I remember the first addition hard bound AD&D DM's guide the same sort of way; the Cover just always grabbed me! I can even remember the day I bought it with my birthday money! I really loved the flavor text and stories from all the D&D books, I use to read them over and over again and enjoy them!
I think this is very ironic! We're bringing back many of these creatures in our Khor setting Esper! Interesting that the algorithm put this video in my que! Nice job Esper!
3.5 had the tome of vile darkness, the epic level handbook, and that sourcebook with the first martial maneuver types. Monster manuals are nice but 3.5 had some really incredible options for material.
@@ChazTheYouthful for sure! Also it was “The Tome of Battle: The book of 9 swords” that had the combat maneuvers, that was a great book and helped in some of late stage difference in martials and spell casters. It also had my favorite class Sword Sage that let you feel like you were from crouching tiger hidden dragon. 3.5 were good times, but soooo much math. The I found GURPS and realized 3.5 wasn’t that bad.
3.5 wasn't that crunchy, have you ever played Shadowrun? Even Pathfinder, "Math"finder, isn't all that crunchy. Call of Cthulhu has more math to deal with than 3.5 The ONLY things you needed to remember in 3.5 were simple addition and subtraction, and the rules only got really complex when you started messing with stuff like sundering items
Have you considered doing a top ten of books from earlier editions for taking monsters or for developing a setting? I'm trying to get some of the 3rd and 4th edition books, and a top ten for either list would be amazing.
First few books for 3.5:epic level handbook, book of vile darkness, book of exalted deeds, psionics handbook, manual of the planes, deities and demigods, players handbook, dms guide, monster manual (1,2,&3) fiend folio, ultimate arms and equipment.
Fiendish Codex Fiendish Codex II Denizens of Avadnu Bane Ledger, volumes I and II Creature Collection, revised Minions v3.5 Tome of Horrors, revised Draconomicon Lords of Madness Monster Manuals.... all of them.
18:00 I home brewed that those abilities only remove mundane/physical afflictions or low level curses. I treat magical diseases a bit like the Sanguinare Vampiris in elder scrolls; you are on the clock. Vampirism can be cured before a certain time or before first feeding. Lycanthropy can be cured by the base level remove curse as long as it is before the next full moon. After that, those kinds of curses move beyond the scope of the spell and it's a quest to remove.
Those are brilliant ideas. ❤ They scream creativity and adventure hooks. And on so many levels. Putting the afflicted into a stasis sphere because they cannot be controlled or they keep escaping? They're so dangerous they must be kept under severe restrictions? I like the idea of contesting the power of the curse with the mage or clerics level. A Greater Curse with a -75% (or -125%) penalty. In the old days, there were spells that could augment a mages spells. Maybe needing a rare component? Or needing 3, 5 or 12 mages to work together (with one casting the spell as lead) to remove the curse?
Fun fact: word "Lumi" means "Snow" in finnish language and culturally it's associated with purity and beauty yet without ignoring it's darker aspects such as freezing to death or getting a cold. 3.5. creature Lumi reflects this concept similarly. They are beings of positive energy, they are virtuous but they are not harmless, helpless nor merciful.
When I was a kid, I lived in a neighborhood with a lot of retired people and only one other kid my age (and he was a jerk). I was a big fan of DnD, but I had no one to play it with. I would save up and buy the monster manuals and spend hours looking at the monsters and imagine stories about them.
Since I play with people who are DMs in their own right, I may adapt some of these to 5e so that they can encounter something they are unfamiliar with!
After I listened to you discuss the Nycter race, I would definitely love to see you attempt to revamp the lore of D&D races that are underdeveloped or lackluster. As much as I love the idea of playing a rabbit person, the lore of the Harengon is quite scarce.
I've had Death Giants bookmarked for a campaign I've been running for the past two years. They fit perfectly with a characters backstory, and I stumbled on them by chance. Really does make you wonder why they didn't put these monsters into 5e.
I think the death giants have a good chance of coming back in 5e, considering they were in both 3e and 4e. Maybe WotC are saving them for a campaign module with a Shadowfell-related setting.
