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View Full Version : Monsters Who You Wish Were More Prominent In D&D Canon



tbok1992
2013-11-29, 05:54 PM
Exactly what it sounds like, what D&D critters/races that only appeared once or a few times deserve to be a greater part of the game's lore/fluff than they currently are. I'll start off witha few:

Spirit Warriors- These necromantically-reanimated bug-monster-mecha from Spelljammer are not only a really cool idea, but given that the elves in that setting also had a rip-off of the Guyver long before the anime boom hit, it'd make a whole lot of sense fro them to re-jigger its fluff to make it the D&D-equivalent of Neon Genesis Evangelion's Evas, complete with related arthropod/aberrant Angel-equivalents. Plus, it'd be so funny to hear an elf with sideburns and shiny glasses say "Get in the @#$% Spirit Warror Elfangalor!". Because, let's face it, the elves'd probably act like an entire race of Shinjis.

-Underfolk- They only appeared once in a smaller section of "Races of Destiny",but their idea is pretty cool. Basically they're humans adapted to live underground and who are at one with nature, sort oflike underground elves except for minus the smug sense of superiority and with a touch of paranoia (And also with darkvision and octopus-like skin-changing camoflauge). I think it'd be really cool to develop their culture and how it's adapted to beneath the earth (especially which Underdark critters they've domesticated), and the fact that 4e's Underdark had humans warped by the Underdark into something else in its fluff and yet still didn't have stats for Underfolk is inexcusable.

-Silthilar- THEY ARE FIVE-WAY-RADIALLY-SYMMETRICAL CHAOTIC GOOD TRANSHUMANIST POSTHUMANS WHO CAN TURN INTO A SWARM OF BUGS AND WILL GRAFT AWESOME STUFF TO YOU FOR CASH! HOW ARE THESE THINGS NOT MORE POPULAR?!

Rhynn
2013-11-29, 06:00 PM
Unique or new monsters.

Probably half of "D&D monsters" by now were introduced as monsters more or less indigenous to a specific location in AD&D 1E or BECM modules, and then they just kept getting re-used which is boring.

Of course, 3E worked pretty hard to make it impossible to make your own monsters with all that obsession with "balance" and almost nonexistent guidelines for making new ones.

Yora
2013-11-29, 06:17 PM
-Underfolk- They only appeared once in a smaller section of "Races of Destiny",but their idea is pretty cool. Basically they're humans adapted to live underground and who are at one with nature, sort oflike underground elves except for minus the smug sense of superiority and with a touch of paranoia (And also with darkvision and octopus-like skin-changing camoflauge). I think it'd be really cool to develop their culture and how it's adapted to beneath the earth (especially which Underdark critters they've domesticated), and the fact that 4e's Underdark had humans warped by the Underdark into something else in its fluff and yet still didn't have stats for Underfolk is inexcusable.
I was thinking of the Dark Ones, who have been around since the first Fiend Folio and fore some reason are really cool, but never had any major role in any setting. They are also underground living and human-ish.

erikun
2013-11-29, 06:27 PM
Yuan-Ti is one creature I'd like to see more of. Psychic snake ruling class over empires of human slaves? I'm sure we could see some interesting situations with that. The biggest problem I'd see, though, is the Yuan-Ti getting the standard boring Maya/Inca "sacrifice them to the sun god!" theme to them.

Inevitables would be fun to see in action. They're basically the equivalent to celestial Devas or demonic Pit Fiends, although showing up when things go so wrong in the universe that not doing so would destroy it. Given how frequently that happens in D&D, I'm surprised we haven't seen more of them.

I'm also kind of curious as to why Mummies are so rare. We always see liches, we always see wights, we always see shadows and skeletons and zombies and vampires... why not some societies where the former rulers are granted immortality through mummification? Even the elves of Eberron don't use mummies, instead going with some kind of "It's not really evil because we're elves" sort of lich, because they're special.

Rhynn
2013-11-29, 06:41 PM
Yuan-Ti is one creature I'd like to see more of. Psychic snake ruling class over empires of human slaves? I'm sure we could see some interesting situations with that. The biggest problem I'd see, though, is the Yuan-Ti getting the standard boring Maya/Inca "sacrifice them to the sun god!" theme to them.

Yuan-Ti are pretty much the "Ancient Race" in my Dark Sun campaign, in the style of Howardian/Mythos serpent-men: fallen masters of the world, hiding in dark places, weaving conspiracies...

