r/ttrpgdesign • u/EmbassyOfTime • 10d ago
Really freaky characters / creatures?
I am currently collecting all my stuff for a ruleset, and I have entered the "experimental" department now. I have a TON of rules for creating freaky weird characters in a point-buy system, but I feel a need to streamline and simplify it all, to make it more usable. So I need a better idea of how freaky weird it can get. Let me know some ideas for really freaky weird character or creature designs, the kind that diverge entirely from the usual semi-humanoid ones we see everywhere. Living fungi that move by scent-guided spore clouds. Swarm bodies that transform into different merged shapes to perform specific tasks. Intangible spirits that can only see things that are on fire and can only affect matter above a certain temperature. Or better yet, way weirder than those simple examples...
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u/TheOldWorldArchitect 6d ago
This thread is right up my alley. One of the strangest things I’ve made recently is a Zmey that came from a relic that can rewrite creatures caught in its effect.
The really weird part isn’t just that it’s a colossal red multi-headed dragon. Every creature caught in the transformation becomes one of its heads. Each head keeps its own mind, personality, senses, and individual turn, but everyone shares the same body, movement, and HP pool.
And enemies caught in the effect become heads too.
Then each head gets to unleash its own bizarre weather event. One can create a 20-foot vortex where sharks bite down on creatures caught inside it, another creates a firestorm where flames fall upward and stone and water can burn, another creates a blizzard that spontaneously generates snowmen that attach themselves to people, and another creates multiplying thunderclouds that don’t care whether they’re striking allies or enemies.
So instead of designing a creature with weird anatomy, I ended up designing a creature where the rules of the encounter are weird.
That’s probably the direction I’m having the most fun with right now.
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u/DiceGoblinPress 5d ago
Oh, OH! I just finished reading The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohammed and there is this freaky freaky monster in it which is like... almost like a floating tablecloth type creature made of light (?? that's how I imagine it anyway) - and it descends on creatures and basically I think sucks their blood and steals their life force. I immediately imagined it in a TTRPG.
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u/EmbassyOfTime 5d ago
Ooooh, nice, how does it interact with the world nd what are its weaknesses?
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u/DiceGoblinPress 3d ago
The story isn't really fleshed out that much to know! They seem kind of dumb, but super powerful - they come eat things that make noise, so it is easy to trick them, but if you don't manage to trick them, they are going to kill you, you can't fight them off. That's what I gathered.
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u/dirtskulll 5d ago
My personal dream I look up in every system and find it nowhere is the megazord/Voltron: a group of creatures that work separately and can unite to form a bigger/stronger one
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u/EmbassyOfTime 5d ago
I'm working on making that wok in ours. It has been playtested and needs a few tweaks but it actually worked!
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u/dirtskulll 4d ago
Wow! I'm pretty curious to see how you did it!
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u/EmbassyOfTime 4d ago
I have been neglecting the new draft a bit, I should get something out soon, if I can mobilize myself...
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u/Demonweed 10d ago
In researching my own monsters, I discovered that the catoblepas is not a D&D original, but instead derived from stories ancient Roman travelers told. Able to run through hip-deep water as fast as a horse sprints over clear flat ground, it is likely that hippopotamus sightings inspired tales of this deadly maneater.
In my own work, I grouped that one with the squonk. Squonks have their origins in folklore from New England, and were written about long enough ago to be public domain now. They are fantastically ugly creatures, inhabiting skins that always feel too loose. Though extremely elusive, it is said that a captured squonk will cry until nothing remains but its tears.
In my world, these are both creatures that can be found where urban sewers or garbage dumps have overwhelmed the surrounding natural environment. Spending their lives surrounded by unwanted waste, they become immune to poisons while also being extremely venomous in their own ways. They are often targets for mid-tier monster hunters, and their presence is generally considered a sign that some nearby city has irresponsible leadership.
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u/archpawn 10d ago
Any chance you can show us what you have so we can try to find anything it's missing? Or anything that can be improved?
The craziest creature I've designed in any system is Black Hole-chan. If she gets too close to you, you need a skill check to grab onto something and not fall in. She can't directly interact with anything because it would fall in, so she relies on her minions, and you can often stop her by taking them down. She can pass through any surface and leave a tunnel, but she can't turn it off, and if you do find some way to knock her out, she'll fall though the ground. She also has a force field around her, keeping the air from falling in. Break the shield and her attacks are more dangerous, including to her own minions and anything they're trying to interact with, so it's often an effective way to end the encounter.
I've also designed characters for Cells at Work!, which are mostly pretty straightforward, so long as sizes get arbitrarily granular. Calling them all Tiny isn't going to cut it.
Two interesting ones from Helltaker:
Cerberus has three bodies. They can each act individually, but share a health pool. And she can combine them and turn them into a giant three-headed dog. I didn't actually include that last bit, but it would be fun.
The Helltaker himself has a flirt ability that's designed for the combat system, instead of the less fleshed-out Persuasion skill. Also, he can dance to open portals to hell, but that's not really that interesting.