My number one desire is pretty specific: I want Clinton Boomer to create a multi-monster-theme thingy that's at least as freaky and terrifying as the original writeup for the Kakuen-Taka. The final implementation was sadly lacking :(
My apologies, that came out harsher than I intended. n.n;
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Monsters from all planes, including Positive/Negative energy. Monsters that cover a wide range of CR's but definitely some more big-and-scary's. Most Bestiary's focus on filling out the level 1-12 critters with a smattering of higher CR's. I want some more critters that can scare the pants off the big guys. With Mythic out, I'd like to see some more CR 30(+) critters out there.
Critters with unique attack forms. There was this Orange Dragon back in the Dragon (magazine) Compendium that spit goo all over the adventurers, which then exploded like 1d4 rounds later. That was really cool. I want to see more things like that, attacks that are first confusing (What was that?) and then horrifying (OMG!!!!).
Critters with high CR's and high touch AC's. We've got a weapon group now (firearms) that targets a defense that actually scales down with level. Lets beef up the far end of the spectrum with high level critters that can't be hit on a 5 Touch.
Breath of CR, both within monster categories and overall.
Repostedfrom Secret plan X thread:
Can I suggest Tim Connors and Frank Gori/GM Solspiral for some more authors? You might have already contacted either of them. Tim's work for Kobold Press is impressive (skincrawler dragon anyone?) and Fank's "Old Hat Monsters" column for the KP blog show him to be a designer of merit.
Was Richard Pett mentioned? Ben McFarland - Midgard monsters generally? Jim Groves? Crystal Frasier? How about some of Rite Publishing's stable - Kaidan looks good for monsters (Michael Tumey/Jonathan McAnulty...)
Being entirely impressed by your Neo-Exodus art and graphics I'm sure this will look beautiful. Will a WAR cover be a stretch goal?
Also I forgot Alluria's aquatic stuff. More would be nice.
Given CR 30 is the most powerful threat a mythic character can hope to defeat, I hope there are not any CR 30+ creatures...
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I can vouch for the fact that our own Eric "Epic Meepo" Morton does some mighty fine monster-brewin'. Here's some examples of his work that he's shared with us
I agree that good artwork can make or break a book of monsters. Each entry should have a picture of the monster, but there should also be the occasional full-page piece that shows them in action, like the Paizo books have at the beginning of each chapter. If you've got "linked" monsters, show us a scene of them doing what they do with each other.
Find some "holes" in the current bestiary, if you can, and fill them. It's hard to find decent constructs at low CR, fey are almost never any bigger than Medium, and plant creatures are rarely found in any type of terrain besides forest or jungle. There's also a bias towards large monsters having high CR-- most PCs never see anything Huge until they get to at least 5th or 6th level... which is why I'd love to see a party of 1st-levels take on something Colossal or Gargantuan and actually have a shot of winning.
And for goodness sakes, DON'T make monsters that are pop culture references!
And for goodness sakes, DON'T make monsters that are pop culture references!
Can't promise that. There will be at least one. I know, because I'm writing it. I can assure you though that it will be a damn cool monster and your players will crap kittens if they have to face it.
I can assure you though that it will be a damn cool monster and your players will crap kittens if they have to face it.I don't want my players to crap kittens. I would die laughing.
Great, now I know that I'll not only be responsible for animal cruelty, but also manslaughter, or possibly negligent homicide.
There's also a bias towards large monsters having high CR-- most PCs never see anything Huge until they get to at least 5th or 6th level... which is why I'd love to see a party of 1st-levels take on something Colossal or Gargantuan and actually have a shot of winning.
This!!! Old 1e Gamma World did this very successfully with high hit die of a low dice - like a HD of 20d4 (with HD tied to attack rolls) was an accomplished but weak combatant... Not saying that's useful for Pathfinder, but a way to make large/powerful creatures that are also enjoyable foes for low level PCs would rock...
Pop culture references can be good if the reference isn't silly
John Carpenter's The Thing or Aliens = awesome
Telletubies...not so much
A CR 30 Fine-sized creature.