The main reason is that I loved them in Wake of the Ravager. :smallcool:

Slipperychicken
2013-11-29, 06:58 PM
Inevitables would be fun to see in action. They're basically the equivalent to celestial Devas or demonic Pit Fiends, although showing up when things go so wrong in the universe that not doing so would destroy it. Given how frequently that happens in D&D, I'm surprised we haven't seen more of them.


I agree with this. This is honestly one of the reasons I wish they had put out a book of law to complement BoVD and BoED. I feel like there's a lot of cool stuff they could have done with Mechanus in D&D. Maybe they could introduce more Inevitable 'types' for different universal crimes, and maybe some mechanics for what magnitude of violation would attract them.

I just think it's cool to have these giant robots stomping through the material plane like heavenly terminators, tirelessly hunting down the multiverse's greatest criminals, while also dispatching any wrongdoers in their way. Additionally, it could give GMs some non-contrived means to deal with out-of-control high level adventurers.

tbok1992
2013-11-29, 07:31 PM
I was thinking of the Dark Ones, who have been around since the first Fiend Folio and fore some reason are really cool, but never had any major role in any setting. They are also underground living and human-ish.

Actually, if I'd compare 'em to another D&D species, I'd sa ythey're a lot like the Skulks, given that both are evolved from humans and have octopus-like color-change skin.

And darnit, I was hoping you folks'd be thinking of more obscure critters. Although, on the topic of overlooked monsters and Mummies that Erikun brought up, there's the Crawling Apocalypse from Sandstorm that really, really needs to comeback. I mean, it's a GIANT MUMMY OCTOPUS, also known as THE BEST THING EVER! COME ON PEOPLE!

QuintonBeck
2013-11-29, 11:07 PM
I'm a fan of the Zodar and I'm implementing them into my next campaign as ancient guardians created by the first god of the setting to protect his ancient 'research centers' Hopefully at some point I'll have one join the party.

The idea of faceless, speechless, largely passive suits of ebony armor who act only when they deem it necessary or beneficial to their bizarre and unknown cause is awesome to me. That and the fact that despite their large passivity they have a pretty strong ability in their back pocket which just makes them all the more dark and mysterious.

Brookshw
2013-11-30, 07:44 AM
The keepers, inevitables, tsochar are probably at the top of my list. Ethergaunts would be another. Hmm.....probably a few others but I need more coffee.

Yora
2013-11-30, 07:57 AM
Tsochar look really cool. I almost forgot about them, I think they would make great aberrations for my pathfinder setting.

BWR
2013-11-30, 08:13 AM
I have an abiding fondness for illithids and the Gith races. Night hags seem criminally underused ever since Ravel gave me a taste for the grey ladies.

But I have so many good memories from the old BECMI supplement "Creature Catalog". Some of the monsters have been official converted and all of them have been converted to d20 at some point, if only by fans. As Rhynn pointed out, many of them were just things that appeared in a module or adventure and were thrown in the book, and I suppose by many standards they aren't all that great, but to my adolescent imagination they were the greatest.
While things like the faedorne and silver warriors, huptzeen, mashers, juggernauts and magen are runners up, the two that were my favorite were the hivebrood and the oard.

The hivebrood are just your average 'kidnap you and turn you into a bug of the hivemind' monster, but I just loved that sort of creature when I first read them.

And the oard: time-travelling cyborg clones with inscrutable motives and lots of nifty sci-fi gadgets.

Yora
2013-11-30, 08:39 AM
Well, a night hag was a lord of hell for some time. It's not like they were completely forgotten. But as a kind of "neutral" fiend, they certainly could see more presence in the lower planes.

Rhynn
2013-11-30, 09:03 AM
But I have so many good memories from the old BECMI supplement "Creature Catalog". Some of the monsters have been official converted and all of them have been converted to d20 at some point, if only by fans. As Rhynn pointed out, many of them were just things that appeared in a module or adventure and were thrown in the book, and I suppose by many standards they aren't all that great, but to my adolescent imagination they were the greatest.
While things like the faedorne and silver warriors, huptzeen, mashers, juggernauts and magen are runners up, the two that were my favorite were the hivebrood and the oard.

So many of the BECM monsters are completely awesome. Mujinas, odics, drujs, actaeons, hsiaos, meks, etc. ...

