| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 09 Mar 2025 : 23:55:32
I don't know how interested in this folks would be but I am considering (and this would take me a long, long time) updating monsters to the exact format they used for the new Monster Manual for essentially a Forgotten Realms Monster Manual.
Getting the CSS formatting perfect, considering I cant code for my life was a nightmare for me, and I am still unable to get those fancy little frames around monster images, but I am trying my best to make it look the same as the professionally done book. I'd love to hear your opinions.
Whether or not I do this, I will be posting monsters here as I make them.
Alaghi: https://i.imgur.com/uEfIZja.png
Alguduir: https://i.imgur.com/RCQzt3a.png
Asabi: https://i.imgur.com/Ws4h6Lv.png
Asperii: https://i.imgur.com/ln7ABy2.png
Ascallion: https://i.imgur.com/4i1YqxB.png
Baneguard
Belabra: https://i.imgur.com/jlx2NRc.png
Blood Horse
Brown Dragon: Pg1 https://i.imgur.com/Mtnp5iG.png Pg2 https://i.imgur.com/fcP28xv.png Pg3 https://i.imgur.com/uIqzgOO.png
Calygraunt: https://i.imgur.com/xauWalT.png
Dark Tree
Deepspawn
Duleep
Dyll Swarm
Gemstone Golem
Groundling
Nymph https://i.imgur.com/7x50x8D.png
Laraken: https://i.imgur.com/fb559Jr.png
Lightning Golem
Peltast: https://i.imgur.com/2madMSt.png
Phaerimm
Sha’az
|
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 23 Apr 2025 : 00:06:34
quote:
Originally posted by Marc
From the list noticed some of these missing: shadevari, shadow lich, sliver, spellfire horror, unholy hand of Bane, fogwarden, crustaid
I went from having never heard of this thing to having a blast putting it together. This took about two hours to put together, but thinking through the dynamics of its abilities was a lot of fun. It might have the longest attack range in the game, just like its 2e lore predecessor. Check out Polyhedron 130 for the original.
Crustaind Page 1: https://i.imgur.com/zbcb6tk.png
Crustaid Page 2: https://i.imgur.com/h9FeWbR.png |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 21 Apr 2025 : 01:56:45
Out of all 100 or so creatures updated, this is the one I deviated the most from the original. I really wanted to power these guys up to a high CR considering their rarity, existence since before time, etc.
Shadevar: https://i.imgur.com/UQa8JO6.png
I hope I was able to maintain their original flavor well enough from their origins. |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 20 Apr 2025 : 21:17:30
quote:
Originally posted by Gary Dallison
If its in Bestiary of the Realms, then it meant that other realms designers considered it part of the forgotten realms. While not an official realms product i would consider anything in those volumes to be realmsian.
Funny thing is I had no idea about those volumes. Thank you all for drawing my attention to them.
On a side note, I’m going to put a “Special Thanks” for everyone that has helped me in this thread in the book when it’s eventually released. Please let me know if you have any special preferences for how I present your name. As a default I will use your Candlekeep moniker. |
| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 19 Apr 2025 : 19:06:07
If its in Bestiary of the Realms, then it meant that other realms designers considered it part of the forgotten realms. While not an official realms product i would consider anything in those volumes to be realmsian. |
| Marc |
Posted - 19 Apr 2025 : 17:58:11
Fogwarden is from generic Dungeon 54 adventure and in Monstrous Compendium Annual 4 (same as firestar), but also it was later in 3.5e in Bestiary of the Realms vol. 2, don't know if that counts, Shadow lich also. Now I remember also, do you have Echohawk's Complete Monster Index ? you can filter monsters by setting |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 19 Apr 2025 : 01:08:07
quote:
Originally posted by Marc
From the list noticed some of these missing: shadevari, shadow lich, sliver, spellfire horror, unholy hand of Bane, fogwarden, crustaid
Going to add now, thanks so much!
Edit: Some questions and thought after I did a little research:
Shadevari: Unreal, these are going to be fun to do as really high CR fiends.
