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2012-09-20, 05:52 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
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2012-09-20, 09:17 AM (ISO 8601)
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2012-09-20, 05:45 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2012
Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
Actually, I have heard a pretty good case for the Flumph as D&D's "cute" monster, sort of like the Slime from Dragon Quest. Also, their Pathfinder backstory is awesome, and I am totally tweaking that for use in my own setting {:coughshamelessplugcough:}.
And I really like the Crawling Apocalypse from Sandstorm because GIANT OCTOPUS MUMMY YOU GUISE! I also love the Ocularon from the 3e Fiend Folio, mainly because it always seemed like the perfect natural enemy to the Beholder, though sadly it's never appeared again after its one Fiend Folio entry.
And isn't the Displacer Beast a straight ripoff of the Coeurl from Voyage of the Space Beagle?
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2012-09-20, 06:11 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2006
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
Why has no one mentioned gnolls? I guess they are based off mythology--but just about all DnD creatures are based closely off something.
Last edited by Conners; 2012-09-20 at 06:11 PM.
My Happy Song : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcRj9lQDVGY
Credit goes to Lord_Herman for the fantastic Joseph avatar (and the also fantastic Kremle avatar which I can't use because I'm already using the Joseph one).
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2012-09-20, 11:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2011
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
I like FLUMPHS and I cannot lie!
Seriously, though. Flumphs are honestly one of, if not my favorite monster. I just love that fact that they are the heroes of the abberations. And honestly, I don't really understand why people don't like them. Whats so bad about them anyways?
EDIT: Hey tbok1992! You saw that article on bogleech too! That's sweet. Flumph's are awesome, and they shouldn't be so discriminated by players.Last edited by Kymme; 2012-09-20 at 11:30 PM.
~The meteorite is the source of the light, and the meteor's just what we see,
and the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee.
And the meteorite's just what causes the light, and the meteor's how it's perceived,
and the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee.~
Tatzlwyrm Avatar by me.
Extended Sig thisaways.
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2012-09-20, 11:40 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2006
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
I just remembered. Gnolls are an original creation. Possibly the most original thing DnD has created. The name was based off a half-gnome-half-troll, which is what they originally were. Then, they decided to make them hyena humanoids.
My Happy Song : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcRj9lQDVGY
Credit goes to Lord_Herman for the fantastic Joseph avatar (and the also fantastic Kremle avatar which I can't use because I'm already using the Joseph one).
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2012-09-21, 12:32 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
I'm also pretty sure trolls themselves regenerating lost body parts and being weak to fire originated with D&D.
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2012-09-21, 12:59 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
Actually they came from Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions.
My fantasy/RPG blog A Voyage Into the Fantastic
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2012-09-21, 02:02 AM (ISO 8601)
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2012-09-21, 07:45 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2010
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
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2012-09-21, 09:42 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
Along with the beholder and aboleth, I would float the Avolakia and the Ulgurstasta as two of the most impressive D&D innovations (although all four could do without the goofy made-up names IMO).
For something that's specifically original to 3rd Edition, I have to go with Incarnum. There aren't many other things out there which it resembles, and while the fluff as-written is a bit painful, it unlocks a lot of really great possibilities which my campaign has been running with to great effect.
Oh wait, we're talking monsters, right. Okay, the Incarnum golem. Basically a D&D Terminator - it thinks, it learns, it adapts as you fight it. And it's made of plates of glass with souls in them.
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2012-09-21, 11:15 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2007
Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
Well, I did say that for the purposes of this thread "D&D unoriginal monsters are those that have widespread fictional precedent [or are mythological]". It's useful to me when someone points out a monster even if it's taken from a less well-known work and it's educating when someone points out their origin! Win-win. Though maybe that makes the thread title less than ideal, but I still don't know how to phrase it better.
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2012-09-22, 02:38 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
Mind Flayers for me. Easily my favorite race in 3.5 D&D
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My Homebrew: Here
The Necromantic Codex: A collection of necromancy classes, items and monsters.
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2012-09-23, 02:51 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2008
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
I will cast another vote in favour of flumphs. I really can't help but like those guys, but I'm a sucker for the underdog.
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2012-09-24, 05:53 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
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2012-09-24, 05:57 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
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2012-09-24, 08:25 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2010
Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
IMO, you can't claim something is an original monster if it was lifted from another source, even if the source is obscure.
So regenerating trolls are out.
The displacer beast was lifted from "Black Destroyer" (1939) and The Voyage of the Space Beagle (1950) by A.E. van Vogt, originally called a "coeurl".
Mind flayers are another nod to Lovecraft, partially inspired by covr art from The Burrowers Beneath by Brian Lumley.
As stated earlier, the Tar(r)asque is French, D&D just made it a lot bigger.
Yuan-ti seem very close to at least one Oriental myth.
