GITP Monster Competition Chat Thread III

[Debihuman]

The only problem with allowing people to create Cthulhu is that there exists the Call of Cthulhu game d20 and it would be easy for someone to just copy it. I'd rather require all new creatures and that nothing from that supplement be allowed. What do you think?

Debby

[Morph Bark]

Originally Posted by Debihuman

The only problem with allowing people to create Cthulhu is that there exists the Call of Cthulhu game d20 and it would be easy for someone to just copy it. I'd rather require all new creatures and that nothing from that supplement be allowed. What do you think?

Debby

Call of Cthulhu uses the d20 system?

That's interesting. If so that makes it easier to get my group to try it.

[akma]

Originally Posted by M-Bark

Call of Cthulhu uses the d20 system?

That's interesting. If so that makes it easier to get my group to try it.

No it doesn`t, it uses a D100 system. But there was a D20 conversion, which I heard wasn`t good.

[The Glyphstone]

I didn't get the impression we were supposed to make Cthulhu, or even Great Old Ones specifically. Just horrific, sanity-melting abberations and things that Should Not Be, most of which would not be out of place alongside Cthulhu. And if someone did make I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Cthulhu with the serial numbers filed off, it'd be fairly obvious.

[Debihuman]

Wizards of the Coast published the d20 rules for Call of Cthulhu and it was written by Monte Cook. It's out of print unfortunately. I don't know why you think is was a poor conversion. I have it and think it is awesome. Monte Cook did an excellent job of maintaining the flavor of the original game. I played the original version for years.

The skills are era-based (this is for a horror game set in the world circa 1890s to modern times). New skills are computer use, drive, demolitions, etc.

The biggest change is in Profession. It is broken down to 12 templates and defines which skills you get. I would have liked more choices but really it is very easy to make new skill sets for any given profession.

The D20 CoC rules incorporate the madness and sanity rules and added the Cthulhu Mythos skill. The major problem with CoC is that your PC eventually goes mad. This is true in the regular CoC game and it was kept in the D20 version as well. It's a horror campaign not a fantasy one.

The list prices for equipment are given in just 1920s and 2000, but that again is stuff that can be easy to find elsewhere.

There are expanded gun rules for those who get into that. I always want the pearl-handled lady's Derringer in every era ;-).

The monsters are fairly straight-forward conversions. This was written for 3.0 and the monster stat blocks reflect that. No stats are for the Eldar Gods are given (leaving room for DM interpretation) but the servitor races are well presented. I can't imagine getting people to agree on Great Cthuthlu's stats.

The way challenge rating is used is different. Investigators aren't as tough as standard D&D heroes; they aren't supposed to be. The CR (1-20) explains the relative strength of monsters to each other and doesn't mean as much for the PCs. Any CR is okay to throw at the investigators. Whether they'll survive is questionable and even if they do, the next question is will they remain sane enough for the next encounter? In a typical CoC game, the investigators do a fair amount of running away rather than trying to kill everything.

It's not a game for every group. Hack'n'slashers sometimes get bored by all the time spent investigating. Some don't deal well well with their PC going insane at a dice roll and having to roll up a new character on the fly. It's also easy to die. Guns kill. You don't have DocWagon(tm) [Shadowrun reference] or a Cleric in most cases.

It wasn't as lethal as Morrow Project (we died every single time there was a shoot-out) but more lethal than normal D&D (unless you have a killer DM and in that case you have my sympathy).

Nevertheless, people in homebrew might want to put out their own version of such things. Whether or not you allow it in the contest is up to you. I just wanted to let you know what is out there.

Debby

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Ok, official ruling, no existing Elder Evils or Old Ones. Nor are we statting any gods, deities, or equivalent.

[Bhu]

I wasn't gonna do an existing Old One, but no problems.

[Debihuman]

Sorry for stomping on your buzz there, Bhu. Epic creatures really do deserve their own contest as they are so much harder (for everyone but you apparently) to make and to judge. I can hardly keep up with regular contests these days.

By the way, when do I get to see Abner and Bert statted out?

Anyhow, I see we have our first entry. Congrats Unosarta!

