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TheThan
2010-08-05, 05:34 PM
OK so I’m building an RPG world based around the idea that all those creatures from myths, legends and folk tails we hear about are all real. The campaign is sort of a world of darkness style setting, where these monsters prey on mankind and things are very dismal. oh, I've also pulled some monsters from classic horror films (creature from the black lagoon, Frankenstein's monster etc).

Anyhow in order to fill out this world with monsters for the PCs to fight against, I’ve begun brainstorming a list of monsters to use and now I’ve come up a bit dry. So I was wondering if you all could help me to finish off this list, see anything I’ve forgotten? Or have an idea from folklore from your area that I could use? feel free to submit it. Now as I’m using BESM 3rd edition for this setting, I’m going to have to build everything from scratch, so wikipedia links would be nice. I’ve divided things up by region in order to help me get a feel as to what each place would feel like. So here’s the list:

the big list

Europe

Vampires
Werewolves
Succubus
Frankenstein monsters
Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hide creatures
Warlocks
Siren
wyvern
banshee
basilisk
Erlking
Fachen
gremlin
hippogriff
griffin
questing beast
redcaps
trolls



Mediterranean

medusa/gorgons
harpy
centar
cyclops
hippocamp
hydra
lamia


Asia

Oni
Tentical monsters
Kitsune
Yeti
Hopping vampire
Yuki-onna
Naga
Rakasha


Middle east

Genies
Mummy
demons
driders
ghouls
sphinx
mantacore
chimeera
scorpion men
cockatrice
behemoth


Americas

Headless horseman
Witches
Sasquatch
wendigo
Gillman (creature from the black lagoon)
Chupacabras
mothman
Loogaroo
witch doctors/zombies
Jersey devil
thunderbirds
Jakalope



Australia/pacific islands/ oceans

Drop bears
kraken
merefolk/ tritons
leviathan
scylla/charybdis
Bunyip
Mananaggal
Kapre



World wide

Dragons
Giants
phoenix
goblins
ghosts




edit
OK super big edit here. Added in world wide and Mediterranean areas. people might not have noticed but i intentionally added in classic movie monsters like the mummy and the gillman from the creature from the black lagoon. this campaign world was originally based off of the classic Capcom fighting game darkstalkers, but the idea has sort of evolved a bit as it stewed around in my head for a bit.

Vitruviansquid
2010-08-05, 05:37 PM
Europe - Fairies can be a big one.

Also don't forget your Mediterranean monsters.

Fax Celestis
2010-08-05, 05:45 PM
Phoenix, thunderbird, gremlins, kobolds (the real ones), griffins, rakshasa...

comicshorse
2010-08-05, 05:46 PM
Japan: Kappa, I've always loved a monster you can defeat through politiness

Europe: Selkie, were-seals why not ?
Lots of big, supernatural, black dog stories where i grew up.
Water-horses

AslanCross
2010-08-05, 05:59 PM
More from Asia:

Mananaggal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manananggal) (Vampiric creature with rather...unique weaknesses.)
Kapre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapre) (Chain-smoking, tree-dwelling ogre)
Bakunawa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakunawa): Moon-eating leviathan.

TheThan
2010-08-05, 06:07 PM
Oh, duh. How could I have forgotten about the kappa and rakashas , anyway I really like the Mananaggal and kapre. So I’m totally using them.


edit

ok some clarifications: I'm including the Philippines in with pacific islands/Australia, and India in with the middle east. they're sort of transitional paces anyway so if you're annoyed by this... too bad! :smallbiggrin:

Satyr
2010-08-05, 06:13 PM
Europe has several legends about drowned dead; either the Viking draugrs (and what's not to like about undead Vikings coming back from the sea?) or the ghosts of drowned women (often suicidal ones) who lure travelers into the water and drown them.

Then there are classic Christian demons, and their followers, especially witches. Incubi and Succubi are classic examples.

And of course, the Wolpertinger (actually a taxodermist joke).

Then there is the Bachkalb (literally "creek calf") which is a a large scaled, carnivorous calf which forces travellers (especially drunken ones) to carry it.

