PDA

View Full Version : Poll: Least frightening monster?



Reltzik
2008-03-15, 12:07 PM
Certain low-CR monsters, vermin, and animals seem to be a bit lacking in intimidation value to most players. Sure, they may be deadly when encountered in large groups, or if they have a bunch of class levels, but alone or just a small handful of them are... lacking. Furthermore, once no longer as fearsome, they tend to become less evil. (Goblins with slave pits? How could they keep slaves when they're only CR 1/3?)

I'd like to hear which MM1 entries you no longer consider to be particular threatening or, if evil, villainous. For that matter, I'd like to hear about any creatures which, due either to simple power or general personality, are seen more as mere irritants or even comic relief. I'm going to hope to reverse that some with my next batch of victims game.

Azerian Kelimon
2008-03-15, 12:09 PM
Not low level, but certainly not fearsome: Purple worms. Seem REALLY intimidating, but at that level, a suboptimal party will hand it it's ass.

Chosen_of_Vecna
2008-03-15, 12:16 PM
Pretty much all Vermin after level 7 are useless. Goblins/Orcs/Kobolds/ect are pretty much expected to have class levels in my games. Why would only humans have that possibility? Anything with Int is fair game.

If you play an evil campaign and they decide to slaughter a town is everyone going to be a Commoner? Of course not, it's the same principle.

CR 1/3 Goblins are exactly as Common as level 1 Commoners. And Goblin Wizard 7s are just as common as NPC Wizard 7s.

DementedFellow
2008-03-15, 12:20 PM
I am reminded of this. (http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article73.htm)

EagleWiz
2008-03-15, 12:20 PM
The Tarrsque. No joke.

sonofzeal
2008-03-15, 12:21 PM
Underpowered - Owlbears, and most SRD animals (with the notable exception of the Polar Bear).

Lacking in scariness - certainly not goblins, I've made a lvl7 party flee in terror from unadjusted goblins simply by using sufficient numbers and good flavourtext. "Bards" are hard to make scary though (unless they go for the Disciple of Metal PrC), and a lot of the smaller fey have the same problem. Even if they're dangerous, you can't take them seriously as lethal threats.

Eldariel
2008-03-15, 01:23 PM
Housecats may be impressive warriors, but they hardly make you tremble in fear. so Housecats lack in the fear factor. They make up by kicking ass though.

howandwhy99
2008-03-15, 02:27 PM
No one has mentioned the Flumph yet? No love :smallsigh:

Zincorium
2008-03-15, 02:33 PM
The Digester.

C'mon, how do you ruin an acid spitting dinosaur?!

Eldariel
2008-03-15, 02:39 PM
I entirely forgot, Black Pudding. I mean, DAMN, that thing is friggin' edible...

Farmer42
2008-03-15, 02:42 PM
Owlbears. I mean, we're supposed to be afraid of that?

Dode
2008-03-15, 03:31 PM
The Digester.

C'mon, how do you ruin an acid spitting dinosaur?! Beaten to posting the Digester.

That was actually a joke monster of mine in a campaign. Got the party freaked at the tale of a monster loose in the mountains that was dissolving lone sheep into hideous fusions of melted flesh and bone, then when they fight the thing, it turned out to be a gizzard with legs that ejaculated digestive fluid on them.

Roderick_BR
2008-03-15, 03:37 PM
I entirely forgot, Black Pudding. I mean, DAMN, that thing is friggin' edible...
Take a potion of acid resistance, and you have a nice dessert.

I had a player that did it once..... Seriously. Kinda my fault for suggesting it, but still.

Saph
2008-03-15, 03:38 PM
The Ravid. It's a one-armed flying snake that hits you with its tail and . . . administers a surge of positive energy that gives you a tingling feeling. Not exactly terrifying.

- Saph

Reltzik
2008-03-15, 03:46 PM
Thanks for the help, and those are all really interesting (the Tarrasque? Really?), but I was thinking more in terms of things which even level 1 characters wouldn't fear. Any suggestions on that front?

Thoughtbot360
2008-03-15, 03:54 PM
I entirely forgot, Black Pudding. I mean, DAMN, that thing is friggin' edible...

My Halfling wizard would disagree. He still has the acid burns all over his body despite the fact that he was 4th level back then and he's halfway through 7th level now.