Unholy Hand of Bane: It behaves like a monster but is listed most places as a magic item. I’m not sure about doing this one.
Fogwarden: Unless I’m mistaken this isn’t a creature that has its origins or hasn’t been used even much in FR? Might hold it for a later book.
Crustaid: Thank you so much for bringing this one up. I had no idea about it as I never really had many Polyhedrons.
Sliver: Don’t know how I missed it. Thank you!
Shadow Lich: I can’t find this anywhere except as just a Lich. Is there a separate creature? |
| Marc |
Posted - 18 Apr 2025 : 21:09:06
From the list noticed some of these missing: shadevari, shadow lich, sliver, spellfire horror, unholy hand of Bane, fogwarden, crustaid |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 18 Apr 2025 : 13:23:28
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Null
They are a independent breed of dragon. Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Meant to be with the steel and mercury dragons. Just below the 5 originals.
Yes, and by “below” I’ll try to make sure that’s reflected in their CR, at least at the Ancient age category. Electrums capped out at CR19, just below whites and coppers at CR 20. I think Mercury and steel will both be 18, as will yellow. Brown dragons on the other hand were pretty tough and I’m not sure yet where fang will end up. I need to check earlier editions to see their relative power level. |
| Lord Null |
Posted - 18 Apr 2025 : 04:45:14
They are a independent breed of dragon. Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Meant to be with the steel and mercury dragons. Just below the 5 originals. |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 17 Apr 2025 : 14:18:12
quote:
Originally posted by Athreeren
They're the offspring of gold and silver dragons, right?
You’d think right? I didn’t actually find that in the most recent lore though. They seem to be just another independent breed of dragon.
I’m guessing that concept is avoided because of the obvious repercussions. Does blue and red make purple? Etc etc. I think the idea was addressed in the earliest iteration of the Draconomicon but never since. |
| Athreeren |
Posted - 17 Apr 2025 : 09:35:58
They're the offspring of gold and silver dragons, right? |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 16 Apr 2025 : 17:23:19
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Null
Electrum dragon
As promised, here is the electrum dragon. Please note it hasn't been fully edited as of yet. I need to check the math on a few things. It was really difficult to do because the dragon's breath doesn't cause damage like all the others, so calculating CR was tricky.
I also took the liberty of changing their appearance slightly. Electrum as a metal can be slightly gold in color (of course considering its half gold) and every depiction of the dragon I have seen has been grayish. I hope that isn't a turn off.
Electrum Page 1: https://i.imgur.com/1djopDF.png
Electrum Page 2: https://i.imgur.com/6tvyacX.png
Electrum Page 3: https://i.imgur.com/71LQZ2q.png
Electrum Page 4: https://i.imgur.com/TbTpr1D.png |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 15 Apr 2025 : 17:55:33
quote:
Originally posted by Alberto_Magnus
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
quote:
Originally posted by Alberto_Magnus
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
Here’s the baelnorn that was requested before.
Page 1: https://imgur.com/a/J9GkrCV
Page 2: https://imgur.com/a/0fy1XGi
Edit: Noticed a slight error in the Gear portion of its stats - this will be fixed for the final book.
The current book has 83 updated entries with a hundred or so stat blocks already. Check out the updated list of what has been completed, and what I plan on putting together below.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1K_r3Cfu7ZzhMJ7xEQpU44tUJCr9MG1Ju/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msexcel
Great work on the Baelnorn. You're doing an absolutely stunning job.
Can't wait to see the final product!
Thank you so much for saying that! I’m just nervous right now because the platform I am working on has been down for two days now. If this is gone forever I’m going to be a tad bummed.
No backups? 
lol yeah. I had about a third of it backed up. I made a lot of progress in the last week or two and didn’t copy the code again.
Going to share the Electrum Dragon soon today per request. |
| Alberto_Magnus |
Posted - 15 Apr 2025 : 17:12:23
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
quote:
Originally posted by Alberto_Magnus
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
Here’s the baelnorn that was requested before.
