Every episode, Bob retreats further into the wilderness. The sounds of civilization - planes, cars - fall away. Ruined buildings appear, already crumbling; unused for an age. Soon, he will cross the threshold. Also, great video and definitely implementing these concepts ASAP!
Great advice! I used the 'don't name the monster' rule in a 1 on 1 with my wife, and I can confirm it works much better. She loved coming up with names for them herself. I threw 'Grey Ones' from EZD6 at her and she named them 'husk people' and referred to them as such from that point on. Was super fun for me to watch her categorize the enemies. Did the same thing with orcs, (describing them like Bakshi orcs from the animated LOTR) and it was the most intimidating orcish encounter I've ever been part of. As it really should be, instead of the usual, 'oh yeah, orcs.'
My Summary: * Monsters must be mysterious! * Never name creatures; *describe* them! * Give creatures **two** unique traits. I would add that in addition to *physical* traits, like the ones listed at 5:40, *emotional* or *personality* traits can be even more interesting. For example, if the trait is "scared" then what could a troll be scared of? (there's always a bigger fish) or "protective": what is the chimera protecting? (it's babies / healing stone / etc.) Evocative advenient personality traits like those can make an encounter far more interesting! Making a creature "chatty" or "pessimistic" or going against its natural alignment can also be quite interesting. For example, in my Icewind Dale campaign, I took Ravisin's talking shrub and amplifyed its terror to comic levels with a higher-pitched voice and giving him a catchphrase of "oh nooo!" made him a memorable and beloved side character who ended up living with the dad of one of the characters.
"Advenient" 💜 Thank you for introducing me to a new [old] word! I'm so used to mangled misspellings in comments that I'd all but given up on unfamiliar words being genuine! Also, your shrub's behavior reminds me of Mr. Bill (fr 70s/80s Saturday Night Live) 😂
Monster motivations are such an underutilized resource, both for keeping players engaged, and for achieving ludonarrative balance. Not sure when ppl collectively decided that D&D requires story & gameplay/combat to be wholly separate - or at the other extreme, we've got the notion that every kobold needs a tragic backstory 😅 Ran an encounter where my players crossed paths with a double-pair of satyrs & dryads, all a fair bit above the party's level. Took at least 2-3 rounds of having the fae shout desperately at one another and front-line/back-line tactics before a couple players realized the satyrs were trying to buy time for the dryads to retreat. Think it took another round of telegraphing for them to pick up that the dryads were pregnant - lucky the PCs caught that clue, 'cause I had some nasty abilities setup for if the dryads were cornered 😅
One of my friends once told me, "Questions are more interesting than answers." Making situations that have your players asking tons of questions (aloud or to themselves) is a great way to keep 'em engaged. Great strategy with the "2 Things" approach. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, it's really nice that Bob gets out there and shows us more than just a bookcase of games behind him every episode. It's a lot of work behind the scenes and the effort is appreciated!
I remember an old TSR game called "Star Frontiers" which was a space fantasy RPG, and while it gave you a set of monsters in the materials, it also said that because you are travelling between planets, these creatures will not be found in other worlds. Each planet you go to has unique life on it, so each module had it's own enemies, and you were encouraged to make your own for your original campaigns.
Re-skinning or re-flavoring an existing monster is one of the most cost-effective way (cost, as in time and effort for DM) to creating a memorable adventure! And describing, instead of naming, the monster is always a cool trick -- something I often forget to do! Thanks for the video, Bob!
I learned this lesson years ago when I heard about a sci-fi cosmic horror campaign where all the monsters were Pokemon. Just Pokemon. Not even changed from the games, just described vaguely enough to not be immediately recognizable. I, personally, had not played any Pokemon games at the time, now had I ever seen more than glimpses of the anime, but knowing they were Pokemon, I was able to realize who the two example monsters (a pikachu, or electric ratlike creature with a mean streak; and a haunter, a ghostly, disembodied torso with fierce, hungry grin and projected hands, ready to grab, claw, or maybe bite the PCs) from the descriptions through pop cultural osmosis. (Apparently, the PCs of the campaign never made the connection until they were told after the campaign ended). If you were able to do it with otherwise mundane wolves, though, that's impressive.
When you had the page open with the tendrils i read plant next to it. I immediately thought of a plant like creature who has the recovering abilities of a troll but instead of having to use fire to stop the regeneration the players need to cut the aerial roots(tendrils) the monster puts into the ground every round. I hope i remember this because i wanna use it. great video and advice. thanks
I think it’s about delivery. If you’re hmming and hawing while you make it up it won’t work. That is why it’s easier for some to have it ready in advance.
8:00 This was so cool and such a great way to get other dms engaged in a new concept. Too many people just explain ideas and dont show what it looks like face to face with a player.
My old DM during 3.5 days described the monster without given the printed name. We’d play in person and he’d hide the name and stats while showing us the art of whatever we were fighting. Fun times.
Also another role for the beleaguered Ranger in the party-identifying and categorizing new monsters. When I was running a Chult campaign, I used random monster tables and effects in the DMG liberally to basically give the monsters unpredictable attacks and effects.
I can’t remember the last time I used a default stat block and described it as so. Even when I use what’s provided in the MM/MMotM (that’s a lot of Ms) I never tell the party the name, or describe them as the books say. My players failed to recognise even standard goblins due to this, and always the world feels fresh rather than just choosing a page of the book and dropping that monster in.
I had the pleasure of throwing a faerie dragon as a mini encounter against my low level party. It wasnt even a fight, all they had to do was give it a bit of jewelry as a peace offering and they instead chose repeatedly to antagonize it so they had to deal with an invisible trickster turning them into slapstick comedians for the rest of the day as they travelled through its woods.
11:18 i think the answer to your question is in your own script for this video. The players crave the unknown and the fantastical. And if it is obvious that you are adding random cosmetics to basic stat blocks to make them feel less basic, then there is no longer any unknown. Its like taking the mask off in scooby doo. You have to hide your process from your players. Its the worst part of being a GM is that you can’t ever share your process with them. You must be a black box. Player inputs their roleplay and you spit out a fantasy. Once they know how the black box works its no longer magical
Adding random monster features might work in some gonzo DCC dungeon, but I like my D&D ecology to make sense. I can't just add a mechanized, tentacled troll, without adding some sort of mad artificer/arcanist who is creating them and a whole subplot/sidequest around it...
I love this technique! I never use the monsters name, and I use whatever nickname the players come up with. For "recognizable monsters," I regularly describe it as a variant so it puts the (well informed) players off the scent to start. Great topic! ~Cheers
My party took a rest near a river once, and I improvised wolves that actually traverse the water like fish, having a fish like tail, scales but still 4 legs and such.