The fact that it was represented by a Fire elemental miniature seems oddly appropriate in hindsight...

Illiterate Scribe
2008-03-15, 05:49 PM
It's not monster manual one, but I was pretty scared when I saw the Senmurv:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ff_gallery/50102.jpg

Screams furry gay pride to me.

AslanCross
2008-03-15, 06:04 PM
Gah, the Senmurv! D:

In my case, if we include older editions, it's the Duckbunny.

http://www.headinjurytheater.com/d&D%20duck%20bunny%20dear%20lord.jpg

rockdeworld
2008-03-15, 06:14 PM
A Shrieker (see "Fungus"). It can't actually do anything in a fight. I think maybe it can grapple if someone steps on it, but that's about it.

Other than that would probably be silly-dressed regular races (humans, goblins, halflings, etc).

tyckspoon
2008-03-15, 06:24 PM
Thanks for the help, and those are all really interesting (the Tarrasque? Really?), but I was thinking more in terms of things which even level 1 characters wouldn't fear. Any suggestions on that front?

The tarrasque is infamous for suffering this problem, actually.. thing is, it's a CR 20 creature that doesn't fly and has no ranged attack. It goes kinda like..

"The ground shakes underneath your feet as a 50-foot monstrosity approaches. It's the legendary tarrasque, and he looks hungry!"
"We fly up 100 feet and throw rocks at it until we get bored."

Hadrian_Emrys
2008-03-15, 06:25 PM
The Ravid. It's a one-armed flying snake that hits you with its tail and . . . administers a surge of positive energy that gives you a tingling feeling. Not exactly terrifying.

- Saph

One word: TROGDOR!!! -_- I'm still trying to find a way to make it a threatening encounter.

Eldariel
2008-03-15, 07:29 PM
My Halfling wizard would disagree. He still has the acid burns all over his body despite the fact that he was 4th level back then and he's halfway through 7th level now.

The fact that it was represented by a Fire elemental miniature seems oddly appropriate in hindsight...

You know, Spoon counts as a piercing weapon, so once you start eating a living Black Pudding, it'll automatically split itself to smaller Puddings. In other words, you have a replicating dinner. You just have to stick your spoon to it often enough to make it split into 10 hp pieces and those you can eat. They should be about the right size too.

And no, I don't think a melee foe with movement speed 20, negative armor class and the ability to self destruct when touched by a spoon is going to frighten even level 1 mooks. Hell, I wonder how those things even survive in caves; you'd think anything they try to grab would sink its nails or teeth into the thing making it split and thusly making the consumption incredibly ineffective. A rat could bite one into death.

Oh yeah, and they're as dumb as bricks. Literally. In other words, you won't even need to fear it trying to just move over you to grapple you, it first needs to hit you with its 'mi tentacles touch you'-attacks before it can try a Grapple-check.

If a Level 1-party can't kill a CR 12 Elder Black Pudding outside extremely constrainted space (as in, "you just ran through one of those doors that always closes immediately once the protagonists pass and stuck your head into a Pudding on your way through"-constrained - btw, sticking your head to a pudding deals bludgeoning damage so it doesn't split :( You need a punk hairdo to headbutt them to death), it's pretty sad.

Jack_Simth
2008-03-15, 07:45 PM
The tarrasque is infamous for suffering this problem, actually.. thing is, it's a CR 20 creature that doesn't fly and has no ranged attack. It goes kinda like..

"The ground shakes underneath your feet as a 50-foot monstrosity approaches. It's the legendary tarrasque, and he looks hungry!"
"We fly up 100 feet and throw rocks at it until we get bored."

A couple of tricks for working with Big T:
1) Limited Movement Environment. If you can't get up past the thing's vertical reach, the safe tactic isn't available.
2) Big T is hungry. If there's something he can't do anything about, he goes and eats something. Big T encountered outside is encountered near a soft target he can eat - a town of 5,000 people, maybe.
3) Int-3 means minimally intelligent. He knows how to throw things, even if they are only boulders he ripped out of the ground with his bare claws.

As for the original topic, try the Bat. No attacks at all.

Collin152
2008-03-15, 07:49 PM
Don't toads also lack an attack?

jcsw
2008-03-15, 08:04 PM
One word: TROGDOR!!! -_- I'm still trying to find a way to make it a threatening encounter.

