Among the amusing bits in the FF is the inclusion of the Booka. Household spirits who can play tricks on you are good for flavor and setting, but even as a young teen I thought that having stats for the things seemed... silly.
Equally strange is the Denzelian or, as a long-time watcher of the original Star Trek, the Horta. Like the Star Trek Horta, the Denzelian is primarily a plot device. Unlike the Horta, the Denzelian can't burn the crap out of miners.
While I can't fault the authors for trying to introduce the idea that monsters aren't just something to fight, the presentation of them as something to fight, just like all the monsters, only creates a weird sort of tension, a sort of "what the hell do I do with this thing" sense.
The Carbuncle, however, presents a basically useless monster with an interesting non-combat challenge. Carbuncles, apparently, grow rubies on their forheads. Kill them, and the ruby is destroyed. Convince them to let you take it, and they are fine. Abuse them, they will themselves dead. Spend time coaxing them to get the ruby, and they will mess with your head, trying to sow seeds of discontent among the party. Good times, there.
I'm pretty sure that back in the day White Dwarf carried an article with the monsters that didn't make the cut. I ought to try and dig that up.
ReplyDeleteI've got some of the old White Dwarfs and there were several critters that didn't make the cut. Some of them were pretty cool if I recall (some were cut due to copyright issues.)
ReplyDeleteGood gods, what got cut to make room for Bookas, Denzalians and Flumphs?
ReplyDeleteI suspect the picture is complicated by various issues between the UK crew and the TSR mothership and the long delay between original and actual publication date that ensued.
I like the Booka, but then again I have a soft spot for faerie folk and their like. These creatures fill a useful non-combat encounter role and are given combat mechanics for completeness. No matter how well you plan a non-com encounter, there is always the possibility of somebody seeing it as otherwise.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of non-com encounters needing combat stats is when the party doesn't deliver on whatever purpose the original encounter was intended for and has to fight their way out.
-Eli
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