Book of Monstrous Might for 5E Dungeons & Dragons DnD RPG
Created by Brian Berg
An arsenal of new playable monstrous races, tactics and dirty tricks for use with the 5E Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game (RPG)!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Let’s talk Tactics…
almost 6 years ago
– Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 04:47:50 PM
One of the major components of this book is tactics. I want to level the playing field for monsters a bit, and one of the major weapons monsters have is tactics. But there’s a lot of new blood in this hobby, and not every game master has 30 years’ worth of dirty tricks up their sleeves. So we are breaking down the tactics by monster type and giving you some excellent advice to help you run exciting combat scenarios that actually make sense. Rare is the creature that runs willingly to its death at the hands of adventurers.
To that end I’ve enlisted the aid of a couple veterans of the hobby, who have wealth of knowledge in the game industry. Myself, jim pinto, and Skeeter Green will deliver some hard-punching tips that will help you terrify players, or if you are one… help you know your enemy.
Skeeter Green
Skeeter has contributed on several Necromancer Games and Frog God Games products as writer or content editor over the years, as well as offering behind the scenes help to his many publishing friends doing better work than he does. He is very happy to be a part of the rpg industry working with good friends, but is confused about speaking about himself in the third person.
Skeeter Green has been playing some version of D&D for over 40 years. After his initial introduction to the game, he quickly decided he wanted to be “the one behind the screen”. Skeeter has been running games for 30+ years, and thinks he has a fair grasp of the mechanics by this point. Enough, at least, to stumble and fumble into doing something he has always dreamed of; giving back to the RPG industry as a gaming “insider” and publisher.
Skeeter currently cohosts the mildly interesting Youtube show “Goddammit, Zach” with rpg wonderkind Zach Glazar. And, occasionally, Skeeter puts out some product from his own company, SGP. He thinks he has the best of the creative worlds in his interests, and lives by this game motto: “Use what works and throw the rest out”.
jim pinto may be a terrible person who weeps at night about font choices and doesn’t capitalize his name, but he’s still a 20-year veteran of the gaming industry, having written roleplaying games, board games, card games, a novel, comic books, and even screenplays. He's even won awards for writing, graphic design, art direction, and one dog show. His career includes roles in art, design, production, publishing, and writing, covering nearly every aspect of game design. Jim worked on numerous d20 products for AEG, including the World’s Largest Dungeon, and also the Legends of the Five Rings RPG before founding his own company Post World Games and working diligently on his own Protocol series of RPGs and more.
His company, Post World Games can be found in the links below:
Let’s Talk Monsters… Part I
almost 6 years ago
– Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 05:53:39 AM
Let’s Talk Monsters… Part I
Before we get deep into the monsters gullets, let me again thank you all for the crazy outpouring of support. This is a killer project (pun intended) and there’s a ton of great content and great folks working on it. But all that aside, we couldn’t do it without YOU. I mean that. I’m awed and humbled every day when I look at this and see the awesome project that WE are making.
There’s still a ton of surprises for me to yet unveil too. Wait until we break 50K… but anyway, before I get too carried away let’s talk monsters shall we? :D
This Kickstarter is about monsters, but also a lot more than that. It’s about new races, new monstrous abilities, monstrous tactics and of course, devious new monsters. I wouldn’t give you a new book about fantastic beasts without including them. Even better - at this point, I’m thinking we are going to crush all of our stretch goals, and so I’ve commissioned all the monsters. So today I’ll tease out five of them...
Note: I have a very specific philosophy on monsters. They don’t exist as HP and AC, simply awaiting their inevitable deaths by some young adventurers that have nothing better to do on a weekend. No. They are intelligent beings lying in wait for a meal. They want to survive. They have desires and instincts that drive their decisions. They are cunning foes that should leave a mark on those that encounter them, lest they become banal and boring.
When it comes to the actual design of monsters, I’m less concerned about making killing machines that can “challenge” a party, and much more interested in monsters that leave a mark. Sometimes that’s psychological… as many a great monster instills fear, not only in the characters, but also the players. Fear and wonder are amazing tools in any GMs arsenal. Players love it too. There's a reason horror movies are so popular. We like to be scared and shocked now and again.
I want to give every game master the ability to surprise their players with something new. Something dangerous, and something that wows their players. Now let’s take a look shall we?
THC Stock Art - for reference only...
Camazotz or Death Bat - A type of giant bat that uses its horrific screech to debuff the party. I love the idea of this swooping in on a party, its shriek so loud and terrifying spell casters have difficulty concentrating on any spells. Also, perhaps when someone is reduced to zero by this creature's attack it automatically fails its first death save due to the trauma.
Are we having fun yet?
