7:39 PM +MikeMyler: HELLO GAMING WORLD
7:40 PM +MikeMyler: I am MIKE MYLER, a full-time freelance game designer since the days of yore (before 5E)
7:40 PM +MikeMyler: in the before time
7:41 PM +MikeMyler: Since March of 2018 the wonderful brain behind EN World and EN Publishing, a fellow named Morrus, asked me to do a weekly column of high-CR monsters and legendary folks to throw up on the main page of his unofficial tabletop RPG news site (which is I still think the premier one)
7:41 PM +MikeMyler: That gradually became a request thread and has continued for every week since with two different sides
7:41 PM +MikeMyler: (all of which are here (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures.670680/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures.670680/)
7:42 PM +MikeMyler: MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES: How would you stat out <Achilles/Blackbeard/Queen Boudica/Ching Shih/etc> as a character? What levels would they have? Ability scores? Feats? I provide an answer!
7:42 PM +MikeMyler: and
7:43 PM +MikeMyler: EPIC MONSTERS: We want to kill <Cthulhu/Jersey Devil/Talos/the World Turtle/Dr. Jekyll/Grendel/etc> so I give you statistics for doing that
7:43 PM +MikeMyler: All of these are also by request from readers of the column, so if you do not see someone you’d like to, let me know in one of the many column articles and I’ll put them in the queue
7:44 PM +MikeMyler: They are also, I am told, pretty well-designed. I do my level best to keep to the 5E design ethos (less is more, occlusion) and then double-balance everything using both the chart in the Dungeon Master’s Guide and the *amazing* rubric put together by the Blog of Holding (reverse-engineered from the actual numbers in the MM (Link: http://blogofholding.com/?p=7338)http://blogofholding.com/?p=7338)
7:45 PM +MikeMyler: In February we started to collect new illustrations and layout the stats for these many characters into book form
7:45 PM +MikeMyler: and now we’ve got it proofed so Morrus started up a Kickstarter on June 30th
7:45 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/mythological-figures-and-maleficent-monsters/)https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/mythological-figures-and-maleficent-monsters/
7:45 PM +MikeMyler: Currently at 1,365 backers and an ominous $88,884 raised
7:46 PM +MikeMyler: It’s pretty dope. I wish I could’ve told my college self “you are going to use your classics minor, buddy! Don’t wallow in despair!”
7:46 PM +MikeMyler: ~
7:46 PM ~Dan: (Ready for questions?)
7:46 PM +MikeMyler: Aye that’s my tilde ~
7:46 PM ~Dan: Thanks, MikeMyler! The floor is open to questions!
7:47 PM ~Dan: How many entries are in this book?
7:47 PM +MikeMyler: 100? Plus…33 magic items
7:47 PM +MikeMyler: and 2 mundane
7:47 PM ~Dan: 2 mundane items?
7:47 PM +MikeMyler: (Blackbeard’s hair fuses and then Daedalus’ dubious wings)
7:47 PM ~Dan: Ah. 🙂
7:48 PM ~Dan: The Dubious Wings. Great band name!
7:48 PM +MikeMyler: I argued vociferously to keep the wings mundane
7:48 PM +MikeMyler: and I should note that not *everything* in the column is in the book
7:48 PM ~Dan: Oh? What was left out, and why?
7:48 PM +MikeMyler: of the Lovecraftian gods only Cthulhu made the cut, and he pulled drop bears and anything else that wasn’t specifically a singular creature
7:49 PM +MikeMyler: ***ostensibly*** for making a sequel
7:49 PM +MikeMyler: although I suspect he just told me that to shut up about the drop bears
7:49 PM +MikeMyler: I WON’T MORRUS I WANT MY DAMN DROP BEARS AND BY THE HELLS I WILL HAVE THEM
7:49 PM ~Dan: 😀
7:49 PM ~Dan: Stand your ground, my man.
7:49 PM +MikeMyler: Or branch
7:49 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-drop-bears-5e.665897/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-drop-bears-5e.665897/
7:50 PM +MikeMyler: How do you pass on Thylarctos plummetus? What sort of monster must you be?
7:50 PM +MikeMyler: anyway ~
7:51 PM ~Dan: What was the most difficult entry to make?
7:51 PM +MikeMyler: oooooooooo that is an excellent question
7:51 PM +MikeMyler: well
7:51 PM +MikeMyler: hrm
7:51 PM +MikeMyler: I got two answers for that
7:51 PM ~Dan: Certainly!