I’ve actually used a lot of these in my game (so they’ve been translated to 5e). Splinter waif was a focal point of a side quest of investigating missing orphans, I made the splinter waif a punishment of a fey warlock who ran afoul of his patron. Summoning ooze added a little bit more chaos to a boss fight and led to a memorable moment as the group feather fell down a corridor with the ooze on their platform. Dread blossom and night twist weren’t fully utilized but that’s because it gave the sorcerer to show off the power of blight.
That's really cool to read. Did you keep them close to how they are in MM3, like with the same abilities? Or did you change them to have a strong 5e style?
@@esperthebard out of curiosity, what would you call a “strong 5e style”? A big bag of HP with “Multiattack: the creature makes one bite attack and one attack with its claws”?
@@Ellebeeby Well what I meant was how 5e tends to shy away from giving monsters multiple unique abilities that are detailed and in depth. The 5e design approach is more streamlined. While it is not as extremely uniform like 4e was (thankfully), things get simplified and whittled down in 5e. There are exceptions, such as vampire, merrenoloth, draconic shard, and legendary creatures with lair actions and regional effects, but for each deep and unique monster, there are 5 simple ones.
@Esper the Bard My reaction to Marilith's 5e statblock (where she has Multiattack and Teleport as only aviable actions) was basically "Dear Graz'zt, what they did to you?!"
These are grand Esper times. One video after the other!! God bless you Esp! Great observation and thoughts given to each creature! I personally never got to actually play 3E myself. Mainly second and first editions. But I loved how obscure the 3E designs felt and in fact, I the MM and the Book of Vile Darkness just for fun :)
Man I miss the art style of the fantasy genre seen in MTG and D&d from the mid 2000s up through the early 2010s. That was the peak when it came to make gorgeous fantasy art, before Wizards made it so everything had to be so photo realistic. :/
Love that you highlighted some older editions monsters 2e and 3/3.5e had such a large variety of monsters to really throw the unusual at your players Really enjoyed this Cheers
what you can do with curse's and dieases\s is that the caster must have something that is related to the curse. example. a sample what the diease is from eg: death dogs saliva. or the a strand of a hags hair if cursed by a hag. this gives quests and things to do for your players as well. it also gives rangers a much more important job in tracking and seeking these types of things because that is what they are meant to be able to do.
Monster Manual 2 and 3 are by far my favorite of the 3.5 monster manuals and I highly appreciate you showcasing some of the best of what the latter book has to offer. I'd love to see your take on the second Monster Manual, as it has one of my favorite monsters ever; the avolakia. The night twist in particular, that's a monster that is so underrated.
Hell yeh! More Esper magic! Love these videos and would love to see some spell ranking videos or some more class breakdowns! Your opinions are very valued to a DM here!
Reminds me of Warhammer Fantasy/Age of Sigmar/40K, with the Horrors of Tzeentch. When a Pink Horror is slain, it turns into two Blue Horrors, who each in turn can be split into two Brimstone (read: yellow) Horrors.
I wouldn't be surprised if the designers were treating the Feywild as a catch-all plane to dump all the fairy and nature elements of D&D into. Much like how they folded the Domains of Dread (like Ravenloft) into the Shadowfell. Keeping everything within a limited number of boxes loses some variety, but it also keeps things tidy.
I like the idea of a Curse DC, but that like how a Cleric's Turn Undead gets better as they level up, maybe you automatically succeed in removing curses with a DC equal or lower than your level
I actually prefer they don't do an official release of any of 3E monsters for 5E. As a DM, I have access to those old ones and can convert them myself and when players run into something I throw at them that isn't in a 5E official release they say "Whoa, what the hell is that?". Which stops attempts at metagaming vs. monsters, and is the actual experience characters should have with most monsters rather than "Oh, it's a beholder, because I've seen them in the monster manual, even though my character has never even heard of them". They can expect a mimic (to some degree) but they don't expect vampiric flowers at all.
Have a similar table rule for curses too. Remove curse will remove minor hexes and basic curses but the real bad one's have conditions that must be met to break them. Example: slaying the caster of the curse. Or your classic fantasy/ fairy tail type rituals like the slap of a princess will cure the curse, or bathing in holy water at midnight in Hades. You gotta play with effects and conditions to get the danger across
saving this video for later for when I actually have time. Thanks for being the least cringe dnd youtuber and I'm looking forward to getting your book.
