Weird Beasts for Druid

[GreyBlack]

So I'm currently planning a Spelljammer campaign for my players (Sort of a "Fish out of water" sort of scenario where the PC's get trapped in the aether as it were and have to try and make their way back). One of my players wants to play a Druid so I'm trying to look through the books for weird, not-normally available beasts to introduce to them for weird and bizarre animal forms they wouldn't normally get access to. I know for a fact that one world will probably be full of dinosaurs (because I'm nice like that) but otherwise the beasts that they can get are a bit... underwhelming?

Can anyone recommend some weird or off-the-wall beasts that I can introduce on these alien worlds?

EDIT: I mean, reskinning beasts is totally viable too but I was looking for some as written beasts to use.

[nickl_2000]

Do you have access to Tome of Beasts by Kobold Press? They have some pretty neat ones that are less underwhelming.

Giant Ant, Amphiptere, Batest Temple Cat, Dogmole, And Glass Gator all spring to mind from there (and are low enough CR to be seen in by a newer party). You could also borrow creatures from other universes, Wampas, Mynocks, Loth Cats, Loth Wolves, Puffer Pig, Purrgil, and Vulptex from Star Wars all feel appropriate (if anything feels right I can try and help stat them out).


As for other creatures, I feel like you could re-skin or create pretty much any beast that actually exists in Australia, they are pretty much all crazy anyways. Another way that he could encounter forms would be to find a travelling circus, I feel like that is fitting from Spelljammer.

[Corsair14]

Pish are a good one. Essentially fish who swim through wildspace. Everyone in space eats them and Im sure there is a thriving pish market on Bral including sushi shops in the "Asian" district.

[ATHATH]

Well, from the ones that have already been printed...

Tressyms are flying cats that can detect poison and invisibility at-will without using spells.

Deep rothes get the ability to cast the Dancing Lights spell at-will, which is more useful for Conjure Animals than for Wild Shape (since you can't cast spells while Wild Shaped).

Cranium rats get telepathy, an LE alignment, and immunity to divinations, thought-detecting effects, and emotion-detecting effects.

Female steeders have an attack that auto-grapples on a hit (but deals no damage) and the ability to jump up to 90 ft. (including vertically, if you want to) at-will by using all of their movement.

Stench kows get an aura of save-or-be-poisoned, although their combat stats will quickly become lacking at higher levels.

Crag cats have the ability to reflect single-target spells of seventh level or lower that target them back at their casters. Like the cranium rat, they have immunity to divinations.

Giant toads can swallow people whole (what happens if you revert to human form while you have something swallowed? I don't).

Giant octopi can hold their breath out of water for a long time (an hour, IIRC) and can grapple people from 15 ft. away with its tentacle attack's (which deals damage AND auto-grapples on-hit) incredibly long reach. They can also emit ink clouds in the water.

Do any of those help?

[Corsair14]

All the various kinds of Giant Space Hamsters
Skullbird
Firebird
Asteroid Spider
Kindori
Buzzjewel
Pish
Space drake
delphinid
Space Owl

[Spectrulus]

Giant Striders are large, featherless fire immune birds with nasty beaks, usually associated with Firenewt people, but they're fun.

Quetzoquatlus is just awesome, needing minor amount of reskinning.

[Millstone85]

Giant Striders are large, featherless fire immune birds with nasty beaks, usually associated with Firenewt people, but they're fun.They are also monstrosities, not beasts.

[sambojin]

Giant Lightning Eels can stun stuff and have some lightning damage.

Giant Spitting Lizards 30' range double spit 3d6 poison and can tail thwomp things away on a reaction.

Dilophosaurus can 10'/20' range spit-blind-paralyze people. Pity about the DC12 Con save and the save-every-round, but those are VERY bad conditions to have against an adventuring party, so it's understandable considering you can try it every round against non-poison-immunes.

Flying monkeys and flying snakes, ummm, fly. But the monkeys have hands, which is handy to have.

Giant Owls do flyby attacks. Stupidly mobile hit and run for non-Moon Druids.

Giant Spiders do 30/60' ranged restrain-on-hit (way better than it sounds, needs an action to remove) and wall walk. Stealthy with a touch of blindsight too.

Giant Toads swallow/restrain/grapple stuff and fry them with stomach acid. Then get chopped up from the inside :)

Hulking Crabs hide as natural formations then attack/grapple stuff.

Krenshars roar, which is a low DC 30' AoE frighten/prone. Against friend and foe :)

Jaculi are like big 30' distance advantage pouncing attack snakes.

Rot Grubs eat you from the inside.

Stirges attach to their prey and auto-blood-drain unless you use an action to remove them.

Giant Crocodiles are CR5, but they do restrain-on-hit. Good to-hit as well.

Giant Octopus has 15' reach grapple/restrain with damage. Sort of needs longstrider pre-cast though.

Giant Constrictor Snake. Not so much weird, as just good. Restrain-on-hit constrict attack, 10' reach normal attack, and your first bit of Huge size other than the Giant Elk. Feel free to move directly through medium sized creature's spaces soaking up AoO's for your non-mobile party members as either. Enemies can do the same to you, but you're 15' of difficult terrain, not 5', so make it harder to do so. You've also got a 5' and 10' attack, so feel free to AoO enemies whenever you feel like (you can drop the grapple of constrict whenever). Probably.


Restrained is a very good condition to put on enemies, druids have a lot of it, and it is almost spell slot worthy against big bads. Allows both melee and ranged and dex-save casters to nova with advantage if they want, so is far better than prone. Sort of like unlimited free Faerie Fire for everyone else, doesn't use your concentration so you can have a proper spell going, and is against AC instead of a dex save. So it's pretty highly featured in the list.

(that's a few for now. Yes, these are all fully statted non-hombrew beasts. Just grab the "Companions for D&D 5e" mobile app for all of them, but they're all from AL legal sources originally. Plenty of weird, whacky stuff to do, even if you reskin them for space)

[King Owlbear]

Hero shrews are pretty rad. They are basically mice that are immune to bludgeoning damage.

[Finback]

Do you have access to Tome of Beasts by Kobold Press?

I was totally about to say the same, immediately thinking of the dogmole. They also now have the Creature Codex out, which has even MORE beasts. Fleshpod Hornet, a bunch of giant moths, Leonino, more prehistoric creatures, magnetic lobsters, the ALBINO DEATH WEASEL.

[nickl_2000]

I was totally about to say the same, immediately thinking of the dogmole. They also now have the Creature Codex out, which has even MORE beasts. Fleshpod Hornet, a bunch of giant moths, Leonino, more prehistoric creatures, magnetic lobsters, the ALBINO DEATH WEASEL.

Sweet, I didn't know that was out yet. I will have to check that one out and see what it has to offer.