What Use Are Monsters in a Humorous Game?

Despite the diversity of the monster kingdom, monsters generally seem to have one thing in common: They’re all thought of disparagingly and treated as either resources, nuisances, or threats. While this fact doesn’t seem to distinguish them significantly from animals as a kingdom, it does give us an important clue when it comes to roleplaying them. Contrary to what adventurers typically assume, monsters have their own lives apart from hanging about in underground labyrinths. The sapient ones in particular have their own thoughts, feelings, and cultural traditions, and not all of them are threatening (although that certainly doesn't mean they're necessarily nice; constant discrimination does tend to make most people rather irritable to say the least, and there’s no reason they might not be as nasty as anyone else, anyway).

What does this have to do with humor? Well, thinking of monsters as individuals paints a more realistic view of them. In addition to the humor you can squeeze out of a particular monster concept—either because it’s parodical, satirical, bizarre, or just funny for some other reason. It can be funny when monsters object to being treated in the traditional way, or when they want to live a life with the same freedoms enjoyed by other races. The monster liberation movement may not yet be especially successful, but that doesn’t mean some monsters aren’t fighting hard for their rights. On the other hand, monsters may sometimes see adventurers as monsters, and see no reason not to raid their town looking for magic items.

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