5:50 so true evil plants are so awesome.. this example reminds me of the Asphodels'field in old greeks Hades ,, the perfum of the flowers kills all your memory and past ...forever... that's terrifying..same thing with the lotophages in Odysseus''s legend... but the kid i have been reminds also of the.....WHEEEEEEEEEELED WARRRRRRRRRIORRRRRRRS ....LOL. =0)
I think the 'night twist' should cast Geas on everyone within the range of that ability (with a relatively low DC so it doesn't just draw everyone in). I love the idea of bringing these creatures forward to 5e.
It makes sense to me that most curses would be fairly trivial to remove for PCs because they are exceptional when compared to the common folk. If every curse required some monumental task, then the common folk would be screwed. However, i do agree that this nulls the challenge for the PCs. So i propose a homebrew rule: Dire Curses. Most curses can be wiped away with a spell or potion, but a Dire Curse requires much more to remove, like you were saying. Simply add an additional DC to the save or something to see if the curse is normal or dire.
I converted and used the Dread Blossom once in my campaign, it made for a fun hazard in an underdark segment of the campaign where my party got separated in a collapse triggered by an earthquake. One of the party members got lead into them by a mud mephit who would trick creatures into venturing past them for fun and ambush them.
Great video! Can’t believe Ted from nerd immersion didn’t mention any of these! He has the weirdest taste in monsters! Me and you are on the same page!
If it breathes, it can be suffocated and if it requires some form of pumping motion to breathe it can be strangled as well. Neck is an obvious spot for strangling, but snakes don't rely on attacking it to strangle it's prey.
No vermin lord is a pity, but he would be hard to implement and can be a bit complex, but adding more to their personality would be amazing, like as relatives of thri-kreen
I'm not as bothered by the idea of beast-people races. Though I agree that when you start including them, it makes the setting feel really crowded. Like, between all the possible beast people and all the regular D&D staples (elves, dwarves, halflings, goblinoids, gnolls, etc), it can seem like the ultimate kitchen-sink setting. Where do you even put them all?
A shout out to the MMIII Grisgol, a construct with some real character for when a wizard is crazy enough to use a captive lich to power their tower guard.
The cave fisher makes me think a bit of New Zealand's glowworms. They catch their prey into strands of slimes, paralyze it and devour it alive. The creepiest part? These are the larvae. Adults quite often fall prey to their young.
The positive and negative energy planes dont really exist in 5e. the DMG says "The Positive and Negative Planes. These two planes enfold the rest of the cosmology, providing the raw forces of life and death that underlie the rest of existence in the multiverse." They no longer are inner planes like they were in 3.5. They are just ssilly non planes that dont really get any info. so I dont think we will see any of the creatures associated with those unless they get reworked.
My favorite entry is changelings on pg 25 MMIII. Level mod of +0 makes them playable and there is just so much you can do with them as characters. I played one that was an actor and another that was a body double/bodyguard both were really cool characters.
i always thought the inevitables from 3.x were a creature that should have carried over to later editions....the idea of a visit from a mechanical being from the plane of neutrality who is there is ensure you dont break a bargain, and is perfectly capable of kicking your butt if you do just seems like a cool concept to me, way better than modrons that are a classic but just dnt have that coolness facotr like the inevitables.
With the Death Giants, what if the "Guardian Souls" acted like a perpetual Guardian Spirits spell which could still be temporarily dispelled with a Turn Undead.
As cool as these monsters were, 5e would most certainly not do them justice and just turn them into bags of hp with multi attack like almost every other monster
You really doesnt need a redo for all those monsters, its a d20 system, their all full compatible. I use pathfinder bestiaries from 1&2e and still use AD&D creatures with low to non redoing them at all (just adjust AC, and Attack)
The protean is really mecanichly interesting, but it needs a new look... We already have too much devil looking creatures. I love how you use vintage MTG illustrations !
Maybe keep the devil shape, but have them be bisected down the middle, each side two different colors. Combinations might be Black and White, or Black and Red. When the creature splits into two, they're each wholly of one color or the other. A way to signpost what has happened, or what _might_ happen.
