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2017-01-18, 07:28 PM (ISO 8601)
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2017-01-18, 07:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
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2017-01-18, 07:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2014
Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Now I want to see orca-themed orcs with a distinction between "resident" and "transient" populations.
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2017-01-19, 11:48 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Orca themed orcs speak a variant of Orcish where the word for "Elves" is pronounced "Sal-mon".
This ... is my signature finishing move!
"It's never good when you make a fiend cringe" - MadGrady
According to some online quiz, I'm a 6th level TN Wizard. They didn't give me full XP for all the monsters I've defeated while daydreaming.
http://easydamus.com/character.html
I am a Ranger Archetype: Gleaming Warden (thx to Ninja Prawn)
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2017-01-19, 12:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Spoiler: Quotes from the Playground
Adapting published monsters to Eberron: Naturalist's Guide to Eberron Latest: Annis Hag
Avatarial Awesomeness by Kymme!
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2017-01-19, 04:43 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Pardon me for any weird things, I have schizophrenia.
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2017-01-19, 11:05 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2014
Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Do we want to move to the next monster or is the idea mine of orca-orcs not fully excavated yet? I would write up an entry but I've never actually played D&D long enought to understand it and have the tactical sense of the still twitching remains of a lemur. Speaking of which lemurs pun well with lemures, so there's that if you want the gears of Hell to be greased by the blood of cute furry things instead of blobby humanoids.
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2017-01-19, 11:08 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
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2017-01-23, 09:14 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2012
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Gargoyle
This is one of the monsters that people who have never played D&D still recognize. They show up in Disney movies (sometimes as protagonists), B-movies, a cartoon series where they got moved to New York City, and so on. Not surprisingly, they have been with D&D players since the original "White Box" set, and have appeared in every edition since then. Originally they were reptilian, not elemental, but something with this name has been showing up in every monster manual since 1974.
Art
I am not a fan of this picture, although it does give a sense of an earth creature, and a bestial one at that. The wings don't appear to be attached and are poorly done, the shadow doesn't show the wings, and so on.
Purpose and Tactics
Ambush predators anywhere that a statue might reasonably be found, especially on cathedrals or equivalents. Tough for CR 2 monsters, as at level 2 most melee types don't have magical weapons and 7 hit dice is a lot to take out with cantrips and level 1 spells. Therefore, this is not a solo monster in most campaigns; these guys appear in groups at higher levels to fill out an encounter. With flight, multiattack, and the aforementioned decent pile of HP, these guys can attack the back row of the party and keep the wizards busy.
Fluff
They tried to give them a background that explains their enmity for the Aarakocra and their general cruelty, but the "accidently created by an evil god" story just doesn't resonate with me. For example, it does nothing to explain why they are generally humanoid and winged.
Hooks
The bird-men of Al Ca Tr'z seek aid against a recent invasion by gargoyles. Who has opened a portal to the Elemental Plane of Earth, and for what purpose?
Stoneheart, a gargoyle, got lost on the prime material plane and was captured by a roc, which kept him in its nest and chased him down every time he tried to leave. He just recently managed to escape - and his long captivity with nothing to do except think allowed even his slow thoughts to wonder if there might be a better way than cruelty and brutality. Can the party teach him of beauty and light?
Caravans have long used the ruined castle of Durnish as a landmark and occasional emergency shelter in time of storm - but now, strange winged statues emerge from the castle and harry the caravans for miles in all directions. Who has moved into the castle?
Conclusion
An iconic monster given a hurried description, the gargoyle cries out for some homebrew. And, possibly, a playable race.This ... is my signature finishing move!
"It's never good when you make a fiend cringe" - MadGrady
According to some online quiz, I'm a 6th level TN Wizard. They didn't give me full XP for all the monsters I've defeated while daydreaming.
http://easydamus.com/character.html
I am a Ranger Archetype: Gleaming Warden (thx to Ninja Prawn)
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2017-01-24, 11:36 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
For giggles and grins, a gargoyle playable race.