Now I'm just gonna have to go through all those BECM books and convert the monsters for ACKS. :smallcool:

Yora
2013-11-30, 09:12 AM
I think that's one monster book I've never read. Is it this one? (http://www.rpgnow.com/product/16989/DMR2-Creature-Catalog-%28Basic%29?it=1)

BWR
2013-11-30, 11:02 AM
that's one of them. This (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creature_Catalogue)is the one I have. IIRC, they were mostly the same, but there were a few differences. I haven't actually looked in the orange one for nearly 20 years. I'll have to see if my buddy who had it still has it and is willing to part with it.


Ah, the druj. My players expressed their displeasure rather loudly when I threw "Death's Ride" at them. 1 fatality in the second round of the very first encounter and it only went downhill from there. The druj was particularly hated, what with three of them spamming finger of death at will, splitting up and having gonzo amounts of hp.

QuintonBeck
2013-11-30, 03:38 PM
The keepers, inevitables, tsochar are probably at the top of my list. Ethergaunts would be another. Hmm.....probably a few others but I need more coffee.

Ah yes, etherguants are awesome. The end game of being warped by mad arcane power.

Spore
2013-11-30, 06:00 PM
Inevitables and Protean creatures and cosmology. Demons, Devils and Angels are DONE TO DEATH but the unique twist of D&D and related materials on order and chaos doesn't really get used much.

Other than that, vermin. And I am not talking about that boring giant ant soldier. Giant Ants were even lame when they first made lame 60s (40s? idk) movies about them. I am talking about insects that dwell on the shadow plane and lay eggs inside the still living victims, dealing con damage like a diease and then out bursts a CR 8 larva. That and more plant/fungi monsters. There are things you can create with the templates that go beyond "mindless vermin-like fungus plant ... thing".

You need standard minions to convey some sort of cohesiveness but you should mix it up with horrifying "NOPE" creatures from time to time. I always like it when a creature induces fear in the minds of characters AND players: "I know it is tactically stupid to kill the giant spider first but BURN IT! I can't stand the mental image of a spider laying eggs inside my character even tho the cleric can heal that afterwards."

Yora
2013-12-01, 05:46 AM
Other than that, vermin. And I am not talking about that boring giant ant soldier. Giant Ants were even lame when they first made lame 60s (40s? idk) movies about them.

Them! is an awesome movie. It obviously doesn't compare to The Thing or Alien, or Night of the Living Dead, but I was really quite impressed how well they edited the scenes to make the monsters reasonably scary. Even though they were really just giant ants.

Hanuman
2013-12-01, 05:51 AM
Modrons

A whole jungle race of Tucker's Kobalds.

Necropolitans

Kelb_Panthera
2013-12-01, 06:01 AM
Tsochar look really cool. I almost forgot about them, I think they would make great aberrations for my pathfinder setting.

Ugh! Do not want. Those squirmy bastards are, IMO, the creepiest thing in D&D.

Dumbledore lives
2013-12-01, 06:08 AM
Of course, 3E worked pretty hard to make it impossible to make your own monsters with all that obsession with "balance" and almost nonexistent guidelines for making new ones.

In a word no. 3E is really easy to make monsters for, and there are very specific guidelines for making them and in the homebrew forum you will find a very nice sticky thread with good formatting even. I'm also kind of confused by the balance comment considering how ridiculously unbalanced all the monsters are in 3rd edition, especially comparing within CRs.

As for monsters my absolute favorite monsters are mind flayers, and though they are relatively popular they don't seem to have any official published modules which is quite sad. Them and Elder Evils which is my second favorite book from 3.5, but it's understandable they are not used often given their campaign-ending nature.

Yora
2013-12-01, 06:36 AM
I'm currently making my own Bestiary with over a hundred original creatures for a Pathfinder setting. The only real change in Pathfinder is, that they added a table which says what are good hp, armor, attack, and save bonuses for a creature of a given CR, but given how wonky CR is in the first place and how little the people at Paizo care for balance, I wouldn't give too much on it.

However, it's still by far the best game system to make homewbrew monsters that come anywhere close to being balanced. In all other games I've ever seen, the only guideline is "just put in any values you like and make a guess if the party can survive a fight or not".

some guy
2013-12-01, 10:55 AM
Other than that, vermin. And I am not talking about that boring giant ant soldier. Giant Ants were even lame when they first made lame 60s (40s? idk) movies about them. I am talking about insects that dwell on the shadow plane and lay eggs inside the still living victims, dealing con damage like a diease and then out bursts a CR 8 larva.

You mean the gloomwing (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/gloomwing) and the tenebrous worm (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/tenebrous-worm)? I like that the offspring is more dangerous than the adult.

