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TheOverlord
2009-06-01, 04:22 PM
I thought it would be interesting to see what monsters really were favorites. This can be from in game experiences like the time that a friend of mine jumped onto a back of a displacer beast or creatures people just thought were really cool or had some interesting abilities.

One of my personal favorites was the Tar Dragon from Creature Collection 1. The one they presented in the book was one of the last of its kind and was generally both creepy and awesome. Weapons would stick to its tar-covered hide and its "breath weapon" was more like a spewing of ultra sticky tar that required amazing strength checks to escape. Classic Dragon with some non-standard abilities made it an interesting encounter no matter what.

I'd love to hear what creatures everyone else loves.
--The Overlord
D&D 3.5 Monster Advancer (http://www.monsteradvancer.com)
Monster, NPC and random encounter generation, customization and advancement.

RTGoodman
2009-06-01, 04:35 PM
I don't know if I could pick a FAVORITE, but I've been partial to the Boneclaw (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040905a&page=2) for a LONG time. I mean, damn... look at the thing.


http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ex_boneclaw.jpg

Sinfire Titan
2009-06-01, 04:38 PM
Top X:


Warforged
Dragons
Demons
Skarn (and their Mishtai anscestors)
Dragonspawn
Elementals
Warforged Titans
The rest don't matter.

shadzar
2009-06-01, 04:45 PM
Mimic.

You just can't beat a monster that looks like free treasure to keep those greedy little rogues in line from trying to steal everything that isn't nailed down in a dungeon.

At least I got a raise dead from it. :smallredface:

Melamoto
2009-06-01, 04:45 PM
Mimics. Those little guys can fool even the most experienced low level players into a fatality.

Edit: Someone beat me to it. Guess that's expected with such a classic monster.

Well then, my second favourite is the Zelekhut.

Glyde
2009-06-01, 04:46 PM
Personally, I'm fond of the Glabrezu for RP reasons.

Mechanically, and as a DM, you can't really go wrong with dragons. Nothing makes the party crap themselves more than watching you roll two handfuls of dice for a breath weapon.

Starscream
2009-06-01, 04:52 PM
I like devils in general. Particularly Imps, Horned Devils, and Erinyes. Much more interesting than demons in my opinion, and more fun to roleplay.

Sinfire Titan
2009-06-01, 05:00 PM
I like devils in general. Particularly Imps, Horned Devils, and Erinyes. Much more interesting than demons in my opinion, and more fun to roleplay.

I'm Demon-biased because I read the Liber Chaotica (Warhammer). That book changes lives.

DamnedIrishman
2009-06-01, 05:01 PM
DRACTHULU! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113210)

monty
2009-06-01, 05:03 PM
The flumph.

Gnorman
2009-06-01, 05:10 PM
Thoon Is Thoon, and Thoon is All!

Okay, well, just Mind Flayers in general.

Trodon
2009-06-01, 05:16 PM
idk what my favorite is but i was messing around with that monster generater and came up with this Tyranosouras (http://www.monsteradvancer.com/send/monster/doAdvancement.ma?monsterIndex=0&monsterPosition=1&quickened=&monsterName=Tyrannosaurus&advancementSelect=54G&advancementHd=18&advancementSize=H&classSelectBoxCount=0) i'm going to use this in a game sometime

evil-frosty
2009-06-01, 05:18 PM
My favorites are, not in any particular order: The Boneclaw, the thing is just cool, i love the azure and indigo slaadi afroakuma made they are awesome, kobolds and goblins because well you usually use them in any first level campaign as they are weak but you can get so creative with them. Devils are cool too with all the spell like abilities. Lastly though just undead in general there mindless and you can tack on so many weird/cool things to them.

JMobius
2009-06-01, 05:23 PM
The Caller In Darkness.

Leon
2009-06-01, 05:32 PM
Tharn
Dire Trolls
Gargoyles

Dagren
2009-06-01, 05:37 PM
I like the classics myself. You know, Dragons, Demons, Undead.

Twilight Jack
2009-06-01, 05:39 PM
If we're going epic, I have a particular fondness for the Worm That Walks.

The flavor is just too damn cool.

Tam_OConnor
2009-06-01, 05:43 PM
I've got a few:
Gnolls, because who doesn't love lazy hyena-faced slavers? It really freaks my players out when I tell them my twist: Gnolls are male elves. Any male elves that look like elves are biomagically engineered.

