Loremaster
Azure’s Guide to…
Unique Monster Creation
By: Jesse C
Cohoon
As you enter the The
Matchless Menagerie, Azure
sees you come in. As you wander around, picking up this and that, one old dusty
tomb catches your attention. Cleaning the dust off of the volume, you notice
the book is all about creating monsters. As you start flipping through the
pages Azure comes up to you and says “Instead of reading that old boring thing,
let me tell you how things are done. Follow me,” he says motioning you forward
to the fireplace area. Sitting down in one of the overstuffed chairs he motions
you to sit down across from him while he fills a pipe with tobacco. As you do
so, he lights his pipe saying, “So, you’re interested in monster creation? Ah,
being in the unique circumstance I am in, I’ve seen kingdoms rise, and kingdoms
fall. I’ve also seen one ring to rule them
all but alas – that is a different tale…”
Propping up his feet on a nearby trunk, taking a pull of
the pipe smoke, and blowing a smoke ring he begins, “There are a good many
things to decide when designing unique monsters. Now, mind you what I say
should be taken in no particular order of importance, because you are the one
who would be making the monster – and it should be one that you want to make.
“To make it easier on yourself, you might want to
consider simply capturing existing
monsters and altering them to suit your needs. At one level you can train the
monsters to be smarter, more skilled, faster, better fighters, and so on. At
another level you can increase or decrease their size, give them alternative
shapes, and give them different ways of moving. At a third level you can give
them more limbs, increase movement, give them the ability to move in different
ways, give them abilities that none of their kind has, give them character
levels, give them the ability to cast spells and more. Depending on the level
of change you want to elicit will depend whether you need the whole creature or
just parts such as bone, blood, or fur. Other times you might need two live
specimens to allow them to mate. Each of these changes will alter how easy a
monster is to defeat.”
Adjusting himself in the chair, taking another puff of smoke,
Azure continues with his narrative, “If you don’t decide to do that, you’ve got
a fair amount of work ahead of you. First, you should consider why you want to
create it. What do you want it to do? Is it a guard for a specific place to
prevent people from going in… or out? Does it stalk people because of some
wrong done against it or those that created it? Is it to fill a specific niche
in the environment that other do not or cannot? Is it something that occurs naturally and up
to this point has been undiscovered? Or does it come out of an accident, from a
lab, through the use of magic, or some other means? Do you want it to swarm about where weapons
are ineffectual against it? Whatever its function is, should be a major
consideration in its creation.
“A further consideration why this monster is how it is,
is its appearance. Does its form follow its function, and if not, why not? Does
it have some skill, use of magic, or ability to compensate for this lack?
“Another consideration you need to take into account
when designing monsters is what rules constrain you. How does magic work? How
do the monsters move? Does it move along some surface, or does it travel
through the air, water, or burrow through the ground? How fast does it move? How
does it fight? How skilled is it in what it does? Does it strike with ferocity,
or is it more timid in its approach? What are its strengths and weaknesses? By
what means does it get them? Are its strengths natural, magical, through many
hours of hard training, through equipment, divine, or some combination thereof?
“A further consideration for monster creation is how
will it work with others – or will it? If the monsters are a team, do their
strengths and weaknesses balance each other out, or are they suited only to
sole combat? In the case of monsters working together in a group, you need to
ask yourself the following questions” Holding up a single finger, he numbers:
1.
“Are they immune to each other’s attacks simply
by nature of their abilities?
2.
“Are they able work around each other so as not
to be involved in “friendly fire?”
3.
“Do they have equipment which prevents them from
being damaged?
“Likewise, monster creation would be incomplete without
considering the monster’s origins. Consider the classic tales of Dracula – who
was created out of a deal with the devil; Medusa – who angered the goddess
Athena, Frankenstein – who is a self-aware flesh golem, and Hercules – who was
the son of both god and man. What would each of these stories look like with a
different origin? How would that affect the outcome of the story?
“A final major consideration is where do they hurt? Are
they only seen as a monster, but wouldn’t hurt a fly if left alone? Or due to
some tragedy do they wish to inflict pain on the world? Are they forced to be a
monster due to the fact that they are in constant pain and only in causing pain
in others do they get relief? Or are they an escaped monster from a lab that
only seeks its freedom and whoever it attacks are simply in its way? Is it
something natural, and sees people as potential food sources? Or is it
something unnatural that uses people’s life energy to fuel and procreate?
“Other minor, but still important, considerations when dealing
with monster creation are its:
·
Appearance: what color is it? What color are its
eyes? Is the musculature right for its body? Does it have wings, claws?
·
Personality: How well does it interact with
others? What are its likes/ dislikes?
·
Equipment: What type of equipment does it have,
and why?
·
Treasure: What type of treasure does it have and
why does it possess it?
“Along the way, each of these choices will affect the
final outcome. Any questions?”
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