Sounds like a creature from a medieval bestiary. They tended to mix up which fossils were part of the same creature. Chimera-types were very popular on heraldry as well, both inside Europe and elsewhere.
One thing about the thing you say about inventing the monsters and their stat block is to "keep the mirage that the DM is in complete control" in front of the players. When I'm narrating a fight I adjust the HP, the damage, and even the movement, but I don't tell my players that. One of the most... dissapointing things I've heard was from another master that said "my monsters do'nt have a fixed HP, the monster die when the fight is no longer fun" and that to me really took the fun out of dealing damage, why would I care about how much damage I'm dealing if the monster is not losing that amount of HP?
I would modify that Lazy DM face with my hands. People want to feel the rush of making a plan and watching it work but the GM being like "Just waiting for Mike to get bored" to end the battle. Boring!
This is a really good advice. Specially the part where you say that whenever it was improvised it doesn't matter until it hits the table. That alone should save DMs tons of headaches designing encounters.
this is going into my playbook! while watching this I had so many ideas burst into my mind about these 2 details and how they might apply to a creature and build the story with players.
I have to say for a long time I mentally placed your channel in a very long list of "good RPG youtubers" but recently you've become one of my favorites! thank you for the great videos
This remindsme about the suggestion from the Professor DM of 're-skin' your monsters. He uses an Ogre and call it "Manskiner" and change koblds for human cannibls. Great video. those tributes sunds great. Thx Bob
I've done this for years and never let the players bring in meta knowledge the characters wouldn't know unless they have a character in the group that has knowledge of it like a ranger that has it as his chosen enemy or some background that would let them test their knowledge. The last time I did this I also had a Travelers Guild that would sell books on areas and basic encounters they could buy in most cities. It always made it a ton of fun.
DCC is the game that brought me back to RPGs in 2017 after a 20 year hiatus, and the ethos of "make monsters mysterious" was part of the draw. Between weird monsters, the dice chain, and the feeling of stakes, the game just gave me the same vibes I had at 8 years old. You know, before I read the Monster Manual and Fiend Folio, 100 times over and could quote stat blocks verbatim.
Wolves! Large talking wolves (wargs) led by a barghest chief was my favorite encounter. Mothership rpg leaves so much to the imagination when it comes to creature/entity creation. No one encounter is ever the same.
Basic thing I do with trolls. I always make it vulnerable to 2 things (such as fire and acid) but either randomise it to make sure players still find what to use exciting or make it related to the scenario e.g. its near a volcano so resistant to fire vulnerable to cold etc. I always make sure its a dmg type my player can get hold of in at least one case otherwise its not so much fun. I like it because more experienced player know a troll is affected by things but in my world its still a riddle to work out what
i recently ran my first one shot as a dm (long time dream of mine) and while it went well, i did get the feedback that i should show & not tell this video and others you make have been showing me exactly how to do just that. thank you
@@BobWorldBuilder but there are lots of companies that make fantasy minis that have no relation to monsters in the monster manual, or which are different enough that you can use standard monsters but keep the mystery. I need to get out of the habit of naming my monsters as what they are and just refer to them as ‘the monsters’.
This is exactly what we made the d100 evolutionary adaptations table in Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs for. Gotta love a random mutation on a regular creature!
@@TookyGno they might know the name of the monster but the description is what puts feelings to the monster. By avoiding a name and going for a description you can even put in unique details like describing a weakness that the players would otherwise overlook because they already know what the monster is
Describing instead of telling works amazingly well. I've been dm for 16 years and one of my players is dming for his first time to give me a break. He uses regular monsters straight from the monster manual, and it is fun for me to try and figure out what they are. I never tell the other players if I know, because even if I do, Ront certainly doesn't with his Int of 7. When I dm, sometimes I tell them what the monster is if it would be common knowledge, but only after they've had a chance to look at it. There is still the descriptive meeting. If a player rolls well on their applicable knowledge check, I might tell them the name of an unusual creature along with some information. If they really rock the check I'll even hand them the monster manual for a few seconds. This works really well for "book smart" characters to roll play their encyclopedic knowledge. The add two suggestion is fantastic, and one I will probably use in the future, especially in areas with wild magic or some such. My usual route is to add setting appropriate templates (I play 3.5 but you could easily use them in other additions/games). Are the players being sent to investigate a troll lair? Have some of the wolves have weird growths from that time they attacked and ate part of the troll. The trolls regeneration transformed the wolves and now they have the half troll template. It will be new and interesting to the players to fight wolves with regeneration that can only be killed with fire or acid. And it will be nice foreshadowing for the trolls later. At some point, I want to have my players fight a demon from the Shadowfell. I'll use a Balor and give it the shadow template and call it a Balrog.
This is why I appreciate the game systems which include a long separate list of monster abilities. Those which you can easily drop in or swap out with the included monsters in the book. Sure, you can do that by flipping around to other monsters and pillaging those, but it's more of a pain to find what you want and you're bouncing back & forth. I'll take the menu, thank you! 👍 The most recent one I picked up which does this is WFRP. Quite handy.
Great suggestions! A very similar technique that's been well received by my players is re-skinning a monster as a different animal while keeping the original stats. For example, I once had a party traveling through a forest ambushed by lemurs in the trees, and they were shocked to discover the lemurs had a paralyzing bite! It was just the cockatrice stat block, and they "flew" by jumping and swinging through the branches. Tons of monsters are based on real-world animals but most real-world animals don't have a monster based on them! That makes for millions of possible "new" monsters just by swapping out the base.
I agree that nothing is true at the table until it is spoken and that improvised details can be just as (or more) true-feeling as pre-written ones; I think the key to that is writing down your improvised details, allowing players to improvise actions based on them, and calling them back later. A detail you know is meaningless feels meaningless, and if your improvised details never become meaningful to the players, they will learn to discount things they believe are improvised. Also, thanks for continuing to be perhaps the best ambassador of old school ideas to modern players; lots of good presenters out there, but most seem so aligned with the OSR community they have difficulty reaching newer hobbyists where they're at.
This is something I just discovered I have issues - I accidentally say the monster name or VTT spoils it. Or even spoil monsters feature - mummy rot = curse. This is what I want to work with and seems you have provided me easy to use tool. Thanks a lot!
I can't speak for all VTTs but in Foundry there are ways to hide the monster names. The tokens, however, are a harder sell. My gnolls still look like gnolls, no matter how much I describe them as robots with dog heads.