7:52 PM +MikeMyler: If you are unfamiliar with Indian mythology (I, like many dumb Americans, certainly was and still am) it is WAY complex and intricate
7:52 PM +MikeMyler: I must’ve spent an entire night wrapping my head around Drona (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-drona-5e.665737/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-drona-5e.665737/
7:53 PM +MikeMyler: (I eventually was rewarded because the sensitivity reader for India was like “whoa this is excellent”)
7:53 PM +MikeMyler: Math/system-feasibility wise it was definitely Lucifer
7:53 PM ~Dan: Interesting.
7:53 PM ~Dan: And you did several versions of him, IIRC?
7:54 PM +MikeMyler: Morrus specifically wanted the archangel Michael and then Satan, but if you look at the core rules’ angels they covered the ground on the archangel
7:54 PM +MikeMyler: so aye I did three versions of Lucifer
7:54 PM +MikeMyler: Falling Angel, Fallen Angel, Lord of Hell
7:54 PM +MikeMyler: and then Morrus was like “turn it up” so I had to figure out how to make Lucifer CR 30+
7:54 PM +MikeMyler: ended on CR 35 which is I believe the exact edge of the precipice of GM-fiat
7:55 PM +MikeMyler: that was a lot of number gaming to get the right bonuses, hit points, life-sucking ratio, etc.
7:55 PM +MikeMyler: and just because he keeps bringing it up but doesn’t ever mention the important part, Lucifer has change shape
7:55 PM +MikeMyler: Lots of things have Change Shape
7:55 PM +MikeMyler: it’s pretty common among monsters
7:55 PM +MikeMyler: *unlike* every other monster, when Lucifer uses it he gets it all
7:55 PM +MikeMyler: Lair Actions, Legendary Actions, everything, all of it, he gets it
7:56 PM +MikeMyler: so hardest for context was Drona, hardest numbers-wise Lucifer
7:56 PM +MikeMyler: (and only the Lord of Hell version appears in the book)
7:56 PM +MikeMyler: ~
7:56 PM ~Dan: Impressive. How many hours of research would you say went into this book?
7:58 PM +MikeMyler: oh jesus
7:58 PM +MikeMyler: Thousands?
7:58 PM ~Dan: I can only imagine.
7:58 PM +MikeMyler: I mean I’ve been at it for almost 2 and a half years now
7:58 PM * ~Dan nods
7:59 PM +MikeMyler: each one probably takes about an hour or 2 of research, not counting outliers like Drona
7:59 PM +MikeMyler: Maybe not thousands, but I am very comfortable with “over a thousand hours”
7:59 PM ~Dan: I’m surprised to hear that it only took 1-2 hours on average!
7:59 PM +MikeMyler: Words are how I make my bread so I read pretty fast 🙂
8:00 PM +MikeMyler: mmm word bread
8:00 PM +MikeMyler: ~
8:00 PM ~Dan: Word bread is magical.
8:00 PM ~Dan: To make it, you have to cast a spell.
8:00 PM +MikeMyler: toasts so good
8:01 PM ~Dan: Were you able to use existing rules to create all of these beings?
8:01 PM +MikeMyler: For the Mythological Figures that is typically the challenge of it
8:02 PM +MikeMyler: and I usually succeed at that challenge, barring some specific examples otherwise
8:02 PM +MikeMyler: Sun Wukong for example is a character you just straight up can’t make without magic items that do not exist in the core rules
8:02 PM ~Dan: Oh? Like what?
8:02 PM +MikeMyler: (the monkey king of Chinese mythology that Goku in DBZ is based on)
8:03 PM +MikeMyler: Endlessly-extending staff
8:03 PM +MikeMyler: (Ruyi-Jingu Bang Bang I think it’s called)
8:03 PM +MikeMyler: That’s why the book has 33 magic items
8:03 PM +MikeMyler: Baba Yaga needs her chicken-legged hut to be Baba Yaga right? No rules in the core for that though. Dorian Gray has to have his painting to be Dorian Gray ya? Need to make the painting.
8:04 PM +MikeMyler: Wherever possible I reflavored things. Thor got away without any new magic items (although I provide cooler versions of those pulled out of the core for him, like Mjolnir and whatever crazy name the gauntlets/belt get)
8:05 PM +MikeMyler: oh and what’s King Arthur without Excalibur?
8:05 PM ~Dan: Seems like Baba Yaga’s hut was a magic artifact in the AD&D 1e Dungeon Master’s Guide.
8:05 PM +MikeMyler: Sounds plausible! I sometimes referenced back to older materials to figure out what the class split for some characters ought to be
8:06 PM +MikeMyler: Merlin comes to mind
8:06 PM ~Dan: Did you look at Deities and Demigods at all?
