| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Tarrasque. As a monster its great, a high level, high CR creature that has enough defenses to avoid rocket tag for a bit, and offense that prevents it from taking the PCs out in one round. I haven't had a chance to use it, but plan to throw it against mythic PCs soon enough (with some additional limitations). The problem? It is some pseudo-kaiju monster as opposed to the lion/scorpion/ox/turtle that is spelled Tarasque.
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
uh..that's not how the force works. in french -ette is never pronounced lay, it's baguette with an [et] sound and not bagay, the name's Anette and not Anay. double-t e means the wourd is pronounced with a hard 't' sound
Ha, I never got the rule.
Growing up with French-speaking family, my insane notion was that you just didn't pronounce the last letter of anything. If it ended with a 't' like 'beret,' you didn't pronounce the 't.' If it ended with a 'te' like 'bulette,' you did pronounce the 't,' but not the 'e!'
Obviously I suck at French. :)
Random critter names I don't like;
Aasimar. Why the two a's?
Mephit. Why does spellcheck try to change it to mephitis when I try to type mephit's? Argh! (That's not a problem with the name, it's a problem with spellcheck!)
Barghest. Also known as a patron of a bar?
Cauchemar. I have no idea why, but I think of this as a word for prostitute. The eternal mystery that is my brain...
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I don't particularly like that many creatures. But there are plenty of those obscure creatures in the bestiaries with stupid namse that makes me hate them:
Wikkawak - Seriously? It's a white-furred bugbear, why give it an extremely silly name?
Svartalfar - It pretty much means "Drow".
Pretty much any creature who's name starts with X.
I totally agree on the Medusa/Gorgon, really puts me off every time.
The issue with the Svartalfar is even worse: they've used the plural to designate a single creature. The singular is Svartalf.
The Wikkawak might be a creature from Inuit legend and a couple of monsters starting with X might come from Mesoamerican cultures.
I personally am annoyed by Paizo just taking words that mean 'ghost' from different languages and apply them to their critters. We already have a 'Geist' in the German translation, thank you very much.
EDIT: @Set: 'Cauchemar' is French for 'nightmare'.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Many of the creature names in the game come from various mythologies and the folklore of different regions. Also remember that many if the same tales and legends appear in different languages, so similar creatures have different names. Also remember that in folklore, a given creature can have different attributes depending on the specific tale.
A problem with codifying creatures from myth and legend with game statistics is that you have to pick and choose specific tales to use for inspiration. This frequently results in having different game monsters that were stemmed from the same mythological beast. And sometimes, misunderstandings, mistranslations, and flat-out mistakes in the lore have made it into some creatures' game stats. (Gary Gygax was not particularly knowledgeable about Classical mythology, for example.)
"Bugbear" is English/Germanic for "monster." It comes from the same roots as "bugaboo" and "boogeyman". It doesn't sound scary now, but it did in the past.
"Goblin" is English/Latin for "evil faerie or imp."
"Hobgoblin" uses the Old English prefix "hob-" which means "elf" or "faerie", with "goblin," emphasizing the otherworldliness of the creature.
"Bulette" was made up by Gygax and Arnesen in the 1970s for D&D, inspired by a plastic toy. If the word was inspired by French, it should be pronounced "buh-LET."
(Speaking of French pronunciation, "coup de grace" should be pronounced "coo-deh-GRAHSS". The silent "e" at the end of the word signifies that the prepreceding consonant is pronounced.)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
uh..that's not how the force works. in french -ette is never pronounced lay, it's baguette with an [et] sound and not bagay, the name's Anette and not Anay. double-t e means the wourd is pronounced with a hard 't' soundHa, I never got the rule.
Growing up with French-speaking family, my insane notion was that you just didn't pronounce the last letter of anything. If it ended with a 't' like 'beret,' you didn't pronounce the 't.' If it ended with a 'te' like 'bulette,' you did pronounce the 't,' but not the 'e!'
Isn't that exactlywhat I wrote (or tried to write anyway)?
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Isn't that exactly what I wrote (or tried to write anyway)?uh..that's not how the force works. in french -ette is never pronounced lay, it's baguette with an [et] sound and not bagay, the name's Anette and not Anay. double-t e means the wourd is pronounced with a hard 't' soundHa, I never got the rule.
Growing up with French-speaking family, my insane notion was that you just didn't pronounce the last letter of anything. If it ended with a 't' like 'beret,' you didn't pronounce the 't.' If it ended with a 'te' like 'bulette,' you did pronounce the 't,' but not the 'e!'
The rule was 'double t means pronounce the t.'
My made up rule was 'just ignore the last letter.' :)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I personally am annoyed by Paizo just taking words that mean 'ghost' from different languages and apply them to their critters. We already have a 'Geist' in the German translation, thank you very much.
