Critters III! Now also in 5e!

[Simons Mith]

If I may make an observation...

Dire dire dire dire giant giant giant. Some cryptids and legendary animals, and many critter
combos such as octopus bears.

But AFAICS, not one pygmy tarrasque, no dwarf dragons, no mimmoths, no carnivorous
flying mice, no cute and harmless swarms within which one deadly critter can lurk. If it's a
deadly swarm, it's always the whole swarm that's deadly. There's not one instance of that
most dangerous of animals, a clever sheep. Very few plant or mushroom critters, and no
clockwork automata to speak of. You want more things that steal stuff, corrode stone,
drain magic items, attack wood or leather, cause landslides, transmute materials in
undesirable ways...

As a general trend the vast, vast majority of everyday critters are made deadlier by making
them bigger and/or meaner. And most things are deadly because they bite or kick or
whatever, and it's far rarer that they trigger rot or disease, or collapse buildings by
undermining them. Venom, breathing fire, bringing ill luck to spellcasters, accelerating decay,
attracting Hounds of Tindalos from the other edge of reaility, eating the fabric of reality like
a caterpillar eating a leaf, debuffing with subsonic groans or driving people to madness
through a magically enforced lack of sleep, and so forth are hardly represented at all! IJS. :-)