I have done a number of conversions, such as meenlock, runehound, and yakfolk, though I haven't shared them online. In my book, there are also some creatures inspired by 3e ones.
Can I get 'Espers Emporium of Esoterica' in print somewhere? I see that your website has a pdf. Doh, Just had to wait like 30 seconds for the answer. I'll get the hardcover version when it's available.
Yes. I love his videos but detailed one creature per video would be better. I would like to hear his homebrew ideas for so much of 5E's cheesy nonsense.
I actually have a mini hobby of taking older edition monsters and playable races and updating them for 5E, so far I've borught the Tall mouther, The Hound Archon, the Hellfire wyrm, and many more on to dnd Beyond!
100% agreed. 5E sucks. I stopped in 2E many years ago. The Basic system had a lot of great ideas and Advanced was the best. Advanced didn't have the best art but the concepts, brutality, horror were unrivaled. The Dragon Magazines were always something I sought to get every one of.
I think that creatures like the Gimweird could still reduce player levels, just instead of them being gone permanently, they come back after a long rest. One at a time.
I remember the first addition hard bound AD&D DM's guide the same sort of way; the Cover just always grabbed me! I can even remember the day I bought it with my birthday money! I really loved the flavor text and stories from all the D&D books, I use to read them over and over again and enjoy them!
I think this is very ironic! We're bringing back many of these creatures in our Khor setting Esper! Interesting that the algorithm put this video in my que!
Nice job Esper!
3.5 had the tome of vile darkness, the epic level handbook, and that sourcebook with the first martial maneuver types. Monster manuals are nice but 3.5 had some really incredible options for material.
3.5 also had a crap ton of rules that made running a game like solving astrophysics equations.
@@dsan3516 not gonna deny that, I had to scale encounters to how much math each pc could handle building a character
@@ChazTheYouthful for sure! Also it was “The Tome of Battle: The book of 9 swords” that had the combat maneuvers, that was a great book and helped in some of late stage difference in martials and spell casters. It also had my favorite class Sword Sage that let you feel like you were from crouching tiger hidden dragon. 3.5 were good times, but soooo much math. The I found GURPS and realized 3.5 wasn’t that bad.
@@dsan3516 no , it didn't 3.5 is superior to anything that came after it in every way.
3.5 wasn't that crunchy, have you ever played Shadowrun? Even Pathfinder, "Math"finder, isn't all that crunchy. Call of Cthulhu has more math to deal with than 3.5 The ONLY things you needed to remember in 3.5 were simple addition and subtraction, and the rules only got really complex when you started messing with stuff like sundering items
Have you considered doing a top ten of books from earlier editions for taking monsters or for developing a setting? I'm trying to get some of the 3rd and 4th edition books, and a top ten for either list would be amazing.
Dungeon Master Guide 2 from 4th Edition is one of the best books I would recommend. Has lots of good advice.
That's a good idea. I just might have to do that.
I 2nd this idea!
First few books for 3.5:epic level handbook, book of vile darkness, book of exalted deeds, psionics handbook, manual of the planes, deities and demigods, players handbook, dms guide, monster manual (1,2,&3) fiend folio, ultimate arms and equipment.
Fiendish Codex
Fiendish Codex II
Denizens of Avadnu
Bane Ledger, volumes I and II
Creature Collection, revised
Minions v3.5
Tome of Horrors, revised
Draconomicon
Lords of Madness
Monster Manuals.... all of them.
18:00 I home brewed that those abilities only remove mundane/physical afflictions or low level curses. I treat magical diseases a bit like the Sanguinare Vampiris in elder scrolls; you are on the clock. Vampirism can be cured before a certain time or before first feeding. Lycanthropy can be cured by the base level remove curse as long as it is before the next full moon. After that, those kinds of curses move beyond the scope of the spell and it's a quest to remove.
Those are brilliant ideas. ❤ They scream creativity and adventure hooks.
And on so many levels. Putting the afflicted into a stasis sphere because they cannot be controlled or they keep escaping? They're so dangerous they must be kept under severe restrictions?
