All About The Dragon

Monsters As NPCs

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:42:00 +0000

I find a great way to engage PC imaginations is to routinely use monsters as NPCs. The new Dungeons and Dragons 4e Chromatic and Metallic Dragons Guides have some good ideas on how to use powerful dragons as recurring NPCs and plot starters. The Monster Manual has guides for Monster stats as PCs and NPCs, to help with game mechanics. This post relates more on ideas on creating odd and memorable NPC monsters that PCs will talk about long after the campaign is one, years after.

1.) Pick A Beast
Flip through the monster manual and find a creature you have never heard of. If you have all the rule books in your bathroom and read them for hours a day while...multitasking.....you can go search old versions of monster manuals, our lovely internet, or your local library's mythology section.

2.) Give It A Personality You Know
Pick your favorite villain, hero, teacher, someone real or fictional that you know very well. This helps when you PCs do something you have not planned for. You can think, "What would my evil step sister do if someone double crossed her?". A good personality can lead to many random and most creative adventures!

3.) Name The Beast
This comes after the personality because it is easier to name something we know. That is why it is difficult to name a baby but easy to name Joe "Too Tall Joe" due to his stature.

4.) History
Tie your beast in to your campaign through politics, local legends, even a nursery rhyme. Then fill in the gaps as you go.

5.) Game Mechanics
Follow the monsters as NPCs rules, or not. Sometimes it is fun to keep players guessing. Maybe that Female Minitaur Captain seems streaky in encounters when really she just has a curse and gets a berserker frenzy during "that time of the month".

I use this as a template for NPCs aswell, I don't discriminate against any race and take all the help I can get when entertaining my PCs!

Blow Life In To Monsters With The Mouths Of Your NPCs

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:49:00 +0000

Remember use the mouths of your NPCs to describe your world. Refugees will be glad to unburden on those willing to listen, so make it worth the party's time to stop and listen. Take some time to craft a bit of scripted dialogue to add flavor to your monsters. Monsters are scenery in your world so be colorful and try to build them up as the party goes. Rummors, children's stories, tales of chance meetings all add an air of aloofness and anticipation your players will enjoy.

Example:

"Her presence is often described as tangible fear. That doesn't begin to describe the way my body shutdown the first time I met her. Muscles freezing as my heart seized, pulse beats hours apart as the air evaporated in the vacuum of her majestic malevolence. My eyes stuck open as if trying to consume the entirety of her beauty in one glance. The ruby colored scales heaving with each breath, the sound of countless treasures of log forgotten kingdoms crunching between her talons. The sheer awe of her size several leagues high and disappearing in to the cavern behind. Tendrils of smoke wafting forward from her nostrils carrying the sent of recently charred flesh."
"Then a "harrumph" and a smile, if she could smile, showing an army of pointed teeth in random rows."

Remember to work these types of narratives in to a few sessions before they actually meet the monsters. Use the players' memories to build their characters' memories.

Portals - Bring Spice In To Your Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:30:00 +0000

You ever get stuck in a rut and not know how to get out of it? That catch phrase, "Think outside of the box", will usually come to mind. The best way to get out of the box is to use a portal to someplace else, ANYPLACE else. You don't have to change the box walls, interior, anything. Just make a gateway to someplace else that frees you from the constraints you have placed upon yourself in your current world. Remember portals can work both ways, so let some crazy in to your campaign or let your campaign in to some crazy!

Some suggestions:

Portal to the Abyss

Who doesn't like killing demons? There are tons of great things needing deadening in the Abyss that even the most Lawful Good player would kill without a second thought. Spice up your play with a random vortex of power that dumps denizens of hell on unsuspecting PCs. Nothing funnier than waking up to find a Quasit on your chest!

Portal to the Planes

A vacation to another plane of existence always keeps PCs on their toes! Send them to Sigil for a day or two on a limited quest to find some artifact. Throw your PCs in to an elemental plane where some scrying NPC just happens to be waiting for them with gear to "loan" them so they can explore that plane and complete some quest they may not even have known they were on.