Mind Flayers, and Yuan-ti reflavored to be immature illithids. Actually, pretty much anything with tentacles. I used a templated grick to bull rush a dwarf off of a petrified purple worm, to plummet 100 feet and deal massive damage to both of them. Good times. Oh, and I've got an upcoming TPK using a flayer. *cue maniacal laughter*

And zombies. But not your standard MM zombies. No, these are glorious fast zombies, slow zombies that regenerate, zombies mutated into undead digging machines...I had a zombie campaign a while back.

shadzar
2009-06-01, 05:44 PM
Mimics. Those little guys can fool even the most experienced low level players into a fatality.

Edit: Someone beat me to it. Guess that's expected with such a classic monster.

Well then, my second favourite is the Zelekhut.

We can share it. You approach the pseudopod on the left, and I will take the one on the right. :smallwink:

tiercel
2009-06-01, 05:51 PM
Old school, but... dragons, still.

I mean, yeah, it's in the frickin' title of the game, but moreover a dragon is an awesome monster because it still inspires genuine trepidation in most games. You might take down some pretty tough critters on a regular basis, and you might encounter really weird stuff that throws you for a loop, but even if you know the Monster Manual entry for a given dragon backward and forward you still seriously prepare for a dragon encounter as much as you ever will for any encounter in the entire game.

Plus, nothing says "major treasure haul" like a dragon's hoard. Seriously.

Teron
2009-06-01, 07:15 PM
I'm not sure about my favourite, but I have an inordinate fondness for the chuul. Lobsters are pretty fearsomely designed when you think about it; horse-sized lobster things with paralytic venom and humanlike intelligence lurking in bogs and festering with an irrational hatred of humanoids passed down through genetic memories (that bit is from a Dragon ecology article I rather liked) are positively lovecraftian. Between them and will-o'-wisps, I'd love to run a party through a big swamp with a group of helpless NPCs and see how many people they can save from just two or three sneaky, persistent monsters that don't care for an honest fight.

Mando Knight
2009-06-01, 09:08 PM
For evil monsters: Red Dragon.
Good "monsters:" Gold Dragon.

Humor: The Gnome.

chiasaur11
2009-06-01, 09:11 PM
Warforged, Kobolds, and Terrasque.

Robots, Godzilla, and cunning lizardy lickspittles. Although dinosaurs are pretty boss as well.

Cedrass
2009-06-01, 09:18 PM
Doppelgangers are awesome. Point.

I'm so glad I managed to play one in a quest I DMed and make the players trust him!

Thurbane
2009-06-01, 09:21 PM
I'm quite partial to the Yuan-Ti myself. Honorable mentions to the Ogre Mage and Rakshasa...

Eldrys
2009-06-01, 09:23 PM
Can ya' guess

(<<<<<: hint)

Zeta Kai
2009-06-01, 09:33 PM
I'm a man of simple tastes, & the zombie template (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/zombie.htm) can be applied to just about anything. :smallcool:

Callos_DeTerran
2009-06-01, 09:34 PM
Kythons hold a special place in my heart. Just like the tarrasque and Thoon.

shadzar
2009-06-01, 09:42 PM
Can ya' guess

(<<<<<: hint)

Flinds? :smallconfused:

Eldrys
2009-06-01, 09:45 PM
Flinds? :smallconfused:

okay how bout this, it starts with "H" and ends in "ound Archon".

good enough hint.

And what are flinds

lordhack
2009-06-01, 09:55 PM
Quite a fan of Mindflayers, haven't given them a spin in 4th edition yet though. Succubi are also fun.

shadzar
2009-06-01, 10:25 PM
And what are flinds


The flind is similar to a gnoll in body style, though it is a little shorter, and broader. They are more muscular than their cousins. Short, dirty, brown and red fur covers their body. Their foreheads do not slope back as far, and their ears are rounded, but still animal like.


Copyright 1999 TSR Inc.

Them are flinds.