Gnolls seem very similar to "kaftar", mythological Persian "half-man, half-hyena" creatures.
And while in no way based on it in form, the "Land Shark" skit on Saturday Night Live aired in 1975, while the original Monster Manual was published in 1977.
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2012-09-25, 02:46 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2009
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- Germany
Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
Cthonians look more like giant squids and not at all humanoid. But they do live underground, have a telepathic stun attack, and suck out their victims with their tentacles. To the elder brains and illithids being great wizards it's not a long step.
Yuan-ti are just naga, which you could call a "generic" creature from large parts of Asia. The only original part is that they were humans who attempt to become more snake like over thousands of years, while naga are treated as an actual species of creatures.We are not standing on the shoulders of giants, but on very tall tower of other dwarves.
Spriggan's Den Heroic Fantasy Roleplaying
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2012-09-25, 04:01 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
It's also funny to note that Final Fantasy took the image of a mind flayer for its Mage monsters. No beholder though, although there might be a loose inspiration for the various "giant eyeball with mouth" monsters, though they tend to have limbs and none of them have 10 smaller eyes.
Yuan-ti are just naga, which you could call a "generic" creature from large parts of Asia. The only original part is that they were humans who attempt to become more snake like over thousands of years, while naga are treated as an actual species of creatures.
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2012-09-25, 04:41 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
Just in case you were wondering Sealions are not original either.
π = 4
Consider a 5' radius blast: this affects 4 squares which have a circumference of 40' — Actually it's worse than that.
Completely Dysfunctional Handbook
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2012-09-25, 07:40 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2010
Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
I remember reading a blog in which the writer complained that the sealion seemed like something a six year old would come up with -- he didn't realize that ancient scholars believed there was a marine equivalent/counterpart to every terrestrial animal.
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2012-09-25, 08:22 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2010
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
I may get some flak for this, but I really like what D&D has done for / with dragons.
From (post 2nd) Kobolds and Dragonborn, to Chromatic, Metallic, Gem, and Esoteric dragons, Wyverns, Manticores, Dragonnes, Drakes, Draconians, I think there's a lot of good stuff there.
Council of Wyrms, Dragonomicon, Races of the Dragon, Dragonlance, the list goes on.
Undeniably a part of real world mythos and legends, but I think the important thing is what they've done with it. I never heard of Linnorms before D&D, though they are ostensibly Norse dragons (I haven't looked that up, but am guessing). They don't have rear legs.
Big fan of dragons, and I really like what D&D has done with them, even if that is as simple as made them more accessible to me.Thanks Gigi Digi for the avatar.
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2012-09-25, 09:36 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
You are almost certainly thinking of this legendary article. Which lead its author directly to playing 4th edition and landing a long-running freelance writing gig for Wotco. He is my hero, and while this isn't his best article IMO, it's certainly his most famous.
Some of the D&D dragon stuff is dumb, some of it is awesome. But then that's pretty much inevitable given how much they dominate the line in general (being in the name and all). You throw enough balls out there, some of them are going to be home runs, and others very foul indeed.
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2012-09-25, 09:41 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2007
Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
What about thri-kreen and neogi? Anyone got any sources for that?
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2012-09-25, 09:44 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2009
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2012-09-25, 09:45 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
I don't know if this was a direct inspiration, but the Thri-Kreen really make me think of the Priest-Kings of Gor...they're described as insectoid, have quasimagical powers (probably high technology in the setting, I haven't looked into it, but psionics would tend to fit better than magic), and rule over a desert land where they oppress humanity (okay that last part isn't quite a match for Dark Sun, but then they're a PC race so that's to be expected).
Neogi are completely original as far as I know; IMO this is not a point in their favor, as there isn't really anything resonant about them to me. I would like them to be more akin to the titular Aliens of Ridley Scott's movies, but instead they come in bright colors and are mostly known for being merchants. A bit of a letdown for an aberration race with mind control powers. The info on them in Lords of Madness helps some with taking them seriously, but I still shake my head at the idea of them having a more than vague, coincidental resemblance to a spider with an eel stapled to its head.
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2012-09-25, 02:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2011
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
The thri-kreen always reminded me of some interpretations of the Myrmidons from Greek legends.
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2012-09-25, 03:28 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2010
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2012-09-26, 02:27 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2009
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Re: Best D&D original monsters out there?
Kuo-toa and Yuan-ti are as well, and they are not even slightly concealed immitations.
With Thri-kreen, I am quite certain they are almost directly taken from the Green Martians from John Carter, which date back to 1917. Not explicitly insects, but the resemblance is striking.
Spoiler
And more recent interpretations by artists look a lot more like thri-kreen.We are not standing on the shoulders of giants, but on very tall tower of other dwarves.
Spriggan's Den Heroic Fantasy Roleplaying
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2012-09-26, 06:56 AM (ISO 8601)
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