You wrote: "The SRD is missing all the very valuable artwork and most of the background of the MM. Try to imagine playing D&D with the SRD, having never seen an illustration of any of the creatures."
Is that a joke? You thinkwe cant play D&D without descriptions and pictures? You have to be kidding. I can do that easily. Its called Original D&D. There were no illusrtations for most monsters. Here is the mermen entry: "Mermen are similar to Berserkers in most respects, but they fight at -1 on land. They are armed with tridents and darts (50/50). Armor Class is equal to leather." They dont describe mermen or give pictures. Why not? Because people know what they look like. So what if you imagination led you to a different picture of a merman. Or kobold: "Treat thesemonsters as if they were goblins except that they will take from 1-3 hits (roll a six-sided die with a 1 or 3 equaling 1 hit, a 3 or 4 equaling 2 hits, etc.)." That doesnt have any description at all. Here are hobgoblins: "These monsters are large and fearless goblins, having +1 morale. The hobgoblin king will fight as a ogre, as will his bodyguard of from 2-4 in number." Here is a cockatrice: "The cocatrice is a less powerful but more mobile basilisk. It turns opponents to stone by touch. The cocatrice is able to fly. They are not intelligent." These are the only descriptions of these creatures. That is it. Oh, and here is the mind flayer from Eldritch Wizardry supplement, where they first appeared: "These are super-intelligent man shaped creatures of great (and lawful) evil. Their heads most resemble a small octopus, with four tentacles which are used to strike thier prey. If a tentacle hits ti penetrates to the brain where it quickly curls around it and draws it forth for food. It requires from one to four turns for the tentacle to reach the brain, and as soon as it does the victim is dead. The mind flayer will immediately retreat if an encounter is going aginst it. Although non-magical, these monsters are 90% magic resistant. They are psionically endowed, however, having from 5-8 abilities. Their only attack form psionically is the mind blast, with a 6" directional range and a 5' radius; all within the radius are affected by the attack. Mind flayers have several defense modes (1-4), and a total psionic strength of 241-340. They speak only their own arcane language and several other strange tongues purportedly those of terrible races which inhabit the regions far beneath the ground" That was (c) 1976. Guess what, people played with that description of mind flayers for years. Here is the SRD description: "Mind flayers speak Undercommon but prefer to communicate telepathically. Combat Mind flayers like to fight from a distance, using their psionic abilities, particularly their mind blast. If pressed into melee combat, a mind flayer lashes its enemies with the tentacles ringing its mouth. Mind Blast (Sp): This attack is a cone 60 feet long. Anyone caught in this cone must succeed at a Will save (DC 17) or be stunned for 3d4 rounds. Mind flayers often hunt using this power and then drag off one or two of their stunned victims to feed upon. Psionics (Sp): At will-astral projection, charm monster, detect thoughts, levitate, plane shift, and suggestion. These abilities are as the spells cast by an 8th-level sorcerer (save DC 13 + spell level). Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, the mind flayer must hit a Small to Large creature with its tentacle attack. If it gets a hold, it attaches the tentacle to the opponent�s head. A mind flayer can grab a Huge or larger creature, but only if it can somehow reach the foe�s head. After a successful grab, the mind flayer can try to attach its remaining tentacles with a single grapple check. The opponent can escape with a single successful grapple check or Escape Artist check, but the mind flayer gets a +2 circumstance bonus for every tentacle that was attached at the beginning of the opponent�s turn. Extract (Ex): A mind flayer that begins its turn with all four tentacles attached and successfully maintains its hold automatically extracts the opponent�s brain, instantly killing that creature. Telepathy (Su): Mind flayers can communicate telepathically with any creature within 100 feet that has a language." Clark ===== http://www.necromancergames.com "3rd Edition Rules, 1st Edition Feel" __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