JBento
2010-08-05, 06:13 PM
Also for Europe, the golem - though if you want to make him close to the myth one, it's clay only and he's vulnerable to critical hits (and, technically, ONLY to critical hits).

The Tarrasque is also European, though it reallllllly has nothing to do with it's D&D incarnation.

EDIT: I almost forgot: remember, your European (British) wizards' staves must have a knob on the end - and their hedgehog familiars cannot, in any circumstance, be buggered

Fax Celestis
2010-08-05, 06:15 PM
Jackalopes!

PretzelKing
2010-08-05, 06:19 PM
you could add dogman (werewolf/worg type?) to the americas! i saw it on TV, it has to be true!!

JBento
2010-08-05, 06:35 PM
Aaaand... I just noticed no-one has brought in Greece (centaurs, nymphs, dryads, satyrs, hydrae, and... well... half the monster manuals?)

For Africa, we have the sphinx and the mummy from the top of my head.

Mystic Muse
2010-08-05, 06:42 PM
Godzilla?
Flying spaghetti monster?

Harris the Ford
2010-08-05, 06:46 PM
For Africa's you could look at Monsters of Legend (MM2 3.5e) and beef up some desert/Savannah animals.

TheThan
2010-08-05, 07:14 PM
Ok, seeing as some might not have noticed (I even bolded it). I’m not going to be using dnd for this setting. Instead I’m using Big Eyes Small Mouth 3rd edition. Also sphinxes and mummies are already on the list, though I haven’t included them in Africa (face it most people think of Egypt as part of the Middle East, even though it is located in Africa).

So taking a creature, adding a template to it, then converting to another system in which i have to completely create the creature from scratch anyway, is sort of annoying to do. though legendary creatures are a cool idea.

plus Jakalope LOLZ.

ScionoftheVoid
2010-08-05, 07:40 PM
Sirens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren), the manticore (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manticore), the chimera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(mythology)), harpies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpies), the Mothman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothman), wyverns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyverns), dragons of all kinds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon), kraken (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken), Aigaumcha (tiny African monsters with eyes on their feet, they consume human flesh), Al (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_(folklore)), banshees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banshee), cockatrices (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatrice), basilisks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilisk), centaurs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurs), cyclopes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclops), the Erlking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlking), the Fachen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fachen), the Ga-gorib (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ga-gorib) (includes some other creatures, including the Aigamcha, above), the many, many forms of giant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_(mythology)), goblins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goblins), the gorgons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgons), gremlins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlin), hippogryphs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippogriff) and hippocampi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocamp), tritons or icthyocentaurs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthyocentaur), Ziz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziz), Leviathan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leviathan) and Behemoth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behemoth), the Lernean Hydra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lernean_hydra), Scylla and Charybdis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scylla_and_Charybdis), the Loogaroo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loogaroo), the Jersey Devil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil), the Ovda (a malevolent Finnish spirit that appears as a naked human with its feet backwards. It challenges its victims to dance before tickling them to death), the Ping Feng (a huge Chinese beast that appears as a boar with a head at each end), the Questing Beast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questing_Beast), Redcaps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcap), scorpion men (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion_men), trolls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll) and Lamia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamia_(mythology)) are all missing from your list (as I write this).

If there is no link to Wikipedia the information is from "The Big Book of Monsters", written and compiled by Guy Cambell and Mark Devins.

Forte
2010-08-05, 07:42 PM
Australia - Bunyip

MightyTim
2010-08-05, 07:55 PM
Ghosts, anyone? Or you can break them down in to sprits and poltergeists.

Also, I read a while ago a story about "The Rake"

I'm sure it was made up relatively recently, but pretty creepy nonetheless

http://www.creepypasta.com/the-rake/

Could make a good recurring villain in a game like that.

MightyTim
2010-08-05, 07:59 PM
You could probably classify aliens as from legends or folklore as well, since there's been reported sightings of them for decades.

One more. Cthulhu.

