Monsters

I love monsters. I love making them. I love reading about them. I love meeting them(though not for dinner). No matter the focus of an RPG, encounters are going to be an important part of whether or not people think it's good. You might write a great story, but if you force the player to slog through area after area of "Goblin Fighters", then there's going to be some animosity coming through via the review. Therefore--though it might go without saying--enemies need to be varied. More importantly, the enemies should find some way to compliment one another. This is interesting, first of all, and requires that the player does more than "Attack Nearest" and go to victory. If you put in a little more effort, your players will thank you in spades.

Achieving this can be pretty simple, really. But it always surprises me how often it's not true. Putting some archers on a fortification can make things far more interesting, or maybe the troop of Gnolls has somehow got a golem under their control. Varying the nature of the opponents you fight and their placement is such a simple way of getting more out of your "action" sequences. I don't profess to be a master, but I do know that this is not done as often as it ought to.

To illustrate, I'll be showcasing a custom creature of mine. This is not a matter of genius on my part, but rather how some small alterations to the game can, hopefully, make for more dynamic and interesting combat situations.

Naga Ruin

I have a fair amount of ruins, but players will feel something different here. There's something unfriendly company just around the next corner.

Vampire Hounds

These dark, feral-eyed hounds drink death. If they are near enemies that die, the hounds become more ferocious with each new soul they devour. Although dangerous to begin with, they can quickly become a threat far greater than a PC is capable of dealing with. This forces the player to prioritize, importantly, and avoid using mass damage spells(killing a zombified lizardfolk might seem like a good idea, but not if it benefits the other undead nearby).

This is not a particularly detailed opponent, really, but rather something that requires attention from the player. You can't just chop through the opponents as they come. Requiring the player to deal with encounters on an encounter by encounter basis will, first of all, be more enjoyable for them, but also let them remember specific sequences. If I can't remember a dungeon room, then it was probably boring. That might be too harsh, I grant you, but it's generally how I design things.

In honor of those hounds--and the other horrible, special undead you're going to see in the dark places of the earth--I'm happy to showcase a music track by Deflektor. Normally, the music for Shagret has a "natural" feeling to it(flutes, exotic instruments and such); for the undead, they had to have music that stood out, made their presence felt. I think this track does a good job at that, and I hope you enjoy it(I know I do, and not the least for it reminding me of the wonderful music from Heroes of Might and Magic 3).

Next week, I'll talk about some UIs I've created. And, lest you worry, there has been some work done on an area design tutorial. It's a "quick and dirty" guide on how to make good looking areas without a huge investment of time. Until then, happy modding!