That's not much of Paizo's choice but a legacy issue from earlier editions of (A)D&D. And a constant problem with many fantasy creations...
| 9 people marked this as a favorite. |
I personally am annoyed by Paizo just taking words that mean 'ghost' from different languages and apply them to their critters. We already have a 'Geist' in the German translation, thank you very much.That's not much of Paizo's choice but a legacy issue from earlier editions of (A)D&D. And a constant problem with many fantasy creations...
There was something I read years ago about "How Not to Do Fantasy World-Building." It had this hilarious recurrent example that was of the form:
"And he took his khakla (which is exactly like a knife, but cooler) and skinned the mrendar (which is exactly like a deer, but cooler)..."
They had dozens of examples like that. And once that had been pointed out, large chunks of the genre market became unreadable for me, because I'd automatically append the "exactly like... but cooler" to the substitute words.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I personally am annoyed by Paizo just taking words that mean 'ghost' from different languages and apply them to their critters. We already have a 'Geist' in the German translation, thank you very much.
Huh. I wonder if they could reverse-translate. Like the German version would have 'Geist' for the 'ghost' bestiary entry, but then put 'Ghost' for the 'geist' bestiary entry...
...and I'm sure that would never cause any confusion ever.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
I personally am annoyed by Paizo just taking words that mean 'ghost' from different languages and apply them to their critters. We already have a 'Geist' in the German translation, thank you very much.That's not much of Paizo's choice but a legacy issue from earlier editions of (A)D&D. And a constant problem with many fantasy creations...
Did the Geist, the Nemhain, the Siabur and the Tiyanak exist in earlier editions? I don't mind including monsters from different cultures, but they should remain close to the original and their names should not be used to describe unrelated creatures.
@ConanTheGrammarian: We are German. That is simply not done. (The language purist here are almost as bad as in France.)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah, it does bug me some also that creatures from a culture's mythology don't always have the same abilities the ones from folklore have.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I am 90% sure that geist appeared somewhere in AD&D, probably in Ravenloft materials.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Probably so. I seem to recall it being in AD&D, but can't remember where. I could probably go dig through my old Monster Manuals but I just ate and I'm too lazy.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Oh yes, the geist was a Ravenloft thing.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Daemon. It's just the old English spelling but still pronounced demon.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
BALOR. Good god, Balor. The mythical Balor is one of my favorite figures in myth, so making it a discount Balrog frustrates me. It doesnt even have a gaze attack!
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Flumphs
when I first heard a friend say the name of the much maligned iconic D&D monster. I'm not sure if he had either burped, farted or both at the same time.
Lava Children a sadly underused creature hampered with some truly terrible art imo.
Dire Corby I'm torn as I do like to use the creature in encounters. Yet wonder why none of the other underdark factions have not banded together to wipe out the feathered anti-social psychopath.s
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Well when the Tyrant, Gygax the Usurper, was defeated by the Good Son Christopher, he was forced to strike many names from his books of power....
Did understand the market though, new is good, well researched is of little value.
Stat block wins over thematic and mythically correct content for most of the market.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Well when the Tyrant, Gygax the Usurper, was defeated by the Good Son Christopher, he was forced to strike many names from his books of power....
Did understand the market though, new is good, well researched is of little value.
Stat block wins over thematic and mythically correct content for most of the market.
| 10 people marked this as a favorite. |
Though "mythically correct content" is sort of oxymoron... Any myth worth its salt appears in multiple, contradictory, or at least irreconcilable versions...
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Though "mythically correct content" is sort of oxymoron... Any myth worth its salt appears in multiple, contradictory, or at least irreconcilable versions...
Gah. Seriously. Who hasn't been tiresomely lectured by no end of pedants who "know" the "right" myth (that being the one version they've read)? I have repetitive stress injuries from rolling my eyes...
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Derailing imminent. Restore proper course.
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Derro - in local Australian slang, this means a homeless person. Makes me imagine the party's fighting a street bum.
Svirfneblin - for god's sake, buy a vowel!
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Svirfneblin - for god's sake, buy a vowel!
Ther are three vowels in Svirfneblin, how much more do you need? That's just one vowel less than in Aasimar and that's a name that's in serious need of consonants
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Derro - in local Australian slang, this means a homeless person. Makes me imagine the party's fighting a street bum.
Svirfneblin - for god's sake, buy a vowel!
Derro - These are pretty obviously the "Dero" of Richard S. Shaver, who published a number of supposedly-true "ancient astronauts"-style stories in the 50s. Deranged subterranean dwarfs with psychic powers, the Dero were supposedly the degraded offshoot of an ancient race of super-men called the Tero.
Svirfneblin - presumably of Norse origin (see Svartalfar).
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
We just default to calling them land sharks. sounds cooler too.Linkified that for you.