Baron Corm
2009-06-01, 11:16 PM
I go through phases. Currently it's probably the beholder. It's like they took an eye, and made it A REALLY SERIOUS GODDAMN EYE! Plus it's one of the few monsters not actually based on an existing animal or having animal parts. Other than an eye. Drat.

sHorTdWaRvE
2009-06-01, 11:56 PM
minataur is a good one
Demons
Imps
Resident Evil Hell Hounds goody

Leon
2009-06-02, 02:30 AM
Addition to my list

Thralls - its funny to watch players deal with what they think are normal dumb skeletons that are actually creatures that have some thought capacity and tactics.
They fought a one sided battle with a number of slaves and were puzzled by the lack of response, then encountered a number of tactically adept patrols that didn't just rush to attack but engaged in ranged combat and fell back.
The fun I'm having with basic Thralls, i cant wait to bring in the more advanced types late on in the campaign.

arguskos
2009-06-02, 02:38 AM
The Caller In Darkness.
Heh, I agree good sir. :smallbiggrin:

Here's a list. Enjoy.

-Sharns are pretty awesome, what with being ancient timelost beings from beyond the world and all that.
-Voors, if anyone but me knows what those are, rock pretty hard.
-Inevitables and modrons, for being robots in D&D.
-Any Elemental Lord, particularly the Para- and Quasi-Elemental Lords. Oh, and the Para- and Quasi-Elementals themselves.
-Thoon.
-Ulshurgek is amazingly neat, as are his people, the draedens.
-The Ancient Ones from Mystara.
-Dvati, if we're counting player races.
-Yellow, Orange, and Purple Dragons. For being mysterious and little-known.
-Slaad Lords (I'm partial to Chorst).

Berserk Monk
2009-06-02, 02:42 AM
Kyton (chain devil)

click spoiler in sig to see why

ShneekeyTheLost
2009-06-02, 02:44 AM
Orcs.

No, really. A lot of people underestimate them. But they're CR+0, so they're very good for using in army type campaigns. Particularly with goblins taking on the sneaker stealth roles and kobolds taking on the arcane power as sorcerers. So your typical patrol has 2x Orc Rangers with Wargs as animal companions, 2x Orc Fighter/Barbarians also on Wargs, 1x Goblin Rogue either riding behind one of the above or scouting ahead with unmounted rangers, 1x Kobold Sorcerer, who is likely both invisible and flying along with the 'party'. Occasionally, remove one ranger and replace with a Cleric.

You will never know how tasty Mounted Archery is until your PC's almost get TPK'd by a group of Orc Rangers on Wargs whose total CR was at a -2 to the party level, just because they have Far Shot and the mounts to stay out of range of the nastier stuff.

The Professor
2009-06-02, 03:06 AM
But... What? Worgs are Medium, and so are Orcs. :smallconfused:

Favorite monster... Well, Outsiders in general. Beings that are made up of the stuff of the planes is just awesome to me. I have a fondness for Succubi, I just wish the one I had run against my players got to kiss more then just one level away. :smallfrown:

Ganurath
2009-06-02, 03:09 AM
"Good:" Gray Render
"Bad:" Mind Flayer
"Ugly:" Half-Orc

bosssmiley
2009-06-02, 03:21 AM
I'm certain this was asked a couple of weeks back. Search is your friend. :smallamused:

My top ten (http://vaultsofnagoh.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-ten-favourite-monsters.html)

TheOverlord
2009-06-02, 07:47 AM
I will have to say as well that the Mind Flayers of Thoon were some of the most fun to role play in our campaign....with their fun sayings.

"Thoon is Thoon, and Thoon is all!"

The whole party still remembers their sayings, it was great.

--The Overlord
Monster Advancer
Monster, NPC, Random Encounter Generator for 3.5 (http://www.monsteradvancer.com)

darkblust
2009-06-02, 06:13 PM
I like Ilithids,cause there brain eating monsters of destruction,just like zombies,which i like also.I also like the changeling from eberon and mm3 or 4...i forget which.

FMArthur
2009-06-02, 06:31 PM
I really do love mind flayers (particularly the nice variety in encounters you can get when using Thoon mind flayers), but there's something particularly awe-inspiring about beholders that makes me love them more; the ability to deal with threats in every direction, all at once. Beholders (and Beholder Mages for cruelty) are one of few monsters with enough actions to take on the whole party with a single monster.

Olo Demonsbane
2009-06-02, 08:29 PM
I love Dragons and Demons. With Class levels.

I can scare my players so badly...I wrote an entire mission with CR 20 demons that I optimized...the first one got 12 death attacks per round (+10d6 sneak attack!) and the last one ended up with you fighting 5 demonlords, an optimized Mature Nabassu cleric/warblade and over a 100 junevile nabassu. While not being able to cast spells. Fun times, fun times...

