They did the mash - it was a monster mash

On the subject of bestiaries, I've often wanted to create what I call the stat-less monster manual. As the name suggests, this bestiary would have absolutely no rules or stats of any kind. All it would contain would be hastily scrawled eyewitness accounts, pseudo-scientific studies by obscure sages, entries in chronicles of dubious veracity, hand sketches, and rumours and legends whispered by ignorant peasants. From this scrapbook, prospective DMs would assemble piecemeal what they believe the monsters to be like, add a healthy dose of their own imagination, and then create the stats based on their own idea of what they should be.



For example, the entry for a monster called a 'gerrhu' might consist of an entry in a local history book written in obscure and badly spelled script, some rough pictures drawn in charcoal by eyewitnesses of a gerrhu raid, some accounts by adventurers, and a scribed recording of a meeting between an gerrhu chieftain and a minor human noble. The DM would sort through all the rumour and conjecture - much of it contradictory - and make up their mind what a 'gerrhu' was like. Then they'd write down whatever stats and use it in their game.



It would require a lot of work and creativity, but would work very well with a reasonably rules-light game. The beauty of it is that it would be system neutral, so you could use it just as well in D&D, Rolemaster or GURPS Fantasy. And say goodbye to the old problem of players knowing monsters' weaknesses and secrets because they've read the Monster Manual; no two DMs would ever come up with the same version of a monster.

It's one of those things that would be easier to create and release now than ever before. Perhaps I'll give it a whirl one of these days - put it up there on the list with the other two hundred things I've talked about on this blog but never got round to doing.