That's a dolphin video. I promise.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
And then there's ankheg, solely for it's original spelling of ahnkheg. Because, I guess, TSR had too many consonants in inventory and needed to use them up. :)
We like to freeze colorful birds and then eat them like popsicles. Choose your spelling wisely!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I absolutely love the concept and execution in game terms of the Bugbear. But I despise the name. It's comical and trite to me. It doesn't inspire the fear that the name is supposed to be derived from.Fear the Bugaboo.
WELP.
Now that I know that bugbear, bogeyman, and babau are all the same creature, that makes that particular bit of world-building I did for that one setting, veeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrry interesting.
Also a cool accidental find just now.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Svartalfar - It pretty much means "Drow".That one's straight out of norse mythology though, it literally means "black elves". I've been calling Drow "myrkálfar" (murky elves) in home campaigns for a decade (TBH I never liked the sound of "Drow" however you pronounce it.)
Svartalfar - It pretty much means "Drow".That one's straight out of norse mythology though, it literally means "black elves".I know. But apparently they needed to make an obscure off-shoot race (that how many uses?). They may as well differentiate between "Dwarfs" and "Dwarves" at that point (and I would hate that equally).
I've been calling Drow "myrkálfar" (murky elves) in home campaigns for a decade (TBH I never liked the sound of "Drow" however you pronounce it.)I'm not a fan of just "Drow", I either say "Drow Elves" (Drau Eleves) or just "Svartalver", because that's what they are.
"Drow" actually comes from Scottish Celtic mythology, apparently as influenced by Nordic.
Everyone knows, the proper way to pronounce "drow" is "duergar"!
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
They sound like some kind of little Swedish Yuletide pastry.Svirfneblin - presumably of Norse origin (see Svartalfar).
Well, you see, that's why they live underground, for fear of the sea-devils.
They used to live along the seacoast, but the sahuagin considered them especially tasty, and would raid the shorelines just to grab as many gnomes as they could, drag them into the water just off the beach, and devour them alive. This practice came to be known as "surf-nibblin'".| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Derro - in local Australian slang, this means a homeless person. Makes me imagine the party's fighting a street bum.
Svirfneblin - for god's sake, buy a vowel!
Smurfneblin? Underground gnomes that are three apples high?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Have you seen the art? It's not too far off.Derro - in local Australian slang, this means a homeless person. Makes me imagine the party's fighting a street bum.
Slander! Defamation! I will see you in court, sir!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hobgoblin is also not great because it makes them sound like nice goblins for some reason.
Really? Can you explain how?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Svirfneblin - presumably of Norse origin (see Svartalfar).
To the best of my knowledge, Svirfneblin isn't of Norse origin. It doesn't sound overtly Norse either. Nor is a Norse connection mentioned in the critters Wikipedia page either. I could be wrong, though.
And no comment on I'm Hiding In Your Closet's idea that they are a Yule pastry.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hobgoblin is also not great because it makes them sound like nice goblins for some reason.
Really? Can you explain how?
While I can't speak for SilvercatMoonpaw, I will say that when I was a little kid, I thought hobgoblins were a cross between goblins and hobbits. Which could go either way, nicenesswise-speaking.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
While I can't speak for SilvercatMoonpaw, I will say that when I was a little kid, I thought hobgoblins were a cross between goblins and hobbits. Which could go either way, nicenesswise-speaking.Hobgoblin is also not great because it makes them sound like nice goblins for some reason.
Really? Can you explain how?
Interestingly enough, when I was young I thought of hobgoblins as being bigger, nastier goblins because of The Hobbit. There's a bit where Gandalf refers to "goblins, hobgoblins, and orcs of the worst description." In the radio adaption the emphasis the actor playing Gandalf puts on the word "hobgoblins" always made it seem dire and more threatening.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
We have an on going joke in my group that hobgoblins are just goblins in hobnail boots.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
BIG goblins in hobnailed jackboots... and prone to worshipping Tiamat rather than Maglubiyet and Nomog Geaya... funny enough, in every scenario I've seen with Tiamat rising, her armies were founded on hobgoblins.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
While I can't speak for SilvercatMoonpaw, I will say that when I was a little kid, I thought hobgoblins were a cross between goblins and hobbits. Which could go either way, nicenesswise-speaking.Hobgoblin is also not great because it makes them sound like nice goblins for some reason.
Really? Can you explain how?
I never liked "Hobgoblin" for a group of folks who are not themselves Goblins (they're goblinoids, but so are bugbears), because it sounds like we're defining them in terms of something external, a different group of creatures they are distinct from.
It'd be like if we called humans "talldwarves" or "quickelves" or "doublehalflings" or something. Hobgoblins are their own thing, and are generally more culturally, economically, and militarily advanced than goblins, so why are we defining them in terms of their lessers anyway.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hobgoblin is also not great because it makes them sound like nice goblins for some reason.
Ah yes, the "Hotgoblin" terrible jokes...