How To Create Your Own Monster That Doesn’t Suck

Fellow Great Game Masters…Have you ever wanted to create your own monster to use within your own roleplaying games? But not sure where to even begin this process? Well fear not! In today’s video, I talk about what you should be taking into consideration and what pitfalls to avoid when creating your own home-brewed monsters. So, whether you’re planning your next D&D game, a Star Wars adventure or a Call of Cthulhu campaign – keep these tips handy to help you create the perfect monster for your adventures!

We’re talking about creating your own monster.
When it comes to creating our own monsters, we have to take into consideration a few
things and avoid certain pitfalls.
• The first question you have to answer is – what is the monsters function?
o Why do you need to make this monster? What will it do that others can not?
o It must serve a purpose – horror, fear, intimidation, power, unknown etc.
• Describe what the monster looks like but do not try to physically draw the monster.
o Personal versus impersonal – if it is inside your head, it is personal. If you are
just observing it, it is impersonal.
o Use adjectives – research words that describe your monster so that you can
use them when describing your beast.

• Physical aspects
o What are the physical characteristics of the monster? Many legs, many
mouths, sphincters, teeth?
o Physical follow function – the physical must express the function.
o Break down the function – express those aspects as physical manifestations.
o Keep working it – explore your idea and keep asking, does it follow the
function?
• Psychology
o What feeling, emotion or reaction do we want our players to feel?
• How does it hunt?
o How or what does the monster do to survive?
o Test your ideas – always come back to your function and testing to see if the
monster complies or not.

• What hunts or kills it?

o It must have a weakness or a thing that has learned to feed upon it, unless it
is an apex predator.

• Stat the monster
o Reskin (just use another monsters values) or make your own (make sure that
they are legal for your RPG rules)
o Make micro-adjustments – adjust monsters quickly in game to keep your
world feeling diverse and rich.

Now that you have all the tools, your task is to create your own monster and share it with
us.