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View Full Version : 3.5 - Monster Environments are not so well thought-out?



Jon_Dahl
2010-04-18, 02:34 AM
For instance:
Primary terrain for trolls is cold mountains. But according to Fire Giant's Environment trolls live in symbiosis with them, but not with Frost Giants. Fire Giants live on warm mountains and Frost Giants live on cold mountains. Hmm? Even Gnolls have symbiosis with Trolls, even though they don't share the same language and live in completely different environments (compare desert and Himālaya).

Kobolds live in forests, but they are made as miners... They even have bonus for mining, but several other creatures like dwarves don't possess such affinity to mining (no bonus) but they live in mountains. I find it hard to understand what sort of mining you do in forests...

I could give more examples, but I do wonder what they were thinking when they wrote up these environments?

Eloel
2010-04-18, 02:50 AM
D&D developers were on crack during the whole development - not only that.

absolmorph
2010-04-18, 03:00 AM
... Why the hell would trolls work together with fire giants? Isn't fire the only thing that does lethal damage to them?

Kurald Galain
2010-04-18, 03:21 AM
... Why the hell would trolls work together with fire giants? Isn't fire the only thing that does lethal damage to them?
That's precisely why fire giants are one of the few creatures capable of bullying trolls into working with them :smalltongue:

Runestar
2010-04-18, 04:05 AM
Who even uses the environments? I simply slot monsters in as and when I feel like it...:smalltongue:

Eloel
2010-04-18, 04:16 AM
Actually, all monsters are in the same environment - dungeons :)

Jon_Dahl
2010-04-18, 04:18 AM
Who even uses the environments? I simply slot monsters in as and when I feel like it...:smalltongue:

I share your view, but this thread was mainly created to behold the "ingenuity" of the developers :smallbiggrin:

And about Fire Giants bullying Trolls into submission... Well... Since warm mountains are quite far away from cold mountains (temperate being in between) I see little point in hauling trolls all this way, there has to be better options closer... Thats like travelling from Kilimanjaro to pick up henchmen from Scottish Highlands. Easy?

Kurald Galain
2010-04-18, 04:29 AM
"Common environment" isn't the same as "only environment". Also, "warm mountains" are generally just a few thousand feet down from the cold parts of the very same mountain.

Serpentine
2010-04-18, 04:31 AM
Has anyone ever actually used a beholder in "cold hills"? As opposed to, say, underground?

Octopus Jack
2010-04-18, 04:33 AM
Has anyone ever actually used a beholder in "cold hills"? As opposed to, say, underground?

I will do... Sounds like a fun encounter