Just a quibble or two. Creatures don't get iterative attacks with natural weapons. The number of attacks is based on the number of limbs they attack with. Also, secondary attacks are always secondary even if used as a primary attack. This just jumped out at me so I thought I'd mention it now. I can give a more detailed look later.

Attack: Tail +27 melee (2d8+24) or claw +22 melee (2d6+16)
Full Attack: Tail +27 melee (2d8+16) and 2 claws +22 melee (2d6+16)

Debby

[The Dark Fiddler]

I was a bit worried I'd have nothing to enter in this contest.

Luckily, I remembered a concept I had a while ago. May not be monstrous enough, but I'm sure I can work on that.

[The Glyphstone]

All entries must be a new creation, not one already posted.

So how far back does this extend, and where? I was going to update my Far Beast creation rules for an entry, but then I'm not sure if that would qualify anyways. Stuff posted on other forums?

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Originally Posted by The Glyphstone

So how far back does this extend, and where? I was going to update my Far Beast creation rules for an entry, but then I'm not sure if that would qualify anyways. Stuff posted on other forums?

The point is to come up with a completely new, unposted concept. You could probably post something you have on a previous forums and I'd never know it, but I'd really rather no one did that.

It may also be 'inspired' by something, but not copying it.

[The Glyphstone]

Hrmph. This is going to be a lot harder then - I'd never gotten a chance to enter the Far Beasts into a formal competition. Now I actually have to do work.

[Bhu]

Originally Posted by Debihuman

By the way, when do I get to see Abner and Bert statted out?


Debby

Im statting out Abner over on the BG forums now. I posted a link in the critter thread i think.

[unosarta]

Huh.

Why does it seem like I am always the first one to post anything, for these contests? I mean, I already wrote up the One From the Waves, but I didn't even notice the thread until this morning.

[LOTRfan]

Unaware. It looks pretty cool, though.

[akma]

Originally Posted by unosarta

Why does it seem like I am always the first one to post anything, for these contests? I mean, I already wrote up the One From the Waves, but I didn't even notice the thread until this morning.

Becuse I make monsters very slowly. Also, I had problams deciding how the creature I`ll post will look like.
Since I`m also supposed to make a D&D adventure and have very little time today, I assume I`ll be finished by monday.

[Morph Bark]

Originally Posted by unosarta

Huh.

Why does it seem like I am always the first one to post anything, for these contests? I mean, I already wrote up the One From the Waves, but I didn't even notice the thread until this morning.

You're just way too fast for anyone else to have a chance to be the first to post, obviously! ()


Nevertheless, I got an idea, though I'm not sure how to properly work it out.

[Bhu]

Originally Posted by unosarta

Huh.

Why does it seem like I am always the first one to post anything, for these contests? I mean, I already wrote up the One From the Waves, but I didn't even notice the thread until this morning.

Because sometimes it's better to wait. For example if you want to do a Golem for a contest, and 3 other people also post Golems, you could conceivably be lost in the crowd.

[unosarta]

Originally Posted by Bhu

Because sometimes it's better to wait. For example if you want to do a Golem for a contest, and 3 other people also post Golems, you could conceivably be lost in the crowd.

Maybe, but a lot of my stuff here hasn't been even close to being similar to most of the other entries:

• A giant plant monster that infects the blood of others in order to reproduce.
  
• An underwater monstrosity that kills with fear.
  
• A race of underground bug people that are completely unable to see and have a hive hierarchy.
  
• An epic monster that consumes planes.

Not even counting the PrC contests.

Originally Posted by M-Bark

You're just way too fast for anyone else to have a chance to be the first to post, obviously! ()

Originally Posted by akma

Becuse I make monsters very slowly. Also, I had problams deciding how the creature I`ll post will look like.
Since I`m also supposed to make a D&D adventure and have very little time today, I assume I`ll be finished by monday.

I guess. It seems like I just work with the inspiration I get from the contest faster than others? I know that it can be really hard to get inspiration, but I tend to get it really, really early on, I guess.

[Morph Bark]

Basic statblock for me is up. Ideas for the abilities are ready, just have to be put to mechanics right.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Huh, IRIRIV is one of the few folks I'm subscribed to on DeviantArt.

