Just working out adventure for Monday game and am wondering what the monster of choice is for other DMs in the expansive void of cyberspace. What is your favourite creature to use, and why?
On Monday I'm planning to use a rust monster to offer a challenge to the min-maxing, power-playing, plate-barding-for-heavy-warhorse-buying munchkin of a paladin. I'll report back on what happened.
Just working out adventure for Monday game and am wondering what the monster of choice is for other DMs in the expansive void of cyberspace. What is your favourite creature to use, and why?
On Monday I'm planning to use a rust monster to offer a challenge to the min-maxing, power-playing, plate-barding-for-heavy-warhorse-buying munchkin of a paladin. I'll report back on what happened.
Rust Monsters are certianly cool - personally my favourite is probably Kobolds.
I have always liked trolls. I guess because they are a good challenge to such a wide range of levels. From one troll for a party of 3rd-level or 4th-level characters to a whole pack of them for a group of 10th-level characters, they can always be deadly.
With advent of 3rd Ed., I sure find that their rend ability has made them even more dangerous. As always lots of fun and a good party killer.
Just working out adventure for Monday game and am wondering what the monster of choice is for other DMs in the expansive void of cyberspace. What is your favourite creature to use, and why?
On Monday I'm planning to use a rust monster to offer a challenge to the min-maxing, power-playing, plate-barding-for-heavy-warhorse-buying munchkin of a paladin. I'll report back on what happened.
My favorite monster has to be humans. There is so many thing that humans will do to each other that monsters and animals wouldn't even consider doing to each other. Plus they're every where! They are all around you, and you never know what they are all up to, or when one of them are going to snap and go on a killing spree!
FOr a munchkin though my favorite is green slime. dumped all over them (Usually dropping on them from a ceiling). That way, they get slime damage, plus damage from their 'friends' trying to help them remove it.
My favorite monster that I have never actually used is the barghest. This is because I day dream about playing more than I actually play.
My all time favorite monster is the Giant, especially the cloud giant.
I find the Yuan-Ti to be really exciting as foes. A variety of creatures, if you count Histachii in with them, for a variety of character levels. In Dragon a few years ago there was a fantastic article about the Yuan-Ti that really sparked some interest. They're devious, subtle, patient and so much fun to hate. And since many can transform into smaller snakes, it's easy for them to make a getaway.
There are so many other great monster, but I'll limit myself to these guys.
On Monday I'm planning to use a rust monster to offer a challenge to the min-maxing, power-playing, plate-barding-for-heavy-warhorse-buying munchkin of a paladin. I'll report back on what happened.
For added fun--use this great monster in a treasure vault situation. Where the little guy has just found a cache of potions in metal flasks. Flying / Improved Invisible / Enlarged / Hasted / etc etc rust monster is extra yummy!
I also have to second the ghoul...love those paralyzing flesh eaters!
Catoblepas! It's fun to say AND it has a death ray! Plus, it's one ugly critter!
I'm fond (perhaps overly fond) of outsiders, most particularly the Succubus, Marilith, and Kelvezu. My evil side says that an 11th Level cleric is the best monster ever, though. He has access to two of my favorite spells: Harm, and Animate Objects. Let's see the PCs try to sell that 5,000 gp golden statue after they've torn it apart to keep it from killing them! ;)
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I'm fond (perhaps overly fond) of outsiders, most particularly the Succubus, Marilith, and Kelvezu. My evil side says that an 11th Level cleric is the best monster ever, though. He has access to two of my favorite spells: Harm, and Animate Objects. Let's see the PCs try to sell that 5,000 gp golden statue after they've torn it apart to keep it from killing them! ;)
::nods in appreciation of the sheer evilness of that stratagem::
Dragons. They always thrill a crowd. YOu can challenge a party with a dragon from first level through epic level with third edition.
The most memerable encounters as a DM and player have been with dragons.
I'm really getting into giants right now, I used to think they were bland but AoW's has opened my eyes to how cool they actually are. My current favorite would be Fire or Death giants.
One of my players seems to get totally thrilled whenever giants are involved in an adventure so I think he will positively love the 'Kings of the Rift' chapter of AoW's.
Usually I like squishy, body-shock enemies and aberrations or undead/aberration combos with gross agendas.
I have to say I also love ghouls. I also love ghoul-dogs, ubdead feral dogs with a paralyzing bite that howl in the night, really good.
Also: gibbrering mouther, otyugh, all kinds of hags. These are all really fun to roleplay.
What are my least favorite monster? The Grick in Forge of Fury, The Etheraeal Filcher, the Drow.
I love Dueregar though.
I'm fond (perhaps overly fond) of outsiders, most particularly the Succubus, Marilith, and Kelvezu. My evil side says that an 11th Level cleric is the best monster ever, though. He has access to two of my favorite spells: Harm, and Animate Objects. Let's see the PCs try to sell that 5,000 gp golden statue after they've torn it apart to keep it from killing them! ;)
I love using a Marilith. Equiped with a haste spell and bracers of blinding strike (2ED item, I don't know if it is in 3.5, doubled your attacks for one round and stacked with haste.) for a grand total of 28 attacks in a single round. It could cut a party to ribons. (Especially if you used two of them.)*Evil Grin*
"and making PCs witness an illithid extract and eat someone's brain (out the mouth baby!) will burn a healthy fear into them for the rest of their playing days."
