Celebrim
Legend
If you’ve ever DMed a 1e AD&D party past name level, you quickly discover that most everything in the game is designed for characters of 10th level or less. If well equipped, a party of around 8-12 10th or 11th level characters can reasonably expect to overcome any monster in the game, including the unique ones. By the time you hit 13th level, and 7th level spells become available, you may be finding that everything in the game is a pushover even for just 4-6 PCs. This is doubly true if you are using the Unearthed Arcana and the party has double specialized fighters, cavaliers, more potent demi-humans, and M-U’s abusing the expanded spell lists along with possessing the powerful items on the expanded magical item lists.
Before going into the monster list, it’s worth noting what makes a good foe. The biggest advantage a high level party has is a combination of good AC and excellent ‘to hit’ bonuses. Monsters generally have no bonuses to hit, and must rely on its high HD alone to achieve a hit. To have a reasonable chance of hitting a party of high level characters, the monster needs at least 10HD and 16HD or more is preferred. If it has less, it needs to also have explicit strength or dexterity and the ability to fight with weapons, or some other explicit bonus to hit. Similarly, if the monster doesn’t have better than AC 0, then it really has no AC at all, since a 13th level fighter, ranger, or paladin with some strength bonus and a +4 sword basically fails to hit AC 0 on a 1 only. AC of -4 or better is desirable, and really only AC -8 or better can be accounted good against such heroes. However, even 16HD only means an average of 72 h.p. which a party of this level will no problem dealing in a round and a half at most. A single magic missile spell – a 1st level spell - will strip away 25 hit points, a lightning bolt or fireball of 13 dice will do average 47 damage save for half to everything in the room, and the each fighter will hack and slash for at least 20-30 damage every round. Eight PC's even in an non-optimized party will ginsu a 16 or 18HD monster with little challenge. To survive even a round, monsters need considerable defenses such as magic resistance above 50%, invisibility, or various spell and damage immunities. Monsters also need some sort of offensive punch, that ties up party members mitigating its attacks, forces clerics to spend healing spells, and generally dish out as good as it gets so that it defeating it isn't merely a slow inevitability. That means it needs either formidable magical abilities, area of effect attacks, or multiple attacks that each represent considerable threat to the party. Finally, monsters ideally need flight or ranged attacks, for the party almost always has better ranged attacks than it foes and will be tempted to kite foes or snipe them if it isn’t surprised by them at close range.
There are also bad foes and poor challenges. These are typified by one of two impulses. The first is a heavy reliance on some single save or die ability in order for the creature to be a threat and otherwise nothing which suggests that they are remotely a challenge if you pass the initial save – banshees, bodaks and basilisks are creatures of this sort. Throw enough of them at the party, and you’ll certainly kill characters and eventually arrive by way of bad luck at a TPK. The other impulse is to throw impotent creatures at the party by the 100’s, which is only enjoyable for so long before it becomes a wholly tedious exercise. For this reason Duergar, Bandits, Beserkers, Tucker's Kobolds, Skip's Goblins, and the like don’t show up on the list. However, should you use such creatures – and they are not already on the list below - if they explicitly have the ability of fighters, and your PC’s have access to Unearthed Arcana, the monsters are certainly double specialized in the weapon that they are currently holding.
I’ve left off the many named unique foes which you might challenge a high level party with, as I think they go without saying, and if you rely on them as your primary challenge you’ll soon have your world depopulated of such beings or at the least crushed their mystique. Even such mighty beings as fiend and slaad lords, or princes of elemental evil, are best thought of as captains of the monsters, and must be surrounded by a suitable retinue of soldiers and helpers – just as leaders of orcs or goblins are at lower levels - if they are to be work as the sort of threats that they are meant to be. Solo foes that can truly test the mettle of a party of high level characters are rare in the extreme.
However, good foes do exist, and many more have at least some of the necessary qualifications as well as strengths that make up for their deficiencies to some extent, allowing small numbers of them to be a strong challenge.
Aboleth – Aquatic nature, psionic ability, multiple attacks per round, powerful special attacks make up for the fairly low HD. Owing to the watery nature of their lairs, a few of these can still be a legitimate threat to even high level parties.
Agathion – Not necessarily a threat, but worth calling out that Agathion’s in the form of powerful magical items are some of the most powerful non-artifact items in the game.
Barghest – The 12HD version of this creature has an astounding 24 strength, making it one of the strongest creatures in the game. It also has multiple attacks per round, fairly decent magic resistance, decent AC, and a suite of minor magical abilities. Weakness to fireball though is a major problem, so make sure they are never encountered except in situations where fireball is suicidal.
Beholder – The 75 hit point version of this classic beast is equivalent to a 17HD monster, and it has a full suite of ‘save or die’ effects which it can target on multiple PCs.
