Wednesday, March 10, 2021

A to Z Blogging Challenge Theme Reveal

I am considering doing the A to Z Blogging Challenge again this year.  It's been a couple of years since I have done it.  I was feeling I was alienating my regular readers with it in favor of people just coming through from the Challenge.

A to Z reveal

So this year I wanted to do something that any and all readers would enjoy.   This year I am doing Monsters.

The idea here is to give me some external motivation to get my two monster books done.

For new readers, there will monsters which are always fun. Since many come from the tales of fantasy,  myth, and folklore maybe there will be something they can use for their own writing or just enjoyment. For my regular readers, new monsters with stats.  I am also looking for all sorts of feedback on not just the monsters, but the stat blocks as well.

The one I have been using on my Monstrous Mondays has been working well for me, but I am sure I can tweak it some more.

The monsters for April A to Z will likely favor the Basic Bestiary I, covering all sorts of witchcraft-related monsters with plenty of fae and undead, but I am not ruling out some demons for Basic Bestiary II.

Both books will come in softcover (Basic red) and hardcover (orange spine) versions.  So they will work with whatever version of the game you are playing.  The interiors are the same with stat blocks designed to work with both the "Basic" and "Advanced" versions of the game.

Basic Bestiary cover, version 1 Basic Bestiary cover, version 2

So far Basic Bestiary has over 330 monsters with 156 of them complete.  The others are various points. 

Basic Bestiary II, Basic coverBasic Bestiary II, Advanced cover

Basic Bestiary II has over 500 demons, devils, and related monsters.

I am also going with my own compatibility logos on these since they really have gone beyond one system or the other.  They are still largely "Basic" in nature, but as you can see from my Monstrous Mondays stat blocks they have a little bit of everything in the OGC.  I am going to use this month to experiment.

You can see others doing their theme reveal over at the A to Z Blog until March 20.


8 comments:

Iain Kelly said...

Interesting theme, and hopefully not to scary! Look forward to learning about some monsters!

JB said...

Is it April already? Ugh...I need to get to work!

Nathan Irving said...

I'm tackling exactly the same sort of question: how to create a useful multi-system stat block starting from S&W. Your Monstrous Mondays block is VERY close to what I had in mind.
- Size is given twice; I'd just list it above ("Medium Humanoid (fey)" and consider moving alignment to the same top line, per 3e/5e styling.
- I'm going to give S&W XP and a chart in the back for the rest. Too danged complicated.
- Movement can also probably go hang.
- And long saves can be pushed to a chart.

Honestly, between S&W, B&T, Basic, LL, OSE, OSRIC, and the rest, it's half-bonkers. So I'm going with "S&W 'Enhanced'" to save my sanity, and if I survive maybe I'll add in 5e.

I also ditched the column layout.

Timothy S. Brannan said...

@JB, I know right??

@Nathan Irving, yeah I know what you are saying. I have been playing around with a couple of different blocks. 3e/5e does a lot of things right, so I am playing around with comparing them.

For XP I find OSE is closer to what I want with LL close enough.

Treasure Types/Horde Classes are still a problem.

Keep in mind, I am throwing my stat block out there for others to use, so if you see something you like, then by all means take it.

Nathan Irving said...

I can't post pictures here, so I messaged you some. Eventually I'll post excerpts on my blog, but I'm not quite there yet.

I think my answer to Treasure Types will be to pick a chart from somewhere and throw it in the back of the book.

JazzFeathers said...

Look at those covers! I'm already fascinated!

@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter - Theme Reveal - The Great War

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Oh, looks very interesting! I'm looking forward to read more!
My 2021 AtoZ Reveal

Frewin55 said...

As I am also trying to get a book finished - I will be watching and cheering on! Go Monsters Go!