MONSTERS, MINIONS, AND MARAUDERS -- What Would *You* Like To See?

[TechnoViking]

Originally posted by Steve Long

To confirm what Monolith said, Michael Surbrook is currently writing an Asian Bestiary as a sort of mostly-FH-but--a-bit-of-NH-too supplement, probably for Hero Plus. So I won't have any Oriental, Indian, etc. monsters in MMM; no need to plow the same ground twice.

Whoops, I forgot about that.

 

Mike

[Citizen Keen]

Originally posted by Monolith

I am sure I am in the minority here, but I would have preferred the Turakian Age characters myself. Having a tie-in with the campaign world is what makes the book unique to me. It is because of the little bits of information about the campaign world in the write-ups that I would want to buy it. I would much rather read about the Blood Orcs of Grunralk and the Tree Orcs of Purndar then to just see generic orcs with a plains and tree option.

 

There must be at least a couple of dozen generic “monster manual†books for d20 already in publication. That seems like more than enough source material to base generic creatures on to me. I was hoping for something with more life like CKC rather than something more plain like the Bestiary. To me it is the color commentary which makes a creature interesting, now whether it does 1d6 or 2d6 HKA.

 

I agree completely. I want new monsters. I like creating generic beasts - I know what an Orc or a Troll does, and making the stats for one gives me experience in making things in HERO. I want new monsters.

 

I would also like to see a fair amount of Mauraders. Non-monsters. Bandits, raiders, pirates, highway robbers, dark knights, angry villagemen, witch hunters, merchant guards, etc.

[OddHat]

Originally posted by Citizen Keen

I would also like to see a fair amount of Mauraders. Non-monsters. Bandits, raiders, pirates, highway robbers, dark knights, angry villagemen, witch hunters, merchant guards, etc.

 

Another vote here for plenty of Human (or the equivelant) foes, preferably with real personalities to them. They can be "generic," but I want a band of vicious bandits and mecenaries that have set themselves up in a ruined fortress, lead by a maniac giant of a man, a scared monster with a shocking secret. Personality makes a difference.

[Blue]

Wish I had my HSB with me. Here's a few thoughts that I think are not covered in HSB (at least not extensively).

 

Spirits. I mean this in a shamanistic sense. It sounds like the Grimoire is going to discuss shamanism to some degree. It would be nice to have certain spirits of various objects available for use in conjunction with the Grimoire.

Parasites. How about rules for those small insects that either deliver illness or otherwise impair animals/beings on an on-going basis.

Domestication How hard is it to train lions to jump through hoops, and dogs to simply not piddle on the rug you looted from Galdorn's castle?

[Citizen Keen]

Don't have my HSB with me, and while I think it is not mentioned in it, it may be.

 

What about half-forms of lycanthropes? Not just a human and a wolf, but a wolf-man.

 

If this is already there, then I'm an idiot.

[SuperPheemy]

Originally posted by OddHat

Another vote here for plenty of Human (or the equivelant) foes, preferably with real personalities to them. They can be "generic," but I want a band of vicious bandits and mecenaries that have set themselves up in a ruined fortress, lead by a maniac giant of a man, a scared monster with a shocking secret. Personality makes a difference.

 

That's something the old Enemies books had going for them (before the official recognition of a "Champions Universe"). The characters therein were really intended to be ready-to-run supervillains that ended up being a touchstone for the greater Champs community. Everyone who played Champions had a pretty good idea of who Dr Destroyer or Grond or Ogre were. I think the same thing could and really should be accomplished with part of MMM. Since the HSB has plenty of monsters and creatures to fight, and the MMM will feature a selection with a more definite fantasy bent, we should see a few villains that can be dropped into nearly any fantasy game. Perhaps with some "scaling notes" to accomodate Sword & Sorcery, High Fantasy, or other subgenres.

 

They don't have to be specific to the Turakian Age, though many of them could fit well into the setting once it is published. just a couple of dozen personalities with some story seeds attached.

