Classy Monster Ideas!

[Samuel Sturm]

Have you ever had an idea for an awesome monster?

Post it in here, and spread the joy / insanity!

To get the ball rolling, I submit the deadly orphanage! What if a colossal mimic took class levels... in Paladin?

It then transforms itself into a house, specifically an orphanage. It submits itself for service in a large town, and lives there quietly, serving the public. It might use it's detect evil ability to keep the kids in line, or to check everyone that comes near. If an evil person tries to come in, it goes into defensive mode, trying to protect the children. While it might not be the most powerful monster ever, it would be great fun and flavor.

[SleepyShadow]

A Beholder Monk

A Mindflayer Blackguard (I actually played this once )

A Hobgoblin Bard, specifically one who specializes in Perform: Strip Tease

A Warforged Titan Bard, because, well, it's METAL!

[dsmiles]

A Beholder in a top hat and monocle. Now that's classy!

[SuperFerret]

A Beholder in a top hat and monocle. Now that's classy!

Which eye would have the monocle?

[Xiander]

Which eye would have the monocle?

The one which has limited sight?

[Tech Boy]

The one which has limited sight?

The more important question is, if the monster has monster has multiple sets of eyes, how many monocles does it have?

Does the ratio of 1:1 (Monocle to no monocle) with two sets of eyes, apply?

[dsmiles]

I was just going for the central anti-magic eye. I figured it only needed one, if it was big enough.

[Waker]

These are all creatures that I used in a joke campaign I ran.

Dread Gazebo- Huge-sized mimic w/ levels of sorcerer. His favorite spell was Acid Fog.

Warforged Wildshape Ranger (Unearthed Arcana)/Warshaper w/Adamantine Body- Dinobots

Cherry flavored Construct- Kool-Aid Man

Plutonium Dragon- His Gamma Breath had a chance to turn the players into Hulks.

Illithiati- A secret organization of Mindflayers who run the worlds governments behind the scenes.

[Yora]

Spoiler

Show

You could also make a neanderthal with a top hat. Also classy.

[Dragonsoul]

A cute (Awakened if necessary) Bunny rabbit- with ranks in rogue (This may be given to one my PC's)

A warlock warforged(An oldie but I like the idea of Lazor Firing robots too muh)

A Blue dragon with a tin of gold paint.

[Doomboy911]

I had three designs in mind. The first was the monster with the best defense called Mushi-mushi. He had resistance to everything along with carapace and couldn't be killed. It was this weird watery mushroom thing that would grow larger and larger with water and had no attacks whatsoever. If you cut it into a bunch of pieces it turns into a little worm parasite thing that'll drain you of water and if you gave the thing of tons of water when it was big it would grow to colossal size and you may drown in it. Luckily it only absorbed freshwater not salt. It's called the mushi-mushi because that's the only noise it makes.

The second was this purple fog thing that would warp the mind of anything that came in touch with it. By warp I mean it would switch their personality around. It happened to mess with some drow making them act like a couple from a old tv show. Orcs would be civilized diplomats and faeries would be psychos. Never figured what it would do to players.

Idea number three can on;y be summed up as nanomachines.

[Re'ozul]

The only ones I made so far were a family of creatures based on crystal and worked somewhat like stargate Replicators:

Crystal Creator:
- macroscopic (read: 10 feet cube) Amoeba that converts minerals into crystals that it puts around itself as a 5' armor-shell (treated as an object that has to be breached first)
- at the top there is a maw through which it can let out small drones

Small Drone: Crystal Spider
Medium sized, very fast but mostly combat ineffective constructs that mine for minerals and bring them to the mother creature.
Used to arrange bigger crystals that the mother creature spews out.

Big Drone: Large Crystal Spider
Mostly Protection for the mother creature.
Have different features based on the mother creature's knowledge of possible threats.

[Doomboy911]

That was my idea with the nanomachine things I called them demi-golems. They were around the size of a fly and it took four of them to equal one hit point so a demi-golem swarm with 250 hp had 1000 of the things in it. Damage is done the same way if you did 12 damage you wiped out 48 of them. Their best bit was that when one of them was able to eat something they'd create a demi-golem made of that material. So sometimes you have to fight ones made of wood and can just light them on fire and other times you're dealing with ones that ate part of a tarrasque.

[RebelRogue]

A Hobgoblin Bard, specifically one who specializes in Perform: Strip Tease

Striptease aside, these are actually rather iconic leaders (called Dirge Singers) from the goblin nation of Darguun in Eberron. Especially since the goblins lack a particular religion (and true clerics are rare in Eberron in the first place), so bards perform a lot of duties otherwise done by clerics.

I remember once using a pack of Winter Wolves with Rogue levels - an elite team of highly cunning and cruel creatures (inspired by the wolves from the first Narnia book/film). Taking advantage of flanking, they managed to do quite a bit of sneak attack damage.