8:06 PM +MikeMyler: oh and Gilgamesh
8:06 PM +MikeMyler: You know it’s funny you mention that
8:06 PM +MikeMyler: I *did* indeed do that
8:07 PM +MikeMyler: and Deities & Demigods *looked back upon me* (Link: https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/029/471/654/d13635ea7d8022ff7fd1a2b515d7448a_original.png?ixlib=rb-2.1.0&w=680&fit=max&v=1592229644&auto=format&frame=1&lossless=true&s=5ef46a7572e6b6d35896e1917811968b)https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/029/471/654/d13635ea7d8022ff7fd1a2b515d7448a_original.png?ixlib=rb-2.1.0&w=680&fit=max&v=1592229644&auto=format&frame=1&lossless=true&s=5ef46a7572e6b6d35896e1917811968b
8:07 PM +MikeMyler: see if I can’t get a friendlier URL there (Link: https://bit.ly/38CMhYW)https://bit.ly/38CMhYW
8:07 PM ~Dan: James M. Ward. Nice!
8:08 PM +MikeMyler: Probably the nicest compliment I’ve ever gotten from the old guard so far: “I looked hard for something critical to say about this great work. I failed miserably.”
8:08 PM +MikeMyler: *dies*
8:08 PM ~Dan: That IS nice. 🙂
8:08 PM ~Dan: (brb)
8:09 PM +JamesGillen: heh
8:09 PM +MikeMyler: since Dan’s disappeared for a moment I should clarify that EN Publishing does not start a Kickstarter until they have a book in hand so there’s no delay on rewards. You will get your book in 2020—not 2021, not 2022, but 2020.
8:10 PM +MikeMyler: There are still stretch goals mind you, but those unlock Villain Spotlight articles from EN5ider and are available as soon as we pass a funding threshold
8:10 PM +MikeMyler: so far I think we’ve unlocked 7 of those so if you become a backer you can pop open the updates and download each right now
8:11 PM +MikeMyler: yeah 7 so far
8:11 PM ~Dan: (back, sorry)
8:11 PM +MikeMyler: no worries
8:11 PM +MikeMyler: ~
8:12 PM ~Dan: Who was the most modern character you adapted?
8:12 PM +MikeMyler: oh egg on my face it’s Ruyi Jingu Bang! Apologies!
8:12 PM +MikeMyler: mmm
8:12 PM +MikeMyler: I have a rule of 100 years from death so while I got some artwork ready for Sarah (?) Winchester I dropped it because she’s too recent and I don’t want to disrespect folks
8:13 PM +MikeMyler: Teeeesla?
8:13 PM +MikeMyler: Houdini maybe
8:14 PM +MikeMyler: or, depending on your level of conspiracy theorist, the Loch Ness Monster
8:14 PM ~Dan: Interesting… Did you have to use D&D magic to simulate some of the more modern characters’ abilities?
8:14 PM +MikeMyler: or maybe Skin-Walker (which isn’t supposed to be talked about so ended up being a real PITA to research)
8:14 PM ~Dan: And, more importantly, does Tesla get his death ray?
8:15 PM +MikeMyler: well with Tesla that was part of a cross-promotion from when EN Publishing did the A TOUCH MORE CLASS Kickstarter almost a year ago to the day
8:16 PM +MikeMyler: so he uses a class from out of there (the tinkerer), Billy the Kid too (gunfighter), Houdini a little bit (half rogue, half fatebender), the *original* Paul Bunyan build (monster tamer), and Sherlock Holmes (savant)
8:16 PM +MikeMyler: oh and Vlad the Impaler is an occultist but he got pulled from the book because he was using the class’ archetype to become a vampire and like, what’s the point then right? Just use a vampire statblock. We got Dracula in there and he’s vampire+.
8:17 PM +MikeMyler: Another interesting tidbit
8:17 PM +MikeMyler: particularly for my fellow 5E designers
8:18 PM +MikeMyler: The 5ESRD hasn’t been updated since 2016 so the artificer class and *all* archetypes from other classes aren’t part of the Open Gaming License
8:18 PM +MikeMyler: so I took the features from each, renamed them, then explained identical mechanics using different wording (so as not to violate copyright)
8:18 PM +MikeMyler: meaning that *now* they *are* part of the OGL, at least my altered-wording versions
8:19 PM +MikeMyler: so Captain Nemo for instance is an artificer using the artillerist archetype 🙂
8:19 PM ~Dan: So did you include rules for the new classes in this book, or does it require a book containing those classes (or your SRD) to play?
8:19 PM +MikeMyler: ah and we used that warlord archetype one of the core 5E designers slapped together a few years ago (again with customized wording)
8:20 PM +MikeMyler: I included their pertinent features in the character builds, but the only archetype that gets explicit “here’s what a ‘Tactical Focal Point’ is and the actions you can use in that area” type of write-up was the warlord archetype for fighters
8:20 PM +JamesGillen: Warlord was one of the few things I liked in 4E
8:21 PM +MikeMyler: Voila -> (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-saladin-5e.666517/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-saladin-5e.666517/
8:22 PM ~Dan: As a Texan, I have to ask: Did you include Pecos Bill?