[Guest joen00b]

Some of these may have already been listed, it's difficult to read through them with coherence when computer illiterate people are jabbering in your ear (I'm at work).

 

• A full compliment of Undead critters. The more the merrier, from little beasties to OMG IT'S COMING THIS WAY! Also, many years ago, I remember seeing an article about the effectiveness of different kinds of weapons versus different kinds of undead, e.g. Arrows are just not effective towards Skeletons, but big blunt crushing weapons sure are! These shouldn't be too difficult, given the great rules of Hero, to accomplish.
   
  
• Benevolent/Good creatures. Not every monster is evil and wanting to eat your liver with a bottle of Chianti.
   
  
• Write-ups of societal behaviors of creatures. Are they nomadic? Do they have indigenous enemies? Do natural enemies have bonuses or penalties when fighting against them?
   
  
• Tactics/Strategies of Monsters. Are they mindless barbarians with no method to their madness or are they forming a shield wall and making a concerted charge? One of the greatest articles ever written for Dragon Magazine was called: Tucker's Kobolds. Those familiar with this article know exactly how evil a few crafty little 25 point monsters can really be.
   
  
• Think outside the box, some originality (I know I saw this in there somewhere, just wanted to second the vote here).
  

That's about it for now, once I get the virus out of my systems network I'll give this much more UNINTERRUPTED thought.

[Alibear]

Originally posted by joen00b

[*]Tactics/Strategies of Monsters. Are they mindless barbarians with no method to their madness or are they forming a shield wall and making a concerted charge? One of the greatest articles ever written for Dragon Magazine was called: Tucker's Kobolds. Those familiar with this article know exactly how evil a few crafty little 25 point monsters can really be.

 

[/b]

 

I was thinking about this too.

For example, a regenerating Troll would never fight to the death. It would take some body damage, maybe dish some out and then flee. Next day when our heroes are still injured the Troll returns as good as new..

[Nightfly]

AA

 

Responding to AA's earlier comment, I must respectfully (yet wholeheartedly) disagree.

 

I'm a dude whose imaginative pursuits were (mournfully) restricted to appreciating other peoples art (film/music, etc).

I'd played D&D (a lot) when I was a teenager,.. but it was none other than the many outstanding products of FREd that ressurected my (own) imaginative engine - and the characters I make [with the help of the Hero library] are my own little pieces of art.

 

Honestly, I admit, I don't have kids, am not married, and am lucky enough to work less often than most.

Frankly if I did have a family + FT gig I don't see how I'd have any time for RPGing anyway?!

 

I've joked w/ my RPG retailers that I (almost literally) spend all my money there.

I'm gonna spend that money there regardless... whether it's on Star Wars, Star Trek, Buffy, or whatever d20.  In gratitude, for reloading my RPG mind, I'd MUCH RATHER spend that $$$ on a FREd porduct.  Not just out of appreciative loyalty, but for the sheer number of ideas I get from them.  Every HERO book I own is packed with bookmarks.

 

So, to (finally) make my point... IMO I wish DOJ would release 2x the number of books they currently do [which is a big reason why I anxiously await each month's issue of DH]!!!

 

FTR, I'm not A** kissing, I'm giving praise where praise is due.

 

P.S. Next year, when I (hopefully) make my 1st pilgrimage to ComicCon (in San Diego) w/out a doubt I'll be hanging at the FREd booth more than anywhere else!

[Steve Long]

P.S. Next year, when I (hopefully) make my 1st pilgrimage to ComicCon (in San Diego) w/out a doubt I'll be hanging at the FREd booth more than anywhere else!

 

We don't ever have booth at San Diego ComicCon; it's not worth it to us and comes at the wrong time of the year.

 

We do, however, have booths at Origins, GenCon, and several other major cons. You're welcome to stop by, say hi, and hang out there.

