[DF] Homebrew Monsters

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

Seriously, submit this. I'll buy it.

Seriously, I would pay good money for this, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[Mailanka]

Some final comments:

I really appreciate the high praise. I know some of you look at this and must think "Wow, what creativity, what work," but honestly, this took me a couple of weeks to toss together, and really, most of it is pretty derivative. I'm really just codifying what alot of you are doing: Taking a racial template and tossing some skills onto it. The "best" thing I'm doing here, IMO, is showing people who might not have thought of that yet what it looks like, and giving them some easy-to-grasp tools to use. I mean, obviously, if you want a tough monster, you give it High Pain Threshold and some extra HP and HT and probably some ST, and go from there. Heck, the dire wolf in DF 2 is just a wolf with some bonuses slapped onto it. When we say "GURPS already has everything you need, just put it together," we mean it. It's all already there, just waiting to be assembled.

Maybe this is submission worthy, I don't know. It feels too derivative, too informal, to me. Yes, alot of GURPS supplements are just a restating of the rules in more genre-appropriate format, but in my experience, they go beyond that. DF 5: Allies was more than just some ally templates, DF 1 is more than just some adventurer templates. But this document here is just templates for critters that, explicitly, don't even need to worry about points. Then again, maybe I'm wrong and Kromm is laughing into his sleeve at me for posting this here, rather than sending it (though, on the other hand, I worry that posting this here will ruin the chances of anyone else writing a DF monster book. I hope not, though, as most GURPS monster books are substantially more creative than this).

So yes, thank you for putting up with my crappy, pre-first-draft prose, and wading through all this. If you really want to express your appreciation, though, I'd love to hear which monsters you liked and what you might use in your own DF game, or how this whole mess might have inspired you ^_^

EDIT: My GM gave me 20 character points for this document.

[Stripe]

Awesome posts, man! Awesome. :)

[RedMattis]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

...

Remember that not everyone is a Veteran GURPS player and used to balancing combat. A common mistake for rookies is to make fight far too difficult or easy, while even more experienced GMs can forget opponents other than the basic hack 'n slash types. Showing/reminding GMs of the various kinds of basic opponents they can throw at the Players is quite valuable advice.

If you were to submit it you might want to create a few more special/epic powers though. Seeing the same special ability in very different creatures will start feeling a bit cookie-cutter-like fairly quickly.
Overall I like the ones you've created though. Especially Dark Reincarnation.

I'd suggest taking a good look at your work, adding a bit of polish and check if SJ is interested. If you have the time to take on this sort of project that is.

[martinl]

I'd also like to point out that a computer program with this plus a bunch of base templates would be awesome.

[b-dog]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

If only somebody had spent hours creating an entire thread with multiple, nuanced versions of easy-to-use templates that address your exact desires such as "Stalker," "Trickster," and "Caster" that you could spend three seconds slapping onto the stats you're using for Goblins and have exactly what you want...

I was just thinking that the way goblins are portrayed sort of make you some sympathy because they just behave badly because the orcs force them too. It seems better to slaughter countless goblins who, while being physically weaker, make up for it by being sneaky and nasty so your character feels less guilt.

[Ego Archive]

Originally Posted by martinl

I'd also like to point out that a computer program with this plus a bunch of base templates would be awesome.

I would make the suggestion that there already is a program that someone could easily load the templates into, in fact it's designed for templates to be added, GCA.

[thulben]

Originally Posted by Ego Archive

I would make the suggestion that there already is a program that someone could easily load the templates into, in fact it's designed for templates to be added, GCA.

GCS handles templates as well. Once I saw how this thread was developing, I immediately thought about making these templates in GCS. Once I get some time, I'll do it up.

[RedMattis]

Originally Posted by thulben

GCS handles templates as well. Once I saw how this thread was developing, I immediately thought about making these templates in GCS. Once I get some time, I'll do it up.

I knew it! I definitely saw that one coming
Every time someone mentions GCA or something GCA can do, GCS is mentioned and compared to it within a few hours. :D

I myself use GCS, and I probably would have mentioned it myself if you hadn't. It's a good program. ...and free!

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by b-dog

I was just thinking that the way goblins are portrayed sort of make you some sympathy because they just behave badly because the orcs force them too. It seems better to slaughter countless goblins who, while being physically weaker, make up for it by being sneaky and nasty so your character feels less guilt.

I'll continue this discussion by PM if you want, to avoid contributing to further crapping in this thread.