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May 25, 2013, 4:53pm

Original D&D Discussion :: Dungeons & Dragons (1971-1978) :: Men & Magic (1974) :: unusual races/monster PC's

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Topic: unusual races/monster PC's (Read 672 times)

sandman
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unusual races/monster PC's
« Thread Started on Jun 18, 2012, 4:17am »

Hey guys, I just started reading M&M and I was struck by the line at the end of the chapter on PC races/classes about playing monsters etc. The rules seem to suggest just picking anything you want and going with it.

How is this handled? Would a dragon or ogre PC be done the same as a dwarf/elf/halfling? In other words would they be given some appropriate special abilities, a human class, and a level limit?

I'm new to this board so I apologize if this had been done to death already.

« Last Edit: Jun 18, 2012, 4:17am by sandman »

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Cameron DuBeers
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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #1 on Jun 18, 2012, 5:05am »

One forum member worked up a Balrog player class that seems quite popular:

http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?act....ead=1841&page=1

Perhaps looking at his example might assist you with the Dragon player class? I have also seen minotaurs, and various monster humanoids on this forum.

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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #2 on Jun 18, 2012, 11:32am »

Gygax addressed this question in Europa 6, and Arneson provided a means of calculating XP requirements per level as well as giving examples of Dragon levels in the FFC.
The principle boils down to this: Monsters as described in M&T are mature adults, generally. Their Hit Dice are their level. So if you want to play a given monster you will either start at the monsters level as given, with all the attendant powers, or you will start at a lower level by reducing the creatures age, Hit Dice and special abilities. For example, a first level dragon, would be very young, have 1d6 HD, and not yet be able to execute a breath weapon attack. The DM will have to work out the details for how they mature (but see FFC for Arneson’s dragon example) .

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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #3 on Jun 18, 2012, 2:16pm »

Yeah, I took a lot of inspiration for my Balrog from the Dragon writeup in FFC. Lots of good stuff in that set.

The main thing with this is to have fun with it, but don't overpower the rest of the players.

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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #4 on Jun 18, 2012, 5:38pm »

Good stuff, thanks for leading me in the right direction.

I'm sort of leaning toward treating monsters just like the demi-humans, giving them a few special powers, a human class, and a level limit. It's cool to see what other people have done and as I have never played OD&D I should bow to experience.

I'm still working on my black pudding PC.

« Last Edit: Jun 18, 2012, 6:00pm by sandman »

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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #5 on Jun 18, 2012, 8:14pm »

Hey, Sandman---welcome!

The upcoming issue of our very own Fight On! magazine (also see the forum on this board) will actually have write-ups of said Balrog, as well as Robo-Dwarves and, I think, Minotaurs, so that might be worth looking into.

I've had everything from goblins and skeleton warriors to ghouls and a three-headed dog (as well as coffe's balrog!) in my campaign. I'd say your instincts are right on the money!

As coffee suggested, the thing with ODD is that it's SO wide-open---it's pretty hard (probably impossible) to "break" it; just use it as a toolkit to head for "the most fun possible in 4-6 hours."

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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #6 on Jun 18, 2012, 8:51pm »

Here's a homebrew minotaur "class" (created for Labyrinth Lord, but easily adapted to OD&D)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1heqj....VREboJf6eQ/edit

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sandman
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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #7 on Jun 19, 2012, 2:04am »

Awesome, I've got to see that 3 headed dog write up.

My Minotaur PC probably wouldn't be nearly as fascinating as yours. A fearless, bullheaded man, who likes to eat human flesh, and goes up levels as a fighting man. I might keep the 12th level level limit.

« Last Edit: Jun 19, 2012, 2:16am by sandman »

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kesher
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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #8 on Jun 19, 2012, 3:21pm »

Actually, I never bothered to write it up, though if I had, it would look something like this:

Cerberon
The size of dire wolves, the Cerberon are intelligent canines with origins in the Belching Hellmouth, though individuals haunt the hills and forests of many lands. They progress as Fighting Men, with a level limit of 8, and have a natural AC of 7. They have a keen sense of smell and hearing, and are surprised only on a 1 in 6. Though three-headed, they only ever speak with one head at a time, the other two capable of eating, drinking, barking, howling, savaging an enemy, etc., at the same time. They can speak Common, Infernal, and most animal languages, and move at 12" when walking, 18" when running.

Penetrating Bark
When all three heads bark at the same time, any intelligent creature of 1 HD or less is automatically confused, as per the spell. Creatures of 1-5 HD are allowed a Saving Throw vs. Paralyzation, and creatures of higher HD are unaffected.

(that was fun!)

Coffee's balrog write-up can be found here, thanks to Mike D. over at Sword +1. It's statted for Swords & Wizardry White Box, which is another way of saying you'll be able to use it for ODD without any actual modification.

An interesting possibility for deciding level limits would be to cap them, for creatures with greater than 1HD, at said creature's maximum HD.

« Last Edit: Jun 19, 2012, 3:24pm by kesher »

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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #9 on Jun 20, 2012, 4:42am »

Thanks.

I haven't worked out the Black Pudding yet, but here is an attempt at Efreet.

Can go up levels as magic user or fighting man, sort of like an elf, with a max of level 7 in magic user and 5 in fighting man. The efreet would be limited to using spells which relate to light/heat/fire, but would have read magic and be able to use scrolls of other spells.

AC 3, damage as a giant, incredibly strong, move 9/fly 24.

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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #10 on Jun 27, 2012, 2:50pm »

On my blog there are apefolk, serpent people and spriggans as playable races.

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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #11 on Jun 27, 2012, 11:47pm »

Cool Blog. Thanks.

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Re: unusual races/monster PC's
« Reply #12 on Jun 28, 2012, 5:40am »

I try to make things to throw around in oldschool games.

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