Page 1: https://imgur.com/a/J9GkrCV
Page 2: https://imgur.com/a/0fy1XGi
Edit: Noticed a slight error in the Gear portion of its stats - this will be fixed for the final book.
The current book has 83 updated entries with a hundred or so stat blocks already. Check out the updated list of what has been completed, and what I plan on putting together below.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1K_r3Cfu7ZzhMJ7xEQpU44tUJCr9MG1Ju/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msexcel
Great work on the Baelnorn. You're doing an absolutely stunning job.
Can't wait to see the final product!
Thank you so much for saying that! I’m just nervous right now because the platform I am working on has been down for two days now. If this is gone forever I’m going to be a tad bummed.
No backups? |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 14 Apr 2025 : 17:35:25
quote:
Originally posted by Alberto_Magnus
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
Here’s the baelnorn that was requested before.
Page 1: https://imgur.com/a/J9GkrCV
Page 2: https://imgur.com/a/0fy1XGi
Edit: Noticed a slight error in the Gear portion of its stats - this will be fixed for the final book.
The current book has 83 updated entries with a hundred or so stat blocks already. Check out the updated list of what has been completed, and what I plan on putting together below.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1K_r3Cfu7ZzhMJ7xEQpU44tUJCr9MG1Ju/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msexcel
Great work on the Baelnorn. You're doing an absolutely stunning job.
Can't wait to see the final product!
Thank you so much for saying that! I’m just nervous right now because the platform I am working on has been down for two days now. If this is gone forever I’m going to be a tad bummed. |
| Alberto_Magnus |
Posted - 13 Apr 2025 : 09:44:13
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
Here’s the baelnorn that was requested before.
Page 1: https://imgur.com/a/J9GkrCV
Page 2: https://imgur.com/a/0fy1XGi
Edit: Noticed a slight error in the Gear portion of its stats - this will be fixed for the final book.
The current book has 83 updated entries with a hundred or so stat blocks already. Check out the updated list of what has been completed, and what I plan on putting together below.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1K_r3Cfu7ZzhMJ7xEQpU44tUJCr9MG1Ju/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msexcel
Great work on the Baelnorn. You're doing an absolutely stunning job.
Can't wait to see the final product! |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 12 Apr 2025 : 22:14:54
Here’s the baelnorn that was requested before.
Page 1: https://imgur.com/a/J9GkrCV
Page 2: https://imgur.com/a/0fy1XGi
Edit: Noticed a slight error in the Gear portion of its stats - this will be fixed for the final book.
The current book has 83 updated entries with a hundred or so stat blocks already. Check out the updated list of what has been completed, and what I plan on putting together below.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1K_r3Cfu7ZzhMJ7xEQpU44tUJCr9MG1Ju/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msexcel |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 12 Apr 2025 : 22:10:07
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Null
meant from best of dragon magazine #3 (rappers)
Finally found my old paper copy. Pretty cool concept that would go great in Dwarves Deep. |
| TBeholder |
Posted - 12 Apr 2025 : 13:28:55
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Null
meant from best of dragon magazine #3 (rappers)
"Best of" means it's a pick from the earlier lublications. In this case, The Gods of the Dwarves by Roger E. Moore in Dragon #58. |
| Lord Null |
Posted - 12 Apr 2025 : 03:48:24
meant from best of dragon magazine #3 (rappers) |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 11 Apr 2025 : 22:15:32
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Null
rappers would be nice. could make a template for realms dragon types only
Like Eminem? 
Thank you, forgot to put trappers on my list. |
| Lord Null |
Posted - 11 Apr 2025 : 21:23:02
rappers would be nice. could make a template for realms dragon types only |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 11 Apr 2025 : 19:14:55
quote:
Originally posted by Gary Dallison
There are at least two archliches that i know of in realmslore. I dont know anything about Spelljammer so cannot comment about how prevalent they are there.
I'm pretty sure Ed was rather fond of the archlich type eternal non living good guy. I tend to view baelnorn as being an elven specific version of an archlich, but i could be wrong in that regard.