Zodiac
2010-08-05, 08:06 PM
This site's pretty awesome. (http://www.pantheon.org/) To be fair some of the articles are pretty bare, but it gives a good around the world glance and is a good start.

I've also found this wikipedia article to be useful before. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures)

awa
2010-08-05, 08:12 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:African_legendary_creatures
this will help give you some African folklore creatures i personally liked the kishi.
I would point out that mummies are fictional not folklore no one ever thought they walked around attacking people.

edit like the mummy Cthulhu is fictional not a mythological or folklore monster their are tons of fictional monsters but im not sure that what you want

Kiroth6
2010-08-05, 08:15 PM
Nucklevee (http://www.bogleech.com/nuckelavee.html) - Scottish monster that looks like the skinless torso of a man growing out of the back of a one eyed horse with flippers.

Also Encyclopedia Mythica (http://www.pantheon.org/areas/bestiary/articles.html), has a decent listing of monsters. I used it for an old game of mine where I used the myth versions of monsters. You still have to research details on your own but its a pretty good starting point.

EDIT: It seems Zodiac beat me to it.

For other obscure monsters with a good creep factor there check out the malaysian vampires such as the penanggalan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penanggalan) and the Soucouyant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soucouyant).

TheThan
2010-08-05, 08:50 PM
Big edit at the top.

iDM
2010-08-05, 08:56 PM
hmmmm... chupacabras? they'd be good if a PC had an animal companion or suchlike.

Psyx
2010-08-06, 04:54 AM
Drop bears


I love you, man.


I'd go through the MM and try bunging a lot of the names into Google, as many are based on real creatures.

Japanese mythology has some great stuff.

Black Shuck?

hamishspence
2010-08-06, 04:58 AM
D20 Modern Menace Manual had a few- as did D20 Past (had the siren and the hyena-ish ghoul).

Avilan the Grey
2010-08-06, 05:02 AM
Must ask: What trolls?
Trolls are completely different depending on country, or even region. Trolls on the British Isles are part of the Fairy courts, for example (AFAIK), while the Fairy courts doesn't even exist in Swedish mythology.

So, if not specifying...
Trolls can be a kind of fairy, or not
Trolls can be small, human sized or giants
Trolls can be attractive or ugly
Trolls can post on forums or not :smallbiggrin:

etc etc.

Yes I read too much about trolls.

hamishspence
2010-08-06, 05:06 AM
All Trolls Are Different, indeed:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllTrollsAreDifferent

OoTS does mention this as well:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0273.html

Avilan the Grey
2010-08-06, 05:13 AM
All Trolls Are Different, indeed:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllTrollsAreDifferent

OoTS does mention this as well:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0273.html


Indeed. Oh and let's not forget the Scandinavian archetype of the beautiful young (only a few hundred years old) female troll. Her dad is ugly, but she's really hot. With a tail, but hey.

hamishspence
2010-08-06, 05:16 AM
Robert Asprin's dimension of Trollia in Myth Adventures plays on this.

Avilan the Grey
2010-08-06, 05:44 AM
Robert Asprin's dimension of Trollia in Myth Adventures plays on this.

Okay, boys and girls: Story time. A traditional troll tale from Sweden!

"Once upon a time, a young farmboy and a young troll girl fell in love after he had spotted her swimming in a forest pond and dared to talk to her afterwards.. After some trouble getting their blessings from her father (his father had no problem with it, she was good looking, and trolls are rich so the human side of the family would have it made!) they got married in the church.

Soon, however, the husband turned into a sloth and a drunk; suddenly having too much money for his own good. He spent most weekends in a drunken stupor and went out with his friends during weekday nights as well. She stayed home as a loyal wife and cooked and cleaned.

One day he was extra drunk, and very upset because the horse had lost a shoe so he could not go into town and drink with his friends. When she tried to tell him to be quiet so he would not wake up the children, he tossed the horse shoe at her and it hit her in the face. However instead of saying anything, she quietly picked it up, straightened it out just using her hands and even snipping of a piece or two of cold iron from the shoe as if it had been made of clay.

The husband sobered up on the spot, realizing exactly how strong she must be. Stammering he tried to both ask for forgiveness and wonder why she had never done anything to him.