8:22 PM +JamesGillen: Ha
8:22 PM +MikeMyler: and the Masterclass Codex (combining all the stuff from A Touch of Class and A Touch More Class) is available as a reward on the Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters kickstarter too (including a spiffy leatherbound version)
8:23 PM +MikeMyler: Pecos Bill has not hit the column yet but I tell you what: he’s on the queue now
8:23 PM ~Dan: Good to know. 🙂
8:24 PM ~Dan: Speaking of which, how are you able to stat up characters like Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill who were said to have carved out massive geological features? 🙂
8:24 PM +MikeMyler: well the original Paul Bunyan build was based on the guy who the legend probably grew out of
8:24 PM +MikeMyler: Morrus made me go back and give him monster treatment though
8:25 PM +MikeMyler: So this version (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-paul-bunyan-5e.666440/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-paul-bunyan-5e.666440/ is not in the book
8:25 PM +MikeMyler: replaced instead by a….
8:25 PM +MikeMyler: CR 21 Gargantuan giant
8:26 PM +MikeMyler: and if we’re being technical
8:26 PM +MikeMyler: Cthulhu isn’t *Cthulhu*
8:26 PM ~Dan: Oh?
8:26 PM +MikeMyler: *Cthulhu* sleeps in R’lyeh until the time that he awakens
8:26 PM +MikeMyler: His projection on Earth is a thing tho
8:27 PM +MikeMyler: a CR 30 thing :3
8:27 PM ~Dan: Sounds a bit like the Dream Dragons in Glorantha.
8:28 PM ~Dan: (Granted, I don’t know how much you know about Glorantha, so… 🙂 )
8:28 PM +MikeMyler: My Chaosium-fu is weak
8:29 PM ~Dan: Ah. Well, long story short, Gloranthan True Dragons are the size of mountain ranges and (thankfully) are usually asleep (and often mistaken for mountain ranges).
8:29 PM ~Dan: They are so powerful, however, that their dreams form “normal” sized dragons.
8:29 PM +MikeMyler: The only Lovecraftian deity to get proper “I am here and can actually be killed” stats only appears in the column (Nyarlathotep, who lairs in the core of the planet but walks among humans sometimes)
8:29 PM +MikeMyler: Yeah!
8:29 PM +MikeMyler: Spot on sir
8:29 PM * ~Dan bows
8:30 PM ~Dan: (I killed one of those damned things the Saturday before last.)
8:31 PM +MikeMyler: Congratulations!
8:31 PM +MikeMyler: The biggest thing in the column thus far is the World Turtle, I think destined for a sequel tome
8:31 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-world-turtle.672028/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-world-turtle.672028/
8:31 PM ~Dan: (Thanks! With a dagger, no less, after the thing had pretty much disemboweled my character. Go me! \o/ )
8:32 PM +MikeMyler: (ಠ‿↼) †
8:32 PM ~Dan: Yup, that’s pretty big!
8:33 PM ~Dan: So some of the characters you wrote up, like Robin Hood, are known for their superhuman prowess but didn’t rely on magic items. How did you handle that?
8:34 PM +MikeMyler: Did my level best to load the statblock up with as much mechanical focus as possible from archetypes and feats
8:34 PM ~Dan: How difficult was that?