I like the idea of contesting the power of the curse with the mage or clerics level. A Greater Curse with a -75% (or -125%) penalty. In the old days, there were spells that could augment a mages spells. Maybe needing a rare component? Or needing 3, 5 or 12 mages to work together (with one casting the spell as lead) to remove the curse?
I'd forgotten about the Dread Blossom Swarm! That really needs to come back. Such a unique and terrifying thing.
Fun fact: word "Lumi" means "Snow" in finnish language and culturally it's associated with purity and beauty yet without ignoring it's darker aspects such as freezing to death or getting a cold.
3.5. creature Lumi reflects this concept similarly. They are beings of positive energy, they are virtuous but they are not harmless, helpless nor merciful.
When I was a kid, I lived in a neighborhood with a lot of retired people and only one other kid my age (and he was a jerk). I was a big fan of DnD, but I had no one to play it with. I would save up and buy the monster manuals and spend hours looking at the monsters and imagine stories about them.
Since I play with people who are DMs in their own right, I may adapt some of these to 5e so that they can encounter something they are unfamiliar with!
After I listened to you discuss the Nycter race, I would definitely love to see you attempt to revamp the lore of D&D races that are underdeveloped or lackluster. As much as I love the idea of playing a rabbit person, the lore of the Harengon is quite scarce.
I've had Death Giants bookmarked for a campaign I've been running for the past two years. They fit perfectly with a characters backstory, and I stumbled on them by chance. Really does make you wonder why they didn't put these monsters into 5e.
I think the death giants have a good chance of coming back in 5e, considering they were in both 3e and 4e. Maybe WotC are saving them for a campaign module with a Shadowfell-related setting.
I’ve actually used a lot of these in my game (so they’ve been translated to 5e). Splinter waif was a focal point of a side quest of investigating missing orphans, I made the splinter waif a punishment of a fey warlock who ran afoul of his patron. Summoning ooze added a little bit more chaos to a boss fight and led to a memorable moment as the group feather fell down a corridor with the ooze on their platform. Dread blossom and night twist weren’t fully utilized but that’s because it gave the sorcerer to show off the power of blight.
That's really cool to read. Did you keep them close to how they are in MM3, like with the same abilities? Or did you change them to have a strong 5e style?
@@esperthebard out of curiosity, what would you call a “strong 5e style”?
A big bag of HP with “Multiattack: the creature makes one bite attack and one attack with its claws”?
@@Ellebeeby Well what I meant was how 5e tends to shy away from giving monsters multiple unique abilities that are detailed and in depth. The 5e design approach is more streamlined. While it is not as extremely uniform like 4e was (thankfully), things get simplified and whittled down in 5e. There are exceptions, such as vampire, merrenoloth, draconic shard, and legendary creatures with lair actions and regional effects, but for each deep and unique monster, there are 5 simple ones.
@Esper the Bard My reaction to Marilith's 5e statblock (where she has Multiattack and Teleport as only aviable actions) was basically "Dear Graz'zt, what they did to you?!"
These are grand Esper times. One video after the other!! God bless you Esp!
Great observation and thoughts given to each creature!
I personally never got to actually play 3E myself. Mainly second and first editions. But I loved how obscure the 3E designs felt and in fact, I the MM and the Book of Vile Darkness just for fun :)
Man I miss the art style of the fantasy genre seen in MTG and D&d from the mid 2000s up through the early 2010s. That was the peak when it came to make gorgeous fantasy art, before Wizards made it so everything had to be so photo realistic. :/
Love that you highlighted some older editions monsters
2e and 3/3.5e had such a large variety of monsters to really throw the unusual at your players
Really enjoyed this
Cheers
what you can do with curse's and dieases\s is that the caster must have something that is related to the curse. example. a sample what the diease is from eg: death dogs saliva. or the a strand of a hags hair if cursed by a hag. this gives quests and things to do for your players as well. it also gives rangers a much more important job in tracking and seeking these types of things because that is what they are meant to be able to do.
The Kenku appeared in the AD&D Fiend Folio (1981).
Freaking great! Thanks Esper!
3.5e needs to make a comeback altogether
3.5 was truly special
Imagine if a new monster book dropped that 1.5-ified literally every past D&D monster.