On topic: I'd like some more unique monsters with unique mechanics. Like; "This is the only one in existence and here are some ideas to create a whole adventure around it. It also does these freaky things that you'd never thought of yourself and that's why you paid for this book."

Jay R
2013-12-01, 11:15 AM
One of the PC races from the first version of D&D was hobbits. But I don't need them to be more prominent; I've never stopped using them.

KillianHawkeye
2013-12-01, 11:59 AM
One of the PC races from the first version of D&D was hobbits. But I don't need them to be more prominent; I've never stopped using them.

Nobody did. They're just called Halflings now (to avoid copyright issues, presumably).



One monster I'd like to see more of is the Night Stalker, those gigantic shadowy dudes.

Pex
2013-12-01, 12:07 PM
Heceuvas

I would be interested in a story of what the clerics did to merit such a punishment, why the deity would create such a monster to threaten the world, and what the PCs can do to rectify the problem and put the souls at rest aside from just destroying them. I would enjoy playing the cleric of the deity in question during such a game.

Yora
2013-12-01, 01:04 PM
One monster I'd like to see more of is the Night Stalker, those gigantic shadowy dudes.
That picture alone was completely selling them.
But at CR 16, there's not many opportunities to ever actually use them. Should have been CR 8 or 10, and we'd probably have seen a lot more of them.

ngilop
2013-12-01, 02:10 PM
Bugbears

I think those guys never got enough 'face time' right now they are just big bully goblins.. and I think there could be so much more to them.

also Lizard men.. especially from forgotten realms.. in unapporchable east ( the 2nd ed box set idk bout what the 3rd ed one says) there were super mega cool ruins of lizard men and the statues resistd all attempt mundane and magical to discern what they where made from and who exactly made them

all this Darn awesome teasing and not even a little paragraph on what it is..

nedz
2013-12-03, 08:49 AM
Tasloi They're like kobolds but they live in the rainforest. Staying high in the canopy the first thing most parties know about it is when they walk into the traps.

Brookshw
2013-12-03, 09:10 AM
Tasloi They're like kobolds but they live in the rainforest. Staying high in the canopy the first thing most parties know about it is when they walk into the traps.

Interesting, what source are they from?

nedz
2013-12-03, 10:15 AM
Interesting, what source are they from?

AD&D 1E MM2

123456789blaaa
2013-12-03, 10:38 AM
Kythons (from the BOVD) are pretty cool. I like their design and the concept of intelligent yet cold and alien, mutating reptilian fiends native to the Material Plane seems like something that could be expanded upon greatly, in unexpected and interesting directions (rather than the same old "alien invaders" shtick).

Zeb
2013-12-03, 11:38 AM
Interesting, what source are they from?

They have 3.5 stats in Shining South I believe.

nedz
2013-12-03, 03:33 PM
They have 3.5 stats in Shining South I believe.

Cool, but I haven't run a tropical game in a while.

Last time I ran them they did cause a near TPK; but that was due to a player rolling a d10 instead of a d20 to hit, when they needed an 11.

Sith_Happens
2013-12-04, 12:39 AM
Pretty much anything from the Far Realm, but especially the Kaorti.

GungHo
2013-12-04, 09:56 AM
Inevitables would be fun to see in action. They're basically the equivalent to celestial Devas or demonic Pit Fiends, although showing up when things go so wrong in the universe that not doing so would destroy it. Given how frequently that happens in D&D, I'm surprised we haven't seen more of them.
I use them occasionally. At the right CLs, it's quite like being hunted by the Terminator.

Zeb
2013-12-04, 10:22 AM
Gnolls


It seems they don't get the billing that the "mainstream" evil humanoids get. They have their own language and culture/religion, but they never get to be the top dog in evil hordes.

Unintended pun amuses me and so it stays

123456789blaaa
2013-12-04, 11:50 AM
Gnolls


It seems they don't get the billing that the "mainstream" evil humanoids get. They have their own language and culture/religion, but they never get to be the top dog in evil hordes.

Unintended pun amuses me and so it stays

It's probably because of how generic they are. What can you use them for that you can't do better with other evil humanoids?

