Surprisingly strong monsters

[Angry Bob]

Stories about monsters that you discovered were much stronger than they seemed only after they've gibbed half the party.

I've had the opposite, once, thrown an ogre mage(using, in my defense, some pretty awesome gear), backed up by four vivisectors at an ECL 7 Party with four characters. They walked right over what was supposed to be the (demi)boss battle of a small dungeon. Then I sent an NPC Blastificer after them that was supposed to be a minor obstacle.

And then, a DM of mine once threw a girallon against a party that "should" have been able to handle it. It hit a player four times with its claws, rend. The player had to reroll.

Let's hear them!

[randomhero00]

I've actually been the opposite. Whenever I DM I *always* end up throwing too weak of monsters at my players. Its usually over in 2 rounds with little threat to my players.

[dgnslyr]

That Damn Crab has to be mentioned, though I haven't had the, ahem, pleasure of seeing it in action firsthand.

[FMArthur]

You know, I don't think many have actually used the thing. It's from an online D&D article, so I can't imagine more than a small handful of DMs even knew about it before the few people who used it/read it out of interest realized how brutally overpowering an encounter it is for 3rd level and spread the word. I bet it sees a lot more play just because of its reputation, so DMs who have used it likely understood what they were getting into.

[big teej]

@ "that damn crab"

holy crap!

....I'm going to use this...

to the point

displacer beasts and hatchling kythons

[Sir_Chivalry]

Bar-lgura, from BoVD. The party got turned to pulpy goodness until the paladin got her act together.

[Crossblade]

I've used a number of small crabs before. With all that grapple, it was a hard fight for the party.

However, the hardest fight ever would have been a Frenzied Berserker. Had it not specifically wanted the party tank dead, it likely would have downed any other party member in 1-2 hits/turns.

[ShriekingDrake]

In the right circumstances Shocker Lizards can be more of a handful than expected, especially with three or more of them. Bullettes seem to me to have an awful lot of bang for the buck and can often take an unprepared party by surprise. I had one almost tear a party to shreds until they realized that they'd better pack it in. Behirs can be devastating when played well and they are nasty. But even Pixies can be quite vexing if played well.

Sometimes I find that having several different creatures working in concert, even those with whom the players are familiar, can make planning a defense/attack difficult.

[JaronK]

That Adamantine Horror might just take the cake for most messed up thing to throw at your players. Shadows are a pain too.

JaronK

[flabort]

I'm imagining... A druid's meddling has struck in the swamps...
The crabs, big, small, and monstrous, all rise up, chattering amongst themselves...
One of the strongest sees that in order to lead the pack, it'll need to get stronger.
It takes levels in Frenzied berserker.

I'd be terrified if a DM threw a monstrous crab with FB levels at me, though. Even worse if it took hulking hurler.

[Tvtyrant]

That Adamantine Horror might just take the cake for most messed up thing to throw at your players. Shadows are a pain too.

JaronK

Heck, using animate object on an adamant object is mean. Especially the Sneak attacking Shadowcaster version. Mmmmmm.

[thubby]

anything that grapples before level 7-ish.
wolves and their dire counterparts.

dragons
and maybe it's just how i play them, but my group is afraid of kobolds.

[JaronK]

and maybe it's just how i play them, but my group is afraid of kobolds.

If your group doesn't shriek in terror at the mention of Kobolds, either you're running Kobolds wrong, or they're playing as Kobolds.

JaronK

[MyLifeMyMusical]

In one of my first games, my group spent at least 20 rounds trying to kill this [string of expletives] Dire Weasel (right before taking out the would be BBEG in 2 rounds).

[Safety Sword]

unholy crab!

Fixed.

I second displacer beasts. And any incorporeal undead... 50% miss chance "just suck it" is nasty.

[Callos_DeTerran]

I'm imagining... A druid's meddling has struck in the swamps...
The crabs, big, small, and monstrous, all rise up, chattering amongst themselves...
One of the strongest sees that in order to lead the pack, it'll need to get stronger.
It takes levels in Frenzied berserker.

I'd be terrified if a DM threw a monstrous crab with FB levels at me, though. Even worse if it took hulking hurler.

You haven't seen Fax's Crabthulhu thought exercise then. The crab god mocks your puny crab with just levels in Frenzied Berserker!

[Zaq]

Cranium Rat Swarm. My players still bring that up occasionally. I sent a single normal Cranium Rat Swarm (CR 5) and a single Lesser Cranium Rat Swarm (CR 2) against a party of four or five level 6 PCs. I also toned down their defenses, turning "immune to weapon damage" into "takes half damage from weapons" so the warblade and crusader wouldn't feel shafted. Man, that was an ugly fight. Don't use Cranium Rat Swarms.