Portal to the Bottom Of The Ocean

My favorite. How did that crazy Kraken get in to the pond? Some long dead magic user openned a portal to the wrong place and lost control of it. Or maybe that magic user openned a portal and died before he could close it again. Or maybe that magic user openned the portal to let loose chaos on the land from the sea! Or maybe...

You get the idea. Anchor one end of a portal in your campaign and let the other end go wild!

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4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:24:00 +0000

I do have to say that the Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition Monster Manual is a wealth of fantastical information on individual monsters. Ideas abound on powers, abilities, features, description, and artwork to spark the imagination. Those observations aside, I don't feel this BOOK is CORE to any RULES the 4th Edition of the most widely recognized role playing game ever created. Page 4 of this book, however, is CORE to the game, as well as the few pages that define what you find on page 4.

Page 4 of the Monster Manual is the most important page simply due to the monster template found there. The rest is just made up fantastical beasts that the game creators say are "CORE RULES" but really are just fantasy beasts forced in to the game rules for 4th Edition D&D by way of the monster template on page 4. I have been playing D&D for over a decade. I have friends that have been playing since that old red boxed set. There are endless monsters to be found in my own past not to mention the infinite amount of monsters to be found online.

The mechanics of how to make a monster are very well laid out in this book. Then Wizards of The Coast precedes to list over 300 exemplary examples of how to work these mechanics of monster creation for use in the 4th Edition rules. For $35 US I expected more. Pages 4-7 define the sections of the template and 284-287 is a glossary of terminology used to fill in the various sections of the template found on page 4.

Those eight pages could be a VERY short chapter in the thinnest CORE RULEBOOK of the three, the Dungeon Maters Guide. Add a few monsters in to that section for examples and help people use their imaginations to create even more monsters that work with their campaign worlds. That would be a better use of mine and others' money. My recommendation for this book is to go read it at the bookstore, copy down the monster template (or download the SRD as it is in there on page 55, too) and learn pages 4-7 and pages 284-287. Don't limit yourself to just the list of terminology in the glossary. Create your own features and work them in to the template. The template is great, just not $35 great.

Wizards of The Coast would like to sell you on these main features:

The Monster Manual presents more than 300 official Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game monsters for all levels of play, from aboleth to zombie. Each monster is illustrated and comes with complete game statistics and tips for the Dungeon Master on how best to use the monster in D&D encounters.
Core Rulebook: The Monster Manual is the third of three core rulebooks required to play the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game.

Quick and easy play: The improved page layout and presentation enables novice and established players to learn and understand the new D&D rules quickly.

D&D Insider: The Monster Manual will receive enhanced online support at www.dndinsider.com.

1.) I really do have to argue that the 4th Edition Monster Manual it is required to play. This is a GAME. I require to have fun. That is it.
2.) As I stated, those eight pages are easy to understand and get you up and going. Put that in the DMG and save me $35 US.
3.) D&D Insider is a good tool, but that doesn't come with my book. I don't even get a trial. So why do I need a feature, that I have to pay extra for, to enhance my support. I didn't know I needed support to create a monster to kill my PCs?

The 4th Edition Players Handbook and the 4th Edition Dungeon Masters Guide are the only real CORE RULEBOOKS needed to play this latest edition of D&D. There are plenty of monsters in the world, I work with a few, just put their stats in to the template and go slay them!

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Converse With A Green Dragon

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 18:34:00 +0000

I am always inspired by art. Paintings, sketches, music, whatever it may be. I find that just imagining a conversation with a creature can lead to all sorts of ideas. Here is a great picture of a Green Dragon. Imagine this great beast turning its head and leaning out of the picture and chatting you up. What would it say? What would you say? Would you be scared, awestruck, or just feel special and engage in an intelligent conversation over economics? Who knows!? That is the best part, just let your mind wander and capture those ideas in a journal and collect your own creative nuggets for your future stories and adventures!