It's depressing actually because they could have been so much more. Hyena's have some awesomely creepy and weird stuff going for them in both real life and mythology:


The hyena is well known for eating decomposing carrion, as well as being a predatory killer. The mottled pattern in the spotted hyena's coarse coat is repulsive to many African peoples, and their scruffy appearance and mud-wallowing habits further adds to their perceived uncleanliness. The way they move, with their front legs being longer than their back ones, contrasts sharply with the movements of the swift and nimble hare. Finally, the unnerving "laughter" of the hyena, along with unnaturally ambiguous appearance of the spotted hyena's genitals (commonly misinterpreted as hermaphroditism) firmly puts them-in the opinions of many-in the company of witches and devils.

It's not surprising, then, that apart from being simply silly brutes, hyenas are also often evil entities in folklore. In Angola, Kishi (also Nkishi or Mukishi) is an evil spirit, a demon with two faces on its head. One face is that of a handsome man, which lures young women near; the other face is a hyena, which eats them. In northern Nigeria, Kuri is a black hyena spirit who causes paralysis. A 1376 Persian medical treatise warned of the kaftar, werehyenas that slaughtered children, though this term modernly refers to the hyena only. The werehyena is a common figure in much of Africa; in Nigeria, they are called the bultungin, which means "I change myself into a hyena." In many places, hyenas are thought to be witches' familiars, the witch riding on its back at night, or clutching it about the middle as fire shoots out behind it to propel it forward.

I like how Pathfinder had them worship Lamashtu (http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/Lamashtu) at least. Fits way better than Yeenoghu.


Medieval Europeans also believed that sometimes a lioness would mate with a hyena to produce a strange hybrid called the leucrotta. The leucrotta had a human voice and could imitate human speech to lure travelers into its clutches.

Africans have even stranger lore about hyenas. All over the continent, there are cultures that believe some witches can turn themselves into hyenas. In fact, the spotted hyena is to Africa what the black cat is in the U.S. -- the premier witch animal, uncanny and terrifying.

The Wambugwe of Tanzania believe "every witch possesses one or more hyenas which are branded (invisibly to normal eyes) with his mark, and to which he refers as his 'night cattle.' Some people say that all hyenas are owned by witches -- that there are no free or wild hyenas....At regular intervals, all witches of the land ride their hyenas to a prearranged place in the forest for a saturnalian gathering, where they boast of their evil deeds and perform obscene rites." (Robert F. Gray, in Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa.)

Supposedly the hyenas live and bear their young in the houses of witches, and the owner milks them once a day. It is dangerous to kill a hyena, for if its owner finds out he will kill the hunter with witchcraft.

The accounts of the Wambugwe people paint a Goya-like picture of "a witch riding naked at full gallop through the night, mounted on a hyena and carrying a flaming torch which he refuels from time to time from a gourd of hyena butter slung over his shoulder."

Even when they are not afraid of witches, Africans regard hyenas with such nervous disgust that just speaking their name aloud can cause people to snicker as if at a dirty joke, according to Kruuk. The main reason they give is the same one Europeans do for despising hyenas -- that they eat human corpses.

Yora
2013-12-04, 12:19 PM
I really love gnolls in Baldur's Gate. Probably my favorite creature in the game.

However, even loving them very much, I don't really know what to do with them. I really like them, but having no idea how to give them a real role in my homebrew setting, I eventually decited to not have them at all.
Which is a shame.

Envyus
2013-12-04, 03:13 PM
I really love gnolls in Baldur's Gate. Probably my favorite creature in the game.

However, even loving them very much, I don't really know what to do with them. I really like them, but having no idea how to give them a real role in my homebrew setting, I eventually decited to not have them at all.
Which is a shame.

I like Gnolls a lot and like to give them a pack mentality. The pack come's first then the individual Gnolls then their hyenas then their slaves then everyone who is not yet a slave or food for them.

If a Gnoll becomes separated from it's pack it won't feel comfortable until it finds a new pack. So they are willing to even seek out replacement packs even if they don't contain Gnolls and would be loyal to them.

There was an article in Dragon a while back on playing Gnolls which gave me more info on them here is a quote that add's more character to them.


Friendly Intimidation: Humans typically find that even friendly gnolls seem aggressive. When performed correctly, gnolls do not consider intimidation to be a hostile act; instead, the speaker is asserting its strength and seeking to establish its place in the pack hierarchy. One of the simple ways that this comes across is that a gnoll almost never makes requests; when possible, it makes demands or at the least firm statements. Instead of “Can I help you?” the gnoll says “Tell me what you want!”—pushing the target to take action.

I find they have quite a bit of character which is why I am fond of them.

Axinian
2013-12-04, 03:27 PM
In many places, hyenas are thought to be witches' familiars, the witch riding on its back at night, or clutching it about the middle as fire shoots out behind it to propel it forward.