Monster Manual 2 and 3 are by far my favorite of the 3.5 monster manuals and I highly appreciate you showcasing some of the best of what the latter book has to offer. I'd love to see your take on the second Monster Manual, as it has one of my favorite monsters ever; the avolakia.
The night twist in particular, that's a monster that is so underrated.
Great work esper. Thank you sir
Some of these were actually adapted for 5E in third-party material.
Hell yeh! More Esper magic! Love these videos and would love to see some spell ranking videos or some more class breakdowns! Your opinions are very valued to a DM here!
I'm glad to read that. There are a bunch of things cooking up around these parts, but no spoilers yet ;)
Absolutely quality video right here! I can so much use your thoughts on other monsters.
Lots if thanks from Denmark.
Happy Jul / Christmas :)
I would love to homebrew a protean scourge that splits forever, each new split halving their hitpoints.
Reminds me of Warhammer Fantasy/Age of Sigmar/40K, with the Horrors of Tzeentch. When a Pink Horror is slain, it turns into two Blue Horrors, who each in turn can be split into two Brimstone (read: yellow) Horrors.
5e hasn't really covered the Beastlands at all. they just keep making more and more stuff about the Fey Wild.
I wouldn't be surprised if the designers were treating the Feywild as a catch-all plane to dump all the fairy and nature elements of D&D into. Much like how they folded the Domains of Dread (like Ravenloft) into the Shadowfell. Keeping everything within a limited number of boxes loses some variety, but it also keeps things tidy.
Yeah… I wish more things came from a larger variety of planes in 5e, but besides that 5e’s lore is mostly fine with me
If you have an idea just home-brew it. You want it fleshed out? Flesh it out.
All the book lore is just to give a creature a rough sense of grounding.
I like the idea of a Curse DC, but that like how a Cleric's Turn Undead gets better as they level up, maybe you automatically succeed in removing curses with a DC equal or lower than your level
I actually prefer they don't do an official release of any of 3E monsters for 5E. As a DM, I have access to those old ones and can convert them myself and when players run into something I throw at them that isn't in a 5E official release they say "Whoa, what the hell is that?". Which stops attempts at metagaming vs. monsters, and is the actual experience characters should have with most monsters rather than "Oh, it's a beholder, because I've seen them in the monster manual, even though my character has never even heard of them". They can expect a mimic (to some degree) but they don't expect vampiric flowers at all.
The tree monster was the most interesting for me.
Flavor text is some of my favorite parts of the monster manuals, next to the art ha ha.
You should check out the fiend folio as well. It's one of my favorite 3rd/3.5 monster manuals
That's a good one too.
I wish my play group would take this game serious. I but you make a great DM, also im digging all the magic card arts
Have a similar table rule for curses too. Remove curse will remove minor hexes and basic curses but the real bad one's have conditions that must be met to break them.
Example: slaying the caster of the curse. Or your classic fantasy/ fairy tail type rituals like the slap of a princess will cure the curse, or bathing in holy water at midnight in Hades.
You gotta play with effects and conditions to get the danger across
That book basically has epic monsters before players become epic
We need more of these interesting oozes and plant monsters in 5e and in general in my opinion.
The Odopi is one of the freakiest looking monsters I have ever seen
I agree. It could be done in a darker, more horror style to terrific effect.
Nothing says freaky body horror like a monster that's all grasping hands and staring eyes. I love it.
It reminds me somewhat of the Unspeakable Horror of Ravenloft’s 5e setting book, but with a much more consistent appearance
saving this video for later for when I actually have time. Thanks for being the least cringe dnd youtuber and I'm looking forward to getting your book.
Esper really is the easiest to listen to.
I'm a geek myself but some of these DnD channels take it way farther than it needs to go.
5:50 so true evil plants are so awesome.. this example reminds me of the Asphodels'field in old greeks Hades ,, the perfum of the flowers kills all your memory and past ...forever... that's terrifying..same thing with the lotophages in Odysseus''s legend...
but the kid i have been reminds also of the.....WHEEEEEEEEEELED WARRRRRRRRRIORRRRRRRS ....LOL. =0)
Death Giants showed up in an Adventurers League adventure and wow oh wow did they kick some but.
That's cool to hear! I wouldn't be surprised if they make a comeback in 5e.
