When we initially had our discussion about many of the species that inhabit Deminar, we started playing around with some of the "monster" species, in an attempt to give them some edges besides being just a bundle of stats with a familiar look.
Some stuff came spur of the moment, other stuff we had a few previous ideas about, and, for some reason, I have the Ogres on my mind and I feel I should put down my thoughts while I have them.
As previously mentioned, Ogres in Deminar are "...The result is a degenerate group of incestuous inbreeders, spawning no shortage of physical deformities and keeping the species mentally stunted." Ogres don't live in huge tribes, you'll never stumble upon an Ogre city, instead, family groups (often quite large and quite interbred) settle an area and stay there for a while, until they are driven off or inbreed themselves into oblivion (when genetic mutations just end in all still births). Ogres don't have a concept of community, instead it's a misguided concept of family. If two Ogre family groups come into contact they'll slaughter each other until only one group remains. Ogres also have no problem taking whatever they want from other intelligent species, including moving into a small hamlet and living there after killing (and possibly eating) its former inhabitants. They also enjoy killing things, with a mix of mental instability and that of a child who feels that surge of power all humans are guilty of when knowing their superiority over something else (most adults try to hide that though).
Now, looking at your standard LL description of the Ogre, we have this bit:
"Adult ogres stand 9 to 10 feet tall, and resemble big brutish humans. Their skin color ranges from dull yellow to dull brown. Their clothing consists of poorly cured furs and hides, which add to their naturally repellent odor."
And that immediately got me thinking about where the Ogres came from. What if Ogres are nothing more then the result of humans who didn't take as well to whatever horrid cataclysm struck Deminar? Humans that were affected the same way the world itself was, changed, most died, some managed to survive and, throughout the generations, became the Ogres we know and love today. The concepts of strong family and thrill of having dominance coming to the forefront of their brains and twisted into a meaning they could understand and accomplish. Oh, and let's not have a debate on if that means they're genetically close enough to mate with humans, no half-breeds! Besides, while I'm sure many Ogres have no problems raping humans (and many other species), I don't think the poor thing being raped would survive the process (and probably dying midway through wouldn't stop the Ogre, when I say they're degenerate, I mean it).
Also, yes, I see the Hills Have Eyes connections, thank you.
Showing posts with label Monsters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monsters. Show all posts
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Musing: Fae
I never liked the idea of Fae was happy cute critters that prance around the forest and play tricks on you and giggle. Maybe it's because overly cute things make me want to kill a puppy just to even up the world or maybe because as a DM, I don't want to play a cute high pitched thing. I may come across as elitist, but I like to run games that aren't overthetop goofy and stupid. There will be humor, of course, the object is to have fun, but, in the end, I try to tell tales that are on par with epic novels, not absurdest humor.
So Fae in Deminar, like most things, are a bit different. For me, I wanted to bring the fae back to their more medieval roots, where they were aloof, mysterious, and oft times very powerful. I mixed that with a bit of the Changeling: The Lost vibe from nWoD, to get the idea of fae I now have.
The Fae come from their own plane, but many are trapped here because they were visiting when the world shattered and were cut off from their home plane, others like it here, despite it's differences from home, there's new things to explore and play with. Others are only here visiting, but shall soon return to the plane they call home. The plane in which the Fae come from is a vibrant natural world, however it's very morphic, things don't stay the same for very long and the Fae are the untold masters of this plane, they rose to intelligence amongst the chaos, and many can control it.
The Fae are alien in thought, they don't think like the other intelligent species on Deminar do, nor do they hold onto the morality. They are used to everything around them being their playthings, and they take that mentality into the floating lands with them. An area with a fae in it will start to show signs of it's influence. Places begin to warp and look out of place, two animals may have been crudely stitched together and survive, in pain, by magic. Fae seeing the "friendly species" in its lands may leave them alone, may kill them swiftly, or may torment them with magic, trickery, and invading their dreams. A Fae will gut another intelligent species and feel the same remorse that we do when we rip a leaf off a tree. They'll keep a creature alive as they flay off their skin just as readily as they'll take a creature as a sexual conquest. It's not that they're malicious and mean, it's just they don't think in absolute terms like we do and that makes them far worse.
One last thing, while the standard Fae creatures that are iconic to LL will be present, Dryads, Sprites, and the like, they'll not look the part.
Where as the standard D&D fae may look like this:
The ones on Denimar look more like this:
With much thanks and respect to Gullermo del Toro's twisted mind...
So Fae in Deminar, like most things, are a bit different. For me, I wanted to bring the fae back to their more medieval roots, where they were aloof, mysterious, and oft times very powerful. I mixed that with a bit of the Changeling: The Lost vibe from nWoD, to get the idea of fae I now have.
The Fae come from their own plane, but many are trapped here because they were visiting when the world shattered and were cut off from their home plane, others like it here, despite it's differences from home, there's new things to explore and play with. Others are only here visiting, but shall soon return to the plane they call home. The plane in which the Fae come from is a vibrant natural world, however it's very morphic, things don't stay the same for very long and the Fae are the untold masters of this plane, they rose to intelligence amongst the chaos, and many can control it.