That there is brutal.
I like spellcasting orcs and huge monsters with very little use for magic items.
I love using a Marilith. Equiped with a haste spell and bracers of blinding strike (2ED item, I don't know if it is in 3.5, doubled your attacks for one round and stacked with haste.) for a grand total of 28 attacks in a single round. It could cut a party to ribons. (Especially if you used two of them.)*Evil Grin*
Or, in an epic game, you give it ten levels in dervish and the full multiweapon fighting chain. Combined with speed weapons (or a haste effect) that nets them 30 attacks per round, with the option of (once per day) making 54 attacks. (The extra arms trait in the DMG 2 increases the CR by 1 or 2 and gives another two arms, increasing the previous numbers to 40 and 72 respectively.)
Hey!
1st Place -> Mind Flayer
2nd Place -> Anything from the MM that also features in a Ray Harryhausen movie
3rd Place -> Githyanki
Peace,
tfad
Spell Weavers
Mind Flayers
Dragons
and I'm really warming up to Shadar Kai.
Mind flayers FTW. I'm also a huge fan of aberrations in general, and slaadi.
I have always loved the Stirge. That oversized mosquito has done some severe damage to parties in the past. Especially when you get more than two draining a PC at the same time, mmmmmmm PC blood.
igi
When I ran City of the Spider Queen I threw in Ropers with levels as clerics of Ghaunadaur (drow god of slimes and ropers). It made me happy.
I've also always really appreciated chokers. They're so unassuming, yet so capable.
Kobolds and Goblins. My players know that if they see one of the little guys he's either a decoy or a medium powered sorcerer. Remember the goblin god grants trickery as a domain Disguise self any one. "We need to save that child from those goblins" MOO HA HA foolish mortals,er sorry I just had a Evilgasm. MMMMMMM, goblin carnage. Go My Little Kobold of Doom. MOO HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 'cough' 'cough'
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My favorite monster isn't really a monster in the monster manual. It's this kinda riff I run on new (to me) gamers. I come up with a homebrew beast that is just baad, and almost nigh-invulnerable like the terminator. Then it just hounds the buggers until I deem they've had enough. They try this, and it doesn't work. They run. They try that and it doesn't work. They run. It's like the boogeyman that chases you in a dream, and you just can't run away because your legs won't move. Then finally something works. It's kinda rules-out-the-window, but it gets people trying new things, and thinking, and everybody has fun. I never let my boogeyman/helldog o' Lochlann/whatnot kill anybody, maybe maim them a little bit. The KEY is to use a homebrew creature, because THAT becomes the most compelling fear--the fear of the unknown. If it was a vampire or a werewolf, hell, they're tough, but you know how to defeat them.
I also like githyanki.
Nice idea, Heathensson... Consider it borrowed.
Fave monster? Kobolds.
Why? Craft: Trapmaking. Profession: Miner. Favored class: Sorcerer. Narrow passageways. Close passageways. Narrow and close passageways (look it up for some serious environmental issues). Half-dragon template easily explained. Hit and run tactics, using traps to block/separate the PCs. Web combined with Summon Spider Swarm. Dire Weasels sic'd on trapped characters. Poison crossbows. Flaming mobile walls. Falling ceilings that block corridors. Did I mention the favored class is Sorcerer?
The best part is watching the PCs turn and run, knowing they just got beaten by CR 1/4 critters that are "barely strong enough for first level characters".
Telas
On Monday I'm planning to use a rust monster to offer a challenge to the min-maxing, power-playing, plate-barding-for-heavy-warhorse-buying munchkin of a paladin. I'll report back on what happened.
Well I ran through that adventure about three hours ago and as promised, am able to report back now on what happened to my group of four level 3 characters.
The party entered a warehouse full of large wooden crates. Zariph "Half-Mind", the halfling rogue, loaded his crossbow (as he is wont to do upon entering even the most benign of surroundings) and tried to SPOT or LISTEN for any adversaries. The rust monster hiding behind one of the crates had full concealment and wasn't making any noise, so he escaped detection.
Upon hearing from his companion that there were no foes in the room, Ender the Paladin (clad in full plate mail and with a bastard sword stuck to his hand as the result of a cursed Ioun Stone) strode towards the other side of the room, heading for another door. Upon entering the middle of the room, a net fell upon him and entangled him. The rust monster took this oppurtunity to burst out from behind one of the crates.
Long story short, when the fight was over and the rust monster dispatched, Ender discovered that his full plate mail had rusted away to nothingness. Not too shabby for a creature with 27 hp.