Gloom Moth - The gloom moth is a type of giant magical insect with a skull shaped pattern on its wings. The pattern shifts as it hovers and it can create illusions. Imagine a small number of these using mirror image on a low-level party. It should terrify players, who will feel outnumbered and outmatched, unless they can see through the illusion. Multiple gloom moths could seem like a swarm of droning dark wings… But let’s make this worse. Let’s add some necrotic dust that floats from its wings, or is inflicted by touching (or striking) the moth.
Oh, and talk about spell components!
Sandshark - Technically a lizard, and not a shark, this creature appears much like a shark that dwells under sand dunes and appears to swim through them, leaping out at unsuspecting passersby. The visual on this is great, and I imagine players will react with some colorful vocabulary. Imagine the frills of this creature emerging from the sand before diving back down and tugging the legs of an adventurer down, trapping them up to their necks in the sand. The sandshark can then deal with any other opposition before enjoying its delicious wriggling prey.
Landshark…
Chatterbox - An undead shrunken head of a former spellcaster, which still knows some of it’s former magic, terrifying onlookers as its jaws clatter and clack incessantly. An aura of despair follows around this tiny rotting head. Anything within 5ft has disadvantage on its rolls. This also means some spell casters might use the rotting wizard heads as security, placing them at gates and in hallways. There are also, of course, chatty as anything, alerting creatures in the area of another creature's presence, possibly even with the message spell!
Imagine the fun that will be had when the players see a cackling shrunken head that gives away their location to the rest of the dungeon’s guardians!
Silhouette Golem: This construct is a free standing two-dimensional humanoid silhouette that can fold itself into nearly any tiny to large shape. Their attacks would deal levels of exhaustion and give disadvantage on concentration checks. Spellcasters like them because they are easy to sneak into places as a tiny square of shadow and then: instant construct guardian!
Such creatures would make dangerous spies or assassins, let alone guardians!
Alright, I had best not give away too many of my delightful secrets just yet. There’s plenty more to come. Comment below and let us know what you think of these beasts so far! Your kind words and support are so very inspiring to all of us! I can’t thank you enough.
P.S.: Don't forget to share this project on your own social media channels. Let's make this as amazing as possible!
-Brian Berg
Blammo! Hardback, plus More Monsters & Submit Your Own Tactics!
almost 6 years ago
– Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 06:37:21 AM
Man, you guys continue to amaze and awe me! We have successfully blown past our stretch goals and unlocked the hardcover. I'll have enough money on this project to successfully do a full print run of gorgeous hardcover books. I can't thank you all enough--but I'll try!
First off, I'll start by getting my team working on new monsters! We are adding a number of new monsters and content every few thousand dollars. This is your chance. We'd love to hear from you. What sort of great stuff would you like to see? We have the talent here, so we'll be sure to throw some of your ideas in the books. Comment below and we'll have some fun with this!
Don't forget also that those who back at the Wyrm's Hoard level are getting their chance to submit their very own favorite monster tactic for inclusion in the book! You can send us a short 500 words or less submission and we'll get your best monster tactics included in the book as a quote by YOU alongside all the other designers. How cool is that?
Please note, we reserve the right to change, edit and ignore nonsensical or inappropriate content. But we're all adults here right? This should be fun, I'm looking forward to it. Talk to you all soon!
-Brian
What an incredible start, all thanks to YOU!
almost 6 years ago
– Sun, Jun 14, 2020 at 03:49:58 PM
Guys, I'm absolutely humbled as I'm writing this. By no means is this my first Kickstarter. In fact, Total Party Kill Games became a real entity thanks to Kickstarter. That's why I'm so passionate about small businesses getting to use Kickstarter for what it's meant for. But I digress.
You guys SMASHED down the gates of Hell and helped us fund in half a day. That speaks volumes about what we are doing here. This is more than just a book on monster races, monsters, and tactics. This is about supporting an indie publisher. It's about being part of something--a movement. The Book of Monstrous Might is bigger than myself. It's already taking shape in incredible ways, with a list of talented folks and I can hear the rumblings of its stirrings and guttural roar. It can't wait to be unleashed!
We are dangerously close to making this a hardback book. I have no doubts that will happen, but I'm very glad that all of you wanted to see that happen as well. But there's a ton more we can do here with the stretch goals. We are going to chock this book full of amazing visceral dark fantasy for you to surprise and delight your gaming group.
Also note, that at the end of the campaign, I'll be reaching out to everyone in the Wyrm's Hoard and allowing them to submit their very own dirty trick or tactic for monsters. Most of those submitted will be added to the book, and you will be quoted as the author alongside the likes of all the other game designers on this project!
So let's keep this beast going. If each one of you can share the link on your social media page and favorite groups, we can blow through some more stretch goals with ease. You can also download the social media avatar on the front page and use that as your profile picture, helping us generate more awareness.
I'm absolutely blown away by the excitement and support so far. I can't thank you all enough. I'm still that 13 year old kid that dreamed of one day making his own D&D books. You all are helping me make that dream a reality, every single day. So let's raise the bar and make something amazing together! Thank you all again.