The Fae are alien in thought, they don't think like the other intelligent species on Deminar do, nor do they hold onto the morality. They are used to everything around them being their playthings, and they take that mentality into the floating lands with them. An area with a fae in it will start to show signs of it's influence. Places begin to warp and look out of place, two animals may have been crudely stitched together and survive, in pain, by magic. Fae seeing the "friendly species" in its lands may leave them alone, may kill them swiftly, or may torment them with magic, trickery, and invading their dreams. A Fae will gut another intelligent species and feel the same remorse that we do when we rip a leaf off a tree. They'll keep a creature alive as they flay off their skin just as readily as they'll take a creature as a sexual conquest. It's not that they're malicious and mean, it's just they don't think in absolute terms like we do and that makes them far worse.
One last thing, while the standard Fae creatures that are iconic to LL will be present, Dryads, Sprites, and the like, they'll not look the part.
Where as the standard D&D fae may look like this:
The ones on Denimar look more like this:
With much thanks and respect to Gullermo del Toro's twisted mind...
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Musing: Species Part V: Give the Bad Guys Some Love
The good guys weren't the only ones we went over when we set about looking over the intelligent species, our minds started coming up with all sorts of fun we could have with some of the less friendly species as well.
Below are a small smattering of some of the "monster species" found in Deminar, these are not necessarily going to show up in our first sandbox, nor are they the only ones we discussed, just a preview:
Ogres: Ogres don't usually amass in large numbers (if they do, something big is about to happen), instead sticking to smaller family groups to try to cut back on power struggles, inter-species assassinations, and running out of food in their settled area (Ogres eat a lot). Unlike Halflings, who, while similarly living in smaller tight knit communities, send members of their tribe out into the world to both settle new lands and spread out genetically, Ogres are content to stay in their family groups forever. The result is a degenerate group of incestuous inbreeders, spawning no shortage of physical deformities and keeping the species mentally stunted. Ogres are content to take what they want from lesser species (in their minds, everyone else) and killing them is much like us killing a spider we see on the wall in our home, we wouldn't think twice about it and feel no remorse afterwards, the only difference is, while only some of us take perverted delight in squashing a spider, nearly all ogres take the same delight in killing other intelligents.
Goblins: Goblins were, at one time, on the list of playable species, but as they developed they fell off the list due to their highly regimented and caste built society. Also, they're ruthless and don't play well with others. Goblins live underground, much like the dwarves and the two are constantly fighting. Goblin society is very rigid, with every goblin born into a specific caste and there that goblin will stay its whole life. While there is no hope for movement out of one's caste, there is a ruthless desire to move to the top of a specific caste and goblins will stop at nothing to reach that top. Death is all too frequent to goblins, from enemy hands and from within, but luckily they breed quickly and plentifully, meaning the species is never in dwindling numbers. While many species develop as separate races depending on the environment they exist in, goblins have species developed based on their caste. Hobgoblins, Bugbears, and other goblinoid creatures are not separate species on Deminar, but instead, caste specific racial offshoots, built from generations of breeding certain traits (Bugbears, for example, are bred within the assassination caste of the goblins). Sean has grown particularly attached to this species and could probably fill you in on all kinds of details.
Gnolls: Gnolls are parasites among the intelligent races, they have developed no technology of their own, they do not manufacture goods, nor work in any way to provide for their people. Instead, gnolls scavenge, raid, and take from others (including each other) never settling in one place for too long. They often arrive on stole airships at night, raiding a community, cackling madly as they do and running off before a sizable defense can be mounted. They are cowardly and feel no shame in running if it means they'll live to fight again. They have no sense of fiar fights, morality, or honor like other intelligent species develop. They are a sickly, dirty, lot, barely caring for themselves and certainly not for others. They never mend wounds or equipment, they are often covered in scars and infections while the gear they use is rusted and breaking. Gnolls have quickly become my favorite monster species on Deminar, and much like Sean with his goblins, I have plenty of ideas about these mangy creatures.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well this picture, crafted by velinov at deviantArt sums up a lot about the look and feel of gnolls in Deminar.
Below are a small smattering of some of the "monster species" found in Deminar, these are not necessarily going to show up in our first sandbox, nor are they the only ones we discussed, just a preview:
Ogres: Ogres don't usually amass in large numbers (if they do, something big is about to happen), instead sticking to smaller family groups to try to cut back on power struggles, inter-species assassinations, and running out of food in their settled area (Ogres eat a lot). Unlike Halflings, who, while similarly living in smaller tight knit communities, send members of their tribe out into the world to both settle new lands and spread out genetically, Ogres are content to stay in their family groups forever. The result is a degenerate group of incestuous inbreeders, spawning no shortage of physical deformities and keeping the species mentally stunted. Ogres are content to take what they want from lesser species (in their minds, everyone else) and killing them is much like us killing a spider we see on the wall in our home, we wouldn't think twice about it and feel no remorse afterwards, the only difference is, while only some of us take perverted delight in squashing a spider, nearly all ogres take the same delight in killing other intelligents.