[zyborg]

That reminds me of my Flea Mimic. It is a tiny, color-changing, flesh-eating bug-like, over-hyphenated creature. They form swarms, and act like a mimic. As in...

You approach a treasure chest. "Yay, treasure," you exclaim. Suddenly, you feel the urge for a Spot Check. Four, you think. Wonder what that's about. You shrug, failing to notice that the chest is slightly "fuzzy" or blurry. You reach to it...

...and you feel intense pain as innumerable tiny insects crawl up your arm, devouring your flesh. You try to get them off, and think you succeed, when you feel the pain once again, but over your body. They have blended in with your bloody wounds on your arm, while others have spread across your whole body...

[Doomboy911]

I think I just have thing for shrinking stuff down because I'm imagining this enemy that would be a bunch of characters except tiny so late at night you'd feel something walking on your chest. You open your eyes and see a dwarf artificer and a elf wizard they turn and fire a fireball and a lightning bolt. You reach to swap them away when you realize your arms won't move a human monk is on your shoulders stunning them. And because they're smaller they've got a better dex bonus which means a higher ac. So the players are running around their campsite with a bunch of mini players attacking them. A paladin on a dragon flies by raining down a small fireball on the team wizard's spell book.

In a matter of moments the whole team finds themselves on the ground tied up and probably paralyzed. Sounds like an awesome encounter.

[SleepyShadow]

Striptease aside, these are actually rather iconic leaders (called Dirge Singers) from the goblin nation of Darguun in Eberron. Especially since the goblins lack a particular religion (and true clerics are rare in Eberron in the first place), so bards perform a lot of duties otherwise done by clerics.

Really? That's actually pretty cool.

Anyway, here's another slightly silly idea that thinks he has lots of class, but really does not: A Rakshasa pimp.

[Amiel]

Which eye would have the monocle?

All of them.


Every monster should wear a top hat and wield a cane.

[RebelRogue]

Really? That's actually pretty cool.

I really like that idea too. You can read a bit more in this article.

[Quietus]

Something I was toying with last night : A CR9 Assassin Vine.

Plant type gains 4 HD for each CR. Take it up to CR7 gives it 20 HD, and increases size from Large to Gargantuan. Each size increase is a further +1 to the CR, resulting in a total of 9.

HP : 230
AC: 19
Attack : Slam +27 melee (2d6+19)
Grapple : +41, constrict 2d6+19
Space/reach (20 feet/20 feet, 40 feet reach with vine)

So effectively you have a vine which, including its reach in either direction, can cover 100 feet of space. It's got a grapple score which can only be beaten with Freedom of Movement. It's got camouflage, despite its size, and is immune to electricity, mildly resistant to fire and cold (resist 10). Not too hard to hit, but it's got more HP than anything else of CR9 that I could find. And its Entangle? DC 21.

[Doomboy911]

What if I were to cast reverse gravity on brain of the thing or wherever all the vines are coming from. If sending it into space isn't enough cast fly and freedom of movement. When in doubt flee.

[dsmiles]

Aww...somebody else got to it first.

[Quietus]

What if I were to cast reverse gravity on brain of the thing or wherever all the vines are coming from. If sending it into space isn't enough cast fly and freedom of movement. When in doubt flee.

Fleeing is probably the best bet. At 9th level, freedom of movement still represents a significant use of resources. As far as Reverse Gravity goes, sure, you get one ten-foot cube per two levels. Ignoring for now that stacking them on top of each other would result in only filling 1/4 of the critter's space, it does get a reflex save to not go flying up (I'm assuming that something within 40 feet of its 20x20 body will be grabbable, possibly even the wizard casting the spell).

Also, as a 7th level spell, Reverse Gravity isn't available until 13th level. You're four CR's above it. So yeah, it shouldn't be that difficult to overcome at that point.

[Doomboy911]

You have to remember when dealing with players they will find a way whether it be taking some class that allows you to affect gravity or paying a high level wizard to do it. Heck once in this completely homebrewed dungeon (mega annoying nothing was from a book) I reasoned that I could pledge that once I made it out of the dungeon I'd becoming a master psionic so I could learn the time hop power and leap so many times into the future the big crunch happens and than the big bang continue traveling until finally our world was made and head to where the dungeon would be made help with the construction, mapping the whole thing out and than cast contigency on myself that freedom would be cast once a certain amount of years would pass than I cast imprisonment. Than my time hopping self would meet my present self and guide him through the dungeon.

Suffice to say I'm a massive cheater when bothered and players will find away even if it includes astrophysics.

[dsmiles]

Personally, I don't get why stuff not being in a book would be irritating, but that's where the DM's "NO" button comes into play.

[Quietus]

Personally, I don't get why stuff not being in a book would be irritating, but that's where the DM's "NO" button comes into play.

I think it has to do with this :

Suffice to say I'm a massive cheater when bothered and players will find away even if it includes astrophysics.

