Iconic Monsters

I came across this list of memorable D&D monsters over at io9.com.  I like their list from the perspective that this collection of monsters "feels" like D&D to me.

I've been trying to think of any others that I would put in a list of top ten monsters that say "D&D" to me.  I would obviously have to delete some from their list to do that, but I don't have the intellectual capacity for that tonight.

Instead, I'll just offer some other monsters that my mind equates with D&D.

I think that the list would have to include sahuagin.  I just love raider shark-men who climb ashore to plunder unprotected coastal villages.

Crab men--just because.

Ixitxachitl.  Evil rays.  I only used them once in an adventure, but I always thought that they were cool.

Remorhaz.  Giant, many-legged, fire worm.  Yes!

Tiamat.  Initially, I was trying to NOT include unique creatures on the list, but the list at io9 included the tarrasque--and rightfully so.

Looking at my monsters above, with the exception of the crabmen (Fiend Folio), they are all Monster Manual monsters.  I find this strange, because I loved the Monster Manual 2.  For the life of me, I can't think of any monsters from the MM2 that come to mind.

Must be old age...

So how about you?  What monsters say "D&D" to you?

Historical vs Modern Maps of US Cities

This page over at the Smithsonian is fantastic if you love city maps.

But is it 'Fantasy', you ask?  I think that you could stretch them to that.

But if like drawing city maps for your fantasy worlds, I think that you will find value there.  Especially if you are interested in how cities change and grow over time.

Deluxe Dungeon Design

So Telecanter, he of the Receding Rules, posted two times in the last several days things that caught my eye.  The most recent was what prompted the title of this post.  He calls it a Maximalist Dungeon, but I think Deluxe is a fair approximation of what he is getting at.  I've thought about just about everything that he mentions in his list at one point or another, but I like the fact that he took the time to put them all in one place--something that I have never done.

The second thing that he posted (actually prior to the above) was a small post that included old house blue prints.  I LOVE looking at floor plans of houses, old or new or anything in between.  I thought that this post was pretty cool.

...

Yeah, so not much posting lately.  I'm still lurking, reading bunches of blogs--just don't have the time to post right now.  Hopefully, that will change sometime soon.