Zaq
2009-06-02, 09:32 PM
Aboleths. I've never had a chance to use them, or to face them, but I love the fluff. They're creepy little (ok, Huge) bastards.

I also have to say I love the Bulette. Sure, mechanically it's kind of a joke (though it is fun to see it use its +18 Jump and hit a cocky caster flying a little bit too low), but dude, BULETTE. Also, they refuse to eat elves. I can't blame 'em. Elves are repulsive.

OverdrivePrime
2009-06-02, 09:37 PM
My favorites, presented randomly:
Bronze Dragons
Liches
Fey in general
Nymphs and a mess of my homebrewed Poisoned Kith in specific
Winter Wolves
Humans
Half-dragons
Phoenixes

Innis Cabal
2009-06-02, 09:38 PM
I thought it would be interesting to see what monsters really were favorites. This can be from in game experiences like the time that a friend of mine jumped onto a back of a displacer beast or creatures people just thought were really cool or had some interesting abilities.

One of my personal favorites was the Tar Dragon from Creature Collection 1. The one they presented in the book was one of the last of its kind and was generally both creepy and awesome. Weapons would stick to its tar-covered hide and its "breath weapon" was more like a spewing of ultra sticky tar that required amazing strength checks to escape. Classic Dragon with some non-standard abilities made it an interesting encounter no matter what.

I'd love to hear what creatures everyone else loves.
--The Overlord
D&D 3.5 Monster Advancer (http://www.monsteradvancer.com)
Monster, NPC and random encounter generation, customization and advancement.

Man
___________________

Ixahinon
2009-06-02, 09:44 PM
Pretty much any:

1) Abberation (Beholders are top of the Abberation list...they are incredable)
2) Undead
3) Oozes
4) Constructs.

The Glyphstone
2009-06-02, 09:48 PM
1) Beholders
2 through [little squiggly infinity thing]) Beholders
[infinity+1])Other Stuff

Ellye
2009-06-02, 09:59 PM
Animated Object (Wardrobe). :smallbiggrin:

It's a running gag in my playgroup.

RebelRogue
2009-06-02, 10:02 PM
I love dragons too, especially as movers and shakers/powers behind the scenes, which in one reason why I love Eberron.

I also have a soft spot for undead, of which Nightshades are probably my favorites.

sonofzeal
2009-06-02, 10:43 PM
Kuo-Toa.



No, I haven't been smoking anything, stop asking. :smallyuk: I DM, and I recently ran a Kuo-Toa segment based heavily out of MMV, and fell totally in love. An entire race gradually slipping into insanity, with paranoia and psychosis as the status quo, with a variety of weapons that make sense and work but that nobody else had ever thought of (racial harpoon, pincer staff, sticky shields), and inventive tactics using them (skewer enemy with harpoon on chain, slap chain against sticky shield, slap sticky shield face down against ground)... yeah, awesome. Great fun to design, and the players loved it; it might have been my all-time best-received session as DM. I fully intend to use them again in other campaigns, and would enjoy playing one as a player too.

RebelRogue
2009-06-02, 10:49 PM
Kuo-Toa.
Also, Blipdoolpoolp is fun to say :smallwink:

Xondoure
2009-06-02, 11:09 PM
Nightwalker. Why? It's a freaking giant made out of pure darkness, how can it get cooler than that?

FoE
2009-06-02, 11:17 PM
Demons and devils, of course. :smallbiggrin:

After that, gnolls, harpies, flesh golems and owlbears. I love me dem owlbears.

AslanCross
2009-06-02, 11:38 PM
I'm putting down monsters that I actually like using against my PCs instead of monsters that I find cool in general.
1. Dragons (with Blue being the overwhelming favorite)
2. Devils (Especially the Cornugon, Malebranche, Barbazu and Erinyes)
3. Rakshasa
4. Illithids
5. Goblinoids

Honorable mentions:
-Boneclaw
-Bonedrinker
-War Troll
-Skullcrusher Ogre (yay, smart ogres)
-Flind

Monsters I find cool in general:
1. Angels (especially the Solar)
2. Archons (especially the Hound and Warden)
3. Quori

mistformsquirrl
2009-06-02, 11:47 PM
Orcs. <. .>

For me - NOTHING beats the single most iconic fantasy badguy.

I even go so far as to like to play them <@_@> one of my favorite clerics was a 3.0 Cleric of Kord named Gorthunk Facesmasher (first a half-orc, later a full-orc). He's been through a couple more campaigns, including a short 4e run.