She replied that she had promised in front of God to be his loving wife, for better and worse, although it had been hard to keep the promise at times.

The husband stopped drinking that very day."

hamishspence
2010-08-06, 05:49 AM
Good story.

The traditional D&D troll (big, green, regenerates, long nose) may derive from Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions.

If not- which sources before that had regenerating trolls?

Psyx
2010-08-06, 05:50 AM
Dragon Warriors has an awful lot of classical mythological creatures in its bestiary.

Rainbownaga
2010-08-06, 05:52 AM
The Roc is from the middle east. Gotta get those giant birdies.

Kaww
2010-08-06, 06:25 AM
Lich?
Drekavac? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drekavac
There are various undead laying around. :smallwink:
Plus checkout some greek mythology site like http://www.greekmythology.com/

Vantharion
2010-08-06, 06:56 AM
A big recommendation I would use would be to not use traditional Fey setup. Look up Brian Froud and more mythologic fae. The original faeries were terrifying little devil monsters that would do everything from make you lost forever to stealing from you. Honestly, its really good in a setting to have these powerful and random forces of crazy manipulation out there.
They also don't break the 'Rule of Power' that hundreds of dragons have their own lair underground and it would take just one to destroy all civilization... yet they don't do that.

hamishspence
2010-08-06, 07:13 AM
A big recommendation I would use would be to not use traditional Fey setup. Look up Brian Froud and more mythologic fae. The original faeries were terrifying little devil monsters that would do everything from make you lost forever to stealing from you. Honestly, its really good in a setting to have these powerful and random forces of crazy manipulation out there.

I thought that was traditional fey- cruel, capricious, with lots of very scary servants. The Wild Hunt. The Unseelie Court. And so on.

Terry Pratchett does this well in Lords & Ladies and Wee Free Men. Although they do suffer Villain Decay a bit.

TheThan
2010-08-06, 01:06 PM
I thought that was traditional fey- cruel, capricious, with lots of very scary servants. The Wild Hunt. The Unseelie Court. And so on.

Terry Pratchett does this well in Lords & Ladies and Wee Free Men. Although they do suffer Villain Decay a bit.

I think he meant traditional RPG fay, frolicking naked in the forest, shy around humans etc.

Crafty Cultist
2010-08-06, 07:15 PM
I'm from new zealand(near australia) so I thought I'd share a local legend, the Taniwha (http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/taniwha).

Archpaladin Zousha
2010-08-06, 07:58 PM
For monsters in the Americas, I'd reccomend Ulagu, a Cherokee beastie. Ulagu was a yellow jacket as big as a house, and so fast he couldn't be seen with the naked eye. He'd snatch children and spirit them away to eat them. Eventually, the hunters of the tribe decided enough was enough, and planned to track Ulagu to his lair and kill him. They tied a string to a small animal, but Ulagu snatched it before they could follow it. They tried bigger animals, like turkeys and other things, but those weren't enough either. Finally, they killed a horse and secured it with a thick rope, and that slowed Ulagu down enough that they were able to track it to it's lair in a deep ravine. They snuck into the ravine, and saw a large cave. Inside were papery walls, so they set a fire near the entrance and fled. The cave burned and Ulagu was suffocated, but he had his revenge, for from the mouth of the cave, thousands upon thousands of normal-sized yellow jackets swarmed, forcing the hunters to flee for fear of being stung. The swarm dispersed throughout the world, and that's why we have wasps and hornets in the world.