Completely agree with what you've said about the value of mystery. The tables you've created are a great idea. I've just been randomly flipping to a base inspiration monster in one of my books (or choosing one) and then randomly flipping to a core new/alternate feature inspiration monster in another book and finally, randomly flipping to either a secondary feature or ecology/sociology inspiration monster in a third. Occasionally the results don't seem to mesh, but most of the time they is at least enough inspiration to begin create an interesting encounter. When it comes to players asking if they've heard of or seen pictures of the monster before, sometimes I let them roll one of the int-based skill checks with their bonus action, sometimes with their action, and sometimes not at all, depending on what I've come up with for the back story of the monster and its rarity in the areas they have traveled.
In theory I like this idea of changing creatures and monsters. Floating wolves sounds really cool. In practice, I hate it. I was in a game recently where all of the non playable races in the game were created by the DM. No one could keep any of the creatures names straight. We encountered an NPC that we met 3 sessions prior, and had no idea what the race was. I was playing a Druid, and had no idea what forms I could take. It was good in concept, but pulled me out of the setting. I completely agree with not telling the party what a monster is until they identify it, but let them know once they do.
I feel like if you are going to do that, you need a codex of what the new ..creatures look like and whst they are. Like i describe a Diablo 3 skeletal mage, it shouls be close enough for you to get it
Ironsworn Starforged has fantastic random tables for creating weird creatures too. I just did a couple of rolls and I got: Herd of large animated plants, slowly moving across a valley. Their legs end in sharp claw-like roots, sinking deep into the ground. Grass withers and greys wherever they walk. A human-sized fish with huge semi-transluscent fins, inhabiting a flooded cave. It seems to graze on the moss and algae, but in reality it lures prey into an underwater trap. If threatened, it will sacrifice a pair of delicate fins, which can entangle its pursuer. Ironsworn Delve has a simpler table, that one gave me a large bird creature with insectoid exoskeleton and sharp senses. And an undead, dessicated snake with mind control powers.
Also, a key note about describing monsters: start with the more mundane details first, and work your way to the most supernatural/horrific aspects. It works *wonders* for building that tension over just 10-20 seconds.
I have really enjoyed the monster generator tables in the Shadowdark core rules, which function very similar to the method you are describing. Noice video 👍
For a hypnotic Chimera, I'd make the dragon head more like a snake and also make it the animal's tail. You know how they do that sometimes in Greek myth artwork. Then have it waving around like a cobra (a fire-breathing cobra!) behind the monster as the other two heads focus in on its prey.
Awesome! It's smoother when you roll the word(s) during prep and just jot them down, whether you prep the whole encounter or just pre-roll the weird features in a list.
This really got me thinking about just doing more immersive descriptions no matter what the characters are facing, even if we are not changing anything to a classic monster, such a reminder to care about the basics and what's truly important, this was great 👌🏻
I had my party randomly encounter some Triskelions, living beings made up on three legs 🦵 like human legs. Some hairy, some clean shaven or bare. They moved in somersaulting manner and tried to kick or knock over the characters. They tried to examine the bodies after the fight and they just couldn’t figure out if the things were natural, constructs, mutants, or what, and couldn’t figure out if they had mouths, eyes, buttholes or whatever. They still don’t know. They remember the weirdness and still mention it months later, and it’s glorious.
I ran a one shot where I made a couple animals specific for the region (a bear crossed with a porcupine and a goat that is part earth elemental) and after hearing about the bear they were determined that they HAD to find one before the one shot ended.
I love this! I just recently started taking Mike Shea's forge of foes stat table to easily whip up monsters without getting so beat down by the act of researching and laboring over encounter building, and I think this is the perfect addition for me to whip up fun monsters!
The two things I use to make encounters exciting are 1) stakes and 2) morale conditions. Stakes is “why the monsters or foes are risking their lives in this fight.” Morale conditions are “how much risk will the monsters or foes take to achieve the stakes.” Wolves may be starving, but if two pack mates die, they lose hope of an easy meal. Goblins may want to keep the party out of the necromancer’s base, but they’re getting paid 50gp each, and that’s about as much risk as they’ll take. The ghouls will consume flesh or die trying. If you have stakes and morale, every fight bets more interesting because now there are alternatives to killing. Maybe give the foes what they want or make them see it’ll cost more than they’re willing to risk if they fight. “Give the foes what they want” can be as easy as “leave the spider lair so they don’t think their eggs are being threatened.”
Great advice. The wind made it spookier! The creature you described I pictured golem-like; quadrupedal made me think lion feet, automatically. The heads I pictured blossoming in the middle of its back; a series of statuesque humanoid heads (in a Sumerian style) all facing outwards. And they had a beard, idk. You said Chimera & I almost spit out my tea
Love the video! And I had a great example from my session just the other night! My cyclops (which is an otherwise bland creature imo) felt super dramatic and truly was more than a stack block, as any huge creature should be lol. The party got warnings about a “great tusked beast” roaming the swamp and had been told to stay on guard near the bone charms, and gtfo if they heard thunder. One flattened camp and some hollow rattling later and they full on fleeing through mud pits and over fallen trees as these thunderous footsteps draw nearer and nearer. They hide and manage to catch a glimpse, only to freeze as it turns to look at them with a vacuous socket. Suddenly they’re piecing together that the bone charms are its territory markers and means of hunting, and they suspect their enemies may have taken the poor thing’s eye (not entirely wrong, but we’ll see how it plays out). All in all it felt really dramatic and I felt like the players were in the same “oh shit” mode their characters would feel, and all in all I just wanna share and personally vouch for Bob’s ideas here 👏
That reminds me of the blue orcs our DM used years ago. When he started describing the creatures, he described using everything we knew about orcs, but never saying they were orcs. Instead, he said these creatures had blue skin. Well, we all understood they were orcs, but being blue changed everything. It changed how we interacted with them, how hesitant we were, and no one started the combat until we were attacked. We were too shocked and unsure that we chose not to act. Well, in the end they turned out to be regular orcs, the DM just wanted to give them a new color, and that got us all wondering.
The "improvised on the spot is less real" is only valid if the DM doesn't or can't commit to it. If it LOOKS like the DM is making it up on the fly, that breaks immersion. But if the DM pulls it off with confidence and it's internally consistent, then it's all gravy.
It's not what the video is about, but it was pretty exciting when my PC managed to fail to get her subclass (she had to fight with her duplicate while blindfolded, and fell to the dice curse). It's pretty interesting when fail has story consequences rather than just being killed or escaping and using up resources
I once had a ridiculously fun encounter with my players with a trio of trolls based on the extra info in the MM description. Each of these trolls had eaten a fey creature and mutated. ones ears grew very large into butterfly wings and it could fly, another got the ability to teleport, and I can't recall what the third one had extra as it didn't last nearly as long as the other two...
