So I started working on a book with monsters in it. Was wondering if other people would want to let me add their creations to it. credit would be added for any monsters contributed. The book will of course be free for all, and I will reupload updated versions as things are added. I have seens lots of creatures on the forums but I don’t want to add them without permission. people can either PM me their additions or link to forum post they already have if they want me to add them.
Also a question for people who may be more in the know I added the monkey bats and wapuny from " a star once fallen" is this ok or a no go?
The creatures from A Star Once Fallen are not technically open source, only the core rules as written in the SRD (which is currently outdated) are free for anyone to use. That being said, I don’t think there will be any problems as long as you don’t attempt to sell this work with them in it.
You are welcome to add and modify any monsters I post on the fourms to your book though often you might have to add detail to the discriptions on the critters as I didn’t put much detail into how they look on the fourms.
i noticed my monster, Ancient Dragon (red) was posted without my permission, now sense I was going to give my permission anyway it’s fine but i am a little ticked off .
i give you permission to use all my monsters in your book.
sorry the way you posted it , it had said something about it being open and I took it in a way to think you meant open for others to use. Sorry if thats not how you meant it, and thanks for letting me add you monsters. An updated book should be out today.
So far I have monsters stated in the book fluff work will come later along with alphabetical work.
Current update posted.
Also any one downloading the new version may notice toward the bottom entry’s I changed the format to use a table format for organizing the stats. I am looking for opinions, I think this looks more organized what do others think?
Newest version up currently just a reorganization of what was there, and some of OGilamesh’s undead, added. more of his stuff will be added later in the week and then i’ll get back to adding my own. Comments and thoughts or ideas are always welcome. And thanks again to all who have contributed.
either start a new thread and link it too me here or PM them too me. those two options are best as I would rather not have monsters posted here in this thread as it would cram it up a lot. Thanks for any work you do in advance.
I have a question, are you strictly creating these as you would a player character? Or can I build the stats and powers as would best make the monster? Because I feel like certain creatures would have access to different powers or attribute scores at "x"level that is nonparallel to PC’s…
I use the simple NPC rules and give abilities and stats as needed. SRD page. scroll down for NPCS
As long as they are not to powerful for their level its all good. and other people will usually chime in with thoughts.
Point of clarification: that’s not the SRD, but you’re better off using that page anyway because the SRD hasn’t been updated to the print version of the rules yet.
But yeah, you’re better off using the simple build rules for monsters rather than creating full new characters. I’d only use a full build for important allies or enemies that are supposed to be comparable to the players. For anything else, there’s no reason to restrict yourself to a set number of feats or attribute points; just compare attributes and defenses to the simple build table, and maybe tweak it up or down a level if you’re using a lot/few feats.
the issue with that system is an easy encounter between 4 lvl1 adventures would be say 2 lvl one goblins… which just doesn’t feel right, for me goblins are weakfish gang type things so 4 players should be taking on 5 or 6 goblins which doesn’t really fit in this system of npc creation, its just the way they break it down it turns encounters into rigid number sets
Also, the simple build is just a suggestion for you to use. Different play styles of the players will cause that to be different. The more you use it, the more you’ll be able to tweak it for your players to fit.
I’ve never been one to use “CR” calculations even in DnD, I usually make a creature that makes sense for the area and encounter and use them like that. I follow this the most when creating a simple NPC: Cheat sheets/DM screens?
And of course, for a complex, I usually make it a level that feels right compared to the players with potential minions or other NPC to balance out the action economy.
That entire section of the rules is all suggestions, it’s there to give you something to base your estimations of difficulty on rather than forcing you to guess how hard an encounter will be. It’s expected that a more experienced GM will be able to get a “feel” for encounters that can’t easily be quantified or explained. It depends heavily on the feats of the party and the enemies in question, as well as factors like tactics, the battlefield and any items the party has.
@Great_Moustache is right though, you can easily do the “hoards of goblins” encounter using minions, though you should be wary of using too many or action economy and explosion statistics will make it harder than you expect.
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