Ability scores CON +2, STR +2, INT -2
Features
- Languages: You can speak Terran and one other language
- Stone skin: Your armor class without armor is 13
- Flight: You can fly for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution modifier. Once you have used the allotted time of flight, you cannot fly again until you finish a rest. Your fly speed is 60 feet
- Claws: Your unarmed strikes do 1d4 damage
This ... is my signature finishing move!
"It's never good when you make a fiend cringe" - MadGrady
According to some online quiz, I'm a 6th level TN Wizard. They didn't give me full XP for all the monsters I've defeated while daydreaming.
http://easydamus.com/character.html
I am a Ranger Archetype: Gleaming Warden (thx to Ninja Prawn)
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2017-01-24, 11:55 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2014
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
I like the gargoyle. It's a fun creature to surprise the players with. The only problem is that my PCs are suspicious of every statue they see.
5e Bard's Guide
5e Fighter's Guide
5e Paladin's Guide
5e Ranger's Guide
5e Sorcerer's Guide
5e Warlock's Guide
Magic Items
Avatar by Honest Tiefling
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2017-01-24, 12:06 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2012
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
This ... is my signature finishing move!
"It's never good when you make a fiend cringe" - MadGrady
According to some online quiz, I'm a 6th level TN Wizard. They didn't give me full XP for all the monsters I've defeated while daydreaming.
http://easydamus.com/character.html
I am a Ranger Archetype: Gleaming Warden (thx to Ninja Prawn)
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2017-01-24, 12:07 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2007
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Yeah, I think fantasy in general has played out the "the statue suddenly attacks you!" trope. Which is sad, because it would be cool and dramatic if it weren't done so incredibly frequently.
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2017-01-24, 12:11 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
I swear, every time I mention a statue they spend five minutes trying to figure out if a medusa, gargoyle, or animated object could possibly be in the vicinity. They never even notice the acid pit under the breakaway tiles.
5e Bard's Guide
5e Fighter's Guide
5e Paladin's Guide
5e Ranger's Guide
5e Sorcerer's Guide
5e Warlock's Guide
Magic Items
Avatar by Honest Tiefling
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2017-01-24, 12:13 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2015
Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
I recently did a Mimic as Door trick. That was fun :)
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2017-01-24, 01:53 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
I should write a homebrew Book of Mimics - after all, why should they have only one CR?
Mimic doors, ladders, treasure chests - these have been done.
Mimic rooms, pools of water, suits of armor, magic wands, clothing, ...This ... is my signature finishing move!
"It's never good when you make a fiend cringe" - MadGrady
According to some online quiz, I'm a 6th level TN Wizard. They didn't give me full XP for all the monsters I've defeated while daydreaming.
http://easydamus.com/character.html
I am a Ranger Archetype: Gleaming Warden (thx to Ninja Prawn)
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2017-01-24, 02:12 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2014
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- United States
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
5e Bard's Guide
5e Fighter's Guide
5e Paladin's Guide
5e Ranger's Guide
5e Sorcerer's Guide
5e Warlock's Guide
Magic Items
Avatar by Honest Tiefling
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2017-01-24, 04:00 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2016
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2017-01-24, 06:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
According to the real life Gargoyle origin myth, there was once a dragon named La Gargouille who came out of the river Seine to terrorize the town of Rouen. This dragon was slain by the Archbishop St. Romanus and burned, but the head and neck survived the fire on account of being tempered by the dragon's own flame. So Romanus took the head and nailed it to the cathedral to ward off evil spirits. And that's why we have gargoyles.
If instead of being born from bits of Ogremoch, Gargoyles were born from the equivalent of La Gargouille then you have an interesting situation where a race is born by the death of their creator. They would come into the world lost and directionless. They don't even have a breath attack to show for their heritage coming from a dragon and they can't even honestly consider themselves kin to even puny kobolds. Their habit of cruelty and brutality comes not from being evil for evil's sake but due to envy of having a creator-god who can acknowledge your existence.
An encounter in which a gargoyle can be talked too would be interesting if one of the PCs believes that each person should worship their creator god.
This would also make gargoyles very suitable for Ravenloft. They are already aesthetically fitting and even the monsters having a tragic backstory suits Ravenloft premise.