In regards to the remark about whether a monster is modified on the fly or ahead of time - I think the only main difference it would make depends on whether or not the GM SOUNDS like they're making it up on the fly, which can be a little confusing if the information isn't presented clearly, or cause players with distrust of these sorts of changes to think that its being done out of some sort of spite of their assumptions and abilities. "What do you mean it's still regenerating? I did fire damage!" kind of stuff. Which, if you ask me, is its own issue. Probably distrust in the GM, assuming he's doing it out of spite, or the players don't like unexpected changes lol Most well adjusted groups, this is fun advice that would definitely change things up :)
Fear of the unknown is a powerful motivator. Give the players a bit of mystery, and their imaginations will fill in the blanks with dread worse than you could invoke directly. This is how I remember my early experiences in the game were, and to this day, I see it used very effectively in a lot of actual plays, even with experienced players. Don't give anything the characters don't know away for free.
I recently described a creature to a group of goblin who had only ever seen other goblins (and no other humanoids) thusly: It looked like a goblin, but was 2 to 3 times as tall, thin, and with smaller ears and pale-pinkish skin. Its teeth were smaller and blunter, and it had long, pale and yellowish hair.
The thing with "improvised" is that if this was done during preparation, then you probably designed the whole scene. Which means that any decision made by the players is, by default, a decision made "against" what was prepared beforehand. Thus, going left or right results (by default) in different outcomes. If the improvisation is done "on the fly", then going left or right doesn't mean anything (again, by default), as both paths are undefined until used. Which means that no matter the players choice, the outcome is actually the same. This is why I think preparing some "choices to make" before the session, complete with the actual different outcomes, and telling the players about that process, is important: The players know the choice is important, not an illusion, and know there's no fudging/improv involved.
Do I have to be honest? If so, I am here to let you know that I love all videos by Bob World Builder. He has great ideas which he turns into videos, which in turn give me ideas (which I hope are great). Thanks Bob, keep it up.
I always tweak my monsters so it's never the same thing as I play with a lot of experienced players. That and I LOVE browsing monster books. I have one player that kept having an expectation of the encounters and I kept telling him to not have any lol. It led to some very memorable encounters.
Having a party that constantly calls out what a monster is, I’m always looking to change or add on a unique description for flavor. I like not knowing, even if my players do. So I constantly have to change things. Adding reach for attacks, movement options, etc… Not every time, but for some encounters absolutely.
An insane encounter would be the "Not Deer". Imagine your party walking through a forest. They hear clicks or footsteps during the day. (If they try to look for the cause, the "Not Deer" will be hostile later). Then at night, they camp out in the wilds. Suddenly, a "deer" walks up within sight. A WIS(perception) check to see if there's something off about the deer can be made (DC 13). When a player succeeds, all they learn is it looks like a deer, but it's not a deer. The "Not Deer" will be hostile if the party looked for the cause of the noises during the day, or if the party will approach the "Not Deer" at night. If the party ignores it, the "Not Deer" will pass on after 1d4 minutes. Other cryptids can be fun too.
Another tip for GM's; adding a special ability to a monster will make it much more interesting. You can just go to Archives of Nethys and steal PF2e parts and add it to a DnD monster, or vice versa!
This is really good advice. Especially adding a keyword or two to change up a generic monster. I think Sly Flourish does a similar (but more mechanical) thing with monster addon abilities in Forge of Foes.
Random chimera chart: make a list of 20 ordinary beasts that live in roughly the same areas, and roll 2 or 3d20, rerolling on repeats. Combine the hit dice of the ordinary animal stat blocks (choosing the larger hit die of differing sized creatures), and bam! Your party just stumbled upon an angry bull spiderphant
This! Even if the characters have encountered a particular type of monster before and are familiar with it it's still more interesting to describe what they're seeing rather than just stating a name. Even if the DM names the creature after the description. I will also add that a player who "insists" that all monsters come out of an official rule book as written needs a good talking to.
💥 Bob's tables - Skrym (DTRPG, affiliate): www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/491943?affiliate_id=1987166
It's weird that searching for any DCC RPG stuff on "drivethru" gives ZERO results. MAybe I'm doing it wrong
I have been watching this channel for years now and haven't seen Bob construct a single planet.
That took me a minute
Long time fans know that my wife, Grace World Destroyer, leaves no trace of my creations
@@BobWorldBuilder worry not, I'm calling up my buddy, Josh World Saver
He is Union.
Slarty Bartfast
Every episode, Bob retreats further into the wilderness. The sounds of civilization - planes, cars - fall away. Ruined buildings appear, already crumbling; unused for an age.
Soon, he will cross the threshold.
Also, great video and definitely implementing these concepts ASAP!
pennsylvania moment
Keeping my eyes peeled for a dungeon out here! (Glad you enjoyed the video!)
@@AvonofTalamh He better light a torch and start the timer. He’s in the Shadow Dark, baby. Yeah!
Soon he'll be sending videos from another world, and instead of talking about stat blocks he'll be describing monsters first hand.
Great advice!
I used the 'don't name the monster' rule in a 1 on 1 with my wife, and I can confirm it works much better. She loved coming up with names for them herself. I threw 'Grey Ones' from EZD6 at her and she named them 'husk people' and referred to them as such from that point on. Was super fun for me to watch her categorize the enemies.
Did the same thing with orcs, (describing them like Bakshi orcs from the animated LOTR) and it was the most intimidating orcish encounter I've ever been part of. As it really should be, instead of the usual, 'oh yeah, orcs.'
Great testimonial!
My Summary:
* Monsters must be mysterious!
* Never name creatures; *describe* them!
* Give creatures **two** unique traits.
I would add that in addition to *physical* traits, like the ones listed at 5:40, *emotional* or *personality* traits can be even more interesting. For example, if the trait is "scared" then what could a troll be scared of? (there's always a bigger fish) or "protective": what is the chimera protecting? (it's babies / healing stone / etc.) Evocative advenient personality traits like those can make an encounter far more interesting!
Making a creature "chatty" or "pessimistic" or going against its natural alignment can also be quite interesting. For example, in my Icewind Dale campaign, I took Ravisin's talking shrub and amplifyed its terror to comic levels with a higher-pitched voice and giving him a catchphrase of "oh nooo!" made him a memorable and beloved side character who ended up living with the dad of one of the characters.
"Advenient" 💜 Thank you for introducing me to a new [old] word! I'm so used to mangled misspellings in comments that I'd all but given up on unfamiliar words being genuine!