Green by ~kerembeyit on deviantART

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Real Animals

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Mon, 19 May 2008 07:44:00 +0000

A completely under utilized "monster" in most campaigns are real life
animals. The familiarity players have with these beasts
automatically lends a sense of "realism" to any setting. Players
know how most of these animals look, smell and sound like from
childhood (or in my case monthly) trips to the zoo. The zoo is a
great place for inspiration. I have seen spider monkeys with visitor
guides that have fallen in to their exhibits.

That gave me the idea of a spider monkey that followed a party along
and would steal items while the slept and failed spot checks while on
watch. Once the party awoke to find the little deviant monkey
"reading" their map of the ruins they were in. That lead to a very
fun chase, setting off of traps as they forgot where they were, all
from a real life "monster".

Your heroes are used to slaying denizens of the nine hells, orc kings,
and other fantastical magical creations. But if you somehow have
their party dehydrated, on a savanna, surrounded by a pack of starved,
frenzied hienas they will have to get creative. Being stalked in a
jungle by a tiger, panther, or diseased orangutans can make for some
interesting gaming flavor. So visit the zoo with a camera and a
notebook for some simple yet effective "monster" encounter ideas!

Sprite Worker

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:54:00 +0000

Sprite Workers are often mistaken for different insects. This Wasp Worker, for example, is carrying a bag and looks very much like a wasp. These Sprites speak very fast. To humanoid ears their voice sounds like a buzz that varies in pitch. If one is to slow a faerie then they are more easily understood.

Sprite Workers are very sensitive, easy to offend, and slow to forgive. They have sharp claws on their hands and feet that leave little welt like wounds. The worst thing to do when a Sprite Worker is angry is swat at it. That makes them very angry.

Menggandul

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 08:09:00 +0000

No one knows for sure how Menggandul was created, only that he was. This monster is a huge floating eye with great magic abilities. The pallid skin of the eye is magically enhanced and tough as steel. When a being is in the vicinity of Menggandul that being feels an intense sense of being watched, this affect reaches out for fifty feet from Menggandul through wood, water, and even stone.

Some rumor that Menggandul was created from the eye of a great dragon, others guess he was spawned from a great pool of lawless evil that was conjured by a crazy mage. Both assumptions are partially correct. The base vessel for this creature was the eye of an ancient dragon that was then plunged in to a magical pool of concentrated lawlessness and evil. The mage who performed this ritual was just strong enough to create the pool of pure evil, but not strong enough to control it.

Through that vile act Menggandul came in to being and now exists for only one singular purpose. That purpose is to spawn horror wherever he goes. Menggandul wasted no time and corrupted that mage even further. Menggandul is an extremely intelligent and motivated abomination. Through illusions he impersonates humans where he then facilitates gangs and encourages lawlessness, mentors evil mages and kings bringing chaos and evil to rule all.

Lacie Heidelberg

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:27:00 +0000

Lacie was a low born surf that had the misfortune of also being "touched", as in "touched by the dark one" also called insane. When her parents died there was no one left to take care of her. Lacie ended up wandering from town to town forced to move as locals were scared of her "madness" being contagious and they labeled her Lacie The Lunatic.

One lonely road Lacie fled down led her to salvation from her mental illness, but damned her to a life of vileness transforming her into a parasitic nightmare. Lacie's nickname followed her into her undead existence. She never saw the vampire that had created her. Lacie awoke after the attack with a clear mind for the first time ever. All of her tormented past flowed into her mind in one great flood.

The power of that flood coupled with her raw bloodlust sent her straight back to the last town that had shun her and run her out by stoning her. Lacie The Lunatic took revenge and proceeded to kill every living being in town. Every man, woman, child, cat, sheep, dog, and mouse was destroyed. She reduced the town to an empty shell that she completely erased when she burned the gown to the ground. Lacie's act of eradicating this town solidified "Lacie The Lunatic" as her permanent moniker.

As the years passed she learned how to infiltrate the wealthy and created elaborate plans to bring the highest born down below the lowest of the poorest mentally ill street people. During one such scheme Lacie found Valdrik Van Der Brock. She took special pleasure in converting and corrupting him from the people's protector to their worst nightmare.

