Cold-themed monsters?

[Bickerstaff]

Does anyone have any favorite cold-themed monsters (or templates to add to monsters) they like to use? I'm running a campaign in a few days that takes place in an icy, mountainous region, and I need some thematic monsters. Undead welcome too!

The players are level 8-9, so I'm looking for some creatures with an appropriate CR for them, as well as some lower-level minion types.

Oh, and PF/3.5 doesn't really matter; the game is on a PF chassis, but with a lot of 3.5 stuff mixed in.

[Talya]

frost giants, cryohydras, white dragons, ice golems, trolls, yetis... plus every monster in the book "Frostburn."

[PraxisVetli]

Are you familiar with the book Frostburn?
eh, ninja'd

just use the DnD Monster Finder and specify Cold subtype

[JungleChicken]

Undead fit the bill quite nicely.

Just narrate some of their abilities as if powered by the chill of the grave. Heck even give them +1 on damage rolls as cold damage

[Thrawn183]

Let's see:

-White Dragon
- Frost Wyrm
- Frost Giant

MM3
- Chraal
- Living Spell (Chilling Fog)
- Mastodon
- Snowflake Ooze

Those should get you started. :smallbiggrin:

[Bickerstaff]

/facepalm

...I completely forgot about Frostburn :smallbiggrin:

edit: Oh! That monster finder is pretty handy.

[Particle_Man]

Also, you can "arcticify" a lot of the standard demi-human (and common humanoid) races.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/environmentalRacialVariants.htm#arcticRaces

[ThreeDSix]

The Father Lymbic entry from the Book of Elder Evils also has a template that you can apply to creatures to make them ice themed.

[CRtwenty]

Remorhaz is one of my favorites. Giant kiler frost centipedes? Yes please.

[Know(Nothing)]

Winter Wolves are fun, especially when coordinating with Frost Giants, since they speak Giant and Common.

[Uncle Pine]

Bipedal white dragons riding quadrupedal frost giants has always been my favourite cold-themed couple of monsters. When that doesn't work (for example, the players are 8th-9th level), my vote goes to werewinter wolves with mouthpick greatswords. The bipedal, quadrupedal and monstrous lycanthrope templates can be found in Advanced Bestiary.
Otherwise, ice toads from Frostburn.

[Pan151]

Xixecals pretty much trump everything else when it comes to ice monsters.

You know that you are a max-level badass the moment you have the same relationship with elder dragons like old ladies have with cats :smallcool:


Of course you'll probably never run a campaign at a high enough level to reliably include one, but oh well...

[Coidzor]

Wendigo are always fun, though they're about 50-50 cold & cannibalism.

Ice Beasts are nice.

[Bronk]

I'm a fan of dire polar bears in particular...

[gomipile]

Bleakborn (Libris Mortis.) Beware, they are a severe PITA for the PCs to get rid of permanently.

[Dr. Cliché]

Bipedal white dragons riding quadrupedal frost giants has always been my favourite cold-themed couple of monsters.

I can see some eyebrows being raised at that one. :smallwink:


When that doesn't work (for example, the players are 8th-9th level), my vote goes to werewinter wolves with mouthpick greatswords. The bipedal, quadrupedal and monstrous lycanthrope templates can be found in Advanced Bestiary.

Is that for Pathfinder, or 3.5?

[Uncle Pine]

Is that for Pathfinder, or 3.5?
Advanced Bestiary (Green Ronin publishing) is 3.5, although I believe that Pathfinder also has an Advanced Bestiary. The bipedal, quadrupedal and monstrous lycanthrope templates are from the 3.5 one.

[Deadline]

The Frost Salamander from the MM2 sounds like it might be about right for your group. The MM2 monsters are notoriously under-CR'd, so it might even work out of the box for your group. I remember it almost TPKing an even CR'd group I ran it against years ago. They were light OP though, so you may have to adjust it to taste. It's frost aura is fairly nasty, so make sure the fight goes down in a small space so it can take advantage of it.

[limejuicepowder]

There's an undead in frostburn that I used once and liked. They're respectable melee'ers with casting as a druid 5. CR is 6 or so....can't remember the name.

In any case, at some point the party should be ambushed by a group of somethings that burst out of the pristine snow around them.