tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post706483699035132092..comments2024-03-27T03:18:19.290-04:00Comments on Aeons & Augauries: How many monsters does a campaign need?JDJarvishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07691101939920824546noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-351497564488482332015-05-26T19:11:14.032-04:002015-05-26T19:11:14.032-04:00I was thinking about this recently, because I was ...I was thinking about this recently, because I was considering the possibility of having a method of the PCs reaching another world (actually, my campaign-world's moon). What I wondered was, whether I should people the other world entirely with the monsters I don't use from the material I have. There's no particular reason another world should have Orcs or whatever, or even an analogue of Orcs; but I've got a lot of monsters that I don't think I've ever used. Perhaps they could be the inhabitants. That would at least mean that encounters should be fairly different (in tone if not ecessarily in mechanics).<br /><br />Red Orchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07015582577046093985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-27329910445421224312015-05-26T06:10:40.857-04:002015-05-26T06:10:40.857-04:0060 plus character races? I hardly call this a chal...60 plus character races? I hardly call this a challenge. If you want to push yourself to being creative with limited monsters, I think you could easily go down to 10.<br />I think 60 is probably the upper limit I would be comfortable with. When I started with my setting, I deliberately tried to keep the number of creatures low. And it soon turned out that a lot of monsters, especially in D&D, are really just very slight cosmetic variants of the very same concept who do the same thing. Picking just one and adding some elements from the otherss that you like can very quickly reduce the length of a monster list by a lot. Weed out the redundant creatures and it gets a lot tighter. And in my oppinion just feels a lot more believable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-55403717299716195642015-05-18T07:41:47.218-04:002015-05-18T07:41:47.218-04:00Discounting the assorted player races, I think I h...Discounting the assorted player races, I think I have only trotted out about twenty five in the last two years underground. As that would translate to about three of Peter's sessions, the rate is maybe a bit higher.Gwythainthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05184355400691527355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-86997149793916924512015-05-16T17:55:05.250-04:002015-05-16T17:55:05.250-04:00I've used 82 at last count in my current game,...I've used <a href="http://dungeonfantastic.blogspot.com/2014/05/felltower-monsters-encountered-so-far.html" rel="nofollow">82 at last count</a> in my current game, and there are a ton already in my dungeons that they haven't yet seen, so it's going to at least double your sixty. But my game is certainly monster-heavy, and depends heavily on "more and more monsters" and the freshness of new encounters.<br /><br />Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-19580175819452395782015-05-16T16:58:01.216-04:002015-05-16T16:58:01.216-04:00Well I already invented more than 40 for my mega d...Well I already invented more than 40 for my mega dungeon Castle Triskelion so I suppose I am going way over.Darnizhaanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067874224412746414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-61395995393878340332015-05-16T14:57:04.020-04:002015-05-16T14:57:04.020-04:00Make the deliberate limit less "what is in th...Make the deliberate limit less "what is in this world" and more "what's found around here." You can still use things that aren't on the list, it's just that you have to have a reason for why it's there.<br /><br />Was it brought in on a ship? And if so, was it cargo, (bound for a menagerie perhaps?), or a stowaway?<br />Is it the creation of a strange wizard, (and just what was he thinking? Combining a bear with an owl?!)<br />Perhaps it's simply something that can travel great distances, but why has that dragon flown half-way around the world?<br /><br />Also, having regional restrictions can make for player surprises when they go travelling, (or a reward should they do some research), and discover that many creatures south of the Great Badlands are resistant, (if not immune), to fire.Chakat Firepawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02002352879959672258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-11742422030574361092015-05-16T14:44:39.963-04:002015-05-16T14:44:39.963-04:00I doubt I actually use as many as sixty different ...I doubt I actually use as many as sixty different monsters in a D&D campaign, especially if you don't count normal animals or humans.<br /><br />However, I would be reluctant to deliberately limit myself.TheShadowKnowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11073693648569864707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8170674472098446028.post-54692012264684482722015-05-16T13:52:31.488-04:002015-05-16T13:52:31.488-04:00Your 60 sounds about right. Using the 3.5e categor...Your 60 sounds about right. Using the 3.5e categories of monsters (which at least are publicly available) I'd say 5-9 of monstrous humanoids, elementals, undead, magical beasts, constructs, and vermin; about half that each of giants, fey, aberrations, oozes, plants, outsiders, and dragons. Using an average of 7 for the first set of categories and 3.5 for the second set gives 66.5, before animals and humanoids. For things like dragons and outsiders and aberrations, they're supposed to be weird, so picking a few at start and placing them in specific places and keeping them off random encounter tables makes them even more special.Charles Saegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00368131505593336249noreply@blogger.com