[thubby]

Cranium Rat Swarm. My players still bring that up occasionally. I sent a single normal Cranium Rat Swarm (CR 5) and a single Lesser Cranium Rat Swarm (CR 2) against a party of four or five level 6 PCs. I also toned down their defenses, turning "immune to weapon damage" into "takes half damage from weapons" so the warblade and crusader wouldn't feel shafted. Man, that was an ugly fight. Don't use Cranium Rat Swarms.

speaking of swarms, the hellwasps are pretty nasty if they get a surprise round.

[Runestar]

The remohaz can be devastating if it catches the party by surprise, bursting from underground, grappling one of the PCs and swallowing him next round. I guess wotc's definition of "expends 25% of the party's resources" also includes "insta-gibbing one of the party members".

I agree with the bar-luga being fairly tough for its cr5. Its dr/sr is pretty significant, and few PCs can hope to make the dc18 will save against its abduction power.

Another one - martial adept classes from tome of battle can interact unusually well with high HD/low cr monsters, so you may need to evaluate their cr independently.

[Mastikator]

Maybe eating 25% of the party counts as expending 25% of their resources

[Eldan]

Our party was horribly unoptimized at the time (I think we had a bard, a monk and a cleric who tried to heal out of combat and blast in it and something else), but we were completely wiped out.

By a charging Rhino.

That charge is just nasty, it killed the monk outright, then proceeded to leisurely slaughter the rest of the group. I mean, 4d6+24? Ouch?

[Eldariel]

I once unleashed an Annis Hag on a (dreadfully underoptimized) level 6 party. I had to remove like half her HP to stop it from being a TPK. Improved Grab + Rake + Rend does nasty damage. And of course, there was a surprise round involved; no self-respecting Hag appears a Hag when encountering people she plans to eat. Imagine my surprise as I was thinking an even-CRd encounter would be a walkover...

[Hanuman]

For a brute?
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/bulette.htm

2d6+4 x 4 claws +15 melee at 10' reach and made with a jump, fast, big and burrowing.
And then he jumps down on you as a falling object, then a +25 grapple.


For thinkers?

KOBOLDS

A handful of CR 1/4's and a couple CR 1/2 to 1 traps can TPKO a party very very fast.

[DarkEternal]

For a challenge rating 4 monsters, Basiliks are pretty dangerous. One botched save and you are pretty much dead at those levels.

[Runestar]

For a challenge rating 4 monsters, Basiliks are pretty dangerous. One botched save and you are pretty much dead at those levels.

Of course, if everyone just closed their eyes...

[Hanuman]

Of course, if everyone just closed their eyes...

Yeah, you can just use peripheral vision too.

[DarkEternal]

Yeah, you can close your eyes, but then you get some massive penalties and the basilisk is pretty much invisible to you, so if there's something else in the party with them you'll get a lot of damage.

Hell, if they are alone, they'll just keep biting you over and over.

Not overpowered hard, but for their level, I think they are more then a challenge.

[Killer Angel]

If your group doesn't shriek in terror at the mention of Kobolds, either you're running Kobolds wrong, or they're playing as Kobolds.

...or they're virgin minds who need to be educated...

My experience: three Mezzoloth against a group of 5 PC (PCs of 10-11° lev., but underoptimized). Almost a TPK. One of my worst selection for a combat, I totally missed their real potential.

[Flickerdart]

Udoroots are pretty hardcore when you advance them so they can manifest the next level of astral constructs.
Tendriculos are also pretty absurd, with their grapple check and paralysis. Used one yesterday in conjunction with four spriggans, the fight took 13 rounds and ended with two PCs in the negatives and the psion completely out of PPs. When I used spriggans before, I missed that they can cast Produce Flame at will, which makes their attacks considerably better than with their short swords.

[FMArthur]

Almost every monster that is supposed to sneakily engage the party when they least expect seems to be designed to kill at least one party member outright. If your party doesn't have a dedicated scouter who is very good at his job, a ridiculously large amount of monsters have free reign to murder a party member at their leisure.


Meenlocks, for instance, are CR3 aberrations found in groups underground or in forests and apparently stalk players for days using 300ft range wisdom damage periodically. Each of them can project a fear aura that renders victims catatonic (DC 14, 30ft) for 1d4+4 rounds, and every attack they make forces a Fortitude save against 3d6 round paralysis. They coordinate using 300ft range telepathy and use Dimension Door at will. It's a good thing they prefer to drag victims into their tiny holes to expose them to their own unending torment via horrifying 1d6-hours-long irreversable transformation instead of simply using coups de grace, isn't it? Isn't it.

Meenlocks come up a lot in 'most frightening creature' threads.