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Old 02-21-2019, 08:44 AM   #5
larsdangly
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Default Re: Bestiary of Cidri

The book itself should contain the largest, broadest range of creatures you can stomach creating. It sounds like you have some interesting concepts in mind re. organization and presentation, but it is also important to remember that a game book is only as good as its at-table usefulness. People want monster manuals because they use them as a resource to prepare settings and run adventures. Basically, don't talk yourself out of making a good monster manual in order to satisfy an aesthetic idea about how it should look or how the fluff text should come across.

My pet theory is that D+D was, and remains, so successful because during the period when it took shape the designers expended a lot of energy on pumping up the volume of raw materials used in play: monsters, spells and items, as well as putting out a steady stream of basically setting agnostic, minimal-plot adventure materials. The rules were frankly a hot mess - ca. 1978-79 there were three or four officially supported versions of the same game in wide circulation, all of which contained lots of material that no one liked (some of which conflicted with each other and/or was not play tested). But all the better designed rules sets struggled to take control of the market place because D+D provided overwhelming value when it came to the 'meat' of materials you draw on to create and play adventures. They are still milking that: 5E is a successful game and is basically as well designed as any modern system, but most of its substance is just a direct translation of the monsters, spells, items and adventures from the late 70's and early 80's. So, the message is, 'make stuff like that!'
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