Also, your shrub's behavior reminds me of Mr. Bill (fr 70s/80s Saturday Night Live) 😂
Monster motivations are such an underutilized resource, both for keeping players engaged, and for achieving ludonarrative balance. Not sure when ppl collectively decided that D&D requires story & gameplay/combat to be wholly separate - or at the other extreme, we've got the notion that every kobold needs a tragic backstory 😅
Ran an encounter where my players crossed paths with a double-pair of satyrs & dryads, all a fair bit above the party's level. Took at least 2-3 rounds of having the fae shout desperately at one another and front-line/back-line tactics before a couple players realized the satyrs were trying to buy time for the dryads to retreat. Think it took another round of telegraphing for them to pick up that the dryads were pregnant - lucky the PCs caught that clue, 'cause I had some nasty abilities setup for if the dryads were cornered 😅
So basically turn your brain on for more then 3 seconds and just have some fun? 😂
Jokes aside. Makes sense. Really all you got to do is tweak abit.
emotional traits! thats a good idea!
One of my friends once told me, "Questions are more interesting than answers." Making situations that have your players asking tons of questions (aloud or to themselves) is a great way to keep 'em engaged. Great strategy with the "2 Things" approach. Thanks for sharing.
Your friend was 100% right!
Yeah, it's really nice that Bob gets out there and shows us more than just a bookcase of games behind him every episode. It's a lot of work behind the scenes and the effort is appreciated!
I remember an old TSR game called "Star Frontiers" which was a space fantasy RPG, and while it gave you a set of monsters in the materials, it also said that because you are travelling between planets, these creatures will not be found in other worlds. Each planet you go to has unique life on it, so each module had it's own enemies, and you were encouraged to make your own for your original campaigns.
Re-skinning or re-flavoring an existing monster is one of the most cost-effective way (cost, as in time and effort for DM) to creating a memorable adventure! And describing, instead of naming, the monster is always a cool trick -- something I often forget to do!
Thanks for the video, Bob!
Glad you agree! Thanks for commenting
If they name it something else, you can always reuse the same monster, with emphasis on some of its other traits. See if the players catch on
I learned this lesson years ago when I heard about a sci-fi cosmic horror campaign where all the monsters were Pokemon. Just Pokemon. Not even changed from the games, just described vaguely enough to not be immediately recognizable. I, personally, had not played any Pokemon games at the time, now had I ever seen more than glimpses of the anime, but knowing they were Pokemon, I was able to realize who the two example monsters (a pikachu, or electric ratlike creature with a mean streak; and a haunter, a ghostly, disembodied torso with fierce, hungry grin and projected hands, ready to grab, claw, or maybe bite the PCs) from the descriptions through pop cultural osmosis.
(Apparently, the PCs of the campaign never made the connection until they were told after the campaign ended).
If you were able to do it with otherwise mundane wolves, though, that's impressive.
When you had the page open with the tendrils i read plant next to it. I immediately thought of a plant like creature who has the recovering abilities of a troll but instead of having to use fire to stop the regeneration the players need to cut the aerial roots(tendrils) the monster puts into the ground every round. I hope i remember this because i wanna use it. great video and advice. thanks
That's awesome! Hopefully the comment helps you remember :)
For the record: the outdoor noise does not bother me, I actually like that you're outdoors!
I think it’s about delivery. If you’re hmming and hawing while you make it up it won’t work. That is why it’s easier for some to have it ready in advance.
Agreed!
8:00 This was so cool and such a great way to get other dms engaged in a new concept. Too many people just explain ideas and dont show what it looks like face to face with a player.
My old DM during 3.5 days described the monster without given the printed name. We’d play in person and he’d hide the name and stats while showing us the art of whatever we were fighting. Fun times.
Also another role for the beleaguered Ranger in the party-identifying and categorizing new monsters. When I was running a Chult campaign, I used random monster tables and effects in the DMG liberally to basically give the monsters unpredictable attacks and effects.
Great idea!
I can’t remember the last time I used a default stat block and described it as so. Even when I use what’s provided in the MM/MMotM (that’s a lot of Ms) I never tell the party the name, or describe them as the books say. My players failed to recognise even standard goblins due to this, and always the world feels fresh rather than just choosing a page of the book and dropping that monster in.
Wonderful!
I had the pleasure of throwing a faerie dragon as a mini encounter against my low level party. It wasnt even a fight, all they had to do was give it a bit of jewelry as a peace offering and they instead chose repeatedly to antagonize it so they had to deal with an invisible trickster turning them into slapstick comedians for the rest of the day as they travelled through its woods.
Bob and his environment in this video are one of my favorite parts of The Last of Us. Stay safe, Bob. Keep your shiv handy.
11:18 i think the answer to your question is in your own script for this video. The players crave the unknown and the fantastical. And if it is obvious that you are adding random cosmetics to basic stat blocks to make them feel less basic, then there is no longer any unknown. Its like taking the mask off in scooby doo. You have to hide your process from your players. Its the worst part of being a GM is that you can’t ever share your process with them. You must be a black box. Player inputs their roleplay and you spit out a fantasy. Once they know how the black box works its no longer magical
Adding random monster features might work in some gonzo DCC dungeon, but I like my D&D ecology to make sense. I can't just add a mechanized, tentacled troll, without adding some sort of mad artificer/arcanist who is creating them and a whole subplot/sidequest around it...
I love this technique! I never use the monsters name, and I use whatever nickname the players come up with. For "recognizable monsters," I regularly describe it as a variant so it puts the (well informed) players off the scent to start.
Great topic!
~Cheers
My party took a rest near a river once, and I improvised wolves that actually traverse the water like fish, having a fish like tail, scales but still 4 legs and such.
Sounds like a creature from a medieval bestiary. They tended to mix up which fossils were part of the same creature. Chimera-types were very popular on heraldry as well, both inside Europe and elsewhere.
I totally guessed the Chimera. The '3 different heads' was a giveaway. Maybe put the heads on the arms like lion voltron.
Excellent idea! Now that's putting your heads together!
Honestly thought it was Tiamat with whiskers!
"What do you do?"
Me: "Smash the ground with my club and send Uni in to finish him off."
Excellent video Bob, I've always thought random generation is better suited for the GM's prep as opposed to on the spot in a session.
It's official. Bob is a Sith. Rule of Two you say?
You know it to be true
Nooooooooooooooo!😮😮😮😮
One thing about the thing you say about inventing the monsters and their stat block is to "keep the mirage that the DM is in complete control" in front of the players.
