Bestiary of Cidri

gpoehlein · 02-24-2019, 06:32 AM

I thought I might step in with a few clarifications of the design concept before we get too far afield here.

Organization - as with most actual bestiaries, the entries will be alphabetical. I looked at grouping creatures together, but a phone discussion with Steve about the conceptshowed that we both agreed on the alphabetical arrangement. Makes everything easier to find.

Cards - The cards are meant to be strictly a visual aid and GM’s aid. Summarize the combat stats on one side and show the players what they see on the other. Using them for random encounters is behond the scope here. And our proposal pitched the as one of several stretch goals - pretty sure counters came before the cards as stretch goals.

Sentient inclusion - Can’t just say nothing above IQ 6 for the book because that will preclude a lot of creatures. For example, the basilisk is an intelligent creature, and has been historically included in most bestiaries including the one written by daVinci. The proposal is for one book, not two. And including intelligent creatures and races does not preclude a “player characters of Cidri” book in the future. This is a bestiary that is intended to organize the creatue entries in ITL into a common format that is easy to use for both the player and GM. As such, I suggested the inclusion of PC races for a couple of reasons. The first is that just because they are PC races doesn’t mean the aren’t opponent NPCs as well. Generally, most RPG collections of monsters include orcs, goblins, giants, merfolk, and even what passes for lizard men in any given system. My thought was that including them as a simple besiary entry made sense fron a GM’s standpoint as they are common foes and opponents of the PC party. So where to draw the line? Why not elves, dwarves and humans as well? After all, the party could meet a gang of human thieves as easily as a tribe of orcs.

Greg Poehlein

02-24-2019, 06:32 AM	#22
gpoehlein Join Date: Jul 2018	Re: Bestiary of Cidri I thought I might step in with a few clarifications of the design concept before we get too far afield here. Organization - as with most actual bestiaries, the entries will be alphabetical. I looked at grouping creatures together, but a phone discussion with Steve about the conceptshowed that we both agreed on the alphabetical arrangement. Makes everything easier to find. Cards - The cards are meant to be strictly a visual aid and GM’s aid. Summarize the combat stats on one side and show the players what they see on the other. Using them for random encounters is behond the scope here. And our proposal pitched the as one of several stretch goals - pretty sure counters came before the cards as stretch goals. Sentient inclusion - Can’t just say nothing above IQ 6 for the book because that will preclude a lot of creatures. For example, the basilisk is an intelligent creature, and has been historically included in most bestiaries including the one written by daVinci. The proposal is for one book, not two. And including intelligent creatures and races does not preclude a “player characters of Cidri” book in the future. This is a bestiary that is intended to organize the creatue entries in ITL into a common format that is easy to use for both the player and GM. As such, I suggested the inclusion of PC races for a couple of reasons. The first is that just because they are PC races doesn’t mean the aren’t opponent NPCs as well. Generally, most RPG collections of monsters include orcs, goblins, giants, merfolk, and even what passes for lizard men in any given system. My thought was that including them as a simple besiary entry made sense fron a GM’s standpoint as they are common foes and opponents of the PC party. So where to draw the line? Why not elves, dwarves and humans as well? After all, the party could meet a gang of human thieves as easily as a tribe of orcs. Greg Poehlein