8:35 PM +MikeMyler: and had a long argument about Robin Hood so I’ll repeat here: if you really need to stress the impossible shot aspect, drop one of his given feats for Lucky instead and then work him into positions where he has disadvantage (and then can declare a luck point, roll 3d20, and pick the best result)
8:35 PM +MikeMyler: Not as difficult as working out the numbers for a CR 35 creature or wrapping my head around a mythology that I was previously extremely unfamiliar with, I’ll say that
8:36 PM +MikeMyler: oh and the design notes shit I should mention those right
8:36 PM +MikeMyler: Every entry includes a small paragraph in a sidebar labeled Design Notes that explains the process and path on how I came to this or that conclusion for an entry’s statistics
8:37 PM +MikeMyler: Sometimes that includes references to other entries, sometimes some tactical advice, always the CR variances between the DMG rubric and the Blog of Holding rubric
8:38 PM +MikeMyler: for Robin Hood I figured he’s got the marksman fighter archetype, he’s got the super-shooty feat—that’s enough shooty crap. He was also *the* highwayman of history and deserves the sneaky feat more than Lucky
8:39 PM +MikeMyler: survivability is also a general concern so experienced gamers may be surprised by the prevalence of rogue levels spread throughout
8:39 PM +MikeMyler: Uncanny Dodge <– ++survivability 8:39 PM +MikeMyler: ~ 8:40 PM ~Dan: Hmm. I was just skimming your Paul Bunyan writeup and find myself wondering why you went with Monster Tamer. I thought his main schtick was swinging an axe, not interacting with monsters (other than Blue). 8:42 PM +MikeMyler: Well Barbarian didn’t feel right. He’s not known for being angry. He is known for the ox though, and for having a proper friendship with Blue so I leaned into that. The class also includes some sweet grappling stuff that felt apropos 8:42 PM ~Dan: Ah, I see. 8:42 PM +MikeMyler: and this (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-paul-bunyan-5e.666440/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-paul-bunyan-5e.666440/ is for French-Canadian lumberjack Fabian Fournier or the soldier Paul Bon Jean, who I’m led to believe are the most likely candidates for where the myth started 8:43 PM ~Dan: Cool! 8:43 PM +MikeMyler: and it’s a duo right? 8:43 PM * ~Dan nods 8:43 PM +MikeMyler: You meet Paul Bunyan (or his antecedent) and you’re going to expect to see Blue around 8:44 PM ~Dan: True. 8:44 PM +MikeMyler: Since we’re talking about one of the cross-promo posts, I’d like to note how ridiculously happy and proud I am that we’re doubling the last project’s funding 8:44 PM ~Dan: Good! That’s awesome! 8:44 PM +MikeMyler: I was not expecting this to do as well, let alone way freaking better 8:44 PM +MikeMyler: especially during *gestures at planet Earth* 8:45 PM ~Dan: Heh. Indeed. 8:45 PM ~Dan: Do you have a link to how you built Nessie? 8:46 PM +MikeMyler: We held off an extra month and a half or thereabouts unsure if any Kickstarters would be able to thrive :3 8:46 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-loch-ness-monster-5e.665895/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-loch-ness-monster-5e.665895/ 8:46 PM ~Dan: And did you write up any other cryptids as well, or are they not “singular” enough? 8:46 PM +MikeMyler: So proud of this (we got new art tho) (Link: https://bit.ly/3fam5Ya)https://bit.ly/3fam5Ya 8:46 PM +MikeMyler: hmmmm that made it into the book? 8:47 PM +MikeMyler: Chupacabra 8:47 PM +MikeMyler: …does the Easter Bunny count? 8:47 PM ~Dan: Heh. As a cryptid? Sure, why not! 😀 8:48 PM +MikeMyler: The version in the book is a speedster because Morrus didn’t like the first version which I maintain was a bout of madness on his part 8:48 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://mikemyler.com/2020/04/12/easter-bunny-for-dd-5e/)https://mikemyler.com/2020/04/12/easter-bunny-for-dd-5e/ 8:48 PM ~Dan: What about the Jersey Devil or Mothman? (Although I suppose the latter is too modern.) 8:48 PM +MikeMyler: Yeah those made it into the book 8:48 PM +MikeMyler: he butchered the Jersey Devil copy though. It gets like two paragraphs and he doesn’t even touch on the Benjamin Franklin bits 8:48 PM +MikeMyler: (it’s insane) 8:48 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-jersey-devil-5e.666357/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-jersey-devil-5e.666357/ 8:48 PM ~Dan: What Ben Franklin bits? 8:49 PM +MikeMyler: *exactly* 8:49 PM +MikeMyler: I’ll reprint here for posterity 8:49 PM +MikeMyler: 3) It could be from mud-slinging between Benjamin Franklin and his rival in the publication of almanacs, the Leeds family (Daniel for which Leeds Point was named and his son Titan). This Daniel Leeds