Absolutely. They were both under the entry “Lich, Good” in Monsters of Faerun so I think there is a lot of overlap. I’d think that “normal” archliches selection of spells is more from the wizard list and baelnorn might have some druidic spells intermixed. Monsters in 5e don’t choose spells from a single list anymore so it’s very feasible to make this the major difference. |
| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 11 Apr 2025 : 18:44:37
There are at least two archliches that i know of in realmslore. I dont know anything about Spelljammer so cannot comment about how prevalent they are there.
I'm pretty sure Ed was rather fond of the archlich type eternal non living good guy. I tend to view baelnorn as being an elven specific version of an archlich, but i could be wrong in that regard. |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 11 Apr 2025 : 17:15:59
quote:
Originally posted by Delnyn
Another entry would be thaluud, aka, tomb tappers. Will your guide include templates as well as monsters? The examples of which I think are: archlich, baelnorn, Banelich and beast of Xvim.
They did thaluud I believe in the Rime of the Frostmaiden adventure already.
I am trying to follow the format that the MM2024 used which didn’t do templates per se, though I would consider their versions of “knight, guard, etc” a similar concept. With that being said they turned old templates into actual monsters with maybe a few examples of the monster. For example, I’m working on a telthor now (from Rashemen) but will do a human telthor and a wolf telthor.
I actually finished baelnorn and I’ll gladly link it later tonight.
For the archlich, do you consider that more SJ or FR? I’m actually not sure.
Banelich I haven’t gotten to yet and I haven’t figured out what powers of theirs to really distinguish them from the updated lich.
Beast of Xvim I believe eventually became the Beasts of Bane? I’m not sure how I’m going to generalize them for all campaigns non FR. Same with the Beasts of Malar. Do you think a simple name change like “Beast of Tyranny” and “Beast of Savagery” would be too drastic a change on my part? |
| Delnyn |
Posted - 11 Apr 2025 : 15:19:55
Another entry would be thaluud, aka, tomb tappers. Will your guide include templates as well as monsters? The examples of which I think are: archlich, baelnorn, Banelich and beast of Xvim. |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 11 Apr 2025 : 03:58:07
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Null
Electrum dragon
Will do. Probably next actually. AJ Pickett has a great YouTube video on them too.
I have done the Mist Dragon, Weredragon and Brown Dragon so far. Looking at the Electrum, Yellow, Mercury, Steel and Fang next. Dragons are tough to gauge their power levels for CR. |
| Lord Null |
Posted - 11 Apr 2025 : 03:48:46
Electrum dragon |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 11 Apr 2025 : 03:25:58
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Null
dracohydra from the first Draconomicon.
I think this one was updated in Fizban's already.
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Null
Would you be interested in creatures Ed created for 1st edition?
Oh absolutely. I even rifled through the old Dragon's Bestiaries (from Dragon Magazine) for ones that were never updated to get them as well. Let me know if you know of anything other than the ones that are in MC3, MC11 or MoF. As far as Dragon's Bestiaries go, I already did the Duleep (Living Web), Alkada (Wingless Wonder), Aratha (Killer Beetle), Curst, Stroan, and Quezzer. I will try the Scythetail, Flailtail, Seastar, Xaver, Xantrathar and Lythlyx too.
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Null
Or the Obsidian dragon since Sardior has worshippers in the realms
Just so the list doesn't get unmanageable, I am trying to limit this to creatures that originated in a FR product. I have about 80 done now with 100 or so to go. Oddly though, if you are interested I updated the Obsidian Dragon a long time ago and screenshotted the stats I had worked up back then for you. The format is a little outdated now unfortunately.
Page 1: https://i.imgur.com/TEKKiaO.png
Page 2: https://i.imgur.com/ipuyAhS.png
Page 3: https://i.imgur.com/kdT4tQk.png
Page 4: https://i.imgur.com/se6qlOQ.png |
| Lord Null |
Posted - 09 Apr 2025 : 21:55:49
dracohydra from the first Draconomicon. Would you be interested in creatures Ed created for 1st edition? Or the Obsidian dragon since Sardior has worshippers in the realms |
