The whole thing came about because of a discussion of D&D with my friends, during which the prospect of playing things like owlbears and slimes and other things that were originally in the Monster Manual came up. I (who know very little of the game - I read some vintage '70s rulebook when I was in 3rd or 4th grade, and that's it) was vaguely indignant and said "You might as well play a talking chipmunk!"

Upon being told that you COULD, I promptly decided I MUST, and then of course if I'm going to play a character he needs a backstory, and so on and so forth. I suppose there's something to be said for being able to write massive pieces of fluff at the drop of a hat, but I'm not really sure what that something is.