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2017-01-24, 10:16 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
I have a soft spot in my heart for Gargoyles since I first saw the eponymous Emmy winning 1972 TV movie when I was a kid. They looked cool, and they had an interesting motivation for their actions. I recommend it if you can find it.
“Wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair and all the terrible things that happen to us, come because we actually deserve them? So now I take comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the Universe”- Marcus Cole
This has become my philosophy!
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2017-01-25, 11:43 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Holy crap, you guys have been busy - 11 more thread pages in the last month and a half.
Collection thread updated:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/shows...6&postcount=22
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2017-01-25, 12:15 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2016
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- Rome, Italy
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2017-01-25, 12:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Me too. It's a lot of work. This morning's update took about 2.5 hours. :)
As for not knowing about the Collected thread... maybe someone can convince MrConsideration to link to it at the top of this thread?
PS - I just added a Leaderboard:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/shows...2&postcount=16Last edited by odigity; 2017-01-25 at 12:19 PM.
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2017-01-25, 12:23 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
That'll be a useful resource for future reviews...
Spoiler: Quotes from the Playground
Adapting published monsters to Eberron: Naturalist's Guide to Eberron Latest: Annis Hag
Avatarial Awesomeness by Kymme!
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2017-01-25, 03:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
I really want people to have a reason to put (stone) gargoyles on buildings... but who would do that when living(?) gargoyles are known and dangerous evil monsters? And of course, nobody in the world would be fooled by such "statue", especially not adventurers. Warhammer puts gargoyles everywhere, including spaceships, but they don't try to murder you (all right, that's a lie... everyone and everything will try to murder you in warhammer once in a while), and I really like the looks...
Eberron had an answer (at least for Thrane) in Five Nations: Wingwyrd, gargoyle blessed by the Silver Flame who are lawful good, help the church, don't need to eat, sleep or breathe, thus are great watchers for churches and cause extra damages to fiends and explode in silver fire that hurts only evil beings on death.
Or, to keep them evil, for some reason, gargoyles really scare the evil spirits (i.e. fiends), even if they are less powerful than them. Perhaps some ancient deal their creator made, or something like that. People put gargoyle statues to ward away fiends, hoping the demon won't notice it's fake, and that the real gargoyles won't move in, and if they do: gargoyle is generally easier to dealt with than balor or something.It's Eberron, not ebberon.
It's not high magic, it's wide magic.
And it's definitely not steampunk. The only time steam gets involved is when the fire and water elementals break loose.
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2017-01-25, 04:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
I'm not sure if anyone wants to do them individually, but for now here's them as a group:
Genies (Introduction)
Elementals are faceless shapes that roam the planes. Genies, on the other hand, have oodles of character and charisma; they've got a sort of Arabian Nights aesthetic and make good mid level villains.
Art
Though we should save the real detail for the individual entries, the genie art succeeds at communicating each type's defining character. The Dao holds itself aloof, the Efreet is on edge, the Marid coldly calculates and the Djinni... ok, the Djinni art isn't that great, but three out of four ain't bad.
Purpose and Tactics
The genies can serve two main purposes: either CR11 monsters that serve as not-very-loyal lieutenants to a BBEG, or as a source of plot hooks. Their potential wish virtually guarantees chaos (no matter the circumstance) and their desire to capture servants can make them eccentric questgivers for PCs.
Genies have similar tactics to elementals, but their larger array of skills makes them much more versatile. An earth elemental can burrow underground to flank you. A Dao can burrow underground and trap or even bury you with move earth, or can use invisibility to truly confuse the party. Imagine, them walking into a tunnel that slowly digs itself...
A huge limitation for DMs is their limited spells. They can only pull out their real tricks once a fight, and a tenacious party will really wear them down. They need backup or a well laid plan or they're going to run out of spells fairly fast and be left with a grim slugging match that's no fun and where the party is neither doing anything interesting nor is in any real danger.
