On Mon, Jan 21, 2002 at 08:54:13AM -0800, Lizard wrote:
> At 07:13 AM 1/21/2002, Bryant Durrell wrote:
>
> >Mind flayers in isolation aren't a problem. If your mind flayers display
> >traits derived from the Monster Manual, then they are a problem. I think
> >it'd be easy to have a mind flayer sitting in a 10x10 room, but if you
> >have a group of mind flayers with slaves serving them underground you're
> >outside SRD-land.
>
> I don't see that. Evil beings with mind-control powers==slave lords to me,
> esp. in a typical fantasy setting.
One can pick at details, and I probably chose bad examples.
But do you see what I mean?
> This is, indeed, a problem, though not an overwhelming one. WOTC has done
> little to explain to customers the limitations of the SRD and the license;
> the public perception is, simply "D20==D&D Compatible, right down to every
> bit of accumulated setting cruft since 1973". There are solutions, most of
> which involve simply grabbing the reader by the throat and saying, "Look.
> The rules say we CAN'T use the Illithids, so here's OUR Mind Flayers. And
> you know what, chum? If you step back a bit and think, you'll see our Mind
> Flayers are actually *cooler* that WOTCs."
Sincerely -- I wouldn't want to try and sell that. I've actually never
noticed that telling the RPG customer what they /should/ like is a good
marketing technique (c.f. White Wolf's old Usenet interaction). And
you lose your network externality. ("Hey, the mind flayers we met in
the last module had /six/ legs and big spikes on their backs...")
What you probably want to do is use the stat block, rename the beasties,
and use whatever cool society you come up with. Which makes the mind
flayer SRD entry not quite as useful as others. Which is all I'm saying,
honestly.
--
Bryant Durrell [] http://www.innocence.com/~durrell [] 9/11/2001
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"I don't have to choose, nyaah, nyaaah, nah nyaah nyaah." -- Sandra Hereld
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