After being inspired by you degenerates, I've considered making my own project.  I fully accept that I am too mathematically retarded to ever create my own system, so I may very well have to simply make a supplement book.  Which is fine by me.

I want your feedback, your suggestions, and your patience as I slog through this.  Please keep in mind that I have a full-time job as well as like, six other hobbies.  In truth, I hope this is fun.  I want the assistance of mature and good-hearted players and developers... but in their absence, you degenerate bastards will work just fine.

The idea is that say, a game like Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder has beasties and baddies and boogermonsters abound.  I've always had a fondness for Templates to apply to a variety of beings.  From those that can be applied to a player character to make them more interesting and fun, to those that can be added to wildlife or enemy monsters to make them twisted and terrifying- I want to make a compendium of sorts.  

I would like for it to be fully compatible with those (or other) works.  It can be shoehorned into a setting, in as little or as much as the gamers see fit.  Perhaps, with enough work, it could be the foundation of its own setting.

After sitting and admiring some of the weird parts of Wikipedia and glancing over Dark Albion; I've come to admire the weird works of Pliny the Elder, Strabo, and various other medieval bestiaries and Psalters I've always had a fondness for the way these things were described with a passion.  So, I think rather than having this entire book written like a typical book describing monsters and such- I want to write it from the perspective of a fucking loon.  Doing so doesn't give anything a definitive 'origin' or even 'description'.  Much of these entries in the book could be the lies of a madman, propaganda of an organized faith, or worse- an incomplete picture of the terrible things that can be but should not.

Like many other people, I am a fan of Howard P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.  Their work- especially that dealing in unknowable horrors and despicable things from beyond would be another influence.  I don't want to shove the Lovecraft Mythos into a fantasy setting, but I do want to explore the influence of corrupting horrors from beyond the outer veil- beings that  make even devils and celestials feel a tinge of terror.  These 'things'... or perhaps 'this force'... whatever it is, should be something that is so vile and incomprehensible that it isn't discussed openly.  I want to use some of this to influence the various templates in the setting.

Now, this is where I plea with you with my pants about my ankles and a case of Michelob in hand- where do I start?  Jotting down ideas in a notebook?  I've got a few things to work with, but I need to sit down with some of the material I intend to source this toward before I make anything concrete.  At best, I can dick around with some fluff and play with ideas but I've never attempted something like this.

Suggestions?  Guidance?  Critique?  Ftagn?

I'm not sure what exactly you want to write — I don't think you are, either — but if you already have something you want to write, write away, and sort out what it is (new game, game supplement, fiction) later.

Quote from: The Butcher;901359I'm not sure what exactly you want to write — I don't think you are, either — but if you already have something you want to write, write away, and sort out what it is (new game, game supplement, fiction) later.

A series of templates to apply to existing humanoids and creatures.  That's the short version.  But I may beef it up with some other things.  

Better?

That sounds like a fun project. When I began playing D&D there were templates all over the place, a staple of 3rd edition. The idea of spicing up existing creatures with some weird power-ups excites me.

I'm gonna repeat good advice I've heard elsewhere and had confirmed by experience: Make an overview for what it is you want to create. A layout, table of contents, a model to give yourself an idea of what you want in your product and how to achieve it. And brainstorm over it. What contents are necessary? What content do I want?

In a creature/template book I'd look at WFRP's old 'Bestiary', one of my personal favorites.