[Nightfly]

Sorry / Thanks

 

Sorry for the false assumption, if I ever make it to Origins or GenCon I'll defintely drop by, and drop some cash!

 

If it'd help it be more worth-it to ya, I'd be happy to (volunteer) help man a (ComicCon) booth  I'm conveniently located in Central Cal, so it's equally close to head North [sF] or South [LA].

 

If I were a better writer, or farther along in my HERO skillz, I'd definitely be contributing more on the digital/online front.  I hope sooner than later I will be ready to contribute more.

 

By the way, thanks for so positively impacting my days!

[tiger]

I'd like to see some write-ups of the following:

 

1)a few "D&D" type critters. Not to many but some of the monsters people have come to expect in a fantasy setting

 

2)Either a rewrite of the Dragon or a list of option to add to the Dragon in HSB for making multiple types of dragons.

 

3)Demons, Undead & Devils

 

4)Unusual critters. Maneating trees or fungus, Vorpal bunnies . Just thing noone really expects to run into.

[Steve Long]

Thanx for the offer, Nightfly, but we've got a company that reps our products at ComicCon, and I believe does well with 'em. They can make it worthwhile to do so by repping a bunch of companies, whereas all those companies attending individually wouldn't do so well.

 

OTOH, if you can't make it "down" to GenCon SoCal in December (where it now appears I'll be listed as Guest Of Honor, and therefore will attend), you should try to make it up to San Ramon for DunDraCon in February. It's a great little con with a lot of Hero support and games.

[Nightshade]

I would like the following:

 

Role templates. These would be templates for different roles that are common with people, races, cultures, etc. Things like a chieftain, shaman, guard. This way one could have an infernal orc guard, a typical city guard, or a dragon guard without having umpteen writeups.

 

Lots of undead. For all of the reasons already stated.

 

Good creatures. It is interesting to have to find and convince a guardian to give you the item he protects in lieu of attacking them.

 

Interesting ways of making creatures unique. It isn't just a dragon. It's Smaug. It's Bahamut. It's Tiamat. It isn't just a lich, it's King Leoric. How to make the more unique (or powerful) creatures more unique.

 

Fantasy Standards. I know how to make an Orc, or an Ogre, or whatever. But that doesn't mean that everyone wants to. One of the complaints most commonly voiced is how complicated everything is (I never had this hang up, but it is always brought up). Well, making some write-ups of common fantasy creatures is one way to lower that complexity a little. In my mind, it makes the game more accessible to new players, which is a good thing.

 

Nightshade

[Nimbus]

Has anyone mentioned....Beholders/Beholder-kin? That would be nice to see, hehe.

[Herolover]

I am going to chime in again, because this is, I feel, going to be an important HERO book. This book should/needs/has to be very useful for the GM and the non-HERO gm or people are not going to want to switch from D&D to Fantasy HERO. Many of the creatures already are in the HSB so what I want to see is…..

 

1> Please, Please include generic stats for the common people that PC’s will run into. You know City Guards, Common Soldiers, Bandits, the common merchant, common knight, common noble, common etc. I would then like options to raise them to veterans and options to lower them to rookies.

 

2> I would like to see 4-5 original monsters and another 4-5 original NPC villains. This could satiate those that want original Fantasy HERO creations and give Fantasy HERO players a common set of, “Oh yeah, we ran into them,†kind of thing.

 

3> Perhaps a section on how to use other RPG fantasy creatures in your own HERO game? Nothing specific, just a mention with some quick notes and suggestions.

 

4> Perhaps a small chapter on how to create monsters suitable for your individual campaign using the HERO system.

[Toadmaster]

Well I went through my Beastiary and I have come to the conclusion you have your work cut out if you're not going to duplicate stuff, there is already quite a selection. Some things I would like to see more of:

 

Toads, lots of toads, big toads, little toads, poison toads, toads with hats, toads in boats etc. I'd also like to see at least one toad based sentiant race (it will make my job of world conquest easier, I thank you in advance for your support).