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There's also a bias towards large monsters having high CR-- most PCs never see anything Huge until they get to at least 5th or 6th level... which is why I'd love to see a party of 1st-levels take on something Colossal or Gargantuan and actually have a shot of winning.This!!! Old 1e Gamma World did this very successfully with high hit die of a low dice - like a HD of 20d4 (with HD tied to attack rolls) was an accomplished but weak combatant... Not saying that's useful for Pathfinder, but a way to make large/powerful creatures that are also enjoyable foes for low level PCs would rock...
As far as I know, there's no rule saying that a creature's size is tied to its total Hit Dice, or its CR for that matter. The only reason larger monsters are higher CR is... because they always have been. Sure, the Elder Fire Elemental is larger than the Young Fire Elemental, and also has a higher CR, but it's not the increased size that makes it a bigger challenge.
The only thing about a monster that is tied to its size is its AC/CMB modifier, and the damage dice of a weapon sized for it. A Gargantuan creature would be downright impossible to bull rush or trip, but it would be pretty easy to hit. If it carries a sword (which implies it has humanoid-level INT and a reasonably humanoid hand) then it's going to kill a level 1 character in one shot, sure, but if it just has natural attacks, those attacks could have whatever damage dice the author chooses. The only reason they don't hit for 1d4+1 is that players and Bestiary authors expect "bigger = hits harder".
Here is a interesting question: Do you prefer all the monsters in a monster book to be evil?
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Quality matters, not alignment! If DMs can insert some good adversaries in e.g. WotW, that's neat - and PCs need allies, preferably with e.g. a short note on how to barter for services etc. - Age of Worms handled planar allies rather neat, if I recall correctly.
(And if in doubt, one can always slap a "fallen" template on angels etc. ;])
And for goodness sakes, DON'T make monsters that are pop culture references!Can't promise that. There will be at least one. I know, because I'm writing it. I can assure you though that it will be a damn cool monster and your players will crap kittens if they have to face it.
...Now why am I thinking it's going to be slenderman or black eyed children
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...Now why am I thinking it's going to be slenderman or black eyed childrenAnd for goodness sakes, DON'T make monsters that are pop culture references!Can't promise that. There will be at least one. I know, because I'm writing it. I can assure you though that it will be a damn cool monster and your players will crap kittens if they have to face it.
I would almost be disappointed if someone didn't include the slender man somewhere in this book.....
well the tome of slenderotica is free to download somewhere on these forums, so I'm hoping for black eyed children.
well the tome of slenderotica is free to download somewhere on these forums***I.... I don't......
That sounds like a terrible book......
its name is misleading, it's just a slender man stat block, slender warped template, and ideas of incorporation into games as well as lore.here it is
...Now why am I thinking it's going to be slenderman or black eyed childrenAnd for goodness sakes, DON'T make monsters that are pop culture references!Can't promise that. There will be at least one. I know, because I'm writing it. I can assure you though that it will be a damn cool monster and your players will crap kittens if they have to face it.
Neither. It's a particular movie monster that I've been thinking about for a while now. It's just begging to be statted so it can start terrorizing PCs.
Neither. It's a particular movie monster that I've been thinking about for a while now. It's just begging to be statted so it can start terrorizing PCs.
** spoiler omitted **
Crocosaurus? Two-headed Shark?
Shark With Frikking Lasers?
Crocosaurus? Two-headed Shark?Neither. It's a particular movie monster that I've been thinking about for a while now. It's just begging to be statted so it can start terrorizing PCs.
** spoiler omitted **
SyFy already has a history of churning out movies which look like they were inspired by someone reading through the Monster Manual (Ghoul, Goblin, Hellhounds, Manticore, Ogre, Wyvern, etc, ad nauseum). To start statting SyFy movie monsters in RPG monster books is just some kind of weird meta thing I'd rather not think about.
Shark With Frikking Lasers?
Our creative director and I already had that conversation. I'd rather just go ahead and save everyone the disappointment and just do mutant sea bass.
Shark With Frikking Lasers?Our creative director and I already had that conversation. I'd rather just go ahead and save everyone the disappointment and just do mutant sea bass.
Who needs mutant sea bass, when you have halibut like this.
...Now why am I thinking it's going to be slenderman or black eyed childrenAnd for goodness sakes, DON'T make monsters that are pop culture references!Can't promise that. There will be at least one. I know, because I'm writing it. I can assure you though that it will be a damn cool monster and your players will crap kittens if they have to face it.Neither. It's a particular movie monster that I've been thinking about for a while now. It's just begging to be statted so it can start terrorizing PCs.