Also, there's a weird Australian creature called the Yara-ma-yha-who. It looks like a little red man, approximately four feet tall, with a very big head and a large mouth without teeth. It tips of the fingers and toes are shaped like the suckers of an octopus. But these suckers are used for more than grappling onto victims or other objects. The Yara-ma-yha-who can also use them to suck his victim’s blood.The Yara-ma-yha-who lives in big trees and does not hunt for food, but waits until an unsuspecting traveler rests under the tree, then catches the victim and drains their blood using the suckers. It leaves enough blood in the victim to keep him alive while it goes off walking to work up an appetite. Later, the creature returns to its victim. It lies down on the ground facing the victim, crawls to him like a lizard, and swallows him whole. The Yara-ma-yha-who then stands up on its two feet and does a sort of dance to jiggle all of the living body of its victim down into its stomach. But then, after some more time, the yara-ma-yha-who vomits its victim, who is still in one piece. The person is then usually still alive. The victim then does best for himself by pretending to be dead. The Yara-ma-yha-who will test the victim by walking away from the body and then quickly turning around, by poking him with a stick, and by tickling him under under the chin and arms. If the live victim has still been successful in feigning death, the Yara-ma-yha-who may then also walk off to some distance where it then sits and watches its victim for signs of life. But the creature will then eventually need to seek a bush and fall asleep. The victim, if indeed still alive, can then make his escape. If the Yara-ma-yha-who suddenly awakes and gives chase, the human victim has still a good chance of escaping. The creature has a slow, wobbling gait, like the cockatoo. If it happens that the human victim does not escape from the Yara-ma-yha-who after being regurgitated, he is swallowed whole a second time. Again he is vomited out afterwards, but now he is shorter than he was before. If he is still alive but cannot escape, he is swallowed and regurgitated for a third time. If still alive, the victim is not only even closer in height to a Yara-ma-yha-who but also now has smooth skin like the creature. If the process of being swallowed and vomited alive is repeated enough times, the victim becomes a Yara-ma-yha-who himself.

TheThan
2010-08-06, 08:32 PM
I really like both those monsters, so I’m totally going to add them to the list. as for the Taniwha, it’s got dragon written all over it, so I’m just going to file it under “dragon”, though I appreciate the effort.

Cealocanth
2010-08-06, 10:44 PM
I like the idea of the campaign. Reminds me of Deadlands.

Here's a couple for you. The Green Man, nymphs, fairyfolk, and Jack and the Beanstalk style giants.

rokar4life
2010-08-06, 11:11 PM
Good story.

The traditional D&D troll (big, green, regenerates, long nose) may derive from Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions.

If not- which sources before that had regenerating trolls?

Nearly every society has had at least one(usually hundreds) story about a troll several including notably some Norse myths have trolls with regenerative powers, although they weren't big and green. The troll that we have today is an amalgamation of many cultures folk tales.

The Vorpal Tribble
2010-08-06, 11:31 PM
I'd try out Supernaturalwiki (http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Angiak), it's where I'll be linking to for a number I've created.

Americas
Angiak (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4742202#post4742202) - Wiki (http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Angiak)
Longhorse (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30992) - Link (http://boingboing.net/2006/12/04/long-horse-on-wikipe.html)
Qalupalik (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11477) - (?)
Xoloitzcuintle (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93406) - Link (http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainNews/story?id=4629545&page=1)
Killer Grandaddy Longlegs (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73300) - Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae#Misconceptions)

Europe
Dullahan & Gan Ceann Dullahan (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58184) - Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dullahan)
Flash Herring (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1433896&postcount=6) - Link (http://www.lainio.com/enpages/aurora_borealis.html)
Gremlins (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3410950&postcount=9) - Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlin)
John Barleycorn (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1124169&postcount=2) - Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barleycorn)
Red Death (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89573) - Link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masque_of_the_Red_Death)

Worldwide?
Deadly Earwig (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3410995&postcount=10) - Link (http://www.snopes.com/horrors/insects/bugear.asp)

JonestheSpy
2010-08-07, 12:39 AM
Shoot, they've been mentioned already, but I'll second the Nucklavee, Mothman, and Chupacabra.

Oh, and the Wendigo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo).

Malificus
2010-08-07, 01:03 AM
French:
Reynard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynard)
Greek:
Nereid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nereid)
Charybdis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charybdis)
Scylla (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scylla)
Scandinavian:
Huldra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldra)
Dís (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%ADs)
Jörmungandr (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6rmungandr)

Also, if you're using demons, consider angels. If you go with traditional angels, you can get a lot of eldritch looking horrors (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OurAngelsAreDifferent). Use their specific names to distance players from the contemporary idea of them.

