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Eurotrash |
| 2022-05-31 |
Eurotrash
Monsters: Should be described, rather than referred to by name. Players will come to recognise different types of monsters by their descriptions and behaviours.
Monster and NPC game stats: The game statics (e.g. hit points, level) of monsters and NPCs should never be revealed to players. In combat, the referee should describe the effects of damage on a monster, rather than telling the players how many hit points it has remaining.
I just wanted to quote the first paragraph, but I couldn't resist quoting the second one as well.
I've named my new monster "Eurotrash", it's easy to describe, it's a list of monsters adapted from the B/X world and statted for our set of house rules "Aachen" and its idiosyncrasies.
"Eurotrash" because it's only monsters present or adjacent to the Carolingian culture Aachen targets.
There are no illustrations and not much description. The stats revolve around HD, AC, and attack bonus. Why bother? Why not just use a B/X bestiary?
Well, my main motivation is that Gary — freeing me from the forever referee curse — uses my houserules, and I want to give him simple monster stats, with saves, movements, skills, and abilities as used in Aachen.
I adapted the Markdown to HTML to PDF toolset I'm using for Aachen, and built a Eurotrash project. There is a core list of monsters that gets turned into the bestiary book, 20 pages approximately, easy to print, so that Gary can annotate and destroy as many copies as needed.
Unlike the ancestor, The Monster Manual, I want to point at the origin of each creature. I feel it is essential (and inspiring).
I've made sure not to include monsters built around Hong Kong toys. I was sure the Catobeplas was one of those, but I was mistaken and I learned that the Ancients wrote it was located in Ethiopia. Those same ancients have quite a few monsters with a petrifying gaze, the Catobeplas among them.
Skills, and ability descriptions are missing for now, but the core stats, including the baroque numbers we use for Aachen are present.
Maybe I'll included a list of traits similar to the one found in Aachen, maybe simply a sample of that list so that PCs, NPCs, and creatures share it.
We'll take care to keep the names and the stat blocks of our monsters under the cover of the Eurotrash booklet.
