I love designing adventures, but as I do so, I've noticed that there are some monster niches that are covered very well in any official manner. I just thought I'd write some of them up to see what the general reaction to them would be:
Plant Monsters - Older versions of D&D were rife with plant monsters, but I think they are somewhat lacking in the 3.5 era. Just take a look at 1e MMII or BECMI D&D AC9, both of which are full of plant monsters.
Giant Animals - Seriously, I think 3.5e needs more giant animals. A majority of the monsters from 1e that are not updated to the current edition are giant animals. Giant/dire animals are useful in a variety of ways: they make excellent low and mid-level opponents, especially in more civilized areas, and they could add more options for animal companions.
Epic Monsters that Are Not Unique Outsiders or Dragons - I would like to see a couple of these...
Freshwater Threats - Most aquatic threats are tailored for saltwater bodies of water. That's great, but I'd like to see some freshwater threats too...
Desert Monsters Not Based on the Middle East or North Africa - Maybe something from the American Southwest, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, and Central Asia?
What do you guys thing?
all good ideas IMO
Amen to the freshwater threats. Western European and egyptian myths are rife with stories of lakes and rivers, as they were vital to life.
It seems like every time I run the game I find this is more and more true. Particularly once you take into account what creatures live in what kind of geography you start to really get a feel for how much room there really is for more different kinds of monster.
Most recently I was looking for a non-malevolent jungle dwelling tribal race. Nothing. Nothing at all. There's a very few non-jungle tribal races like Crabfolk and Loxo--but most things that live in tribes are completely hostile.
It's really interesting. With all the books, you'd imagine you'd be able to find whatever you need. Not so.
I was also looking for some kind of icehunting creature that moved through snowdrifts or could camoflague itself to look like a big mound of snow. Nothing. Nada. The closest I came was a gravorg, but they're subterrainian only and feed by tossing prey around with antigrav fields.
So yeah, I totally agree.
Granted a lot of the niches mentioned above are filled by two or three critters a pop. Still more is always better.
My favorite plant critters of 3.0 are the orcworts. I just love them! There are quite a few, from umbral banyons to greenvise to red sundews to needlefolk (another fave) that I really like.
For freshwater I really enjoy glaistigs. They're just creepy.
the obliviax (memory moss) is coming back next month in Dragon #355. :)
Hmm...dire pike...would be interesting.
All of Shroomy's suggestions sound good to me. There is a constant inflow of new monsters but the vast majority seem to be just rehashing the same common niches. *Real* variety is good. And more Neutral monsters/creatures rather than pure evil ones. The Neutral ones are more adaptable.
Most recently I was looking for a non-malevolent jungle dwelling tribal race. Nothing. Nothing at all. There's a very few non-jungle tribal races like Crabfolk and Loxo--but most things that live in tribes are completely hostile.
I ran into the same problem and had to create an ENTIRE FREAKIN' NEW RACE to fill the gap.
An earlier response to this post seems to have vanished, whether due to my ineptitude or a software glitch I'm not sure.
I've invented a subrace of "Jungle Dwarves" for my hombrew, quite different from normal dwarves--if the poster expressing an interest in non-evil jungle races is interested, I'm happy to share.
On freshwater creatures: there are actually a surprising number of these spread through the various monster compendia and in sources like Stormwrack, Oriental Adventures, and Frostburn. If you want to invent more, there are literally dozens of water fey in faerie-lore, many of which, to my knowledge, have never been statted up--even such obvious ones as the Naiades. Check out Brian Frond and Alan Lee's book Faeries for inspiration. Besides what's in the MM, check out Fossergrim, Rusalka, Kelpies, Glaistigs, Vodyanoi, Water Weirds, River Spirit Folk, Kappa (one of my personal favorites), Chiang Lung (River Dragon), Bog Hag.