 

Mythological creatures not included in the HSB, if asian creatures are set for another book then I'd still like to see some from other cultures mythology, windigo and big foot, yeti etc. Clearly my knowledge of these is limited but I'd like to see some. Also another angle on these is spin offs based around the creatures for example Grendel from Beowulf and the relationship with the creatures from the movie The 13th Warrior.

 

Guardians:

critters that protect an area, treasures etc, both magically summoned / created and just plain fantastic critters that like the job.

 

Riding animals and beasts of burden:

include at least a few each for aerial, aquatic and land use. Common mythological and real creatures are pretty well covered in HSB so either new stuff you create or less well known mythological creatures would be nice (I'd like to see a large lizard like beast of burden ala the Starwars Dewback, never can have to many lizards, somebody has to help me in the arid climates).

 

Oozes, slimes and other nastiness could use some more fleshing out.

 

Ambush carnivores would be nice (critters that use their coloring and skin to lure food close to them, or magic (illusions etc) to bring them in close.

 

I have to second the inclusion of trademark D&D beasties Bullette, Beholder, Purple worm, Umberhulk, Dopleganger, Mind Flayer etc. As much as some would like to distance themselves from D&D many will want and expect to see these creatures or at least fascimiles of them, particularly the ones that have tricky powers to recreate in HERO. Also using one as an example would probably be helpful (take the creature you are converting and explain how and why things were done). I think most of us grew up on D&D and LotR which shaped our views of Fantasy, other stuff is nice but its easier to ignore stuff you don't want to use than it is to add in things not included.

 

Dragons were covered pretty well already but I'm sure you can find more to say about them.

 

Same goes for Undead.

 

Sentiant races elves, dwarves, orcs, ogres etc, the more the merrier.

 

A few "funny" creatures like the Dun Geon worm, killer rabbit etc would be nice, not too many but a few could be fun for a change of pace.

 

Loads of NPC's guards, soldiers, apprentice wizards, powerful lords, evil wizards etc. A full range from peon to world class conqueror. After rereading HSB I think MMM should probably devote about 1/2 to NPC's.

 

Famous NPC's, I realize some like Conan may have copyright issues but it would be nice to see what you can include, legendary NPC's like selected knights of the round table, Beowulf etc should be possible. Also perhaps take one and detail its creation like I mentioned under D&D creatures.

 

A few "funny" NPC's, like I mentioned above for funny monsters, just a few to lighten up a game now and then, perhaps Monty Haul, a powerful wizard who spends his later years giving away his treasures to those mighty enough to defeat his well stocked mazes.

 

Also I don't buy into the generic has to be boring, name some of the NPC's, no reason they can't be tweaked to fit various worlds but some personality and background is certainly possible without tying it to a specific product line, I'd prefer to see Sloth Amoon the blue wizard of huckleberry, than evil wizard #1.

 

I'd also like to put my support behind a full book for an oriental bestiary, I'll buy an ebook but I'd prefer to spend a little bit more and get the real thing. Judging from his website and Ninja Hero Mr Surbrook would make this a worthwhile product which would also further support NH.

[Old Man]

A few creatures I would like to see....

 

More plants. Killer Grasses, Thorn Shooting Bushes, Strangler Trees (ala Super Squirel), Whomping Willow (ala Harry Potter)

 

I'd like to see Super Squirel's Bunnies published. They were an original and fun encounter.

 

Dwarven Undead that maintain their forever living state by finding new bodies. Only the head remains the same.

 

Badger folk that treat everybody like food. Very little industry - they steal almost all of their equipment. They live in burrows, have tunneling and have a limited scent based attack power.

 

Elven Undead that sap years of life, making themslves younger but age their Elven victim.

 

Giant maggot like creatures that swallow you whole. It is possible to survive the experience but the maggot consumes all of your clothes and equipment.

