Comments on: Photocopy Your Monsters

By: Jeff Rients

Jeff Rients — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 18:14:15 +0000

For any critter I care about I take the SRD version, slap some levels and/or a template onto it, and print out my own version.

By: Mercutio

Mercutio — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 13:37:51 +0000

Actually, aetherspoon, that’s what I was getting at when I said I drafted up the exact monster. I don’t use the stock creatures unless it’s a summoned one. I try to use NPCs as much as possible for enemies to reinforce the idea that killing is not always the best way to solve problems, and that subduing and capturing to turn over to law enforcers or talking your way out of a problem is just as good as fighting.

By: Crazy Jerome

Crazy Jerome — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 04:02:00 +0000

I did the custom monster exclusive thing for 13 years while running Fantasy Hero. Lately, our group has been on more of a nostalgia kick. Plus, I’m the only one with, “The Legacy of Dragons” (Arcana Evolved monster book), which I mine heavily.

I go through those separate document hoops more for the reasons I listed in the previous comment, than for hiding. In fact, I’m more likely to pick up a monster book in game to mislead a couple of players as to the nature of the critter.

By: aetherspoon

aetherspoon — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 01:03:49 +0000

Am I the only one that just uses custom monsters exclusively? Even in D&D, I just completely ignore the monster manual except as guidelines for what is appropriate for what level. Not only does it add a flair of suspense (what IS this thing we’re fighting? I’ve never heard of it before, it must be big!), but also keeps the most diehard of D&D fans guessing.

By: GilaMonster

GilaMonster — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 04:33:32 +0000

I use the monster cards from “The Game Mechanics” but that’s more for convenience than anything else.

I don’t have problem with ‘all knowing’ players, mainly cause I run Modern and I’m the only one with any of the Modern rulebooks, but also because, even if I do use a D&D monster I always change something.

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 03:46:38 +0000

I find it interesting that there are so many workarounds for something that’s so fundamental to so many games. Is that weird, or is it just me?

These are all great ideas, and I’ve used a few of them (I’m a big fan of the hypertext SRD) myself, but you’d think that someone would have figured out a way to get around this once and for all.

By: Walt C

Walt C — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 01:31:48 +0000

One trick I used to use was to go through my Monster Manual with a pencil and change the stat blocks a bit. That way, even if a player could quote chapter and verse on a monster, he would still invariably get a few things wrong.

For less work, I’d simply change the name of the monster and vary the description a bit. This works very well when used in conjunction with a PDF, keeping the players guessing.

Walt

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 17:28:50 +0000

For D20 I was securely in the prepare stat blocks for all encounters and print them separately – with space for all the hit point tracking.

For Cold Iron, I was starting to do that, but mostly I would just pencil in the stat block (way simplere stat block than D20) onto scratch paper.

I haven’t started doing anything yet with RuneQuest.

Frank

By: Abulia

Abulia — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 16:17:28 +0000

“What tricks do you use to keep your players guessing about their opposition?”

Not playing D&D for one.

Actually, you’d be suprised how many problems that solves just by itself.

Mostly I copy/retype monster stats into my adventure notes. Then I can make notes, scratch off damage, doodle, etc. I don’t like page-flipping during play, especially for NPCs.

In some games (supers, for example) creating the opposition goes a long way towards avoiding the problem.

By: Bento

Bento — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 15:49:27 +0000

I cut and paste from the SRD or other source into a tiddly wiki I create for the adventure. Each encounter has a description and links to creature, traps or treasure.

This way I can relink (reuse) information and not have to have too many windows open on my PC at the same time.

I also like PDF adventures like the Dungeon Crawl Classics because they are easy to port into a wiki.

By: ScottM

ScottM — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 15:48:30 +0000

While I try to avoid games that require all that data, drow’s note about http://www.d20srd.org/ is spot on.

By: Carolina aka Troy Taylor

Carolina aka Troy Taylor — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 15:44:27 +0000

The D&D Chainmail game used to have a set of downloadable sheets, each single sheet containing a description of a common monster with all the relevant stats. They were handy because not only did they have monster stats, they had hit point trackers. The wizards site may still have them in its archive section.