On animals: again, there are an increasing number of these available, spread through the various sourcebooks. Dragon has published a number of new dinosaur stats over the last few years. Anyway, animals are pretty simple to create--find a creature similar to what you want and advance it or alter its stats as you think appropriate. In my game, when I want a giant pike, for example, I just use stats for a shark, which is about the right size for a humongous, agressive lake-dwelling fish. Mountain Lions? Just use leopard stats. If I want the PCs to have a run in with a moose, I find stats for a large ungulate like a bison and tweak them a bit. Since animals have a fairly narrow range of special abilities, it's not that complicated to invent stats for a new animal. Etc.
I'd also like to see more plants and plant related monsters/races.
I would love if there was a race of goodly 'pod-people' that perhaps reproduce by being 'pollinated' by normal humanoids -at no more risk to the humanoid other than a point of temporary constitution drain or subdual damage -only it would be nearly always consensual and considered to be a great honour.
Yes. I would like that a lot.
Also a type of giant sticky tumbleweed that is attracted to magic items which captures you then rolls away while digesting you would be cool.
I'd also like to see more plants and plant related monsters/races.
I would love if there was a race of goodly 'pod-people' that perhaps reproduce by being 'pollinated' by normal humanoids -at no more risk to the humanoid other than a point of temporary constitution drain or subdual damage -only it would be nearly always consensual and considered to be a great honour.
Well here's a list of as many of the various plantfolk as I could find. Their method of making other little plantfolk is I think largely left to everyone's imagination (probably a good thing...erhem).
MMI
Treant
MMII
Myconids
Needlefolk
Twig Blight
MMIII
Thorn
Wood Woad
Woodling
MMIV
Wizened Elder
Granted these are just the independant, thinking, humanoid plantfolk. There's lots of other kinds of plant creatures out there.
Yes. I would like that a lot.
Also a type of giant sticky tumbleweed that is attracted to magic items which captures you then rolls away while digesting you would be cool.
Check the Monster Manual III. It's called Plague Brush. Granted it's an extraplanar giant killer tumbleweed and it has no prediliction to magic items but a giant killer tumbleweed it is nonetheless.
Thanks people! R-types garden will be growing very well from now on methinx! :)
If you check out the Consolidated Lists as Wizards.com, they've got a fair number of plant critters listed across the various books. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/lists/monsters
Whatever happened to the Tasloi? From the old Dwellers of the Forbidden City. Have they been updated to 3.5? And were they always evil?
The tasloi was updated to 3rd edition in Oriental Adventures and then to 3.5 in the FR supplement The Shining South.
Thanks people! R-types garden will be growing very well from now on methinx! :)
Aside from the Children of Sehan featured in the Seeds of Sehan collaboration (which initially were suped up shambling mounds for space reasons), I've got stuff in the pipe involving a fair amount of vegetable and fungal matter, with a wink or two at a couple of other adventures featuring plants. Here's hoping I haven't clogged the pipes with it though. It's big I tell you! Big!
I also have it on good authority that another nasty plant monster will be terrorizing the Forgotten Realms in the near future thanks to a fellow were-cabbage.
Timber,
GGG
My favorite plant critters of 3.0 are the orcworts.
Wait for it.... Wait for it....
Proponent for more adventures featuring: ravids, yakfolk and hallucinating albinos,
GGG
PS One other thing to keep in mind is that if you have a monster that you feel has been underrepresented in D&D you could always propose and then write an adventure or a article ("Ecology of the Lava Children" or whatever) for Dungeon or Dragon featuring them thereby giving the creature in question exposure enough to inspire other adventures and articles by other people.
the obliviax (memory moss) is coming back next month in Dragon #355.
This makes me happy... (I'd done an update for my players to enjoy.)
...and sad. (It appears I should have waited.)
heh - thanks, i think, for the vote of confidence? :)
For giant animals, why not use the MM rules for advancing or enlarging a monster?
FWIW, according to the cover image for #355, our Cave Fisher made it in as well. :)