Now, to the rest of that, Doomboy - it took me three reads through to get what you're trying to say. And pledge that all you like, but if you brought that to me, I'd say "Sure, you can try to do that, but it probably won't work". Then we continue playing, and when you get Time Hop, you can go into the future. My answer to the rest of that? "Okay, so nothing changes. Doomboy's character is never heard from again, vanishing into the mists of time, headed for the end of all existence. Unfortunately, there is no big crunch or big bang, and he doesn't get to cycle around and help himself out again. So, what's your next character man?"

Seriously. Your character doesn't know astrophysics, and the world doesn't necessarily work the same way as ours does - even assuming you were right about time cycling around on itself like a wheel. I put out encounters that aren't strictly by the book partly because of players like you; People who memorize every rule in the book, then expect everything to work exactly like they think it should. I'm sorry, but your character lives in a fantastic world. Some things are going to work differently than they expect, just to keep you, the player, guessing. It's no fun for me if a player automatically heads for the "off button" on whatever monster is featured in the current encounter.

[dsmiles]

I put out encounters that aren't strictly by the book partly because of players like you; People who memorize every rule in the book, then expect everything to work exactly like they think it should. I'm sorry, but your character lives in a fantastic world. Some things are going to work differently than they expect, just to keep you, the player, guessing. It's no fun for me if a player automatically heads for the "off button" on whatever monster is featured in the current encounter.

You'd love me as a player, then. I've got every monster in every book (that I own) memorized, and hope the DM surprises me with something new. (I mostly memorized them so that, as a DM, I can run an on-the-spot encounter without looking up stuff and wasting valuable game time. Especially since I only get to play once a month or so.)

[Doomboy911]

To be fair though I only did my time screw thing because almost immediately the level four party got seperated. How useful is a level four bard all by himself? He was also a railroading rp player everything we fought he didn't have stats down he just had dialog and description. I got grabbed from behind by some invisible creature so I attacked it dealing maybe 20 or so damage and asked did I ding it and he said no I won't be able to kill it.

Now how does that sound for an encounter? Can't run, can't fight just give up and when I tried just lying back to get dragged along he said the thing would kill me if I didn't fight back. So tell me would you rather try and cheat the system or fight in a fight you know you can't win just so the dm can be all artistic?

[Doomboy911]

Now back to classy monsters. I had the idea of a steampunk golem. Something that would be a fire and water elemental housed in the body of an iron golem. He'd have the power of both elementals along with the power to shoot hot steam at the enemy and could produce a smoke cloud for cover.

[Quietus]

You'd love me as a player, then. I've got every monster in every book (that I own) memorized, and hope the DM surprises me with something new. (I mostly memorized them so that, as a DM, I can run an on-the-spot encounter without looking up stuff and wasting valuable game time. Especially since I only get to play once a month or so.)

I have nothing against players with things memorized. As a DM, I appreciate both how much work that takes and how handy it can be. It's when that becomes meta that I have an issue. Frankly, my favorite thing to do is take a monster, maybe tweak its stats a little (change feats, add a couple HD or a class level), then make it look like something totally different. I wish I could give examples here, but unfortunately all my recent stuff is in a game for people I met through these forums, and I'd rather keep it a surprise from them.

Doomboy - that's an issue with the DM, then. You presented yourself in such a way that made it seem like you took issue with a DM doing anything NOT strictly by the book, however, and suggested that in that situation you'd attempt to abuse (sketchy) meta knowledge in an effort to get an unfair advantage. If I've taken the wrong impression of you, I apologize, that's just how you've presented yourself here.

Regardless, I don't think that this thread is the appropriate place for us to discuss this. Hmm... penance, then.

To my players (Flickerdart, Vladislav, and Vlad's wife) : STAY OUT.

Spoiler

Show

This one was for a dungeon I designed, which was completely bypassed.. but may be visited again later. I didn't actually add any class levels or anything to it, but I've got a seven-headed pyrohydra guarding one of the "keys" in a Zelda-esque dungeon.

The trick? I've changed the way the Pyrohydra's breath weapon works. The entire room is essentially a 40x40 foot grid of 64 five-foot iron squares. Beneath each square of the grid is a 10-foot fall over a geyser of flame, causing the entire room to be like standing on the middle rounds of a Heat Metal spell; 2d4 continual fire damage every round. With the Pyrohydra's breath weapon, I've instead swapped it to make the critter able to "flip" these floor tiles down with an attack. The player gets the reflex save they'd be entitled to vs. the breath weapon as the 3d6 geyser of fire shoots up; If they succeed, they take half damage and move to an adjacent square that hasn't been knocked out yet.

Essentially, as the fight goes on, more and more of the floor would disappear, limiting the player's movement. If possible, the hydra would knock out the squares surrounding a player before taking out the one they're on, forcing them to fall into the pit, taking full fire damage and being 10 feet below the ground. Once they defeat the hydra, they can get the "key" in the room, and take it to the "lock" - but describing all of that would take a lot more than what I've already described.