Earlier this month, Geek Native had a first look at the Deck of Holding from LunaBear Games. We got that ahead of the Kickstarter, which is now live and through its funding goal, and so let’s take a look at that too!
There are about 100 backers, and the Kickstarter runs until November 6th. On offer are gorgeous cards, with human-made art, that provide stats for monsters and some NPCs.
Let’s focus on monsters, and Tom Gilbert of LunaBear has agreed to share some of his wisdom on monsters with us. Okay, we landed this guest post as the Kickstarter is live ,but it feels timely for Halloween because we get to talk about scary D&D monsters.
Scary D&D monsters
By Tom Gilbert.
The beast is immense in size, dark of hide, and rough as stone. Its head is vast, its eyes small, and its ears broad and pendulous like a drake’s wing. From its face extends a long, serpent-like limb and long teeth that shine like horns of bone, and its cry blares like a trumpet of brass. Its legs are pillars, and when it walks, the flesh upon them trembles like water in a bowl while the earth shakes beneath its tread.
Hi, I’m Tom, the creator behind LunaBear Games and today I’m talking monster descriptions, demonstrating how much more powerful words are than simply showing artwork or miniatures to your players.
You may have guessed it, but that description is of an elephant. I built it by piecing together real historical accounts from ancient people seeing elephants for the first time. Imagine their terror and wonder, and perhaps even more fascinating, imagine the people back home hearing those reports second-hand and trying to picture the creature in their minds. This is the perfect real-world example of descriptions turning something mundane into something magical.
What Actually Is a Monster?
Before we can describe them effectively, it helps to understand what a monster really is.
Monsters don’t exist in the dark woods, in your wardrobe, or under your bed. Monsters aren’t lying in wait under bridges, and they’re not hiding in caves until the sun goes down. Monsters only exist in one place, and that’s in your mind. Once you know what a monster looks like, where it lives and how it acts, it ceases to be a monster and instead becomes tangible and real.
The creatures that exist in the D&D world are also not monsters, at least not from the perspective of the people that live there. Instead, they’re naturally-occurring, living entities, or as we usually call them – animals, creatures, beasts, critters, or collectively – wildlife. So yes, to us, the book is called the Monster Manual, but to the inhabitants of the D&D world, it’s more of an encyclopaedia of nature. Volo’s Guide to Monsters? I don’t think so. Volo’s Guide to Flora and Fauna? That’s more like it.
Why This Perspective Matters
Why does this understanding help us with running our D&D games? Well, it does three things.
- Descriptions keep the images in the minds of our players and stops the monsters from turning back into run-of-the-mill creatures. This trick is used copiously in horror movies to great effect. Despite being a visual medium, the best horror movies keep the tension by not fully showing the monster. You may notice that once you’ve seen the monster, it loses part of what makes it so scary.
- Mystery restores meaningful choice. If you tell the players they’re facing a troll, the veterans immediately reach for fire spells. The mystery is gone, and with it, real decision-making. But if you describe a long-limbed creature regenerating as its wounds close, your players will have to experiment — and that’s when gameplay gets interesting.
- And finally, it keeps classic monsters fresh. It’ll allow long-time players to rediscover their favourite monsters, and for new players it’ll give them that sense of wonder, as if they’re truly seeing these creatures for the first time.
How to Do It
When coming up with the description, there are two avenues to consider: narrative and mechanical. We need to describe the monster to create an image in the player’s mind, and we need to describe the monster so the players can figure out how it affects the play space or how it may affect the characters that interact with it.
For the narrative aspects, we want a four-dimensional description that invokes the senses and emotions of our players. Describe the features that are the most noticeable first and work your way down to the smaller details. Keep the 5 senses in your mind: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. They may hear the creature first before they see it. They may even smell the creature before they see it. Thanks to the occurrence of magic in the world, could they even taste the monster before they see it? But a description of how you sense this creature each will add a new dimension to your monster. You don’t even have to do every sense, just two or three of them will elevate a flat description.
For the mechanical aspect we can weave in game-relevant information, such as size and how it may be affecting the space around it. Game design theory dictates that enough information should be given to a player so they can act in a meaningful way. For this you just need to look at the monster’s stat block. Look at the monster’s traits and actions, as these are the features that will actually have an impact on the game. Does the monster have a stinking aura? Describe the stench getting stronger as the creature approaches, as well as how it is turning the character’s stomach, how it’s causing a physical reaction, as that’s an indicator that if you get too close, maybe it’ll have a detrimental effect on the character.
Example: The Iron Golem
To wrap this up, let’s look at a monster from our reference cards, The Deck of Holding. We’ll use only the information on the card to craft a description that excites and informs our players. And after some shuffling, I’ve drawn the Iron Golem. First make a few points that stand out in the stat block.
- Large size (between 8 and 16 feet tall approximately).
- -1 Dexterity modifier, so it has slow reactions.
- Made of iron and has AC 20.
- Fire absorption, and fire based attacks.
- Bladed Arm attack.
- Poison breath.
Heavy footfalls shake the ground as a towering, steel-bodied figure – 15 feet tall – rounds the corner. The squeal of metal-on-metal echoing through the dungeon with each laboured movement. The glow of an inner flame flickers between the joints of its armour plating while thick purple vapour hisses from the gaping vent in place of a mouth. It stares at you with lifeless empty eye sockets as it raises its bladed arm.”
Bringing It Home
For your next session, try working this into your prep and see how differently your players react to the monster in the room. You might just breathe new life into old monsters.
Quick Links
- The Deck of Holding: Monster Reference Cards.