What other race could pull off a name like Facesmasher and be taken completely seriously? <^_^> (Ok Ogres, but those guys are just plain rude.)

Rappy
2009-06-03, 12:05 AM
Hmm...that's a toughie to pick just one, so I'll go for my top five.

5th Place: Iron Maiden Golem (Tome of Horrors II) - It's one of the most twistedly interesting golems I've seen in a sourcebook.

4th Place: Satanic Ichor (Menace Manual) - It's an ooze with an Intelligence score and a vicious possession streak. What's not to like?

3rd Place: Montauk Monster (Menace Manual) - With natural invisibility, electrical attacks, and the ability to kill living things by fusing them with inanimate objects, the Montauk Monster is one of the nastier creatures of the elemental type.

2nd Place: True Mummy (Book of Templates Deluxe Edition) - Removing the mummy rot (which I wasn't a real fan of) and adding prestigious powers makes the true mummy the mummy for me.

1st Place: Dungeon Dragon (Tome of Horrors II) - It's a dragon. That crafts dungeons. And goes in secret to gather adventurers and monsters for its own amusement. It's like an in-game DM! :smallamused:

sofawall
2009-06-03, 12:47 AM
Well, what was really fun was taking a homebrewed Half-Succubus, slapping it on a nymph then adding the ability to possess people.

Oh, and it had sorcerer levels, taking only spells it could use to seduce people into coming close, for the DC 42 energy drain :D

but overall, I love using Vampires.

"The vampire turns into mist and flies away!"

"Woo hoo, we won! Let's rest now."

*2 hours later*

"Oh no, the vampire's back!"

Rhiannon87
2009-06-03, 09:58 AM
As far as just semi-random wandering monsters go? Owlbears. I love owlbears. They're so utterly ridiculous. Same with bulette. (Also, bulette is fun to say.) Basically I'm vastly entertained by any monster that is the direct result of a wizard going "You know what the world needs? A FLYING FEATHERED BEAR!", attempting to create this, and failing miserably. And thus: owlbear.

woodenbandman
2009-06-03, 10:03 AM
Inevitables are a classic. I also have a total crush on Slaad, and Neraphs as well. They're both so cool, and a LA 0 outsider with free feats and +2 natural armor is too good.

Deliverance
2009-06-03, 10:13 AM
Kobolds.

They are cute, compact, and can be used for anything from a test of your new fighter's cleave feat to a serious danger to mid to high level characters so long as you add enough of them and give them tactics.

Kaiyanwang
2009-06-03, 12:10 PM
As Sworn Enemies of PCs, Devils. Devils forever. Their lawful side above all.

Generally speaking, i love Fey and Spirits (OAdv speaking, so even Ogre Mages and Rakshasas).

Cursedblessing
2009-06-03, 03:16 PM
Phase Wasps from MM2. I mean seriously they get magic missile at CL 3. Thats 2d4+2 damage each and they live in groups of 5 to 20 which means 10d4+10(avg 35) to 40d4+40(avg 140). With no save no AC, its automatic. You gotta love these housecat sized wasps.

Master_Rahl22
2009-06-04, 03:48 PM
I'd have to go with Vampires, mostly for the way I used them in the first game I DM'd. The party was getting information, money, advice, etc. from an old paladin whose adventuring days were behind him and was now the governor of a province that was plagued with vampires. As it turns out, the paladin had been turned into a vampire on his last adventure, and the shock of suddenly being evil after years of devotion to Lawful Good had given him a split personality. The vampire that made him crafted a wondrous item that protected him from sunlight and caused him to no longer need sleep. Thus, in the daytime he was old paladin, protector and governor. At night, he was a Blackguard Vampire. :)

Dagren
2009-06-04, 04:08 PM
I also am fond of more militarised foes, Lawful Evil is good for that. Devils can do that at higher levels, undead at any level, but how come nobody has mentioned hobgoblins yet? They can't be that unpopular, surely, and they work well for low-to-mid level parties.

xelliea
2009-06-04, 04:17 PM
iron golems and stone golems

TheOverlord
2009-06-04, 04:22 PM
I must say another of my favorites (which is sadly not OGL) is the displacer beast.

The Overlord
D&D 3.5 Monster Advancer - Monster, NPC and Random Encounter generation, customization and advancement. (http://www.monsteradvancer.com)