fellow was a Quaker but got cast out for putting too much heretical astrology into his books, which in turn got endorsed by the British royal governor and 8:49 PM +MikeMyler: not long after he’s labeled by the Quakers as evil. His son Titan Leeds takes over the business then as a joke Benjamin Franklin offers an astrological prediction of this guy’s death. Titan is super offended, the spat escalates, and then Ben starts referring to him as a ghost (continuing to do so after Titan’s actual death). To top that off the 8:49 PM +MikeMyler: Leeds family crest has some imagery similar to the descriptions of the Jersey Devil (and it’s not like crests were really popular in colonial times what with all the anti-British sentiment). 8:50 PM +MikeMyler: We can’t overly blame Morrus he doesn’t have the connection to old Ben Franklin the rest of us do 8:51 PM ~Dan: True. 8:51 PM +MikeMyler: Peter Pan was an interesting one 8:51 PM ~Dan: Oh? How so? 8:51 PM +MikeMyler: did you know that little bastard is a psychopomp? 8:51 PM ~Dan: I did not! 8:52 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-peter-pan.669781/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-peter-pan.669781/ 8:52 PM +MikeMyler: (again we got new artwork for in the book) 8:52 PM ~Dan: How did you arrive at him being a psychopomp? 8:52 PM +MikeMyler: Research! 8:52 PM +MikeMyler: There are three other original works beyond the narrative most of us know (Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, When Wendy Grew Up – An Afterthought, and Peter and Wendy) and apparently he takes to shepherding the souls of dead children so they’re not frightened on their way to the afterlife. 8:53 PM +MikeMyler: so weird that didn’t make it into the Disney movie amirite :p 8:54 PM ~Dan: Wow. That’s creepy. 8:54 PM +MikeMyler: he’s also definitely *not* good. Not sure if he’s straight up evil (some folks argued that) but can agree he’s definitely *not* good. 8:55 PM ~Dan: Why’s that? The kid abducting thing? 8:56 PM +MikeMyler: That 8:56 PM +MikeMyler: he’s also apparently pretty racist 8:56 PM +MikeMyler: and murders Tinkerbell 8:56 PM ~Dan: O.o 8:56 PM +MikeMyler: (which he of course forgets about because he’s Peter Pan) 8:56 PM ~Dan: How is he racists, and why did he murder Tinkerbell? 8:56 PM ~Dan: *racist 8:57 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://twitter.com/MikeMyler2/status/1202457078599540736)https://twitter.com/MikeMyler2/status/1202457078599540736 Here’s a Twitter thread about it 8:57 PM +MikeMyler: I agreed with Shea there enough to move the dial from chaotic good to chaotic neutral but figured there’d be an uproar if I went straight for chaotic evil 9:00 PM ~Dan: Likely so, yup. 9:00 PM ~Dan: Aside: I like Nessie’s underwater teleporting ability. 😀 9:00 PM +MikeMyler: She is elusive 😉 9:01 PM ~Dan: Indeed! 9:01 PM +MikeMyler: Aye so far there are 17 entries that got shunted down the line, including jackalopes and hodags 9:01 PM +MikeMyler: Mongolian Death Worms (way cool) 9:01 PM ~Dan: Well, those aren’t singular creatures, so that makes sense. 9:01 PM +MikeMyler: lol the onocentaur which I probably should not talk about 9:02 PM +MikeMyler: but I’m gonna sorry/not-sorry bossman (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-onocentaur-poll.672579/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/epic-monsters-onocentaur-poll.672579/ 9:02 PM +MikeMyler: In my defense 70% of poll-takers agreed that I managed to make a decent creature out of that ridiculous, ridiculous illustration 9:02 PM +MikeMyler: (14/20) 9:02 PM ~Dan: Ha! Never heard of that one. 🙂 9:03 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://www.enworld.org/attachments/onocentaur-dnd-5e-banner-jpg.122635/)https://www.enworld.org/attachments/onocentaur-dnd-5e-banner-jpg.122635/ 9:03 PM +MikeMyler: I am not surprised 9:03 PM +MikeMyler: I think as a collective whole humanity has tried to forget about it 9:03 PM ~Dan: Although… I suppose that as far as mythological body forms go, that makes more sense than the “normal” centaur. 9:03 PM +MikeMyler: for anyone lacking the bravery to click, it’s like yeah, like a normal centaur 9:03 PM +MikeMyler: except no front legs 9:03 PM +MikeMyler: this poor bastard runs on his arms 9:04 PM +MikeMyler: and Herotodus claimed it was “very angry” which is *not* a surprise 9:04 PM ~Dan: Yeah, I’d be pissed, too. 9:04 PM +MikeMyler: oh, not Herotodus, Pythagoras 9:04 PM +MikeMyler: same difference :p 9:05 PM +MikeMyler: ah the low CR that’s worth a mention 9:05 PM +MikeMyler: the lowest CR in the actual book is I think Don Quixote at CR 1? 9:05 PM ~Dan: Well, that certainly makes sense. 