Abuse the animate objects power, and have them encounter the ravid after it's had several rounds animating objects.

And then have them have to protect an undead... diplomat.

Hectonkhyres
2008-03-15, 08:10 PM
The tarrasque is infamous for suffering this problem, actually.. thing is, it's a CR 20 creature that doesn't fly and has no ranged attack. It goes kinda like..

"The ground shakes underneath your feet as a 50-foot monstrosity approaches. It's the legendary tarrasque, and he looks hungry!"
"We fly up 100 feet and throw rocks at it until we get bored."

My group threatened to do that. The DM houseruled the thing growing a massive set of wings and taking to the skies and being able to teleport (short range once every 1d6 rounds, long ranged 3/day). He didn't tell us about these *ahem* changes.

We survived. Barely.

Rift_Wolf
2008-03-15, 08:18 PM
The Black Pudding can be scary, if only for the fact it dissolves weapons and armour. Our party faced one in a tight spot, and none of us had particularly powerful ranged weapons.
If RAW the black pudding splits into two large oozes. You can split it down to 10hp chunks, but by this time anyone without enough AC is a skeleton. Your warrior can slash and cleave, but has to make reflex saves or loses his weapon.

Arcane_Secrets
2008-03-15, 09:39 PM
The rust monster. One attack besides rusting-not really dangerous, but potentially hilarious once in a while.

A really nasty trick would be to have annihilators (from FR Underdark) that looked like rust monsters instead.

Collin152
2008-03-15, 10:00 PM
The rust monster. One attack besides rusting-not really dangerous, but potentially hilarious once in a while.

A really nasty trick would be to have annihilators (from FR Underdark) that looked like rust monsters instead.

That accursed fiend is the bane of all adventures!
Stand back! I shall dispose of it magically to avoid loss of wealth!

DraPrime
2008-03-15, 10:07 PM
The phantom fungus. First of all, it looks like a pile of tentacled crap on legs, and it's called the phantom fungus. Serious. A phantom fungus? That's a name that induces giggles, not fear. I bet that people being killed by it are too busy laughing at it's name when they should be screaming from the pain. Come on, of all the things that could go into the "phantom" category, a fungus is the last thing I would have thought of. I mean, who the hell wants to fight an invisible mushroom

Kurald Galain
2008-03-15, 10:53 PM
Ah, how about that rotating lion's head with five paws attached and no actual body? That was a completely retarded design.

Agrippa
2008-03-15, 11:59 PM
Ah, how about that rotating lion's head with five paws attached and no actual body? That was a completely retarded design.

It is based off of a creature from real world mythology though. Or does that make it worse?

Ascension
2008-03-16, 12:20 AM
The animated object. Did they seriously think putting a funny face on a twisted candlestick would make it frightening? There are objects that would've been badass, but not candlesticks. It's like the Beauty and the Beast all over again.

Ganurath
2008-03-16, 12:29 AM
Gnomes are never intimidating.

As for evil things, lemures.

Zincorium
2008-03-16, 12:57 AM
Gnomes are never intimidating.

I take it you don't play Eberron, then? Ebarronian gnomes are the type to snip off your fingers for not paying them protection money. The only difference between them and the mafia is the lack of stature and italian-american accents.

AslanCross
2008-03-16, 02:21 AM
The phantom fungus. First of all, it looks like a pile of tentacled crap on legs, and it's called the phantom fungus. Serious. A phantom fungus? That's a name that induces giggles, not fear. I bet that people being killed by it are too busy laughing at it's name when they should be screaming from the pain. Come on, of all the things that could go into the "phantom" category, a fungus is the last thing I would have thought of. I mean, who the hell wants to fight an invisible mushroom

It's an invisible, sentient (loosely speaking) yeast infection. I'd think that's particularly terrifying.

Nerd-o-rama
2008-03-16, 02:27 AM
The only difference between them and the mafia is the lack of stature
Every Joe Pesci character ever would like to have a word with you in the back room.

On-topic: Duckbunnies.

