Monster Ideas: Samurai Vikings and Italian Polynesians

[BootStrapTommy]

Attempting to start a new campaign which I've been planning for a while. I have the setting well fleshed out, I have plot loosely in mind, and I have a cast of players ready for action.

What I'm missing is the drive and motivation to find the mobs to populate the campaign.

Some help? The campaign idea is simple. Players are part of a mercenary operation which serves to protect the smaller habitations of the local geography from creatures of a more than notable size which might seem to wish them ill. But I have to say that I'm not well versed in monsters of unusual size nor possess the time nor patience to look up a dozen different large beast to have the party hunt down.

Geographically the setting is in two places. The first is cold, wet, swampy ocean coast populated by Milanese/Venetian Polynesians, ruled by competing merchant city-states. Arrgh, pirates, storms, and water and such. The other is a wild, frigid, arid plain ruled by Viking/samurai. Horses, bows, longboats, and raiding! There's plenty of mountainous terrain in the vicinity of both regions and I need relatively appropriate monsters to populate both.

Dragons are right out. For me, they're end game material, which is exactly what I planned for this campaign. Krakens comes to mind. Some giants shall make appearances, as will a plentiful supply of "mini mobs" of the "larger than a person" variety (ogres, trolls, etc.). But I have to say I'm finding myself lacking in knowledge of what other large variety killing machines might be available to me. Especially for the lower level portions of the campaign.

TL;DR I need big mobs to populate a cold, wet, and sometime mountainous monster hunting campaign.

[Berenger]

Lost Valley full of dinosaurs?

Or, if it is too cold for dinosaurs, sabertooths and mammoths?

[Slipperychicken]

IRL, elephants sometimes rampage against humans (presumably as a result of traumatization from encroachment), and are a huge hassle to put down. Even a single elephant running amok can destroy multiple villages.

[veti]

Seems to me that animals don't have to venture onto land, to make life difficult enough that a coastal town/village would pay good money to have them destroyed.

Sharks. Giant squid/octopus/crab/etc. Shrieking eels. Did I mention sharks?

And of course, pirates. Who needs monsters, when humans can be so vicious?

[Artemicion]

Ideas if you're playing a 3.5 campaign:

Bulettes
Forest sloth
Chuul
Owlbear
Athach
Ettin
Dire animals

[theduck]

A couple idea's for the frozen northern plains:

Polar bears and dire polar bears - large savage, if mostly mundane, creatures which are hard to kill, and which can easily blend into the environment. Maybe they are driven to hunt humanoids with the destruction of their normal food sources - they are large, and need a lot of food.

The Northern King - a band of strange orcs which have the horns of deer and which weird strange shamanistic or arcane magic. They are uniting the disorganized orc clans, giving them discipline and focus.

Wendigo - Lack of food is always a risk for those who live in the unforgiving north. Sometimes, when things become dire enough, people turn to cannibalism. Sometimes, they find that they like it. People who embrace breaking this taboo are sometime changed, becoming horrific creatures which consume nothing but the flesh of man. However, the more they eat, the larger they grow, so they are always emaciated, and always hungry. Plus, they can look like this.

The frozen dead - walking corpses of those who have died due to exposure. The air around them is always a few degrees colder, and a large group can change the weather of a region. They seek out warmth, be it fire or the simple heat of living creatures, and absorb it, if only to ease their suffering for a time.



Depending on how chilly the swampy ocean is, amphibians might not work, but giant snakes and degenerate frog men are always fun. For extra fun, make them poisonous frog men. Also:

Bog Zombie's: the bloated bodies of people who have drowned. They walk along under the water, only to rise in great numbers. What is most concerning is not the damage they can inflict, but the disease which follows them and lingers even after they are killed.

Shambling mounds: Large monsters seemingly covered with plant growth, they hover near the surface of the water, looking for unsuspecting prey.

[BootStrapTommy]

I'm liking everything so far.