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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1194 Posts

Posted - 09 Mar 2025 :  23:55:32  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
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. Here is the first which is the ascallion. As far as I know, it hasnt been done yet anywhere else for 5e.


Alaghi: https://i.imgur.com/NARTeyl.png
Asabi: https://i.imgur.com/ZfrEJTT.png
Asperii: https://i.imgur.com/K44R67l.png
Ascallion: https://i.imgur.com/2mcXVRf.png
Belabra: https://i.imgur.com/OQ33ZNQ.png
Brown Dragon: Pg1 https://i.imgur.com/ixtoa1c.png Pg2 https://i.imgur.com/6IgW4tC.png Pg3 https://i.imgur.com/zvb7roP.png
Calygraunt: https://i.imgur.com/x60iqrw.png
Nymph https://i.imgur.com/cuatgvR.png

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Edited by - Seethyr on 16 Mar 2025 23:31:01

Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1194 Posts

Posted - 10 Mar 2025 :  01:57:48  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Just finished the asperii. Probably moving onto the belabra next.


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Edited by - Seethyr on 14 Mar 2025 21:53:09
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1194 Posts

Posted - 12 Mar 2025 :  00:50:19  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The Belabra.

For the next few I may jump around products. So far all have been updates to the MC - Forgotten Realms Appendix from 2e.


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Edited by - Seethyr on 14 Mar 2025 21:53:45
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1194 Posts

Posted - 14 Mar 2025 :  21:58:54  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Made a few changes. I am going to keep all links in the OP. I also just finished the asabis and stingtails. Does anyone have any requests? I am currently working on a brown dragon (pain in the neck!) and could use a quick one as an interlude. What FR monster do you want to see updated?

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Alberto_Magnus
Acolyte

Italy
27 Posts

Posted - 15 Mar 2025 :  15:26:29  Show Profile  Visit Alberto_Magnus's Homepage Send Alberto_Magnus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Thank you for your work!

Nymphs of the Realms are interesting and after 4e they are missing from manuals.
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
6679 Posts

Posted - 15 Mar 2025 :  20:29:39  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr

Made a few changes. I am going to keep all links in the OP. I also just finished the asabis and stingtails. Does anyone have any requests? I am currently working on a brown dragon (pain in the neck!) and could use a quick one as an interlude. What FR monster do you want to see updated?



Calygraunt (feystag).

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1194 Posts

Posted - 15 Mar 2025 :  21:55:30  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Alberto_Magnus

Thank you for your work!

Nymphs of the Realms are interesting and after 4e they are missing from manuals.




quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr

Made a few changes. I am going to keep all links in the OP. I also just finished the asabis and stingtails. Does anyone have any requests? I am currently working on a brown dragon (pain in the neck!) and could use a quick one as an interlude. What FR monster do you want to see updated?



Calygraunt (feystag).

-- George Krashos



Will do on both. Finishing up the Brown Dragon tomorrow, someone on another page requested the laraken, then I’ll do the nymph/unseelie nymph/grain nymph followed by the feystag.

Follow the Maztica (Aztec/Maya) and Anchorome (Indigenous North America) Campaigns on DMsGuild!

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Alberto_Magnus
Acolyte

Italy
27 Posts

Posted - 16 Mar 2025 :  05:50:03  Show Profile  Visit Alberto_Magnus's Homepage Send Alberto_Magnus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr

quote:
Originally posted by Alberto_Magnus

Thank you for your work!

Nymphs of the Realms are interesting and after 4e they are missing from manuals.




quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr

Made a few changes. I am going to keep all links in the OP. I also just finished the asabis and stingtails. Does anyone have any requests? I am currently working on a brown dragon (pain in the neck!) and could use a quick one as an interlude. What FR monster do you want to see updated?



Calygraunt (feystag).

-- George Krashos



Will do on both. Finishing up the Brown Dragon tomorrow, someone on another page requested the laraken, then I’ll do the nymph/unseelie nymph/grain nymph followed by the feystag.



