Favorite non-MM1 creatures for e6?

[Pinkie Pyro]

I'm running a gestalt, tier 3 and under e6 campaign, and currently reading through the monster manuals. I want to avoid the MM1 due to it having far to many 'typical' encounters, so I was wondering what you guys think would be fun to throw at a gun-toting crusader//warlock, a shadow-strongheart halfling unchained rogue//unchained monk, and a necropolitan-spellscale dread necromancer//marshal.

Setting theme is very nature VS society, with the players in a resistance movement attempting to overthrow WBL-mancy nobility.

[Quertus]

Oh. I was going to answer "Petal" as a PC monster, but... for a NPC monster to throw against a (seemingly tech-using) party in a nature-themed (or "Man vs Nature" or whatever) setting, Petal still seems appropriate. Perhaps even apply the Dark template, to make stealth Petals, that are themselves a bit on the unnatural side of Nature.

[Pinkie Pyro]

Oh. I was going to answer "Petal" as a PC monster, but... for a NPC monster to throw against a (seemingly tech-using) party in a nature-themed (or "Man vs Nature" or whatever) setting, Petal still seems appropriate. Perhaps even apply the Dark template, to make stealth Petals, that are themselves a bit on the unnatural side of Nature.

A solid recommendation! thank you!

[NerdHut]

It doesn't play strongly to your theme, and they may be a bit too tough in a group, but ever since I first opened up MMIII I've loved the Ambush Drake. The tactical possibilities are fantastic. One is CR 5, so a pair or trio may make for a good boss-level encounter later on.

Dire animals from other source books are fun. They're still familiar, and nature-themed, but may feel a little more 'exotic' if you will. The Dire Eagle from Races of Stone is a good one, and Frostburn has some nice options, though they're generally higher-CR.

Also, in skimming for reminders of good options, I spotted the Sailsnake in MMIV. Sounds horrifying.

[Beni-Kujaku]

The stonesinger. Great abilities, lore and ambiance. Also, it's close to the perfect power level. Also, Dread Blossom Swarm. Also Rukanyr (is that a bit overkill for normal e6? Maybe, but a gestalt lv 6 party will mop the floor with it.). Also, I love the weird golems. Maybe the chain golem from MM2, or the Gloom Golem from MM3 (if you didn't notice with my suggestions, I love MM3).

[Dalmosh]

The Dessicator from Libris Mortis is a pretty memorable low-level monster. The Undead husk of a Water Elemental that perpetually thirsts for liquids and lethally dehydrates anyone it comes close to by gasping at the air.

The Defacer (CR 6) from MMV is a similarly funky Undead that can glide through stone and subsume the identies of its victims.

The various Loumaras from Fiendish Codex 1 (with others in Dragon Magazine articles) are pretty cool, because they play with possession mechanics at quite a low-level.

I'm a fan of the Wizened Elder from MM4 as a nature-themed encounter. It's really no slouch at CR2 with at will Entangle and makes quite a good boss for level 1.

[Pinkie Pyro]

The stonesinger.

I saw this one, but I think the issue is my players wouldn't notice the darn things, so I'm not sure how to do it well.

[Blue Jay]

Raggamoffyns (CR 1, 3 ,5 and 7; from Monster Manual 2) are weird and silly as written, but they might be an interesting fit for your society-vs-nature theme. Instead of being bits of clothing animated by ambient magic, you could refluff them as magitech constructs that are sent out to "control" woodland beasts and fairies (by RAW, they can't control fey, but that's a minor re-spec). Maybe they dominate woodland creatures and bring them back to the city for experiments or slavery or easy extermination (or the rich nobles could use Captured Ones as mounts, Dino-Rider style). It adds a nuance or puzzle to the encounters, because you can't hurt the raggamoffyn without also hurting the captured creature.

Living spells (from Monster Manual 3) and the Corrupted Creature template (Dragon #350) could be used to represent magical pollution of nature. I also second the desiccator (CR 2; from Libris Mortis): as the undead residue of an elemental, it could be a poignant way to showcase the defilement of nature, and also offer a tie-in for your necromancer PC.

For your WBL-mancy concept, you could incorporate a gold golem (CR 7) as a powerful guardian of the nobles' stronghold. It's from a web article that I'm not sure you can find online anymore, but the stat block is recreated on realmshelps.net. It's basically a pile of gold coins that animate as a construct.

And there are a bunch of monsters that could represent a "nature's revenge" side of the story, in case you weren't going for a purely "nature is innocent" angle. The splinterwaif (CR 2; from Monster Manual 3) has an interesting background narrative for this. You might also look at Dragon Magazine #357: it has an article called "Defiled Monsters", with stat blocks for woodland monsters who've turned evil after being "defiled" (e.g., a unicorn whose horn was harvested, and a dryad whose tree was harvested, etc.).

[Beni-Kujaku]

I saw this one, but I think the issue is my players wouldn't notice the darn things, so I'm not sure how to do it well.

Say the PCs are in a mission to save plot-relevant NPCs and hear that they could gain more info on their fate at the opera. Have the stonesinger be an opera singer for the high nobility, providing the music along with human singers. During the whole performance, the stonesinger slowly melds the stone on the stage into the shape of a big lion (think opening scene of Disney's Alladdin), with its mouth open. In the last act of the performance, the "bad guys" of the play are sent to hell, and are represented by the NPCs they are supposed to rescue, bound, gagged and wearing masks, who are dropped in the lion's maw, immediately followed by the last note of the stonesinger, which makes the mouth close and the stonesinger go underground. The whole performance was a combination of opera and execution, and lets the PCs find a way to enter the tralusk's lair to fight it proper (with the stonesinger having an advantage underground thanks to its burrow and climb speed, and stone shaping abilities). The NPCs will simply be half-petrified in underground columns (think Buu absorbs (https://i18n-img.yzcdn.cn/upload_files/2022/10/14/FuGvjefC8hySdDNY-NDTDM6RIvcb.jpg?imageView2/2/q/75/format/webp&width=11591&height=4024&mediaId=5527129561)), which allows either to kill the tralusk, or to get them and escape. Maybe they can even find other "executed" NPCs which can help them later.

[Metastachydium]

Oh. I was going to answer "Petal" as a PC monster, but... for a NPC monster to throw against a (seemingly tech-using) party in a nature-themed (or "Man vs Nature" or whatever) setting, Petal still seems appropriate. Perhaps even apply the Dark template, to make stealth Petals, that are themselves a bit on the unnatural side of Nature.

In a similar vein, have you considerd ShaedlingsMM5? They are fluffed by Evil Pixie-descended shadow things of Evil, look weird, fly and create equipment from their own shadow gossamer which they are automatically proficient with (if applicable). CR 2 or so, I think.

[Pinkie Pyro]

Raggamoffyns SNIP

Now that's a concept I hadn't considered with them! I'll have to add that to the list of 'noble house specialties', thank you!


Living spells, Corrupted Creature template, desiccator, gold golem, splinterwaif

I like em!



Say the PCs are in a mission to save plot-relevant NPCs and hear that they could gain more info on their fate at the opera.

An interesting option, Although getting past security alone would be a problem. Might be able to combine this with the ragamuffin thing...


ShaedlingsMM5?

I'll take a look!