|
| 22 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hi all!
A long time ago, back in the 3.5 days, there was an awesome little thread on the Wizards boards. It compiled information from a number of users on what type of information to give back when your PCs make a Knowledge check for a monster. This was incredibly useful at the time, but it never really got finished, and eventually died out.
Recently, a member of my Nethys Fan Page shot me a message saying that he had taken the time to go through and compile all of the various details, as a lot of the links had died over time. He gave me a giant word document (162 pages) with everything. While this is great all on its own, there is some information that would be out of date for use with Pathfinder, and a lot of missing monsters as well. He hinted that it would be cool to see this kind of thing within the various monster entries on my own Archives of Nethys. I gave it a lot of thought, and think this would be a fun project to work on with the Paizo community.
Using my database, I've gone ahead and set up a Google Docs spreadsheet that contains information from every monster I have. I recently updated the database with everything from Bestiary 2 and 3, so it should be fairly up to date.
Monster/Knowledge Spreadsheet
The Original Doc from 3.5 Days
The goal of this project is to create a resource for GMs to use so they can quickly and efficiently provide information about monsters to their players. I am totally willing to make a place for this in all of the various monster entries in my Archives if it gets fleshed out enough. Normally I don't add any kind of 3rd party content, but if the Paizo community wanted to help get this going, I would be willing to make an exception. :)
First, thank you! This project isn't something I can do alone, and will need all the help it can get. There are over 1,500 monsters in the list (and that's after having removed duplicates and most Unique monsters).
I have a basic idea on how to proceed with things, and want to keep this as organized as possible. So, some guidelines:
Signing Up: I'm a bit hesitant to open this up to just anyone. While I will be making regular backups, someone could come along and delete everything, ruining the work we've done. So, I want to add a white list of sorts. If you want to help out, just put your google account email in here (doesn't actually have to be a gmail, it's just whatever you use for google/youtube/whatever) or email it to me: asknethys at karuikage dot net , and I will add you to the list of people who can edit.
The sheet is divided into two areas: MonsterList and KnowledgeResults. MonsterList contains a list of every monster along with their group (if any), source, CR, alignment/size/type, and the appropriate Knowledge skill. It should be used for reference only and is not meant to be edited in any way.
The other sheet, KnowledgeResults, is where most of the work will be done.
When you start, go to KnowledgeResults and pick up to 10 monsters from the list (please don't pick any more than 10 at a time. I understand if you are quick, but 'saving' too many will prevent others from writing them that could get them done while you work on different monsters). In the Assigned To column, put down your name/alias/some moniker so we know it's being taken.
Then... fill out the rest! I have some guidelines to go with on them, but could be swayed to change some of these if anyone wants to discuss them. :)
Base DC: For the most part, this should be 10 + CR, per the standard monster rules (treat CR as 0 if 1/2 or 1/3 or whatever). If you think this monster is particularly common (most well known animals like Wolves, or common monsters like Goblins) then set the base DC to 5 + CR. If you think the monster is very rare, then set the DC to 15 + CR.
When using either the common or rare DC, it'd also be helpful if you included justification. Right-click the cell, select Insert Comment, and tell us why you think the monster should be treated as such.
Basic Information: This is the information you would get by meeting the DC. This should identify the creature and any well known facts about it. The Base DC will also reveal the monster's creature type (and subtype) traits, if any. Don't worry about including that bit, it will be the default assumption. If the basic information *shouldn't* reveal the creature type/traits, or should reveal something different (there's that skeleton with fungus that most may think is undead, but is actually a plant) then you can include that here.
Advanced Information: This is the information you would get with the DC + 5. Most obvious things should be revealed here, along with its main threat (primary way it attacks, trademark special attack). If the creature speaks a primary language, include that here as well (unless it doesn't talk much or only understands certain languages).
Expert Information: Information available to DC + 10. Reveal more detailed information including common spell-like abilities, maybe more attack forms or special tactics. Special defenses and vulnerabilities would be included here (unless they are particularly well known, like a troll and fire, in which case include them in Advanced).
Master Information (Optional, only needed if Expert doesn't quite cover everything): DC + 15. Specialist knowledge of the creature. Include unique or rarely used abilities, information regarding the creature's culture, morals, loves and hates. Information that is very unlikely to be known unless you've had extensive study of the creature.
1. Don't make things *too* detailed. Each piece of information should be between 1-3 sentences. If the monster is particularly complex, then I can see going over, but try to keep the information succinct.
2. Please make sure to use proper spelling/grammar. Toss your writings into a spell-checker before putting them up, ensure you are being grammatically correct. I don't expect English Masters here, I'm not one myself by any means, just make sure you have the basics covered.
3. Avoid removing any cells/rows/columns on any of the sheets. While I did lock the main details one, I left the other one open so people could edit. However, even if you spot an error in my lists (maybe I put a Unique monster up there or left a duplicate in), please don't delete it right away. The same error may be present in the master database, after all. :) Instead, just Insert a Comment on the cell for the monster's name, and add a noticeable background color (yellow or pink or something). That will get my attention and I can make the appropriate corrections.