Wait... what?


or clutching it about the middle as fire shoots out behind it to propel it forward.

...


as fire shoots out behind it to propel it forward.

Rocket-powered hyenas are a thing in real-life folklore? WHY THE HECK DON'T WE HAVE STATS FOR THAT?!

Lord Torath
2013-12-04, 04:18 PM
I've used gnolls on the Isle of Dread. i set up several tribes of them that compete with (and prey on) the Rakasta.

erikun
2013-12-04, 06:34 PM
Rocket-powered hyenas are a thing in real-life folklore? WHY THE HECK DON'T WE HAVE STATS FOR THAT?!
Well, the Bonnacon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnacon) is a mythical creature from Asia. That's kind of similar, I guess.

Doc_Pippin
2013-12-04, 10:26 PM
This may sound odd as the base creature itself is used frequently but the concept of all the related creatures aren't...

The Mind Flayer collective....

I mean seriously they have SOOOOOOOOO many creatures directly related to them, why haven't they establish a strong empire again....

Ustilagor, Intellect Devourers, Oortlings, Brain Golems, Voidminds, Fungi Gas spore, Shiekers, Brown Mold, Illithid Symbionts, Illithidkin, Ulitharids, Yaggol, Vampiric illithids, Alhoons, Nerve swimmers, Nerve swimmer swarms, Illithdae, Cessirid, Embrac, Kigrid, Saltor, Octopins, Illithocytes, Vampire Squids, Larval Flayers, Elder Brains, Mozgriken, Tzakand, Uchuulons, Kezreth, Urophion, Mindstealer dragons, Neolithids, Mind witnesses, All the different Thoon heretics, Mind worms (Seriously these alone can wipe a party from a different plane of existance if they stanf to close to a mirror...)

And my personal favorites

Nyraala Golem and phthisics

It's like all the people I know only use basic flayers, elder brains, and alhoons...

With all these super powerful creatures and the open endedness of their reproduction for making new and interesting creature HOW HAVEN"T THEY WON YET!!!!! And why aren't these used more?!?!? Its insanity

BWR
2013-12-05, 01:17 AM
Draeden.
40+ mile long godlike beings that hate all matter, are older than the existing gods Immortals and give them the willies.

NotScaryBats
2013-12-05, 02:19 AM
I adore Spellweavers.
http://www.lomion.de/cmm/img/spelweav.gif
That's the 2nd Edition picture I'm familiar with... later pics are not as cool. They're mysterious alien beings who sit around for days invisible spying on things, break into vaults and steal magical items, have a unique Chromatic Disk magical item only they can use, and never have an explanation for what they're doing with the stuff they steal, or where they come from.

Spellweavers also make obelisks carved in their alien language that is unreadable. If you try to decipher it, you go crazy.

They never communicate with anyone, but have natural telepathy to silently ninja spy raid things with crazy coordination.

Super cool, super mysterious, and also the ability to cast multiple spells a round by waving their six arms (one arm per spell level).

Velaryon
2013-12-05, 05:04 PM
And darnit, I was hoping you folks'd be thinking of more obscure critters. Although, on the topic of overlooked monsters and Mummies that Erikun brought up, there's the Crawling Apocalypse from Sandstorm that really, really needs to comeback. I mean, it's a GIANT MUMMY OCTOPUS, also known as THE BEST THING EVER! COME ON PEOPLE!

I used a Crawling Apocalypse in my D&D campaign. It was a fun encounter, though my PCs defeated it more easily than I expected.

Another one I enjoy is the Verdant Prince from Monster Manual 4 (in 3.5 anyway, don't know if it's in other editions). I put some bard levels on one and had great fun with a forest encounter. He was moving between trees, tossing out enchantments and debuff spells while the party was fighting something else. I used this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmc21V-zBq0) as the background music during the encounter, and I think it added a lot to the encounter. Best of all, he escaped and might become a recurring villain.

KillianHawkeye
2013-12-06, 07:58 AM
The Mind Flayer collective....

I mean seriously they have SOOOOOOOOO many creatures directly related to them, why haven't they establish a strong empire again....