Lacie The Lunatic's reign of terror was ended by a party of heroes who were bent on avenging a fallen comrade. Valdrik Kill each one of those heroes after waking to the death wale of his undead mate. Every one but Alice Lam for she so reminded him of his slane death's mistress. He left her in the crypt with the slaughtered heroes and fled into his lonely undead existence.

New Snapshot Function

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:22:00 +0000

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Valdrik Van Der Brock

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:20:00 +0000

A once great noble that was brought low by a single wound. Valdrik Van Der Brock was bitten by the vampire Lacie Heidelberg, A.K.A. Lacie the Lunatic. Lacie bewitched Valdrik's mind while dancing at a ball he hosted at the center piece of his family's estate, Castle Brock. Valdrik was bit right there on the ball room floor and followed Lacie to his doom.

The couple laid waste to the surrounding lands that the Van Der Brock family had protected for generations. This darkness hung over the land for over fifty years. A ray of hope came in the form of a party of vengeful heroes that were successful in destroying Lacie while she slept.

Lacie's scream of true and final death woke Valdrik and his wrath. He drained the heroes dry, all except Alice Lam. Alice's face favored that of Lacie and Valdrik could not bring himself to strike down that which he found dear. He left her to her dead companions and fled his ancestral home.

THE Original Dungeon Master has passed on...

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:51:00 +0000

Gary Gygax, the Father of Dungeons & Dragons has passed on, today March 4th 2008. I can still remember the first time I read the original Players Handbook from that Red D&D boxed set. Gary Gygax created a system that freed my teenage angst and gave it a channel to productive creativity. I still look to those books for release from the tedium of my soul stealing I.T. job. Every other Saturday my wife and friends get together to delve in to another world where we release the full wrath of our imagination upon the villains and monster of our D.M.'s devising.

Gary Gygax's artistic vision lead to creation of a phenomena that evolved in to an entire industry whose sole purpose is enjoyment and celebration of the fact that anyone can be anything they can imagine, if even for only a few hours every other weekend. For a few of the extremely talented creative souls Gygax built a path to wealth and a means to live through their creativity. People like R.A. Salvatore, Ed Greenwood, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Troy Denning, and so many other authors that wrote for TSR and now Wizards of The Coast who built careers off the foundation that he laid.

Gary Gygax's originality has left an undeniable impression in the lives of so many fantasy lovers. Gygax's spirit will live on through the systems of creativity that have spawned from his creative soul. Gary Gygax's true success is that he will be missed, but never forgotten. All About The Dragon is ABOUT creativity, fantasy, imagery, fantastic creatures and locations, and all of it can be traced back to the feelings I have when I remember the first time I read those basic rules from that D&D basic red boxed set.

Sites Reporting and Commenting on this event:
Troll Lord Games
New York Times
Lategaming.com
Gleemax.com linked from Wizards of The Coast
Wired Blog
Matt Forbeck - Author Blog

Raynek The Rock

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:08:00 +0000

Raynek has many been known by many names over the centuries. He has been known as The Golden Mountain, The Purifier, The Just, The Cleanser, and among Dragon Kind he is currently known as Raynek The Ruler. Raynek leads The Horde Of Gold Dragons as he is the strongest, largest, and most importantly the most intelligent of all the Gold Dragons. He was "elected" to lead The Horde when his challenge to rule after the eldest Gold Dragon died was not taken up by a single challenger. The Horde sees Raynek as the most able to lead even though his "election" was unprecedented in that he is the first dragon of any horde to rule that is not also the eldest of that Dragon Kind.

Longrenthansikal

noreply@blogger.com (Dragon) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:27:00 +0000

A.K.A Long Horn

A demon known for his ability to survive at any and all costs. Long Horn is especially gifted at regeneration, an ability that he excels at. He gained this ability after countless years of war and wounds scarred him and mangled his right horn and the right side of his face beyond natural or magical repair. These are wounds which he wears with pride and uses to his favor in his attempts to intimidate other demons and those brave enough or insane enough to attempt to summon him.