Goblins: Goblins were, at one time, on the list of playable species, but as they developed they fell off the list due to their highly regimented and caste built society. Also, they're ruthless and don't play well with others. Goblins live underground, much like the dwarves and the two are constantly fighting. Goblin society is very rigid, with every goblin born into a specific caste and there that goblin will stay its whole life. While there is no hope for movement out of one's caste, there is a ruthless desire to move to the top of a specific caste and goblins will stop at nothing to reach that top. Death is all too frequent to goblins, from enemy hands and from within, but luckily they breed quickly and plentifully, meaning the species is never in dwindling numbers. While many species develop as separate races depending on the environment they exist in, goblins have species developed based on their caste. Hobgoblins, Bugbears, and other goblinoid creatures are not separate species on Deminar, but instead, caste specific racial offshoots, built from generations of breeding certain traits (Bugbears, for example, are bred within the assassination caste of the goblins). Sean has grown particularly attached to this species and could probably fill you in on all kinds of details.
Gnolls: Gnolls are parasites among the intelligent races, they have developed no technology of their own, they do not manufacture goods, nor work in any way to provide for their people. Instead, gnolls scavenge, raid, and take from others (including each other) never settling in one place for too long. They often arrive on stole airships at night, raiding a community, cackling madly as they do and running off before a sizable defense can be mounted. They are cowardly and feel no shame in running if it means they'll live to fight again. They have no sense of fiar fights, morality, or honor like other intelligent species develop. They are a sickly, dirty, lot, barely caring for themselves and certainly not for others. They never mend wounds or equipment, they are often covered in scars and infections while the gear they use is rusted and breaking. Gnolls have quickly become my favorite monster species on Deminar, and much like Sean with his goblins, I have plenty of ideas about these mangy creatures.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well this picture, crafted by velinov at deviantArt sums up a lot about the look and feel of gnolls in Deminar.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
On: Monster Books
I love a good Bestiary (hell I even love mediocre ones) and not just because they give me a whole new group of things to kill players with (that's just one of the reasons).
I love monster books because it lets you begin to watch a world be built. Before the required several hundred page hardback or box set campaign setting became the normal, all you had were the rule book, various adventures, and the monster book. Much like elements of a rule system does, the monster book tied into a set of rules begins to flesh out the world. Certain monsters exist in certain places and tend to do certain things. Each monster gives you a glimpse at the greater whole as the names of different planes are mentioned, things being made as magical hybrids are called, the mention of certain dark gods that a creature is mentioned as to worshiping. You suddenly see a world coming together.
The 2nd Edition AD&D monster compendium books/folios/3-hole punched sheets were some of my favorites. They went beyond stats and a paragraph, here the idea of monsters fitting in the world peaked (in my opinion anyway). Monsters received notes on ecology, habitat, society if intelligent, there place in the world, I used to read them constantly, even when not running a 2nd edition game (an indeed, my stint as a DM of 2nd Ed. AD&D was quite short lived).
As a world builder, the most fun I have with monsters is figuring out the how's and why's of their existence. Using the 2nd Ed. Compendiums as an example, I love to figure out what a monster does when it's not waiting to be killed, where it came from, and why it chooses to do anything. Especially with our design philosophy of having things "make sense," you can't just drop a giant brain with lion legs into the world unless you figure out what niche that creature occupies.
While Sean and I were going through a variety of species to determine which ones wouldn't kill the humans on sight, we came up with some very cool ideas for many of the "monstrous" species. And while we'll continue to be making Deminar one sandbox at a time (and probably each will be wrapped up in a pretty .pdf when done), the idea of a good old fashioned bestiary will always be in the back of my mind.
I love monster books because it lets you begin to watch a world be built. Before the required several hundred page hardback or box set campaign setting became the normal, all you had were the rule book, various adventures, and the monster book. Much like elements of a rule system does, the monster book tied into a set of rules begins to flesh out the world. Certain monsters exist in certain places and tend to do certain things. Each monster gives you a glimpse at the greater whole as the names of different planes are mentioned, things being made as magical hybrids are called, the mention of certain dark gods that a creature is mentioned as to worshiping. You suddenly see a world coming together.
The 2nd Edition AD&D monster compendium books/folios/3-hole punched sheets were some of my favorites. They went beyond stats and a paragraph, here the idea of monsters fitting in the world peaked (in my opinion anyway). Monsters received notes on ecology, habitat, society if intelligent, there place in the world, I used to read them constantly, even when not running a 2nd edition game (an indeed, my stint as a DM of 2nd Ed. AD&D was quite short lived).
As a world builder, the most fun I have with monsters is figuring out the how's and why's of their existence. Using the 2nd Ed. Compendiums as an example, I love to figure out what a monster does when it's not waiting to be killed, where it came from, and why it chooses to do anything. Especially with our design philosophy of having things "make sense," you can't just drop a giant brain with lion legs into the world unless you figure out what niche that creature occupies.
While Sean and I were going through a variety of species to determine which ones wouldn't kill the humans on sight, we came up with some very cool ideas for many of the "monstrous" species. And while we'll continue to be making Deminar one sandbox at a time (and probably each will be wrapped up in a pretty .pdf when done), the idea of a good old fashioned bestiary will always be in the back of my mind.
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