Generic fantasy is an oxymoron, how can fantasy be generic? Well if every setting has the exact same monsters (Elves are patient 0) and much of the same lore then something of the fantasy is lost, magic is all about the unknown after all you can only expect a bunch of players to feign ignorance over a trolls weakness for so long(even people who don't play D&D know its fire come on).
Making your own monsters is one good remedy for these problems of course and there's lots of great random generators out there (Tome of Adventure Design by Frog God Games has a good section on generating monsters and The Random Esoteric Creature Generator by Jamie's Raggi is #1 for Weird as well as having a good section on this very subject, though the art may not be suitable for sensitive readers YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED) however I think that its how you put together these random elements that makes the monster.
Another important concept is to think about monsters in a more mystic and less scientific way, think less in neat categories and in more of an esoteric way, creatures grown in a wizards vat or born from a fallen star. A creatures creation story doesn't have to be logical or even be true in universe (unreliable narrator is a great technique for a DM in my opinion) it just has to be a compelling piece of fluff to ignite your and your players imaginations.
I'm planning on sitting down and rolling up a bunch of mutant monsters for my Stars without number game and I think it would be a good way to reflect on monster creation, so expect a post on that in the future. Any why let me know what you think about this subject and if there's anything you think I should go into more detail on.
M.C.
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