Horror Monsters (my players stay out)

[Azoth]

So, I am DMing a low lvl gestalt campaign in a low magic world. I am looking for horror type monsters that aren't commonly encountered and can be found in forests, plains, hills...pretty much anywhere on the prime material that isn't aquatic or an elemental extreme such as deserts or arctic.

The party is currently lvl 3.
Totemist//Factorum
DFA//warblade
Bard/marshal//healer
Psiwar//barbarian
Beguiler//factorum

I arm looking for monsters in the CR3-7 range. I have an endboss picked out and his two right hand henchmen for the end of this mission. I would just like some monsters to get them through the areas between town and the enemy keep. I do expect them to level up a few times.

Unique abilities are definitely appreciated. I also ask that anything with innate spellcasting be limited in suggestions. In this game world T1 classes don't exist for plot reasons and any form of magic is incredibly rare.

Thank you guys so much in advance for help.

[ShadowFireLance]

So, I am DMing a low lvl gestalt campaign in a low magic world. I am looking for horror type monsters that aren't commonly encountered and can be found in forests, plains, hills...pretty much anywhere on the prime material that isn't aquatic or an elemental extreme such as deserts or arctic.

The party is currently lvl 3.
Totemist//Factorum
DFA//warblade
Bard/marshal//healer
Psiwar//barbarian
Beguiler//factorum

I arm looking for monsters in the CR3-7 range. I have an endboss picked out and his two right hand henchmen for the end of this mission. I would just like some monsters to get them through the areas between town and the enemy keep. I do expect them to level up a few times.

Unique abilities are definitely appreciated. I also ask that anything with innate spellcasting be limited in suggestions. In this game world T1 classes don't exist for plot reasons and any form of magic is incredibly rare.

Thank you guys so much in advance for help.


A Dragon...Perhaps a Choloe Dragon, with lots of Illision, and Perhaps some really long tentcles, Have it attack from underground.

[Yukitsu]

My players were absolutely terrified of acid zombies. They were zombies with a thick, black, tar like blood that slowly burned. Hitting them in melee caused a splash of acid to damage the assailant, and the acid would slowly burn through their weapons. Most ranged weapons either had very scarce ammunition, fired very slowly, or did little to no damage.

I had an arm in a powder keg. They cracked open a powder keg, and in it was a massive, muscular, flailing arm that was trying to pull in and suffocate the party. If they looked closer, the arm was grotesquely growing out of the bottom of the barrel. Instead, they shot it in a panic, setting off the powder.

[Gildedragon]

Pseudonatural anything is good, as it has a sense of wrongness to it
Wolf-in-sheep's-clothing (updated in PF) is a creepy way to go at things. Best encountered when looking for food or otherwise separated.
Skiurid, the soul-stealing squirrels are kinda horrifying if in a city or park that has bleeds from the plane of shadow
HoH has a few good monsters (and ideas overall)

[Deadline]

You could refluff a monster. Or use one that they would otherwise rarely encounter. Maybe a Nymph from the Unseelie Court? Achingly beautiful, incredibly dangerous, and as evil as they come? And if they run, her pet pack of vicious, hungry wolves gets a meal.

[Kuulvheysoon]

A low-level novelty would be a pack of Fihyrs, perhaps led by a greater fihyr.

(Both MM2)

[Toy Killer]

Really depends on the mood of horror you're trying to evoke.

Undead, death, rot, corruption, envy/greed, 'Alice' (in a world you don't understand/recognize), separation, desperation. These all have different elements to them that make them scary.

all in all though, find a game mechanic you haven't used yet with the group and drop it on them in mass (not every encounter, but enough to make the world feel different from what they understand). Zombies with fast healing 5 are a completely different feel then just regular zombies.

And don't ignore the power of re-fluffing. A man with jaws in his eye sockets may not be stated any differently then a commoner, but the player's don't know what the hell is going on (especially if it's the 'damage' of a disease, and the players come to learn that they may become what they are facing.)

[Phelix-Mu]

Some advanced meenlocks (MM2) might do the trick. Tiny little sadists that torture captives until horrible mutation transforms the victim into a new meenlock. Have some half-warped captives lurching around in the forest, moaning in the nighttime fog. Nice flavor. Play up the sadism. Have them attack in hit and run or a number of ambushes in favorable terrain, will raise the encounter level a bit.

[Yukitsu]

Just going to clarify on my other post, if you're doing a horror campaign, it's the best time to make your own creations if you feel confident enough to make them relatively balanced. A monster that the players absolutely don't know is more scary than one that they've got an idea of.

[Pyromancer999]

Heroes of Horror Has some good stuff, so you may want to look in there, although I'm unsure about what is low-level in there aside from Ghostly Visage.

[Magnera]

Evil Squirrels, that attack with over sized, unhinged jaws. Need I say more?

[Arcane_Secrets]

Up the paranoia with a sentient internal parasite. That way, the players can constantly wonder which of them (if any of them) are infected and you can turn it into a side quest to figure out how to find the parasites and/or remove them from the people they're inhabiting.

[Inglenook]

It's for a different system and most of the supplied plot-hooks are for modern settings, but I imagine some of the stuff from The Book of Unremitting Horror (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Og0RULnz3tU/Tq6fCGyqjxI/AAAAAAAABNI/DiRCFgRdp7k/s1600/unremitting.jpg) could be adapted to D&D without too many problems.

Scared the bejeezus out of me when I read it.

[Kol Korran]

I've always said it's less about the type of monster you choose, but rather how you play it. I always though gibbering mouthers are an absolute scare to meet. I made some renovations to them (mostly in terms of flavor, but a bit about mechanics) here (first part) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13411526&postcount=68) and here (second part) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13411717&postcount=69)
hopefully you'll enjoy!

[Fyermind]

Seconding the power of parasites/diseases. I'd suggest a running out of time story line that starts with infected enemies who the players kill. The effects should cause odd deformities that aren't explained until the players meet non-enemies who are suffering from the same effect.

When the disease/parasite starts to take effect on the players they become encouraged to separate slightly to prevent it spreading to other players which can lead to more forms of horror.

The symptoms of your disease/parasite can be as grotesque as necessary to evoke horror.