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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Best. Monster. Ever. [A Poll]

Image found at flumph.com. No, seriously.
My work on Blood & Treasure is rapidly coming to a close. Only a couple small sections are left to be written and I'm now embarking on editing the sizable tome. I've managed to include most of the monsters of the SRD, including a few psionic beasts (some rely too heavily on the d20 psionic system to work well without it) and many of the epic level monsters (toned down a bit).

About the only monsters that didn't make the cut were those of the "monster +1" variety - i.e. a monster with additional hit dice or class levels. With all the myriad systems and calculations, statting up monsters like that was useful in d20, but in Blood & Treasure its mostly a waste of space. Even the "alternate iconics" have all made it in as well, from the greymalkin to the evil eye to the phrenic scourge. That being said, there's always room for a few more monsters.

So - my question is this: What is the best monster ever! that wasn't included in the SRD, but does exist in some open content source?

In particular, I want to know what you think is the best monster ever! from each of the following books:

[I'll keep a tally as people comment]

AD&D's Fiend Folio

Beaktapus (as an alternative to the Grell) ... 2 votes
Crypt Thing ... 1 vote
Dark Creepers and Stalkers ... 1/2 vote
Death Knight ... 1 vote
Flail Snail ... 2 votes
Skulk ... 1/2 vote
Slaad ... 3 votes

* I think it's a testament that by far the most response is for Fiend Folio monsters. It's may favorite as well, and I guess I just draw that sort of crowd!

** Looks like the slaad are starting to run away with this one

AD&D's Monster Manual II

Metal Monsters (as an alternative to the modrons) ... 1 vote

D&D's Rules Cyclopedia 

Rakasta ... 1 vote

Any of the myriad d20 sourcebooks

Clockwork Horrors (an alternative version, of course) ... 1 vote
Hengeyokai (an original version, most likely) ... 3 votes
Primordial Ooze (as an alternative to the deepspawn) ... 1 vote

I'd love to hear from the readers ... what is your favorite that you'd like to see in Blood & Treasure?
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25 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 15, 2012 at 6:48 PM

    well, you already gave a picture of the flumph... but of course, there is another... the Flailsnail! There is no

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  2. gmkerosMarch 15, 2012 at 6:59 PM

    well, you already gave a picture of the flumph... but of course, there is another... the Flailsnail! There is no better monster than that. (sorry for the broken comment, the blogspot comments are always wonky for me)

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  3. DanMarch 15, 2012 at 7:15 PM

    FF - Crypt Thing
    MMII - Modron

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  4. HaraldMarch 15, 2012 at 8:10 PM

    For my part, I've always loved the Mind Flayer.

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  5. HaraldMarch 15, 2012 at 8:10 PM

    For my part, I've always loved the Mind Flayer.

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  6. Greg JohnstonMarch 15, 2012 at 8:46 PM

    MM = Beholder
    FF = Grell
    Monsternomicon Vol. 1 = Iron Lich
    Monsters of Faerun = Deepspawn

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  7. J BlanchardMarch 15, 2012 at 9:06 PM

    MM - Gnoll
    FF - Death knight

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  8. John Matthew StaterMarch 15, 2012 at 9:07 PM

    The mind flayer makes it into the book as the phrenic scourge, and the beholder as the evil eye. There is an open version of the grell, so that's a possibility, as is the crypt thing. The deepspawn isn't open content, but I can think of something very similar that is - the primordial ooze from the Monster Encyclopaedia I. The modrons aren't open content, but since I'm reading the Metal Monster, I'm about ready to stat them out as an alternative to the modrons.

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  9. Andrew ByersMarch 16, 2012 at 10:27 AM

    For me, the Fiend Folio was always a treasure trove. My favorites there are, of course, the githyanki (though I know they aren't open content), the derro, dark creepers and dark stalkers, skulks, and the xvarts. If you absolutely made me pick one, I'd have to say the derro.

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  10. SAMCCMarch 16, 2012 at 11:09 AM

    Githyanki, my absolute favorite villains.

    Ethereal Marauders, perfect for biting characters in the ass!

    Clockwork horrors, my players run away when they hear scritching and scraping sounds now!

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  11. TreyMarch 16, 2012 at 11:41 AM

    Slaad (I like Bat's version over at Ancient Vaults and Eldritch Secrets).

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  12. John Matthew StaterMarch 16, 2012 at 12:11 PM

    Love the slaad, and Bat's version is, I believe, open. If not, I could take Pozas' ogdoad and tweak them to be closer to the original version of the monsters.

    I have included the githyanki as the "Astral Raiders", so they're already good to go. The ethereal marauders are SRD, so they're already in the game - same with the derro. I love the dark creepers, stalkers and skulks, and all three are in the Tome of Horrors, so they're in play.

    The clockwork horrors aren't open, per se, but other clockwork beasties are and one can always tweak things to get the proper effect.

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  13. tsadkielMarch 16, 2012 at 12:27 PM

    Half serious answer - there's a movement at rpg.net these days to include sentient bears as a PC option in pretty much every D&D variant. This is your chance to corner the bear market!

    Completely serious answer - I'd like to see hengeyokai. It would help when using the rules in Asian-inspired settings, and really, shapechanging animals are a trope in folklore the world over.

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  14. John Matthew StaterMarch 16, 2012 at 12:33 PM

    I did throw in a template for making Beast-Men (i.e. anthropomorphic animals), so I'm half-way there. The hengeyokai are a definite possibility.

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  15. ZdanMarch 16, 2012 at 2:49 PM

    I will second the notion for a hengeyokai. Especially if included with would be information on how to make them a PC race (3e Oriental Adventures had this option built in).

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  16. garrisonjamesMarch 16, 2012 at 4:46 PM

    Slaad. Definitely Slaad.

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  17. Brutorz BillMarch 16, 2012 at 10:49 PM

    Hengeyokai as Zdan said above.

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  18. ScottMarch 17, 2012 at 12:23 PM

    Slaad. Dark creepers would be my second choice from those options.

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  19. tsadkielMarch 17, 2012 at 3:51 PM

    The Pathfinder srd has some open game content slaad-alikes as well, though they're snakey rather than toadey.

    http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/protean

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  20. John Matthew StaterMarch 17, 2012 at 5:24 PM

    Is all of that material open content? I've looked it over, but I was never sure.

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  21. tsadkielMarch 17, 2012 at 6:03 PM

    There is a declaration of open game content here:

    http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use

    "Unless indicated otherwise, all parts, sections, or areas of this website are identified as Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e)." On the other hand, I am not a third party publisher, let alone a lawyer, so there may be details I'm unaware of.

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  22. ZdanMarch 19, 2012 at 3:48 AM

    I would just like to point out there are actually 3 votes for the hengeyokai: tzadkiel, me and Brutorz Bill. Just sayin'.

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  23. JoshuaMarch 19, 2012 at 5:05 AM

    My vote's to the flail snail. It's definitely something goofy that's nice and open for making awesome in a setting.

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  24. AlanMarch 19, 2012 at 9:04 PM

    I'm somewhat partial to the Beaktopus, myself... ;)

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