Now, now…that’s crazy talk.
I had a dream last night that the Monster in the Darkness revealed itself to be a massive caterpillar with eyes on every segment, and that Xykon released him to great effect against the Order of the Stick, to the point that it perma-killed not just Belkar, but every member except for Roy. Roy’s sword and indeed his entire body glowed with otherworldly brilliance and he destroyed Xykon.
I actually, after reading this, accepted that I need to get an eye appointment…
After cleaning my contacts, than switching to glasses, cleaning those glasses, then digging out and cleaning and old pair of glasses, and still haven’t got through it.
That doesn’t sound like a happy ending for Elan and Haley
No, it doesn’t. It was a horrifying dream, really.
You know, we’ve all been waiting for decades for the MITD to reveal itself, and I almost wonder if any payoff at all would possibly feel right after all this time.
Unless Rich is able to thread a very tiny needle, (which I don’t think he can), he’s certainly going to piss off the “huh, what the hell is that?” lobby or the “it can’t be that, it breaks the rules” lobby.or both.
The payoff will have to be in the scene, the reactions (from MiTD and others), etc. I don’t think there’s a critter in the books that’s going to make anyone gasp.
My twisted dream was that the MiTD is really The Giant in the Playground(Rich Burlew). Total Deus Ex Machina. He turns to the players in the game and we see not Roy, but the person playing Roy, etc. It all ends with him saying “That was fun. Same time next week?”
That will teach me to lay off the anchovy and pineapple pizza before bed.
I see no reason to assume that Monster-San is anything from a D&D book, nor constructed from things in D&D books.
Hasn’t Rich repeatedly said that the MitD isn’t something he just pulled out of his ass? That it actually exists in the D&D environment?
It’s something that exists elsewhere, but not necessarily from a D&D sourcebook.
Actually, I think I know what it is. It closely fits the description of :
(Big spoiler if correct)
Pookas are shapeshifters, with many forms. They often appear in the form of a hideous goblin, so ugly that milk curdles in its presence. This could delight a goblin family, but appal a human audience.
They have other favourite shapes, often appearing as a horse, or a man-size rabbit, even a man, but whatever their shape they usually wear black fur and have yellow eyes.
Pookas have a ravenous appetite, but are not very fussy about what they eat.
Some pookas are evil, and will devour humans. Others are more benevolent.
Pookas can be a terrible destructive force, destroying areas of land, but can be appeased with gifts of food. Farmers harvesting their crops must always leave a share for the pooka.
Pookas are solitary, but sometimes they get lonely and seek out new friends to talk to.
Pookas are sometimes known to rescue people in danger. One tale tells of people lost in a swamp, one false step could get them sucked down to a watery grave. A pooka led them through the safe path. Pookas are fairy creatures, and can perform magic. I haven’t found any tale of pookas rescuing people with a teleport spell, but it isn’t too great a stretch, I think.
Pookas have a particular affinity or the Irish. They are fond of people named O’Malley, O’Reiley, O’Kelly, O’Chul, etc. Okay, that’s a stretch.
Does this sound familiar?
I also predict that MITD will take horse form, and volunteer as O-Chuls paladin mount.
I dunno about that… pookas are magical creatures, and more powerful than the average human, but they’re nowhere near epic levels of power. If they were to exist in a D&D context (and there probably are stats for them out there somewhere), they’d probably be somewhere in the CR 2-3 range. And how are you, Mr. Wilson?
My personal preferred theory is that Monster-San is Godzilla, or someone closely related to him. Apparently there was a Japanese cartoon featuring the son of Godzilla, who went on adventures with his best friend, a human child, and who could do things like magically teleporting people.
I liked the Zeus theory. That has the benefit of restoring one color to the powers that gate the snarl.
“…I stand not among them.” Pure class.
And Belkar scores a diplomacy win. I don’t think that’s a Ranger skill at all.
“Excuse me - I speak Rogue.”
“Oo, we can’t let the bad thing fall into the wrong hands!” - the literal reason the “good guys” destroyed two of the gates (not counting Elan’s effort at the first one).