Ustilagor, Intellect Devourers, Oortlings, Brain Golems, Voidminds, Fungi Gas spore, Shiekers, Brown Mold, Illithid Symbionts, Illithidkin, Ulitharids, Yaggol, Vampiric illithids, Alhoons, Nerve swimmers, Nerve swimmer swarms, Illithdae, Cessirid, Embrac, Kigrid, Saltor, Octopins, Illithocytes, Vampire Squids, Larval Flayers, Elder Brains, Mozgriken, Tzakand, Uchuulons, Kezreth, Urophion, Mindstealer dragons, Neolithids, Mind witnesses, All the different Thoon heretics, Mind worms (Seriously these alone can wipe a party from a different plane of existance if they stanf to close to a mirror...)

And my personal favorites

Nyraala Golem and phthisics

It's like all the people I know only use basic flayers, elder brains, and alhoons...

With all these super powerful creatures and the open endedness of their reproduction for making new and interesting creature HOW HAVEN"T THEY WON YET!!!!! And why aren't these used more?!?!? Its insanity

Man, I don't even know what half of those are!

Brookshw
2013-12-06, 08:55 AM
This may sound odd as the base creature itself is used frequently but the concept of all the related creatures aren't...

The Mind Flayer collective....

I mean seriously they have SOOOOOOOOO many creatures directly related to them, why haven't they establish a strong empire again....

Ustilagor, Intellect Devourers, Oortlings, Brain Golems, Voidminds, Fungi Gas spore, Shiekers, Brown Mold, Illithid Symbionts, Illithidkin, Ulitharids, Yaggol, Vampiric illithids, Alhoons, Nerve swimmers, Nerve swimmer swarms, Illithdae, Cessirid, Embrac, Kigrid, Saltor, Octopins, Illithocytes, Vampire Squids, Larval Flayers, Elder Brains, Mozgriken, Tzakand, Uchuulons, Kezreth, Urophion, Mindstealer dragons, Neolithids, Mind witnesses, All the different Thoon heretics, Mind worms (Seriously these alone can wipe a party from a different plane of existance if they stanf to close to a mirror...)

And my personal favorites

Nyraala Golem and phthisics

It's like all the people I know only use basic flayers, elder brains, and alhoons...

With all these super powerful creatures and the open endedness of their reproduction for making new and interesting creature HOW HAVEN"T THEY WON YET!!!!! And why aren't these used more?!?!? Its insanity

Is this a trick question? The empire was a thing though sadly we have little details.

BWR
2013-12-06, 10:06 AM
The illithids did nearly win. Even the Blood War paused.
Then Gith and her merry band happened. The remaining illithids really are just a pathetic whisper compared to their earlier glory. They are hated by every other group of people, exterminated if powerful enough enemies can find them, shunned otherwise, and the Gith races have constant hunts for illithids. The 'yanki and 'zerai will even cooperate if they find themselves in a situation where both are hunting illithids (and promptly fall to killing eachother when the job is done, of course).

On the subject of gnolls, the gnolls of Thunder Rift are the mortal enemies of the elves there, rather than the traditional orc/gobliniod races. They consider it a rite of passage to kill an elf. A little thought indicates that this is unfeasible, but it's a nice idea.

NickChaisson
2013-12-07, 12:22 AM
I really wish the Formians were more popular. They seem like a really cool idea, kind of like a cross between the Gith and the Borg. I could see the potential for some really cool stuff. Also, Giant eagles (and owls I suppose) They have the intelligence of humans but you never hear of civilizations of them or heroes/villains that are giant birds.

Zrak
2013-12-07, 12:33 AM
I don't really get how eating carrion is more evil than killing prey to eat it. I always make gnolls weird and creepy but generally pretty neutral.

For how iconic beholders supposedly are, I have yet to ever encounter one in D&D, not counting the ones I include in campaigns I run. Although, apparently, one of my old DMs had a similar frustration and kept trying to include beholders as the main villains in his campaigns, only for real life to get in the way before it reached that point.

I'm also a little torn about aboleths. On the one hand, they're really cool. On the other hand, them being more prominent would mean more underwater campaigns, and that's just not something I want any part in.

123456789blaaa
2013-12-07, 01:07 AM
I don't really get how eating carrion is more evil than killing prey to eat it. I always make gnolls weird and creepy but generally pretty neutral.

For how iconic beholders supposedly are, I have yet to ever encounter one in D&D, not counting the ones I include in campaigns I run. Although, apparently, one of my old DMs had a similar frustration and kept trying to include beholders as the main villains in his campaigns, only for real life to get in the way before it reached that point.

I'm also a little torn about aboleths. On the one hand, they're really cool. On the other hand, them being more prominent would mean more underwater campaigns, and that's just not something I want any part in.