9:05 PM +MikeMyler: ah, Sancho Panza is CR 1, Don Quixote is CR 2 9:06 PM +MikeMyler: as are Dr. Jekyll, Caliban, and Douban 9:06 PM +MikeMyler: In general when designing material for the column I aim for the sweet spot in 5E which is, generally speaking, between 5th and 12th level 9:06 PM +MikeMyler: before then player agency is fairly limited, and after that it starts veering into gamemaster fatigue territory 9:07 PM ~Dan: Remind me who Caliban and Douban are? 9:07 PM +MikeMyler: So MOST of the entries are between CR 5 and CR 12 9:07 PM +MikeMyler: Caliban is from The Tempest, a play I still haven’t read or watched (have tried 6 times now) despite losing a tv trivia show because I didn’t know it 9:07 PM +MikeMyler: Prospero is also in the book and is from The Tempest 9:07 PM +MikeMyler: Douban is a minor character (although a *very* cool one) out of 1,001 Arabian Nights 9:08 PM ~Dan: Ah, I see. 9:08 PM ~Dan: Speaking of Dr. Jekyll, did you go with the original, shrimpy Mr. Hyde? 9:08 PM +MikeMyler: well Dr. Jekyll is the shrimpy one 9:08 PM +MikeMyler: he’s CR 2. 9:08 PM +MikeMyler: Mr. Hyde is the beefy CR 8 bastard 9:09 PM ~Dan: Well, yes, but in the original book, Mr. Hyde was actually smaller than Dr. Jekyll, IIRC. 9:09 PM +MikeMyler: ohhh I did not know or recall that! Nah this is much more in the vein of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 9:09 PM +MikeMyler: which btw you can absolutely positively run with this book because everybody is accounted for 9:09 PM +MikeMyler: we got your Allan Quatermain, we got the Invisible Man, we got the doc, Captain Nemo 9:10 PM ~Dan: Ah, yes. Mr. Hyde actually talks about that in the League comic. 9:10 PM +MikeMyler: We did not include the vampire lady, but she’s a vampire so the core statblock works fine 9:10 PM +MikeMyler: and if you absolutely must include the movie version’s Tom Sawyer, just use Billy the Kidd 9:11 PM ~Dan: He explains that he started out small compared to a hale and hearty Dr. Jekyll because he was formed from the good doctor’s guilt, which grew out of all proportion with time. 9:11 PM ~Dan: (The comic is VERY different from the movie. VERY.) 9:11 PM +MikeMyler: It’s been a decade since I enjoyed the delectable comic but that sounds right 9:11 PM +MikeMyler: ohhhh Dr. Moreau 9:12 PM +MikeMyler: *makes a note* 9:12 PM +MikeMyler: …continue 9:12 PM +MikeMyler: >.>
9:12 PM +MikeMyler: <.< 9:12 PM +MikeMyler: >.>
9:12 PM ~Dan: Heh. 🙂
9:12 PM ~Dan: Could you really do Dr. Moreau without featuring his hybrids?
9:13 PM ~Dan: (Well, I mean, you obviously COULD, but would it be worth it?)
9:13 PM +MikeMyler: of course not but I’ve got a mongrelfolk statblock in my pocket already from Vast Kaviya 😉
9:13 PM ~Dan: Ah, nice. 🙂
9:13 PM +MikeMyler: It probably bears mentioning that this is a big ol book? 235 pages of goodness
9:13 PM ~Dan: That IS a big book.
9:14 PM +MikeMyler: Some entries stretched out into 4 pages but mostly each entry gets two pages, one for illustration/context and then one for stats
9:14 PM ~Dan: Would you ever consider doing a version of the book for any other system(s)?
9:14 PM +MikeMyler: Absolutely
9:14 PM ~Dan: Any likely suspects?
9:14 PM +MikeMyler: Morrus has already converted several of these over to WOIN
9:15 PM +MikeMyler: and I’m gradually moving my own material over to WOIN (finished the Hypercorps 2099 manuscript’s conversion last month)
9:15 PM ~Dan: Ah, nice. I’m reading his Judge Dredd currently for review, as it happens.
9:15 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://www.woinrpg.com/)https://www.woinrpg.com/ hell yes
9:15 PM +MikeMyler: It makes me crazy proud that my vehicle rules are being used by Judges across the world
9:15 PM ~Dan: Awesome!
9:16 PM ~Dan: Uh-oh. 15 minutes to go. It’s time for THAT question…
9:16 PM ~Dan: What is your LEAST favorite part of this book?
9:17 PM +MikeMyler: cutting most of the Jersey Devil copy and my drop bears
9:17 PM +MikeMyler: oh and that my AMAZING easter bunny build got rejected for a standard speedster rabbit person
9:17 PM +MikeMyler: I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s a cool monster build and fun
9:17 PM +MikeMyler: but it’s not “sneaky hivemind rabbits”
9:18 PM ~Dan: That WOULD be cool. 🙂
9:18 PM +MikeMyler: Right?
9:18 PM ~Dan: Did you cover the Bunyip?
9:18 PM +MikeMyler: You see an odd rabbit or two. No biggie. Then like six. Maybe a little weird. Then 20. Then you spot two that are man-sized. Panic seeps in.
9:18 PM +MikeMyler: Not yet
9:18 PM +MikeMyler: *makes note*
9:19 PM ~Dan: Heh. 🙂
9:20 PM ~Dan: In the time remaining, is there anything we haven’t covered that you’d like to bring up?
9:20 PM +MikeMyler: let’s see
9:20 PM +MikeMyler: It’s not JUST mythologies
9:20 PM +MikeMyler: there’s literary characters in here and historical ones too
9:20 PM +MikeMyler: ah and the sensitivity readers!
