add-on for monsters database: UNDERWATER - now LIVE

[manikus]

add-on for monsters database: UNDERWATER

This idea came about as an attempt to use some of the amazing combat icons that Uatu has made. He and I have talked about it for a while, and over time, some additional art was created, like combat walls.

This is a little bit more complicated than the DINOSAURS add-on. First, it is not stand alone. Second, there are multiple databases that need to be updated in addition to the monsters database.

full instructions when databases uploaded[.i]

STATUS:
This project is now live...
http://manikus.reonis.com/add-ons/underwater/index.html

[manikus]

Uatu has provided a lot of great animal icons that are not in the 1e books, but that I want to add.
Question: Should I extrapolate from the 1e entries? Or, should I go to a reference source and build it from my own (maybe our own) imagination?

[Uatu]

Hey Manikus - thanks again for your work on this! 

For most of my "alternate" animals, I was thinking along the lines of...
Most of the Monster Manual, etc. entries for real-life animals seem to be made purposely vague, such as "Flightless Bird" or "Dolphin" or the like, with variable Hit Dice given.  "Dolphin," "Shark," and so forth could basically just be given more or less HD and they should be good, I think (and I would just put porpoises with dolphins)!

For the whales, actually, various whales' statistics are in the Dungeon Master's Guide, if you've not found them yet (Appendix E, under "whale"); then we have narwhales in the MMII.  I was thinking in terms of (my whales = AD&D whales):

Beluga Whale = White (Beluga) Whale
Beaked Whale = Black Whale
Orca = Killer Whale
Bowhead Whale = Right Whale
Sperm Whale = Sperm Whale
Narwhal = Narwhale
That leaves the blue whale, which I don't think has been given specific "official" stats - I guess either the Monstrous Manual's vague whale stats can be used, or the DMG whales could be proportionately added to (I don't have a humpback icon, but stats in the DMG can possibly be used as a base, since it is a baleen whale like the blue).

[manikus]

Thank you, Uatu.

I'm still working through MM...and I know that there are some stats in the DMG, but didn't realize the whales were hiding there.

I was going to try and finish the illusionist before doing this, but now that I see how much art I need for the illusionist add-on, I will shift back to this.
I have no plans to separate the fresh water from the salt water entries. i will leave this up to the designers, and maybe someone will post here which goes with which in case someone is unsure.

[manikus]

I am losing hours that I could be working on the database looking at all of the awesome infographics.

Here is a great whale infographic:
http://www.scubaff.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/UkoGorterPoster_lg.jpg
shark infographic:
https://www.innovation.ca/sites/default/files/Shark-wallpaper-1900x1220.png
prehistoric marine life:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81B-ThSHUHL._SL1200_.jpg

[manikus]

Dinonykos & Uatu:
I am going to list some icons I would like for this project. If you have the time and the inclination to do any of them that would be awesome, but if not, no worries.

Humpback Whale
Barracuda
Giant Crab

[Uatu]

Pretty awesome links there.

I met a wild humpback whale once, long ago in Maine   I might do an icon one of these days - but whales are so big   Also was thinking about doing more prehistoric aquatic critters, too.

[manikus]

Ispenta whole aftnoon looking at inforgraphics. I thought it wouldbe awesopmeto see some specifically for AD&D monsters...I haven't looked yet. Maybe today.

If you are interested in doing some icons that would help out and are smaller than a humpback whale (and really that means most things), I need icons for giant crab, giant gar and giant pike. Also, icons for the aquatic hobgoblin,ogre and gargoyle would be nice. Do you already have an icon for a selkie? I thought I saw one, but it's not in my collection...so, I guess I need icons for selkies and sea lions, too. No pressure, though. Much like the dinosaur add-on, if I don't have an icon for the monster, I will still add it to the database and let the designer figure out what she wants to do.

[Uatu]

The problem with infographics for AD&D is that sizes might change through the various editions - I remember that dragons and giants grew quite a bit from 1e to 2e.

I have not done a selkie icon (unless I did one in my sleep, so perhaps I can't say for sure).  I'll try to put my mind into "aquatic creatures mode," but my hands sometimes just start doing stuff without my brain's telling them to - just today I went and did a different giant aquatic creature for some reason...  I think that the reason in the end was that I just wanted to see how big the creature was, compared to whales and megalodons and the like (the good thing is that all of my icons are in the same scale)...