You could use the Amphibious Aboleth or Uobilyth (Aerial Aboleth) variants found in Lords of Madness page 20.

Sith_Happens
2013-12-07, 01:52 AM
I don't really get how eating carrion is more evil than killing prey to eat it. I always make gnolls weird and creepy but generally pretty neutral.

Hyenas actually scavenge quite rarely. And gnolls definitely hunt their own prey.

Scow2
2013-12-07, 02:08 AM
-awesome Werehyena stuff-
Keith Baker incorporated a lot of those myths into Gnolls when he wrote Playing Gnolls for 4e.
Butcher's Lure is an awesomely fluffy feat.

MonochromeTiger
2013-12-07, 02:13 AM
Keith Baker incorporated a lot of those myths into Gnolls when he wrote Playing Gnolls for 4e.
Butcher's Lure is an awesomely fluffy feat.

....gnoll....fluffy...*rimshot*

anyway, hydras. I haven't heard a good hydra story in ages...

Yora
2013-12-07, 07:32 AM
I'm also a little torn about aboleths. On the one hand, they're really cool. On the other hand, them being more prominent would mean more underwater campaigns, and that's just not something I want any part in.

Not really. Aboleths are masterminds who can easily afford and would prefer not to get their own tentacles dirty. When their plans get upset and they have to take care of things personally, you can still have intense encounters on the coast or in flooded dungeons.

http://1-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/tg/image/1333/50/1333508200305.jpg

Amphetryon
2013-12-07, 08:07 AM
Another vote for Modrons.

Another vote for Illithids and their variants, particularly the Alhoon.

Yora
2013-12-07, 08:43 AM
I think of the Big Three aberrations, illithids got probably by far the most exposure. Possibly even more than aboleths and beholders combined. I guess they are probably the easiest to run, since they don't live underwater and have reasonably understandable goals. With beholders, all I can think of is that one of them has a spontaneous crazy idea and starts trying to zap or eat everything that gets into its path.

123456789blaaa
2013-12-07, 09:04 AM
I think of the Big Three aberrations, illithids got probably by far the most exposure. Possibly even more than aboleths and beholders combined. I guess they are probably the easiest to run, since they don't live underwater and have reasonably understandable goals. With beholders, all I can think of is that one of them has a spontaneous crazy idea and starts trying to zap or eat everything that gets into its path.

Beholders want to take control of people and rule absolutely over them while being unrestrained by Law. They take slaves and Charm people to be their servants in their lairs. They often run crime organizations.

There's a reason they're called Eye Tyrants and why their racial god has Tyranny in her portfolio list.

Yora
2013-12-07, 12:36 PM
I think I've always encountered beholders only as individual encounters dropped into adventures for funny "WTF? moments" that turn into "Oh god, we are all going to die!".
Which supports the point that beholders would have needed more prominent exposure as complex antagonist. :smallwink:

TuggyNE
2013-12-07, 09:35 PM
Not really. Aboleths are masterminds who can easily afford and would prefer not to get their own tentacles dirty. When their plans get upset and they have to take care of things personally, you can still have intense encounters on the coast or in flooded dungeons.

http://1-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/tg/image/1333/50/1333508200305.jpg

Dat picture. Maaan. (Also I second the general stuff about aboleths.)

Zeb
2013-12-07, 10:31 PM
I think I've always encountered beholders only as individual encounters dropped into adventures for funny "WTF? moments" that turn into "Oh god, we are all going to die!".
Which supports the point that beholders would have needed more prominent exposure as complex antagonist. :smallwink:

I ran a campaign for a group of players how were averaging closer to evil than neutral. An organisation kept getting them to retrieve various magical orbs for them. Their contact had the odd stalks and after their last transaction tried to kill them. He was working for a beholder hive that built a giant construct of a beholder using the orbs as the different "eyes". Sadly the party only made it about halfway through fighting and disabling the construct before they lost half the party and the rest said screw it we're out.

ComatosePhoenix
2013-12-08, 12:47 PM
Manticores,

personal favorite fantasy creature, although I perfer the appearance with a lion head instead of a human head, less of a sphinx knock off that way.

Eitherway some times it is used as a filler monster, like a lion or bear might be but They are so darn rare in every fantasy media.

That and mounted knights because jousting ftw. :smallbiggrin:

BWR
2013-12-08, 01:31 PM
I nearly took out a 10th level cleric with a CR 5 manticore. Since then it's been a running gag that no matter how cool the other PCs are, they can't hold a candle to the cleric who solo'ed a manticore.