9:21 PM +MikeMyler: We worked with Salt and Sage Book’s sensitivity readers to make sure that we were fairly and honestly depicting the various cultures in here that Morrus and I don’t personally have any stake in
9:21 PM +MikeMyler: (throw a dart at Europe and you’ll probably hit an ancestral country, between the two of us)
9:21 PM ~Dan: That seems wise.
9:22 PM +MikeMyler: They were excellent
9:22 PM ~Dan: Good!
9:22 PM +MikeMyler: Nothing major needed changed but their consulting was top notch
9:22 PM +MikeMyler: ended up spending half a night reading goddamn scripture to make sure that the stories on King David were right
9:22 PM +MikeMyler: Want to guess what “talents” used to refer to?
9:23 PM ~Dan: Umm… no idea?
9:23 PM +MikeMyler: an ancient measurement of weight
9:23 PM +MikeMyler: so “a thousand talents of iron” wasn’t about working iron a bunch of different ways, it literally was “this much iron”
9:23 PM ~Dan: Oh! Interesting.
9:24 PM +MikeMyler: indeed
9:24 PM +MikeMyler: hmmm
9:24 PM +MikeMyler: anything else…hmmm
9:25 PM +MikeMyler: I think that might well be it. There’s a lot of awesome brilliant stuff in here. I’m mega proud of it. I feel like we made a mix of the NPC Codex and Deities & Demigods. Can’t wait to get my copy.
9:25 PM +MikeMyler: OH!
9:25 PM +MikeMyler: We could talk about Conan getting dropped?
9:25 PM ~Dan: Of course!
9:26 PM +MikeMyler: right so there’s I believe 2-3 stories from Conan’s earliest days that are *not* copyrighted
9:26 PM +MikeMyler: meaning that he’s in the public domain
9:26 PM +MikeMyler: h-o-w-e-v-e-r
9:26 PM +MikeMyler: He’s also trademarked 8 ways to Sunday
9:27 PM +MikeMyler: so while my original article about him on EN World—a British website—is fine, and we could probably get away with a printing in the UK that includes the character, we wouldn’t be able to print any copies in the US
9:27 PM +MikeMyler: (Link: https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-conan-the-barbarian-5e.665826/)https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-conan-the-barbarian-5e.665826/
9:27 PM +MikeMyler: ultimately he had to go from the final proof 😦
9:27 PM ~Dan: Awww. That’s a shame.
9:27 PM +MikeMyler: *I* wanted to be all tongue-in-cheek and call him “Complex Barbarian” but it was Morrus’ birthday that day so I didn’t fight him on it
9:28 PM ~Dan: Ha! Very kind of you.
9:28 PM +MikeMyler: I ams what I ams :p
9:29 PM +MikeMyler: In the event anyone reading this stumbles across some older promotional materials with Conan in it, I apologize because ya won’t find him in the final version of the book
9:29 PM ~Dan: Such is life.
9:30 PM +MikeMyler: although anyone interested in the ongoing saga of Conan’s public domain-ness can follow it with Ablaze Publishing’s comic “The Cimmerian” which I believe is currently amidst court battles
9:30 PM +MikeMyler: and again, if there’s a character you want to see go up on the column at ENworld.com, tell me! I will eventually get to them all. My list is down to only 70 or so
9:31 PM +MikeMyler: oh and gender breakdowns we can touch on that real quick
9:31 PM +MikeMyler: about 1/3rd of the gendered characters in the book are female
9:31 PM +MikeMyler: I try my level best to get as many lady entries as possible but—and this may surprise some of you—history seems to really focus on *dudes*
9:31 PM +MikeMyler: real proud that I managed to keep the fourth lady pirate from being cut because I am 100% running a campaign with lady pirates
9:32 PM ~Dan: Good for you. 🙂
9:32 PM +MikeMyler: Good for us all!
9:32 PM ~Dan: Usual reminder: If you’ve enjoyed this Q&A and would like to treat me to a coffee or two, you can do so at (Link: https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe)https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe . Anything’s appreciated! 🙂
9:32 PM ~Dan: Thanks very much for joining us, MikeMyler!
9:32 PM +MikeMyler: So yeah people! Join us! Be the 1,371st backer, surprising your table with Santa Claus or Maui or Fafnir! (Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/mythological-figures-and-maleficent-monsters/)https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/mythological-figures-and-maleficent-monsters/
9:33 PM +MikeMyler: Thank you for having me on again ♥
9:33 PM ~Dan: My pleasure!
9:33 PM ~Dan: If you’ll give me just a minute, I’ll get the log posted and link you! 🙂
The Hardboiled GMshoe's Office 