Some interesting additions I've never heard of. I'll be back to watch this again.....
I think the 'night twist' should cast Geas on everyone within the range of that ability (with a relatively low DC so it doesn't just draw everyone in).
I love the idea of bringing these creatures forward to 5e.
I'm in agreement, there's a lot of great monsters that can be used for 5e. Good video!
Strangely, the first image for the summoning ooze reminds me of Nightmare from the first Devil May Cry.
3E MM4 was my favourite. Especially the varag, Spawn of Tiamat (dragonspawn) and the zern.
These are some very cool monsters! If they don’t bring them back, I may have to take some off their hands.
I'd love to see your take on bringing these monsters to 5e - Creating Stat Blocks and whatnot
It makes sense to me that most curses would be fairly trivial to remove for PCs because they are exceptional when compared to the common folk. If every curse required some monumental task, then the common folk would be screwed. However, i do agree that this nulls the challenge for the PCs. So i propose a homebrew rule: Dire Curses. Most curses can be wiped away with a spell or potion, but a Dire Curse requires much more to remove, like you were saying. Simply add an additional DC to the save or something to see if the curse is normal or dire.
A very interesting video! Loved the explanations and i would very much like the additions to the current edition!
My players all know the 5e monsters so I love to go to the older editions and adapt stuff gotta keep them guessing
I great moment is when the players think they know what a monster is, then--wham! Some unexpected monster ability hits them.
Love Dreadblossom. a field of them is very deadly and if defeated leaves "clues" found on the bodies they were buried in for the PCs.
I converted and used the Dread Blossom once in my campaign, it made for a fun hazard in an underdark segment of the campaign where my party got separated in a collapse triggered by an earthquake. One of the party members got lead into them by a mud mephit who would trick creatures into venturing past them for fun and ambush them.
First time running into your channel, definitely got a sub from me! Loved that book!
Welcome to the channel!
Great video! Can’t believe Ted from nerd immersion didn’t mention any of these! He has the weirdest taste in monsters! Me and you are on the same page!
It's because Ted has a mild obsession with all things craps.
The Night Twist honestly reminds me of the False hydra conceptually
If it breathes, it can be suffocated and if it requires some form of pumping motion to breathe it can be strangled as well. Neck is an obvious spot for strangling, but snakes don't rely on attacking it to strangle it's prey.
No vermin lord is a pity, but he would be hard to implement and can be a bit complex, but adding more to their personality would be amazing, like as relatives of thri-kreen
Energy drain, levels of exhaustion, an underused status effect in 5e
I'm not as bothered by the idea of beast-people races. Though I agree that when you start including them, it makes the setting feel really crowded. Like, between all the possible beast people and all the regular D&D staples (elves, dwarves, halflings, goblinoids, gnolls, etc), it can seem like the ultimate kitchen-sink setting. Where do you even put them all?
A shout out to the MMIII Grisgol, a construct with some real character for when a wizard is crazy enough to use a captive lich to power their tower guard.
The cave fisher makes me think a bit of New Zealand's glowworms. They catch their prey into strands of slimes, paralyze it and devour it alive. The creepiest part? These are the larvae. Adults quite often fall prey to their young.
Remove curse should function like dispell magic
No. For two reasons.
1. They'll be nerfed to hell.
2. People are going to rule 34 or lay keels for ships.
Thank you will be reread my book for new ideas beside the ones you have already given me
3/3.5e just seems so deep compared to 5e, they just need to bring more stuff to 5e in general ngl
Would you consider a charater that doenst sleep imune to that nigthmare effect?
Makes sense to me.
I remember these monsters.They should come back😊
I gotta agree this was one of the first monster books I got for my monster collection
The positive and negative energy planes dont really exist in 5e. the DMG says "The Positive and Negative Planes. These two planes enfold the rest of the cosmology, providing the raw forces of life and death that underlie the rest of existence in the multiverse." They no longer are inner planes like they were in 3.5. They are just ssilly non planes that dont really get any info. so I dont think we will see any of the creatures associated with those unless they get reworked.
Among these I like the night twist the most. Very climactic creature.
This was my fav manual ever, this and libris mortis
I was hoping you'd include the Nycter. They definitely should be in 5th edition.