When I'm narrating a fight I adjust the HP, the damage, and even the movement, but I don't tell my players that. One of the most... dissapointing things I've heard was from another master that said "my monsters do'nt have a fixed HP, the monster die when the fight is no longer fun" and that to me really took the fun out of dealing damage, why would I care about how much damage I'm dealing if the monster is not losing that amount of HP?
I would modify that Lazy DM face with my hands. People want to feel the rush of making a plan and watching it work but the GM being like "Just waiting for Mike to get bored" to end the battle. Boring!
This is a really good advice. Specially the part where you say that whenever it was improvised it doesn't matter until it hits the table. That alone should save DMs tons of headaches designing encounters.
this is going into my playbook! while watching this I had so many ideas burst into my mind about these 2 details and how they might apply to a creature and build the story with players.
We just started a Pathfinder 2e campaign, and our first battle was, indeed, half a dozen wolves.
Which was still fun!
I have to say for a long time I mentally placed your channel in a very long list of "good RPG youtubers" but recently you've become one of my favorites! thank you for the great videos
This remindsme about the suggestion from the Professor DM of 're-skin' your monsters. He uses an Ogre and call it "Manskiner"
and change koblds for human cannibls.
Great video. those tributes sunds great. Thx Bob
Exactly!
I've done this for years and never let the players bring in meta knowledge the characters wouldn't know unless they have a character in the group that has knowledge of it like a ranger that has it as his chosen enemy or some background that would let them test their knowledge. The last time I did this I also had a Travelers Guild that would sell books on areas and basic encounters they could buy in most cities. It always made it a ton of fun.
DCC is the game that brought me back to RPGs in 2017 after a 20 year hiatus, and the ethos of "make monsters mysterious" was part of the draw. Between weird monsters, the dice chain, and the feeling of stakes, the game just gave me the same vibes I had at 8 years old. You know, before I read the Monster Manual and Fiend Folio, 100 times over and could quote stat blocks verbatim.
Yeah I think the beginner feeling that DCC provides is a big part of why I like it
Wolves! Large talking wolves (wargs) led by a barghest chief was my favorite encounter. Mothership rpg leaves so much to the imagination when it comes to creature/entity creation. No one encounter is ever the same.
Watch out for that bridge's troll Bob!!! 😯
Awesome work on this pdf. Gonna have to build a world with this one.
Basic thing I do with trolls.
I always make it vulnerable to 2 things (such as fire and acid) but either randomise it to make sure players still find what to use exciting or make it related to the scenario e.g. its near a volcano so resistant to fire vulnerable to cold etc.
I always make sure its a dmg type my player can get hold of in at least one case otherwise its not so much fun.
I like it because more experienced player know a troll is affected by things but in my world its still a riddle to work out what
i recently ran my first one shot as a dm (long time dream of mine) and while it went well, i did get the feedback that i should show & not tell
this video and others you make have been showing me exactly how to do just that. thank you
What brilliant advice. Now I’m trying to figure how I can incorporate this with my minis, ‘cos I love my minis.
Thank you, and great point! It doesn't really work if you want a perfect representation of what you're describing
@@BobWorldBuilder but there are lots of companies that make fantasy minis that have no relation to monsters in the monster manual, or which are different enough that you can use standard monsters but keep the mystery. I need to get out of the habit of naming my monsters as what they are and just refer to them as ‘the monsters’.
It's why I love using minis, that's what they see. Movement, smell, sound are for me to describe with words
This is exactly what we made the d100 evolutionary adaptations table in Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs for. Gotta love a random mutation on a regular creature!
Excellent!!
Never tell your players the name of the monster. Describe it.
Bingo!
Never? Is your character just ignorant about every creature?
@@TookyGno they might know the name of the monster but the description is what puts feelings to the monster. By avoiding a name and going for a description you can even put in unique details like describing a weakness that the players would otherwise overlook because they already know what the monster is
@@Taven03 I am not going to describe a grey wolf.
Describing instead of telling works amazingly well. I've been dm for 16 years and one of my players is dming for his first time to give me a break. He uses regular monsters straight from the monster manual, and it is fun for me to try and figure out what they are. I never tell the other players if I know, because even if I do, Ront certainly doesn't with his Int of 7. When I dm, sometimes I tell them what the monster is if it would be common knowledge, but only after they've had a chance to look at it. There is still the descriptive meeting. If a player rolls well on their applicable knowledge check, I might tell them the name of an unusual creature along with some information. If they really rock the check I'll even hand them the monster manual for a few seconds. This works really well for "book smart" characters to roll play their encyclopedic knowledge.
The add two suggestion is fantastic, and one I will probably use in the future, especially in areas with wild magic or some such. My usual route is to add setting appropriate templates (I play 3.5 but you could easily use them in other additions/games). Are the players being sent to investigate a troll lair? Have some of the wolves have weird growths from that time they attacked and ate part of the troll. The trolls regeneration transformed the wolves and now they have the half troll template. It will be new and interesting to the players to fight wolves with regeneration that can only be killed with fire or acid. And it will be nice foreshadowing for the trolls later. At some point, I want to have my players fight a demon from the Shadowfell. I'll use a Balor and give it the shadow template and call it a Balrog.
Nice. Templates are great for this sort of thing!
A werewolf enemy I had trained some wolves to activate ambush traps and fire specially designed mounted crossbows.
This is why I appreciate the game systems which include a long separate list of monster abilities. Those which you can easily drop in or swap out with the included monsters in the book. Sure, you can do that by flipping around to other monsters and pillaging those, but it's more of a pain to find what you want and you're bouncing back & forth. I'll take the menu, thank you! 👍
The most recent one I picked up which does this is WFRP. Quite handy.
Great suggestions! A very similar technique that's been well received by my players is re-skinning a monster as a different animal while keeping the original stats. For example, I once had a party traveling through a forest ambushed by lemurs in the trees, and they were shocked to discover the lemurs had a paralyzing bite! It was just the cockatrice stat block, and they "flew" by jumping and swinging through the branches.
Tons of monsters are based on real-world animals but most real-world animals don't have a monster based on them! That makes for millions of possible "new" monsters just by swapping out the base.
Two Things is not new, but Bob makes it better
I agree that nothing is true at the table until it is spoken and that improvised details can be just as (or more) true-feeling as pre-written ones; I think the key to that is writing down your improvised details, allowing players to improvise actions based on them, and calling them back later. A detail you know is meaningless feels meaningless, and if your improvised details never become meaningful to the players, they will learn to discount things they believe are improvised.