[unosarta]

Originally Posted by M-Bark

Basic statblock for me is up. Ideas for the abilities are ready, just have to be put to mechanics right.

That picture/name, and everything else looks sweet.

I can't wait.

[Morph Bark]

Originally Posted by The Vorpal Tribble

Huh, IRIRIV is one of the few folks I'm subscribed to on DeviantArt.

I'll be frank with you. When I saw the picture in the OP, I thought it looked kinda neat, so I looked through the artist's works and found a lot of great things - though only a few suitable pictures for this contest. I really liked this picture, and it is actually what inspired me for the entry. Visual art usually pretty easily inspires me to do something literary or with game mechanics.

Originally Posted by unosarta

That picture/name, and everything else looks sweet.

I can't wait.

Awesome! Expect the rest up by tomorrow, as for now I must attend to my basic human need of sleep! (I pray I will make it out of that alive. )

[LOTRfan]

Armed Horror is done. Comments/suggestions/complaints? Any mistakes evident? If anyone comes across anything, I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me whats wrong and how to fix it. Thanks.

Also, I'm not sure if CR is 100% correct.

[Debihuman]

Armed horror is missing a feat. It gets 2 feats plus any bonus feats. Make sure it qualifies for the main feats and then it gets a bonus feat. I'd change this to Combat Reflexes (B), Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike so you should change the wording on Horrific Grappler since it does qualify for the feat. There's no reason it shouldn't have Improved Unarmed Strike first.

I'm getting CR 4+. It's probably closer to CR 5 than CR 4. For that reason, you might want to add a couple of HD. For only 3 HD, you are giving it a lot of special abilities. What pushes it over the top is regeneration 1 at that level. A 4th-level party is facing a TPK. I strongly recommend doubling the HD for this creature. At 6 HD, the number of special abilities isn't so overwhelming. When adding the HD, don't forget to change Combat Reflexes from a bonus to a standard feat, as I mentioned that earlier. I think it will look much more balanced.

Debby

[LOTRfan]

Thanks. I'll make those changes immediately.

[Morph Bark]

Monster coming slowly. Way busy with other stuff, but I plan on finishing it sometime this week!

[Mulletmanalive]

I'm kinda torn with this one:

On the one hand, i have a heinous, disturbing concept that i've been refining for yonks and this is a great excuse to stat up..

On the other hand, my ground level system is closer to a de-magicked Pathfinder than D&D so i'd be creating something that's otherwise useless to me personally.

Still, i guess i could refine the concepts here with a little public opinion...

Thoughts?

[PersonMan]

I've always wondered why things that shouldn't exist are evil. I mean, just because they don't fit into a normal universe doesn't mean they have to be mean, right?

Eye Demon basics are up. I probably won't be finding a good picture for it, since I tried before with an identical-looking creature and failed...but eh.

Yeah, I'm not sure how to do the claw stuff without is being...awkward-looking.

[Bhu]

It's not that they're evil. The idea behind Lovecrafts work is that human beings are blind and unable to perceive reality as it is, and this is what keeps them safe. If they become able to perceive the truth, the truth (in this case aliens) can perceive them (sometimes). They aren't evil, just uncaring, and sometimes they don't even know we exist. But they are powerful enough to destroy us casually, and we perceive them as evil because they do so. The monsters of Lovecraft aren't about good and evil, because that implies a human sense of morality, and they have none. They simply are, and they follow a set of rules we can't comprehend, but that are inimical to us.

In short it's a fairly nihilistic idea that the universe is impersonal and will inevitably destroy you just because it can, or you were in the way, or something somewhere may have happened that you can't perceive but that nevertheless causes a ripple effect you get caught up in. Good and evil are just artificial concepts made by, and for, humanity, and don't apply to the forces outside who are as alien to us as we are to them. We simply can't co-exist with them, and they're the stronger of the two races/realities/whatever you prefer to call it. To us they're evil because they are Other. We can't understand with them, we can't truly communicate with them for the most part, and we have nothing to offer that would make them spare us.