Monsters - use humans

bryce0lynch

i fucking hate writing ...
Staff member
yeah yeah
Human enemies are great and tend to be underused in adventures. They serve as a great point of comparison to the monstrous opponents the players will meet. If every opponent is a monster then what fear do the party have of monsters? If a lot of enemies are human then the Otherness of the monster is more pronounced. Humans also serve another purpose: they are more relatable. A monster committing atrocities? Sure thing. Fellow human bandits who have turned to cannibalism? A little more real and relatable and therefore tending toward the more visceral. Need more HD? Give them more HD. Need a higher AC? Give them a higher AC. Want two attacks? Give them a second attack. Don’t feel limited by what’s in the players handbook. Those rules are for the players. Your creation can do anything you want them to do. You don’t even need a pretext. Why does the guard captain have a +10 to hit? Because. No need for a backstory, just move on.
 
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bryce0lynch

i fucking hate writing ...
Staff member
There are two things going on in this section.
1) Personal/thematic preferences
2) Mechanical permissions

It feels like the mechanical permissions part should go in the "make new monsters" section.

The Personal preference/thematic/genre issues of my perceived overuse of humanoids instead of humans is harder. Maybe it goes in to a "genre tips" section?
 

DangerousPuhson

Should be playing D&D instead
You should have a standalone section for mechanical permissions (maybe just called "DM Freedom to Rule") or something, which goes beyond just monster stats to re-iterate that the DM's rulings/choices are binding in all situations because the DM is the "reality" of the world, and that the mechanical changes themselves are not what might be considered unfair, but rather inconsistency in the declared mechanics, "surprise mechanics", and needless gimping.
 
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