Fantastic, looking forward to them.
Thank you for your work.
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6377 Posts

Posted - 16 Mar 2025 :  10:02:12  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Maybe its just me, but i always prefered the older way of writing up monsters, including some lore and actual worldbuilding information about them.

What would be really awesome is if each monster writeup could include all known information about them consolidated into one source.

Really try and give each monster a definitive investigation that brought together all the legends, mythology, religion, social detail, geographic spread, migrations, history etc.

That is something i could get behind and would be happy to help with.

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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1194 Posts

Posted - 16 Mar 2025 :  18:28:08  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Alberto_Magnus
Fantastic, looking forward to them.
Thank you for your work.



You are welcome! Finally finished the brown dragon which was really, really difficult. Check it out in the OP when you get a chance...it's three pages. I dread doing any further dragons but will try at some point. Onto the nymph now!


quote:
Originally posted by Gary Dallison

Maybe its just me, but i always prefered the older way of writing up monsters, including some lore and actual worldbuilding information about them.

What would be really awesome is if each monster writeup could include all known information about them consolidated into one source.

Really try and give each monster a definitive investigation that brought together all the legends, mythology, religion, social detail, geographic spread, migrations, history etc.

That is something i could get behind and would be happy to help with.



I went back and forth with this very question numerous times but decided on the "lore lite" version for a number of reasons.

1. I found myself just copying the brilliant work that is on wikipedia - I felt like it wasn't really my work and if I made changes, I was making changes to established lore. I want to avoid that since I'm no Ed, George, Eric, etc.

2. Though I want to make this for Realms fans in particular, I want to make it useful for more than just us. I know when I see a monster book tha is dedicated to a world I don't have anything to do with, I get turned off by the frequent references I have no understanding of.

3. I think a separate project that corresponds and is released side by side (though at a future date) would solve this issue. I more than welcome help with that aspect. Meanwhile, the brown dragon alone just took me about 5 hours to update. I have a new appreciation for what Hasbro put together now,

Follow the Maztica (Aztec/Maya) and Anchorome (Indigenous North America) Campaigns on DMsGuild!

The Maztica Campaign
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Alberto_Magnus
Acolyte

Italy
27 Posts

Posted - 16 Mar 2025 :  18:52:45  Show Profile  Visit Alberto_Magnus's Homepage Send Alberto_Magnus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
You are welcome! Finally finished the brown dragon which was really, really difficult. Check it out in the OP when you get a chance...it's three pages. I dread doing any further dragons but will try at some point. Onto the nymph now!


Amazing work on the brown dragon! It looks very interesting, never even thought about brown dragons before. Definitely a go-to for sandy adventures.
Definitely looking forward to the Nymph now.
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6377 Posts

Posted - 16 Mar 2025 :  19:41:42  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I can understand your reasoning for going lore lite.

If you fancy doing a lore heavy version I'm more than happy to help, especially with filling in the gaps. And you never know, Ed, Eric, and George might even offer the occasional hint if we're lucky.

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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1194 Posts

Posted - 16 Mar 2025 :  20:51:00  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Alberto_Magnus

quote:
You are welcome! Finally finished the brown dragon which was really, really difficult. Check it out in the OP when you get a chance...it's three pages. I dread doing any further dragons but will try at some point. Onto the nymph now!


Amazing work on the brown dragon! It looks very interesting, never even thought about brown dragons before. Definitely a go-to for sandy adventures.
Definitely looking forward to the Nymph now.



Well there she is, check the OP

I chose not to do the unseelie nymph because 5e lore doesn't really have the unseelie court as pure evil anymore. I was thinking of doing a "Nymph of Corruption" or something like that but it wasn't really working. Also, the grain nymphs I read are very much Dragonlance so I am holding back on them for a while as well. Onto the calygraunt/feystag...


quote:
Originally posted by Gary Dallison

I can understand your reasoning for going lore lite.

If you fancy doing a lore heavy version I'm more than happy to help, especially with filling in the gaps. And you never know, Ed, Eric, and George might even offer the occasional hint if we're lucky.