Tam_OConnor
2008-03-16, 02:41 AM
In the interest of broadening our monster horizons (hopefully), locathah aren't frightening. Not only that, they aren't used. At least not in my experience, and that includes 3 odd years of Dungeon magazine.
The elemental non-elementals (arrowhawks, xorns, and tojandas; Salamanders don't count) are just too funny looking to be really scary. Hehehe...But salamanders are terrifying, so they must have been trying to match that. But we got funny looking elemental creatures.

drengnikrafe
2008-03-16, 02:49 AM
The animated object. Did they seriously think putting a funny face on a twisted candlestick would make it frightening? There are objects that would've been badass, but not candlesticks. It's like the Beauty and the Beast all over again.

I can 1-Up you, even though this monster wouldn't exactly be in the MM.
Get some sort of table or chair that is animated... using the unseen servant spell. Now when you go over and attack it, it's a regular table. Nothing says dangerous like a table that stops moving.

Reinboom
2008-03-16, 02:51 AM
Pretty much all Vermin after level 7 are useless.

....
Crabs are vermin.
Advanced Monstrous Crabs are vermin, specifically.
Try again? :smalltongue:


I consider the CR 1 demons and devils that never leave the abyss/hells non frightening. By the time you see them... well.. yeah.

SoD
2008-03-16, 04:05 AM
I'd have to go the shreiker. It's a plant that does nothing but scream, doesn't have any attacks, and the worst it can do is give you a headache. It has a higher challenge rating than an orcish warrior.

Chosen_of_Vecna
2008-03-16, 04:08 AM
....
Crabs are vermin.
Advanced Monstrous Crabs are vermin, specifically.
Try again? :smalltongue:

And That Darn Crab is bad because it is CR 3. At CR 7 it's useless. At CR seven advanced it's useless. Yes an Epic Paragon Template/eight hundred other things, Divine Ranked Deity is scary, but at CR 32 with all those templates, you could apply it to anything and you'd have something equally as bad.

A Vermin, with Vermin HD is not a threat after level 7. Deities still are a threat, I didn't think I'd have to specify that.

Kurald Galain
2008-03-16, 07:12 AM
Anyone recall the lycanthropic half-dragon half-troll vampiric fiendish slug?

Zincorium
2008-03-16, 07:17 AM
Anyone recall the lycanthropic half-dragon half-troll vampiric fiendish slug?

Where did they find slug stats?

Serpentine
2008-03-16, 07:29 AM
Take a potion of acid resistance, and you have a nice dessert.

I had a player that did it once..... Seriously. Kinda my fault for suggesting it, but still.Gelatinous Cube + Disintegrate = jelly crystals. They gathered it up and kept it or sold it or made it into jelly or something. It... it's now available for purchace in various delicatessens...
>.<

I used the Wolf-in-sheep's-clothing the other day. The rogue kicked it in the teeth then walked off.

SoD
2008-03-16, 08:41 AM
Anyone recall the lycanthropic half-dragon half-troll vampiric fiendish slug?

It was a snail, actually.

It turned into a slightly hairier snail every full moon.

Dethcom1
2008-03-16, 09:14 AM
I can 1-Up you, even though this monster wouldn't exactly be in the MM.
Get some sort of table or chair that is animated... using the unseen servant spell. Now when you go over and attack it, it's a regular table. Nothing says dangerous like a table that stops moving.

What a bout a table that never moves at all?! Your players will be scared witless every time they so much as enter a tavern.

As to the monsters, I'm going to have to vote for the Tojanida. It's just so ridiculous. I wouldn't even know how to begin describing it, never mind understanding how it works (a mouth on top of it's head? What does it's rear arm do? WHY IS IT ALIVE?).

senrath
2008-03-16, 10:58 AM
Use a Dire Rat. No more than one, though, since in a group those can get pretty dangerous. Heh, it's a rat flail!

MorkaisChosen
2008-03-16, 11:31 AM
The really weird thing about the Tojanida is that it says in the creature description that it can stick any limb out of any hole.

Phsyiologically, WHAT IN THE NAME OF BEELZEBUB?

Athaniar
2008-03-16, 12:19 PM
The Achaierai.

It's a giant four-legged bird.

That is supposed to be a lawful evil and intelligent Outsider.

Threatening, how?

Cyclone231
2008-03-16, 02:34 PM
The really weird thing about the Tojanida is that it says in the creature description that it can stick any limb out of any hole.

Phsyiologically, WHAT IN THE NAME OF BEELZEBUB?

Which book is the Tojanida in?

MorkaisChosen
2008-03-16, 04:11 PM
Monster Manual, isn't it?