 

A living island, just for kicks.

 

Sentient items which aid or harm their user/wearer - weapons, clothing, jewelry...

 

Insects that inject eggs into their target which quickly grow and burst forth from the victim causing grievous wounds.

 

Aquatic folk...

 

Ooh...speaking of aquatics:

A large car sized fish that keeps its young in its mouth. It opens up and the young swim out to attack prey bringing back scraps to feed themselves and the parent.

 

That's it for now.

[Tim]

Originally posted by Shadowpup

A few creatures I would like to see....

 

Shadowpup, some of these were down right disturbing. Remind me never to play in a horror game you run if I want to sleep afterward.

[Korvar]

Some beasties suitable for Fantasy campaigns where Psionics/Mentalism is a big part of the game. Notes on how to take other monsters and convert them into same.

 

Opponents that aren't necessarily just combat monsters. The beaurocrat who takes a dislike to you. The weasel spreading malicious gossip. The competing Adventurer group. Stuff like that. Too often books like this just end up lists of "things to fight".

 

Notes on how to create certain "generic" or at least common monster powers.

 

Discussions on how monsters fit into campaigns.

 

Discussions on how monsters often represent various themes and concepts, above and beyond just being a beastie to kill. Dragons often represent "Greed", for example.

 

Underground ecology.

 

Enough ideas on dinosaurs to do Dinotopia

 

Elemental creatures. What might you find if you travel to the Elemental Plane of Earth? Fire? Water? Air? Ice?

 

Some opponents specifically designed for the Mass Combat Rules, or at least with Mass Combat stats. So maybe under the "orc" (or "more info on orcs", if orcs are already in the HSB) section, some Mass Combat unit stats for the Orc Horde.

 

Pernese Firelizards / Pseudodragons. Who doesn't want a small pet dragon?

 

Actually, Fantasy Pets. Useful also as Wizards Familiars.

 

That went on longer than I expected... Sorry if I repeated anyone

[Thirdbase]

Low point total monsters and extra planar critters.

 

Low point total versions of undead. (Necromancers are tough to build)

 

Summonable creatures.

 

Generic people packages.

[Tempuswolf]

Originally posted by Shadowpup

Giant maggot like creatures that swallow you whole. It is possible to survive the experience but the maggot consumes

 

The poor, maligned maggot. Maggots only eat dead flesh. Physicians are using them as a treatment of last resort for wounds that get infected with drug-resistant bacteria. If the maggots are cultured, they are some of the best bandage packing in the world.

 

Giant maggots would be make excellent riding beasts for the clerics of light, they would be ghouls' and vampires' worst nightmares.

[BobGreenwade]

Originally posted by Tempuswolf

The poor, maligned maggot. Maggots only eat dead flesh. Physicians are using them as a treatment of last resort for wounds that get infected with drug-resistant bacteria. If the maggots are cultured, they are some of the best bandage packing in the world.

He did say maggot-like creatures -- possibly inspired by the movie Tremors.

Giant maggots would be make excellent riding beasts for the clerics of light, they would be ghouls' and vampires' worst nightmares.

Then just wait until your giant maggot steed matures into an insect....

[AnotherSkip]

oh yeah, fear those who ride giant Fly's...

 

*whips up an AOE TK Spell, Power name Flyswatter and a RKA NND Does bodyPower Named DDT Poison spell*

 

I aint fraid o nuthin!!!!!!!!

[Old Man]

Originally posted by Tempuswolf

The poor, maligned maggot. Maggots only eat dead flesh. Physicians are using them as a treatment of last resort for wounds that get infected with drug-resistant bacteria. If the maggots are cultured, they are some of the best bandage packing in the world.

 

Yeah I knew that, I saw the special on Discovery Channel (or maybe it was TLC). That was REALLY cool. Anyway, they don't digest characters, just their stuff. If anything the character would die of suffocation.