3A. I mentioned above that I had removed a number of "Unique" monsters (creatures like Treerazor or Baba Yaga that are their own kind of crazy) so we could focus on more general monsters. Maybe we'll cover these later if this is successful. There are likely more "Unique" monsters lurking on the list though, so make sure to highlight/tag if you see any.
4. While the page should auto-refresh with changes, make sure you do a quick refresh before assigning any more monsters to you. I'd hate to have someone write up a bunch of monsters only to see someone already did the work.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, then toss them in here! I'll be checking this thread regularly.
By the way, I also included the original doc from the 3.5 boards (thanks to David Olsen for gathering that for me!) up top. While some of the information is likely out of date, you are more than welcome to grab bits from it if they are still appropriate!
This was such a useful tool in the past, and I'd love to get it going again. It seems like a few people enjoy using the Archives once in a while, so having the Monster Lores up there in a more permanent home would be a benefit to everyone. :)
|
|
Oh, and whether or not you have the books, the statblock/description/etc. for everything can be found in the Monster Index of the Archives: Here
As the instigator of all of this I would of course like to help!
jotunvenn@gmail.com
Not that I don't think this is a good idea, but were you aware for this?
Monster Knowledge Cards Bestiary 1.
And somewhere, Bestiary 2 has been done as well. Couldn't find it immediately though.
|
|
I wasn't aware actually :) I took a look at the preview on their store, and these could be useful. However, they don't appear to contain that much data for each DC (about a sentence or less, I'm hoping to get a little bit more than that) nor much Golarion specific info (which would be cool, and necessary for some monsters).
I may have to buy this just to get some ideas, but I'd still like to go ahead with this project and really elaborate on these monsters. There's a lot of others beyond the Bestiaries as well (the three Bestiaries only make up 900-1,000 or so of the 1,500).
I have the first one, but haven't looked at it recently. I'll dig it up today and take a look to see jow much content it does contain.
So here's a sample:
Ankheg – Large Magical Beast
DC 10 – An Ankheg is a burrowing, insect-like monster that
bursts forth from the soil to attack their prey
DC 15 – Ankhegs can spit a line of acid up to 30 feet
DC 20 – Ankhegs do not need to see; they can sense
vibrations through the soil
DC 25 – Ankhegs are intelligent enough to be trained as
mounts or beasts of burden, but their tendency to spit acid
when spooked makes them unsafe in large populations
|
|
That is helpful, but does seem to be a bit light. The 3.5 doc had similar information:
DC 13 - This creature is an ankheg, a huge, burrowing insect with a dangerous bite and a tenacity matched only by its hunger. This result reveals all magical beast traits.
DC 18 - As well as its lethal bite with which it can latch on to its victims, an ankheg has a natural acidic vemon which coats its mandibles and can be spit over short distances. Once an ankheg spits however, it takes a number of hours for it to build up its acid once more.
DC 23 - These natural tunnellers can see in most conditions, and have a extra sense that allows them to detect the slightest of movements through the earth.
I understand why, they wanted to print these out on small cards. I don't have such a size limitation on the site, so can afford to put a bit more in (assuming I get the help) :)
The other thing I noticed about the product (something mentioned in the comments) is it looks like they did away with the standard "DC 10 + CR" rule from the Core book. Whether that's a great rule or not aside, I'm not a big fan of the alternative they chose (to just standardize everything). However, this is a minor point, as adjusting the CRs is very easy.
In short, it could be useful, but the information they're providing doesn't seem to be much more that I could already grab from the word doc David put together off the old 3.5 thread.
Awesome idea! My lore-focused alchemist player has like +18 on most knowledge rolls. He'd probably know almost everything about every creature in the first place. except for CR15+ creature's special info.
What about dragons? Weaknesses and such never change with age.
|
|
Just did a couple - adlet, ahuizotl, and akhlut (just pulled a couple from the start of Bestiary 3). Hoping to get some feedback to see whether I'm doing it right or not. :)
Looks great so far! Glad to see more people are interested. This was a project that I wanted to get started at least and could display on the Archives, but haven't had a lot of time myself to work on it (due in part to the Mythic updates). Thanks so much for helping out!
|
|
Awesome idea! My lore-focused alchemist player has like +18 on most knowledge rolls. He'd probably know almost everything about every creature in the first place. except for CR15+ creature's special info.
What about dragons? Weaknesses and such never change with age.
Dragons are one of the topics I started a small convo about in the sheet, regarding how to handle their information. Current thought is to base the initial DC off the youngest CR, and just include information about the more advanced/older ones with the higher DCs as appropriate.
dot
Dotting.
Dragons are one of the topics I started a small convo about in the sheet, regarding how to handle their information. Current thought is to base the initial DC off the youngest CR, and just include information about the more advanced/older ones with the higher DCs as appropriate.
first blush makes me think a player rolls twice for dragons - once for age and once for colour.
so: one roll to know all the common factors shared by dragons, then a 2nd to fill in colour specific detail
but that's just my gut reaction to the issue