That would be amazing tbh. Maybe it could even be a separate part of the book? Keep the stats up front and then revisit each in another chapter with a few paragraphs of lore?

Follow the Maztica (Aztec/Maya) and Anchorome (Indigenous North America) Campaigns on DMsGuild!

The Maztica Campaign
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1194 Posts

Posted - 16 Mar 2025 :  23:34:41  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr

Made a few changes. I am going to keep all links in the OP. I also just finished the asabis and stingtails. Does anyone have any requests? I am currently working on a brown dragon (pain in the neck!) and could use a quick one as an interlude. What FR monster do you want to see updated?



Calygraunt (feystag).

-- George Krashos



All done in the OP. I had to make some very basic changes to make the creature make sense in a 5e world. Controlling a magic item is a pretty powerful ability, so I had to make them at least CR4. At the same time, I wasn't going to give him 8d4 slashing damage with those tiny little claws to have him match his CR (and weilding weapons wasn't their forte even in earlier editions), so I gave them the same arcane burst ability mages get in the MM. Finally, I don't think this thing should be overtaking artifacts so I limited the ability to Common, Uncommon or Rare items and if theyve been attuned to the holder gets advantage on their save.

Follow the Maztica (Aztec/Maya) and Anchorome (Indigenous North America) Campaigns on DMsGuild!

The Maztica Campaign
The Anchorome Campaign
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Alberto_Magnus
Acolyte

Italy
27 Posts

Posted - 17 Mar 2025 :  07:57:32  Show Profile  Visit Alberto_Magnus's Homepage Send Alberto_Magnus a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
I chose not to do the unseelie nymph because 5e lore doesn't really have the unseelie court as pure evil anymore. I was thinking of doing a "Nymph of Corruption" or something like that but it wasn't really working. Also, the grain nymphs I read are very much Dragonlance so I am holding back on them for a while as well. Onto the calygraunt/feystag...


Great work. I loved it, very well-made.
Too bad about the Unseelie Nymph... that's why I mostly stick to 5e 2014 rules. I mean, leave to the DMs whether something is pure evil or not (am talking to WotC). The Unseelie court is amazing and of course there are lots of shades of grey, even in the main sourcebooks.
Oh well, next time. I'm gonna check the feystag now!

Edited by - Alberto_Magnus on 17 Mar 2025 07:58:08
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader

United Kingdom
6377 Posts

Posted - 17 Mar 2025 :  09:41:15  Show Profile Send Gary Dallison a Private Message  Reply with Quote
In some cases I think it might be a few pages of lore per monster.

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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore

USA
1194 Posts

Posted - 17 Mar 2025 :  14:09:57  Show Profile  Visit Seethyr's Homepage Send Seethyr a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Alberto_Magnus

quote:
I chose not to do the unseelie nymph because 5e lore doesn't really have the unseelie court as pure evil anymore. I was thinking of doing a "Nymph of Corruption" or something like that but it wasn't really working. Also, the grain nymphs I read are very much Dragonlance so I am holding back on them for a while as well. Onto the calygraunt/feystag...


Great work. I loved it, very well-made.
Too bad about the Unseelie Nymph... that's why I mostly stick to 5e 2014 rules. I mean, leave to the DMs whether something is pure evil or not (am talking to WotC). The Unseelie court is amazing and of course there are lots of shades of grey, even in the main sourcebooks.
Oh well, next time. I'm gonna check the feystag now!



I think the conversion would be relatively simply. I probably should put a note about them in the description that an Unseelie has a NE alignment and can cast Charm Person 3/Day. Maybe add a cure wounds spell to the seelie version and keep that out of the unseelie’s repertoire.

quote:
Originally posted by Gary Dallison

In some cases I think it might be a few pages of lore per monster.



A massive undertaking but fun to do. I also don’t think it would be equal for each creature unless there was a lot of homebrew. For example, my next three are the Laraken, the Peltast and the Alguduir - there’s a huge amount of variance in the lore available for the three.

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