Fluff
They're powerful mortal souls made manifest as the elements, and more like the fey than anything else; they're tricky and capricious, and have huge egos. Compare and contrast to dragons; whereas a dragon will destroy someone to show how powerful they are, a genie will capture and enslave that person to add to their collection. Even the best of them still collect servants Count of Monte Cristo style.
They can also be made servants themselves, but for such willful creatures this sort of debasement really chafes. Therefore, they can be made to undermine their masters, whether that be the BBEG, or a player foolish enough to try and bind one in servitude.
Hooks
Sahir the Firekhan has captured the party!.. and demanded that they serve dates and wine to his dinner guests. While dressed in lederhosen. Hmm. The party must find a way to form an escape plan while dealing with the Firekhan's erratic demands.
Fatima the Stormsculpter, noble guardian of the winds, lays dormant on the Malestrom Isle. Those who summon her by collecting seven golden orbs may be granted a single wish. Your party desires this wish, but so does a deadly Ice Devil and his army of followers, and they're willing to tear apart every village on the island to get it.
After being snubbed at an evening of awards for lute-playing, the fearsome Dao Lord Albion has seen fit to attack entire cities to express his displeasure. Can your party convince him that the true value of music is to the player, or, failing that, defeat him in open combat?
The fearsome corsair wizard Blondebeard has plundered the Sand Coasts for many a year; but his bo'sun, the Marid Horatio the Tideshifter grows bored of his imprisonment. Can you find a way to turn him against his master and finally bring Blondebeard to justice for his crimes against civilisation and hairdressing?Last edited by Spellbreaker26; 2017-01-25 at 04:34 PM.
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2017-01-26, 12:46 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
I don't know why but I can't help imagining these genies as JoJo characters. Probably due to the fact that they are highly egotistical and JoJo has a lot of vaguely middle eastern things in it.
As a plot hook some Galeb Duhr could approach the party to help save their friend from the clutches of a Dao. Many creatures, people and other beings could require help getting their friends out of the clutches of one or another genie. A genie might be willing give up wishes, information or said friends if the party offers a suitable slave. Now that I think about it, at least one of plot hooks mentioned in this thread involved getting a monster for a genie. I think it was the goristo.
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2017-01-26, 06:25 AM (ISO 8601)
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2017-01-26, 08:08 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Yokohama, Japan
Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
I must admit you caught me off guard there...
BTW, Dao's outfit more or less looks really similar to Avdol (despite them not being fire elementals).
And on a completely unrelated note, I really like the "Gargoyle's standard greeting" thing on the Dao's page. It sounds like Bartimaeus wrote it or something, if anyone gets what I mean. (Coincidentally, Bartimaeus has also taken the form of a gargoyle on the front cover of his books.)
Back to D&D: I think allowing the Genies to concentrate on multiple spells at once (and possibly cast some of them before combat) could be one way to spice up the encounter. The spell list itself is pretty interesting for each one.Extended Signature: Homebrew StuffSpoiler: Avatar
^ Fantastic avatar made by Professor Gnoll. Yaya Tokaz, from the manga "Kukul and Nagi". ^
Unlimited Blade Works: The Guide to the Ultimate Paladin/Sorcerer Multiclass
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2017-01-26, 11:30 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Let's Read: The Dungeons and Dragons 5e Monster Manual!
Genies are the sort of creature that usually ought to appear when they have the advantage. They are native to a particular environment, are the charismatic sort that will have minions (spies), and are long-lived enough to learn strategy & tactics.
Unless they are trapped in a bottle. Then all bets are off.
I threw a Dao with one earth elemental at a party of 6 characters of level 7. It wasn't too hard except that the Ranger got trapped inside a Wall of Earth, failed two checks to climb out, and was nearly pummeled to death.
Oddly, a Druid in the shape of a Constrictor Snake can grapple a Gaseous Form because the attack is magical.This ... is my signature finishing move!
"It's never good when you make a fiend cringe" - MadGrady
According to some online quiz, I'm a 6th level TN Wizard. They didn't give me full XP for all the monsters I've defeated while daydreaming.
http://easydamus.com/character.html
I am a Ranger Archetype: Gleaming Warden (thx to Ninja Prawn)