Also, thanks for continuing to be perhaps the best ambassador of old school ideas to modern players; lots of good presenters out there, but most seem so aligned with the OSR community they have difficulty reaching newer hobbyists where they're at.
I love ALL Bob World Builder videos!
This is something I just discovered I have issues - I accidentally say the monster name or VTT spoils it. Or even spoil monsters feature - mummy rot = curse. This is what I want to work with and seems you have provided me easy to use tool. Thanks a lot!
Ahh god point about VTTs! Some probably make it harder to keep things mysterious
I can't speak for all VTTs but in Foundry there are ways to hide the monster names. The tokens, however, are a harder sell. My gnolls still look like gnolls, no matter how much I describe them as robots with dog heads.
Completely agree with what you've said about the value of mystery. The tables you've created are a great idea. I've just been randomly flipping to a base inspiration monster in one of my books (or choosing one) and then randomly flipping to a core new/alternate feature inspiration monster in another book and finally, randomly flipping to either a secondary feature or ecology/sociology inspiration monster in a third. Occasionally the results don't seem to mesh, but most of the time they is at least enough inspiration to begin create an interesting encounter.
When it comes to players asking if they've heard of or seen pictures of the monster before, sometimes I let them roll one of the int-based skill checks with their bonus action, sometimes with their action, and sometimes not at all, depending on what I've come up with for the back story of the monster and its rarity in the areas they have traveled.
In theory I like this idea of changing creatures and monsters.
Floating wolves sounds really cool.
In practice, I hate it.
I was in a game recently where all of the non playable races in the game were created by the DM.
No one could keep any of the creatures names straight.
We encountered an NPC that we met 3 sessions prior, and had no idea what the race was.
I was playing a Druid, and had no idea what forms I could take.
It was good in concept, but pulled me out of the setting.
I completely agree with not telling the party what a monster is until they identify it, but let them know once they do.
I feel like if you are going to do that, you need a codex of what the new ..creatures look like and whst they are.
Like i describe a Diablo 3 skeletal mage, it shouls be close enough for you to get it
Congratulations on 200,000 subscribers.
Also what DCC?
Ironsworn Starforged has fantastic random tables for creating weird creatures too. I just did a couple of rolls and I got:
Herd of large animated plants, slowly moving across a valley. Their legs end in sharp claw-like roots, sinking deep into the ground. Grass withers and greys wherever they walk.
A human-sized fish with huge semi-transluscent fins, inhabiting a flooded cave. It seems to graze on the moss and algae, but in reality it lures prey into an underwater trap. If threatened, it will sacrifice a pair of delicate fins, which can entangle its pursuer.
Ironsworn Delve has a simpler table, that one gave me a large bird creature with insectoid exoskeleton and sharp senses. And an undead, dessicated snake with mind control powers.
A great quote I've heard is, "To be known is to be mundane."
I try to take that to heart in all my monster design, where I can!
Also, a key note about describing monsters: start with the more mundane details first, and work your way to the most supernatural/horrific aspects. It works *wonders* for building that tension over just 10-20 seconds.
The Bob Ross of descriptions!
I have really enjoyed the monster generator tables in the Shadowdark core rules, which function very similar to the method you are describing. Noice video 👍
Yeah the mutations tables work well for this!
For a hypnotic Chimera, I'd make the dragon head more like a snake and also make it the animal's tail. You know how they do that sometimes in Greek myth artwork. Then have it waving around like a cobra (a fire-breathing cobra!) behind the monster as the other two heads focus in on its prey.
Great ideas!
I'll try to implement this the next time i dm. Thanks for the great video Bob!
Awesome! It's smoother when you roll the word(s) during prep and just jot them down, whether you prep the whole encounter or just pre-roll the weird features in a list.
Great advice
This really got me thinking about just doing more immersive descriptions no matter what the characters are facing, even if we are not changing anything to a classic monster, such a reminder to care about the basics and what's truly important, this was great 👌🏻
I had my party randomly encounter some Triskelions, living beings made up on three legs 🦵 like human legs. Some hairy, some clean shaven or bare. They moved in somersaulting manner and tried to kick or knock over the characters. They tried to examine the bodies after the fight and they just couldn’t figure out if the things were natural, constructs, mutants, or what, and couldn’t figure out if they had mouths, eyes, buttholes or whatever.
They still don’t know. They remember the weirdness and still mention it months later, and it’s glorious.
I ran a one shot where I made a couple animals specific for the region (a bear crossed with a porcupine and a goat that is part earth elemental) and after hearing about the bear they were determined that they HAD to find one before the one shot ended.
Trolls were one of the reasons I started doing these sort of "custom" monster variants
I love this! I just recently started taking Mike Shea's forge of foes stat table to easily whip up monsters without getting so beat down by the act of researching and laboring over encounter building, and I think this is the perfect addition for me to whip up fun monsters!
Excellent ideas! Thanks!
The two things I use to make encounters exciting are 1) stakes and 2) morale conditions. Stakes is “why the monsters or foes are risking their lives in this fight.” Morale conditions are “how much risk will the monsters or foes take to achieve the stakes.”
Wolves may be starving, but if two pack mates die, they lose hope of an easy meal. Goblins may want to keep the party out of the necromancer’s base, but they’re getting paid 50gp each, and that’s about as much risk as they’ll take. The ghouls will consume flesh or die trying.
If you have stakes and morale, every fight bets more interesting because now there are alternatives to killing. Maybe give the foes what they want or make them see it’ll cost more than they’re willing to risk if they fight. “Give the foes what they want” can be as easy as “leave the spider lair so they don’t think their eggs are being threatened.”
Great stuff Bob, thanks!
Love the video. I feel like it's honestly gonna improve my GMing! ❤
Great advice. The wind made it spookier! The creature you described I pictured golem-like; quadrupedal made me think lion feet, automatically. The heads I pictured blossoming in the middle of its back; a series of statuesque humanoid heads (in a Sumerian style) all facing outwards. And they had a beard, idk. You said Chimera & I almost spit out my tea
I like the idea, especially in a weird, mutated world.
I love that you have been featuring / calling out DCC in your videos!!
Love the video! And I had a great example from my session just the other night! My cyclops (which is an otherwise bland creature imo) felt super dramatic and truly was more than a stack block, as any huge creature should be lol.