TheThan
2010-08-08, 12:12 AM
Wow, thanks for the all the links, they’re very helpful. I think I’ve got plenty of monsters to use as I’ve got a very long process of actually stating these things out in the system. But once I decide which region to place the start of my campaign in (I’m thinking Europe for starters) its going to at least give me a place to start.

My world, generally speaking will be earth circa 1900. However things are looking rather grim, despite recent advancements in technology (steam engine, electricity etc), humanity is still preyed upon by horrifying monsters that lurk out in the darkness. Leaders scratch and scrape for any tiny morsel of power they can get, and are just as bad if not worse than the very monsters they promise to fight off. The people have turned to the church, which seems to be all but powerless to protect their flocks.

Enter the slayers, an organized group of adventurers recently formed to protect humanity from the monsters out there that prey on humanity. They have no official connection to the church, but they tend to work closely with it, in fact, some of them are former priests (one’s even a nun… with a shotgun).

If you’ve ever seen the Darkstalkers OVA (not the US tv series), then you’ll have a good idea of what things are like, also see Van Helsing for a general feel of the movie.

The Vorpal Tribble
2010-08-08, 12:19 AM
Sounds awesome. Love that monster genre.

I'm writing a book in a world similar to that. One of the main characters is a nymph, but nymphs in this world are deadly. If endangered or stressed they release a potent hormone that make men go insane with lust, ramping up their blood pressure in mere moments til they have heart attacks, aneurisms or go blind from blood vessels popping.

Just mentioning them in case you might find use for them :smallwink:

Edit: Oh, and maybe check out The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey. It is very much like that setting, and the main character is one who finds out what makes them 'tick'.

TheThan
2010-08-08, 02:37 AM
Yeah the setting comes from a variety of sources, primarily the two I mentioned and an idea for a BESM game that never got off the ground. The character was a demon hunter and quite cool actually. Sort of a cowboy, wielded a lever action rifle and a six gun (complete with holy ammo), and his apprentice I thought up later, a nun he saved from a tentacle monster, unfortunately he couldn’t save her best friend. After a pep talk (which was basically “get revenge you’ll feel better"), she quit the nun stuff and perused her career as a hunter. She wields a shot gun (originally because she couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, but her aim has improved).

Heliomance
2010-08-08, 03:24 AM
You might find this trhead helpful. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8758168#post8758168)

The Dan
2010-08-10, 10:17 AM
Okay, boys and girls: Story time. A traditional troll tale from Sweden!

"Once upon a time, a young farmboy and a young troll girl fell in love after he had spotted her swimming in a forest pond and dared to talk to her afterwards.. After some trouble getting their blessings from her father (his father had no problem with it, she was good looking, and trolls are rich so the human side of the family would have it made!) they got married in the church.

Soon, however, the husband turned into a sloth and a drunk; suddenly having too much money for his own good. He spent most weekends in a drunken stupor and went out with his friends during weekday nights as well. She stayed home as a loyal wife and cooked and cleaned.

One day he was extra drunk, and very upset because the horse had lost a shoe so he could not go into town and drink with his friends. When she tried to tell him to be quiet so he would not wake up the children, he tossed the horse shoe at her and it hit her in the face. However instead of saying anything, she quietly picked it up, straightened it out just using her hands and even snipping of a piece or two of cold iron from the shoe as if it had been made of clay.

The husband sobered up on the spot, realizing exactly how strong she must be. Stammering he tried to both ask for forgiveness and wonder why she had never done anything to him.

She replied that she had promised in front of God to be his loving wife, for better and worse, although it had been hard to keep the promise at times.

The husband stopped drinking that very day."

They're called Huldra (among other things), if you're interested. I wrote the stats that are published here (http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/front-page113.php) (both 3.5 and 4e versions). What's not to like about a nymph with the right hook of Muhammad Ali? :smallcool:

There's a ton more lesser-known folkloric monsters on the Kobold Quarterly (http://www.koboldquarterly.com/)site, in their 'Monday Monster' feature.