My favorite entry is changelings on pg 25 MMIII. Level mod of +0 makes them playable and there is just so much you can do with them as characters. I played one that was an actor and another that was a body double/bodyguard both were really cool characters.
7:35 image?
Jarl of the forsaken
@@esperthebard thanks, wanted to use it
i always thought the inevitables from 3.x were a creature that should have carried over to later editions....the idea of a visit from a mechanical being from the plane of neutrality who is there is ensure you dont break a bargain, and is perfectly capable of kicking your butt if you do just seems like a cool concept to me, way better than modrons that are a classic but just dnt have that coolness facotr like the inevitables.
With the Death Giants, what if the "Guardian Souls" acted like a perpetual Guardian Spirits spell which could still be temporarily dispelled with a Turn Undead.
As cool as these monsters were, 5e would most certainly not do them justice and just turn them into bags of hp with multi attack like almost every other monster
You really doesnt need a redo for all those monsters, its a d20 system, their all full compatible.
I use pathfinder bestiaries from 1&2e and still use AD&D creatures with low to non redoing them at all (just adjust AC, and Attack)
Esper, I'm your greatest fan.
You need to throw in some timestamps and crearure list.
Love and wishes, happy holidays
for Energy Drain would it just be a straight strength reduction on a failed save? can be reversed by high level healing spell or ritual only.
The protean is really mecanichly interesting, but it needs a new look... We already have too much devil looking creatures.
I love how you use vintage MTG illustrations !
Maybe keep the devil shape, but have them be bisected down the middle, each side two different colors. Combinations might be Black and White, or Black and Red. When the creature splits into two, they're each wholly of one color or the other. A way to signpost what has happened, or what _might_ happen.
The Vargouille was already added to 5e in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
And he mentioned a variant of the vargouille being added, not the vargouille themselves.
Correct, but not the shrieking terror.
List with timestamps in description? Chapters?
Good call. Done.
@@esperthebard sweet!
My players will be thanking you soon. Their characters… less so.
The help action in remove curse?
I really luv 3.5 e and I really hate when they come out with a new editions and they don't keep all the monsters in the new eddition
Have you done conversions on your own, just to share online?
I have done a number of conversions, such as meenlock, runehound, and yakfolk, though I haven't shared them online. In my book, there are also some creatures inspired by 3e ones.
@@esperthebard Cool. I find that kind of thing fun.
Can I get 'Espers Emporium of Esoterica' in print somewhere? I see that your website has a pdf.
Doh, Just had to wait like 30 seconds for the answer. I'll get the hardcover version when it's available.
I would love some minis of these creepy creatures to review on my channel and unleash on my party tehee 😅
Yes. I love his videos but detailed one creature per video would be better.
I would like to hear his homebrew ideas for so much of 5E's cheesy nonsense.
I actually have a mini hobby of taking older edition monsters and playable races and updating them for 5E, so far I've borught the Tall mouther, The Hound Archon, the Hellfire wyrm, and many more on to dnd Beyond!
+1 on that statement of D&D needs more plant monsters
Let's hope this idea *takes root*.
@@esperthebard Wizards of the coasts need to Branch Out a little.
The further back you go, the better the monsters become. As a general rule, if it was introduced in 5e - ignore it.
100% agreed. 5E sucks.
I stopped in 2E many years ago. The Basic system had a lot of great ideas and Advanced was the best. Advanced didn't have the best art but the concepts, brutality, horror were unrivaled. The Dragon Magazines were always something I sought to get every one of.
Dread Blossom Swarm sounds like a much more tangible predecessor of Elden Ring’s Scarlet Rot. Or like something Akiza from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s would use.
I haven't seen any news, how far along is your book?
"I think 5e needs more plants"
*What I've been fuckin' saying for years*
I think that creatures like the Gimweird could still reduce player levels, just instead of them being gone permanently, they come back after a long rest. One at a time.
Night Twister it’s the tree from lost children
I like alot of unique anthropomorphic animal races, but I play an offshoot of spelljammer so they make easy aliens.
I had the book, but I never used any of these. I’d like to give them a chance.
The first book I ever got was the Monster Manual from 3.0! 😃