d100 – From Whence Did This Monster Spawn?

Often when Referees seek out explanations for the many Foes and Fiends that can be found in the various manuals of Monsters at our disposal (or when minting our own!) we’re sometimes only given a few relatively similar and somewhat terse explanations concerning the circumstances that led them to be part of a Setting or World. Usually these tend to err on the side of the shrug-inducing “A Wizard Did It,” though sometimes we might see the occasional digression into an armchair ecological or evolutionary explanation.

I’m a firm believer that it’s sometimes fun and fruitful fodder to imagine where those Monsters might come from as this can inform a Setting in intriguing ways. This Table might be said to lean a little more into the Superstitious/Hearsay angle for these Origins, but I am fond of a more Folkloric approach in my games. Some of these might very well be the methods by which a Monster is Made, while others might be more akin to Admonishments, Fables, or those Cautionary and sometimes Frightening Tales spun for Children. Hopefully they inspire a few more unconventional angles one could consider for whatever the process might be through which a Monster comes into being.