D&D General Monsters from secondary Monster Manuals you got a lot of fun out

[Yora]

I really like using Obyriths in my game.

While I haven't gotten around to it yet, I really want to use Tsorchars from Lords of Madness in one of my next campaigns.
Some of the really interesting monsters are not even from full monster books.

 

[steeldragons]

I use (and have encountered) creatures from beyond a 1st MM quite a bit over the years. Some repeated cameos (or found in other people's games) include:

from the 1e MM2: Behir (a personal favorite that I've used often), Bodak, Barghest, Firbolg, Derro, Magmin ("Magmen")...I recall fighting an Obliviax once...so, apparently we won.
from 1e FF: Retrievers, Hook Horrors, Grell, Crabmen, Ice Trolls (don't forget Drow and Svirf's both appeared here, first, too), et al.

Soooo many. Those are just once that immediately come to mind.

Also, just as a side note for historical accuracy and general public knowledge: the Leucrotta was actually in the original 1e MM(1). So, it has been in a primary MM before/was originally.

 

[Larnievc]

While I haven't gotten around to it yet, I really want to use Tsorchars from Lords of Madness in one of my next campaigns.
Some of the really interesting monsters are not even from full monster books.

Lords of Madness is a great book. I love me some far realmesque plots.

 

[the Jester]

Oh man, so many.

Tabaxi have been a mainstay of my campaign since 2e, and I don't believe they've ever made a MM1. The avolakia from 3e's MM2 are amazing. Most of the not-MM1 demons, devils, and yugoloths are awesome. The aurumovorax. The son/spawn of Kyuss. Death knights (though they're in 5e's MM1!). Wrackspawn from 4e (first in 3e, yeah yeah, but they got a really cool update and great lore in their Torog connection.)

There are just so many cool non-MM1 monsters in every edition!

So to organize a bit by edition/book- and this is just off the top of my head:

1e- Fiend Folio: Tabaxi, death knight, slaadi, daemons, lizard kings, lamia nobles, sons of Kyuss, apparitions, astral stalkers, oriental dragons, carbuncles, al-mi'raj, algoids, aleax, svirfneblin...
1e- MM2: gloomwings, tenebrous worms, stegocentipedes, afanc, aboleths, bigger vermin (megalocentipedes), quicklings, fomorians, myconids, cloud dragons, shadow dragons....

2e- various MC appendices and the like: dharculus, demons and devils (by whatever name), many dragons, beholder kin, illithid kin, etc. Hard to remember what was in what since I put them all in the same set of binders.

3e- MM2: Gravorg, avolakia, death knight, mountain giant, etc.
3e- FF: ulgurstasta, various fiends, hullathoin, grafts and symbionts (!), more inevitables, etc.
3e- MM3-5: Lots of cool but not very developed things. Harpoon spider, the proto-foulspawn, tirbani, the name escapes me- the blue centaurish like things that bellow and bully, etc.

4e- Generally, the later the book the better the monster design. Banderhobbs, various awesome composite elementals, fell taints (evil flumphs!), pod demons, osteopedes, various dragons from Draconomicon, etc.

Also, let's not forget monsters from adventures or other weird sources- for instance, the steel predator (3e) is great, as is the chagmat (1e).

Man! So many.

 

[Yora]

The avolakia from 3e's MM2 are amazing.

Oh yeah, those guys. I think they are the one monster from that book that I really liked. I think they have the traction to join the club of aboleths, beholders, and ilithids.

 

[the Jester]

Oh yeah, those guys. I think they are the one monster from that book that I really liked. I think they have the traction to join the club of aboleths, beholders, and ilithids.

I agree. I've used them in 3e, 4e, and 5e.

 

[Yora]

Huh, I am actually surprised how little replies this got. 6 in two days is basically nothing.

I wonder if this is indicative of my assumption that monster books other than the default Monster Manual get very little actual use, or if this might even be not enough data for that.

 

[Echohawk]

I don’t have @Echohawk’s excellent spreadsheet in front of me, but its several thousands of monsters that exist for D&D.

My best estimate is that there are approximately 9000 distinct D&D monsters, but it obviously depends heavily on what you count as "distinct".

 

[aco175]

I had a series of fomorian caves that housed a portal to a fey/elf court. They were usually evil but one was more an outcast that could be dealt with kind of like a black market.

 

[Ath-kethin]

In the thread about giants, a mention of the Monster Manual 2 for 3rd edition came up as a side note, and there was some insistent rebukes of my claim that nobody ever seemed to use it, or any additional monster books for that matter.

D&D has had a long and well established stable of primary monsters for decades, most of which have been classic default monsters for over 40 years. Goblins, orcs, giants, owlbears, beholders, winter wolves, gnolls, ankhegs, carrion crawlers, and so on. We all know and at least somewhat love them. I believe almost all of them have been in the primary Monster Manual since at least 2nd edition, and the most famous ones even from day one. Their considerable number also means that the primary Monster Manuals are already near capacity with little room for anything else, though the occasional yrthak or nothic manages to get in.

But in 2nd and 3rd edition in particular, there have been a lot of Monster Manuals, Monstrous Compendiums, and Fiend Folios, and even the original AD&D edition already had three of them.I would bet there's been over a thousand different monsters in the official monster tomes alone. Yet we always see the same, I don't know... 100?, creatures again and again.

Which creatures that are not part of the typical roster that makes it into each new primary Monster Manual for every edition have you seen playing a significant role in campaigns that you have played or run? Or even just led to an exceptionally memorable single encounter?

The Elemental Vermin from Al-Qadim (technically not from the AQ Monstrous Compendium Appendix but from one of the boxed sets) have seen tons of use in my games over the years.