The party got warnings about a “great tusked beast” roaming the swamp and had been told to stay on guard near the bone charms, and gtfo if they heard thunder. One flattened camp and some hollow rattling later and they full on fleeing through mud pits and over fallen trees as these thunderous footsteps draw nearer and nearer. They hide and manage to catch a glimpse, only to freeze as it turns to look at them with a vacuous socket. Suddenly they’re piecing together that the bone charms are its territory markers and means of hunting, and they suspect their enemies may have taken the poor thing’s eye (not entirely wrong, but we’ll see how it plays out). All in all it felt really dramatic and I felt like the players were in the same “oh shit” mode their characters would feel, and all in all I just wanna share and personally vouch for Bob’s ideas here 👏
2:06 - Oblivion Character, Skyrim Music/Inspired Book
Do you like to hurt others?
That reminds me of the blue orcs our DM used years ago. When he started describing the creatures, he described using everything we knew about orcs, but never saying they were orcs. Instead, he said these creatures had blue skin. Well, we all understood they were orcs, but being blue changed everything. It changed how we interacted with them, how hesitant we were, and no one started the combat until we were attacked. We were too shocked and unsure that we chose not to act. Well, in the end they turned out to be regular orcs, the DM just wanted to give them a new color, and that got us all wondering.
The "improvised on the spot is less real" is only valid if the DM doesn't or can't commit to it. If it LOOKS like the DM is making it up on the fly, that breaks immersion. But if the DM pulls it off with confidence and it's internally consistent, then it's all gravy.
The last encounter I had with any wolves… the party adopted it.
It's not what the video is about, but it was pretty exciting when my PC managed to fail to get her subclass (she had to fight with her duplicate while blindfolded, and fell to the dice curse). It's pretty interesting when fail has story consequences rather than just being killed or escaping and using up resources
I have used this idea before!
Awesome!
Beware of the Wind monsters! Stay safe Bob!
I once had a ridiculously fun encounter with my players with a trio of trolls based on the extra info in the MM description. Each of these trolls had eaten a fey creature and mutated. ones ears grew very large into butterfly wings and it could fly, another got the ability to teleport, and I can't recall what the third one had extra as it didn't last nearly as long as the other two...
In regards to the remark about whether a monster is modified on the fly or ahead of time - I think the only main difference it would make depends on whether or not the GM SOUNDS like they're making it up on the fly, which can be a little confusing if the information isn't presented clearly, or cause players with distrust of these sorts of changes to think that its being done out of some sort of spite of their assumptions and abilities. "What do you mean it's still regenerating? I did fire damage!" kind of stuff. Which, if you ask me, is its own issue. Probably distrust in the GM, assuming he's doing it out of spite, or the players don't like unexpected changes lol
Most well adjusted groups, this is fun advice that would definitely change things up :)
Fear of the unknown is a powerful motivator. Give the players a bit of mystery, and their imaginations will fill in the blanks with dread worse than you could invoke directly. This is how I remember my early experiences in the game were, and to this day, I see it used very effectively in a lot of actual plays, even with experienced players. Don't give anything the characters don't know away for free.
bookmarked it on Drivethru for payday end of next week
I recently described a creature to a group of goblin who had only ever seen other goblins (and no other humanoids) thusly:
It looked like a goblin, but was 2 to 3 times as tall, thin, and with smaller ears and pale-pinkish skin. Its teeth were smaller and blunter, and it had long, pale and yellowish hair.
The thing with "improvised" is that if this was done during preparation, then you probably designed the whole scene. Which means that any decision made by the players is, by default, a decision made "against" what was prepared beforehand. Thus, going left or right results (by default) in different outcomes.
If the improvisation is done "on the fly", then going left or right doesn't mean anything (again, by default), as both paths are undefined until used. Which means that no matter the players choice, the outcome is actually the same.
This is why I think preparing some "choices to make" before the session, complete with the actual different outcomes, and telling the players about that process, is important: The players know the choice is important, not an illusion, and know there's no fudging/improv involved.
5:37
Party: “We’re in the middle of the woods, what I wouldn’t give to play D&D, if only we had dice…”
Bob: “Hold my camera” 🎲
Do I have to be honest? If so, I am here to let you know that I love all videos by Bob World Builder. He has great ideas which he turns into videos, which in turn give me ideas (which I hope are great). Thanks Bob, keep it up.
I always tweak my monsters so it's never the same thing as I play with a lot of experienced players. That and I LOVE browsing monster books. I have one player that kept having an expectation of the encounters and I kept telling him to not have any lol. It led to some very memorable encounters.
Having a party that constantly calls out what a monster is, I’m always looking to change or add on a unique description for flavor.
I like not knowing, even if my players do. So I constantly have to change things.
Adding reach for attacks, movement options, etc…
Not every time, but for some encounters absolutely.
An insane encounter would be the "Not Deer".
Imagine your party walking through a forest. They hear clicks or footsteps during the day. (If they try to look for the cause, the "Not Deer" will be hostile later). Then at night, they camp out in the wilds. Suddenly, a "deer" walks up within sight. A WIS(perception) check to see if there's something off about the deer can be made (DC 13). When a player succeeds, all they learn is it looks like a deer, but it's not a deer. The "Not Deer" will be hostile if the party looked for the cause of the noises during the day, or if the party will approach the "Not Deer" at night. If the party ignores it, the "Not Deer" will pass on after 1d4 minutes.
Other cryptids can be fun too.
Terrific video, Bob. Yes, never just tell PCs the name of a monster they’re facing.. or tell them stats. Immersive descriptions. Thanks. 👍🏼
Thanks! ...though I often tell them the AC to speed things up, especially in DCC where they can spend luck to reach it if they're close
@@BobWorldBuilder Man, I have my DCC core rulebook, the big thick one, but I haven’t actually played yet. Dying to join a group.
Another tip for GM's; adding a special ability to a monster will make it much more interesting. You can just go to Archives of Nethys and steal PF2e parts and add it to a DnD monster, or vice versa!
This is really good advice. Especially adding a keyword or two to change up a generic monster.
I think Sly Flourish does a similar (but more mechanical) thing with monster addon abilities in Forge of Foes.
I love getting my players to name stuff and add to the world building. Great tips as always Bob!
Random chimera chart: make a list of 20 ordinary beasts that live in roughly the same areas, and roll 2 or 3d20, rerolling on repeats. Combine the hit dice of the ordinary animal stat blocks (choosing the larger hit die of differing sized creatures), and bam! Your party just stumbled upon an angry bull spiderphant
"oh no, this troll is constantly regenerating over top of hydraulic pistons some maniac implanted inside it"
I love this!! I bought the PDF and I am going to add the monster table to my Monster-Lab Chop-Shop process!!
This! Even if the characters have encountered a particular type of monster before and are familiar with it it's still more interesting to describe what they're seeing rather than just stating a name. Even if the DM names the creature after the description. I will also add that a player who "insists" that all monsters come out of an official rule book as written needs a good talking to.