm not a fan of tables like this because they tend to have limited repetitive results IMO but they do give great idea's and can prompt the imagination so I find them useful in that way. Really like your take on things as well. It would be interesting to play under you for sure.
Thanks
Daniel rolls up a dragon, followed by a ferret 😁
That would be amazing!
I find it helpful to give monsters a motive and a quirk much like I would an NPC.
Cool
Speaking as a nerd with a special fixation on rodents and mustelids, neither a shrew nor a weasel is a rodent. But as the category is clearly "small pest mammal; mammalian vermin" it fits. A capybara or even a beaver would probably just be "mammalian beast" under that kind of classification; this role-based form of defining creatures is also why many cultures of the ancient world defined a bat as a type of bird, and whales and dolphins as fish.
Interesting, I like the idea of role-based
I like making up a special monster or two for larger adventures, partially since most early adventure modules seem to have a few new monsters specific to the adventure. The tables in The Tome of Adventure Design are pretty interesting and conveniently pre-made. Usually I come of with a physical description, determine physical abilities based on that, and tweak everything (including the size if needed for things to make sense) to fit the difficulty (and possibly the role) I want for the encounter.
Great point about adventure modules having a few new monsters!
I cannot recommend reading “Fire on the Velvet Horizon” enough. It has helped how I think about monsters a lot. “Tome of Adventure Design” can end you up with something you never would have come up with, but it does take a bit of time.
I got a tiny quadrupedal bird that is undead with scales and a claw attack. Thinking of tiny dinosaur type bird (mix of scale and feathers) that have little forelimbs with syringe like claws that can latch on and suck your blood as they parrot back all the bad jokes of adventurers they have heard before sucking them dry. They move in swarms.
Neat! I have FoTVH - it’s beautiful but for me almost unreadable.
@@BanditsKeep it’s definitely on the abstract and occluded side of things, but I’ve found it sparks my imagination a lot when I feel creatively bankrupt personally.
Wooo sorry I didn’t have time to make one!
No worries
I enjoy all your videos. Great creative how to!
Thank You!
I like these kinda generators. I haven't tried making my own yet, but I like to use the custom demon generator for Forbidden Lands and the Random Esoteric Creature Generator for LotFP :) I like the FL one a bit better than the LotFP one, but the advantage of the LotFP is that it automatically generates stats for OSR/BX style games while any game stats from Forbidden Lands need to be converted still.
For sure
And sometimes the monster turns out to be the old man from the mill or a pack of village children.
1000%!
Indeed
@@BanditsKeep Scooby Dooby Doo
Daniel, can you please tell me the source for the thumbnail image? That is a great one!
Weird tales cover
Why no POD for the Hateful Place???
You can get it from Lulu POD
@@BanditsKeep awesome!!
Great idea! No working follow me links on twitter/instagram ?
Hmm. Not sure why they don’t work