[Nol Drek]

Not really an infographic, but I learned about the origin of the Owlbear, Rust Monster, and Bulette:

http://diterlizzi.com/home/owlbears-rust-monsters-and-bulettes-oh-my/

[manikus]

I haven't found any AD&D infographics for underwater monsters.

Nol, that is a great link. Who knew? Now, I kind of want to get some of those little plastic figures.

[Nol Drek]

there was a set of plastic toys laughingly labeled as dinosaurs IIRR. I frequented the local dime stores back in the late 60s and early 70s searching for toys that would suit tabletop fantasy gaming. The said bag contained three we incorporated--the bulette, the owl bear, and the rust monster.

Source: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?22566-Q-amp-A-with-Gary-Gygax/page601&p=2964677#post2964677

[manikus]

there was a set of plastic toys laughingly labeled as dinosaurs IIRR. I frequented the local dime stores back in the late 60s and early 70s searching for toys that would suit tabletop fantasy gaming. The said bag contained three we incorporated--the bulette, the owl bear, and the rust monster.

Source: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?22566-Q-amp-A-with-Gary-Gygax/page601&p=2964677#post2964677

Awesome! Somehow, this makes teh game seem even cooler, and it's nice to hear it coming from teh horse's mouth, so to speak.

[manikus]

Okay, below is a list of the entries in the add-on. Any glaring omissions? The caveat is I am not including any outer plane creatures (they will be in another add-on) and no animals that only occassionally spend time in water (like the beaver and otter and the giant varieties of the same).

Code: [Select]

Aboleth
Afanc
Aquatic Elf|female
Aquatic Elf|male
Baiji Porpoise|Dolphin
Baird's Beaked Whale|Black Whale
Barracuda
Beluga Whale|White (Beluga) Whale
Black Urchin
Blue Whale|Humpback Whale as base
Bottlenose Dolphin|Dolphin
Bowhead Whale|Right Whale
Bull Shark
Bullywug
Crabman
Crocodile
Dragon Turtle
Elasmosaurus
Electric Eel
Eye of the Deep
Floating Eye
Froghemoth
Giant Catfish
Giant Crab
Giant Crayfish
Giant Crocodile
Giant Eel
Giant Gar
Giant Lamprey
Giant Octopus
Giant Pacific Octopus|Giant Octopus base
Giant Pike
Giant Porteugese Man-o-war
Giant Sea Turtle
Giant Squid
Giant Water Spider
Great White Shark
Greater Seawolf
Green Urchin
Greenland Shark
Hammerhead Shark
Hippocampus
Hippopotamus
Humpback Whale|Humpback Whale
Ixithxachitl|large
Ixithxachitl|medium
Ixithxachitl|small
Kelpie
Killer Whale|Killer Whale
Koalinth|Hobgoblin
Kopoacinth|Gargoyle
Kraken
Kuo-toa
Kuo-toa|1
Lacedon|Ghoul
Lesser Water Elemental
Locathah
Marid
Masher
Megalodon|Giant Shark
Mermaid
Merman
Merrow|Ogre
Morkoth
Mottled Worm|Purple Worm
Muckdweller
Narwhal|Narwhale
Nereid
Nixie
Nymph
Ophidian
Piranha
Red Urchin
Sahuagin
Sahuagin Guard|or Lieutenant
Scrag|Troll Fresh-water
Scrag|Troll Salt-water
Sea Hag
Sea Horse
Sea Lion
Sea Snake
Seawolf
Selkie
Silver Urchin
Sirine
Sperm Whale|Sperm Whale
Strangle Weed
Swordfish
Sylph
Triton
Troglodyte
Vaquita Porpoise|Dolphin
Water Elemental
Water Naga
Water Weird
Yellow Urchin

That's right, 96 entries.

[Uatu]

Pretty awesome information guys

Nice long list - but where are the prehistoric sea baddies?    (Just kidding - but I did go and make an icon, though...  I am sometimes not sure if I am doing the drawing, or if the drawing is just using me to be drawn...)