I love using a Marilith. Equiped with a haste spell and bracers of blinding strike (2ED item, I don't know if it is in 3.5, doubled your attacks for one round and stacked with haste.) for a grand total of 28 attacks in a single round. It could cut a party to ribons. (Especially if you used two of them.)*Evil Grin*Or, in an epic game, you give it ten levels in dervish and the full multiweapon fighting chain. Combined with speed weapons (or a haste effect) that nets them 30 attacks per round, with the option of (once per day) making 54 attacks. (The extra arms trait in the DMG 2 increases the CR by 1 or 2 and gives another two arms, increasing the previous numbers to 40 and 72 respectively.)
OMG! :D
As it as been put, I have a unnatural love for undead. One of my favorites is the Spawn of Kyuss. Not only is it undead but it's also a follower of my favorite deity.
Also, another favorite are Kenders. Who couldn't love a creature with a five second attention span and a keen eye?
The beholder, of course.
Recently, the Mohrg, especially classed and jazzed versions such as those on the WotC website. Since I play with the same crew as back in the day (1980s),the introduction of a 'new' type of undead in 3.5 seemed to take them by surprise, and that slavering tongue attack has never failed to paralyze some of them...
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I'd have to say that even before AoW came out, I was a HUGE fan of the ulgurstasta; big reach, good damage, and that great field of whipping tendrils made even those the giant worm couldn't focus on take some damage. Plus, the idea of really big sentient worms hanging out in some canyon really appealed to me.
Aside from old 'ulgie, I find myself using evil outsiders, especially devils (who hands down get the shaft compared to demons; there must be two or three published demons for every devil out there), and have a campaign planned for the end of time, when mind flayers rule both the surface world and the Underdark, and humanoids are reduced to slaves and breeding food sources. Sounds like fun to me.
I was taught to play about three years ago in Year 6 by my principal, using the 1st Edition DND rules. I remember looking through the v1 Monster Manual and seeing possibly the funniest looking creature ever. It wasn't updated to 3.5 until the MM II came out.
Of course, I am referring to the .
Who could imagine that such a harmless-looking creature would have something like listed under SA?
Apart from its attack its practically harmless. I mean, its maybe one of the only monsters whose alignment is true neutral. Under organization three Catoblepae form a collective group known as a [italic]family.[/italic]
Most of the other creatures in the various MM's usually are listed in the plural as either horde, swarm, warband, pack, hunting party, assembly (Platinum Horror?), cluster, gang (Deathbringers), squad, enclave, company (Insurance Agents, pg 666 MM 4), or brood (Effigies).
I love putting in giant scorpions because I can put them almost anywhere and no-one will question what they are doing there.
Another monster I've always wanted to use but never did is the manticore.
I like Orcs. There is just something about an Orc that makes them immediately likeable. It might be the tusks, or the cool double-headed Orc Axes, or the completely brutish way that most of them live that makes the few that can think, or cast spells, so much more of a threat than would otherwise be warranted. I love the fact that (in the FR) like half or two-thirds of the 'lost' kingdoms/civilizations were destroyed by them, yet PC's constantly underrate them. I also like that they really can't be as easily racially profiled the way that goblins and kobolds can.
I also like the ultra-militaristic hobgoblins.
I enjoy a good mimic or two
and a rousing pack of elementals is always sweet
then theirs liches, vampires, dopplegangers, all shapes and sizes of demons and devils, constructs are all good choices (except maybe a bogun), oozes are just fun to put underground, lots and lots and lots of humanoids to slowly wear down the PC's. Anything that has a death throw of can swallow PC's preferably both, umber hulks are awesome, so are nagas and sphynxs, pegasi, and griffons and wyverns.
Favorite Creature ever in D&D and anywhere (Hint it is in the title of the game)
You guesses it, Its dragons.
Now which dragons is my favorite? ..... This one is hard for me to answer. Has to be Blue, Silver, Red, or Gold
P.S. Hate white dragons though....stupid inbreds
Mind flayer, hands down. The lich is way cool, too (but no undead illithids).
And my group is about to do Hall of Harsh Reflections :)
Jack
Mind flayer, hands down. The lich is way cool, too (but no undead illithids).
Jack
What about alhoons from Monsters of Faerun?
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i'd have to say mind flayers.I just recently used these guys for the first time. So deliciously evil. I love monsters with high intelligence and time to prepare for the PCs arrival. mmmmm. . .
and making PCs witness an illithid extract and eat someone's brain (out the mouth baby!) will burn a healthy fear into them for the rest of their playing days.
couldn't agree with you more.
Oh, any level-draining undead, really.
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The Boogeyman concept, is one which is very emmotive, we all remember having those fears as a child, so a homebrew verson certainly is the icing on the cake for giving your players the creeps.
I wonder...does anyone remember what their personal primal image of the boogeyman was? The one you generated in your mind when you heard the word boogeyman for the first time and asked for a definition? And would THAT be a good pre-campaign interview question for players? This is only the umpteenth great idea I've been inspired with interacting on this board. Must go write now. Vulcrum...how do you kill vulcrum? Silver stake through the pancreas?