** spoiler omitted **
Someone already did a Sharktopus. See the Lusca from the Shackles setting book.
Someone already did a Sharktopus. See the Lusca from the Shackles setting book.
I know. And it's got three heads, therefore nullifying the need for the two-headed shark. Lasers on that thing would be adding insult to injury. Hence the sea bass. Though a dire halibut is looking good right about now, not to mention sounding delicious.
A CR 28 monster somewhere, or a templated lvl 20/mythic 10 character, or any character with enough advantage, can take out a CR 30+ monster. Besides, no need for the PCs to be able to kill precisely everything. More paragon LeShay, I say.
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Since you mentioned the Tarrasque, big T's stat block and laundry list of immunities makes me think that at some point, some designer just made a list of everything he could think of that can kill monsters, then decided the Tarrasque was immune to all of it and then laughed as he imagined some group of players trying to fight against it. That just smells like bad design to me. It reminds me of playing make-believe at recess, and whatever one kid would do, the other kid would say "nuh-uh, that doesn't work because..."
If you want a great monster book to have a monster that PCs "just can't beat", then make it "unbeatable" on its own merits, not because you pre-emptively "nuh-uhed" the PC's best strategies.
Would you like have the same monster at different CRs? Would you get more use out of a book like that?
Depending on the monster, sure, but let's not let things devolve into the morass of variant-build statblocks that was the 3.5 MM 4 and 5.
Would you like have the same monster at different CRs? Would you get more use out of a book like that?
I like this functionality. Understandably it eats space and wordcount but saves ME time... I would be more interested in this....
I personally would rather have more monsters, rather than chew through a dozen pages to give 1-20 CR to every monster.
Me too. I would rather more creatures overall than less, but perhaps having variants where the individual author (or editor ;p) thought they were thematically or game-appropriate would be cool.
One monster might have none, another might have four variants between CR 1-6, another might have a spread between CR1-20 and yet another might have a base and then a "mama-spawner" CR 35 version.
Check out the Tome of Horrors Vegepygmy variants on d20PFSRD - this is a fantastic resource.
A couple of things I'd like to see:
Encounter/adventure hooks for all monsters
Monsters that have a place in the world. Not necessarily a role in society, but I want to know what they do, what they eat, where they live, etc so I can have a sense of why the players encounter them.
Villains. I want to know why these particular creatures are a threat to life as we know it.
Allies.
Fresh abilities or groupings of abilities so that it's not a familiar foe with a paintjob. I'm a big fan of seeing my players get nervous because they don't know what's happening.
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What makes a good Monster Book.
1. Good Monsters.
Do Not make a monster just to fill space. Every Monster should be something unique that adds something new to the game. If its another version of a Wight, I could do that with a template....Draw from literature, folklore, and media, but make good monsters.
2. Decent Art.
It doesnt have to be great art, but it shouldnt make me cringe to look at it. A Monster book needs the visual cues so the DM can bring the monster to life with a description..and whtas the saying about a picture being worth a thousand words?
3. Layout and Format
I need to be able to find things without going page by page.
:D
I personally would rather have more monsters, rather than chew through a dozen pages to give 1-20 CR to every monster.Me too. I would rather more creatures overall than less, but perhaps having variants where the individual author (or editor ;p) thought they were thematically or game-appropriate would be cool.
My personal mantra on this is: If a monster has a CR of 10 or more there should be a version at half the original CR, so a CR 10 monster should have a CR 5 version also. A CR 18 or higher should have 2 move version as 1/3 the CR and 2/3 the CR. I like monsters who get "stronger over time with the PC that face them"; which is an idea that I stole from the Xena / Callisto conflicts. Nothing is better then a "villain / monster" who gets a repeat appearance and comes back even stronger.
For same monsters of different CR, I'd rather have 4-5 same type mosnters. Or even better, same organization monsters. Examples: Kytons (Vile Darkness bugs, not LE outsiders) or mind flayers of thoon from MM 5 (usually the bugs are made like this, but I really liked thoon concept, although not the execution or the subject). The same monster somehow doesn't sit well with me. Maybe you have better idea than me, i'm just picturing normal and dire animal.
Non-evil monsters, yes.