Black Pudding – Since the earliest days of D&D, this has been one of the most feared monsters in the game. They’ve got enough hit points to be a problem; they hit hard; they eat your armor, and most importantly they are just about completely immune to all attacks. Black pudding at the bottom of a pit trap is one of the game’s classic RBDM death traps.
Bloodthorn – In tight quarters, this plant monster is one of the most dangerous foes you can encounter in 1e AD&D, with an astounding possibility of being a 30HD creature with up to 120 bonus hit points. That’s right, the party is being eaten by a plant with more hit points than Demogorgon! And on top of that, its attacks are just as nasty as most fiend lords, as EACH hit automatically deals extra damage equal to 25% of the maximum hit points of the target. Four hits kills any PC – 3 hits will kill most PCs - and it makes up to 12 attacks per round.
Daemon, Arcanadaemon – One of the most powerful non-unique monsters in the game, the Arcanadaemon or Aracanaloth can be up to an 18th level magic-user in its own right, has powerful psionic abilities, one of the highest magic resistances in the game, a suite of useful minor magical abilities, multiple attacks per round and averages ~98 hit points – an astoundingly high amount in 1e AD&D terms.
Daemon, Nycadaemon – Basically a generic fiend, the Nycadaemon is interesting as clearly the product of play testing high level play. It has hit points, magic resistance, and AC well above what was standard for the time but which is essential if you are going to threaten a party of PC’s at high level.
Daemon, Mezzodaemon – Although individually they aren’t a huge threat, the deamon’s in general are so well conceived mechanically that they are just about perfectly suited to threatening high level parties. Even individually, they are more powerful than Balors, and three mezzodaemon’s is no joke.
Daemon, Ultradaemon – Owing to the fact that they can’t use 9th level spells, and lack psionic abilities, and have less potent offensive capabilities generally, Ultradaemon’s are slightly weaker than the most powerful sorts of Arcanadaemons, but are still no pushovers. They have incredibly high magic-resistance, and are capable of shrugging off most magical attacks that a 13th level wizard could muster (for example, a 13HD fireball that kills or cripples most things in the game only does on average 3 damage to an Ultradaemon). They have a powerful suite of spell-abilities, average 119 h.p., have decent AC, and the ability to teleport out of trouble. They make good reoccurring villains.
Daemon, Yagnodaemon – One of the most powerful brutes in the game, a single Yagnodaemon would probably do down hard alone against a high level party, but up to six of these monsters can appear at once!! Like the Barghest, they have 24 strength, which by itself makes them a serious threat. They have exceptionally high hit points (~98, the same as an Arcanoloth), teleportation ability, and reasonably good (though not great) magical defenses. A weakness here that is even more common in earlier monsters is that they are large sized, opening them up to bonus damage from longswords and two-handed swords – but all the bonus hit points largely mitigates against that.
Demilich – I have to mention it for completeness and because someone will mention it if I don’t, but the Demilich is complete cheese and uninteresting as an encounter. If the party knows its abilities it’s a push over; if it doesn’t or lacks the resources to deal with it, it simply can and should be avoided. It’s more like a hard to disarm trap than a monster.
Demodand, Shator – At 15 HD, they are one of the nastiest medium sized creatures in the game. They have the potential for multiple attacks per round, and decent enough strength on top of their high HD, moderately good defenses, and a decent suite of innate magical abilities.
Cambion Marquis – Potentially one of the most powerful monsters in the game, the Marquis of this race can have up to 16HD plus the possibility of constitution bonuses, and possess the combined abilities of 16th level fighters, 16th level clerics, and 15th level assassins – making them on par with archfiends and low level demigods in terms of power.
Death Knight – A good example of the problems with early 1e AD&D monster design, the Death Knight is a consummate glass cannon with powerful attack capabilities like 20HD fireballs and power word: kill, but for all of that simply not enough hit points to survive against a high level party, along with poor AC and generally poor defenses - creating a situation where surprise and initiative are basically the whole fight. While you can challenge a high level party with such glass cannons, you have better options.
Derro – Although they are frequently overlooked in favor of Drow - typical of underdark races - the Derro are clearly meant to threaten high level parties and much more than some other more famous races, they rely less on needing 200 or more of them to do it. They have explicit dexterity bonuses making them not bad with missile weapons, decent HD for a mook race, and their savants are surprisingly powerful spellcasters once you read through the rules. A typical lair of ~38 Derro will present a reasonable challenge to even parties above name level, especially if given traps and other defenses.
Devil, Ice – You might have noticed that I got to this point without mentioning a single demon – not even a balor. The truth is, none of the original demons are particularly powerful, and each is handicapped in some way. For example, the Type V has good defenses and multiple attacks, but has insufficient HD to ‘hit’ high level PCs or enough hit points resist their attacks and critically can only levitate - not fly. The Type IV has minimally sufficient HD, but weaker defenses and insufficient offensive punch to really threaten a high level party. A close examination shows that the demons were never meant to have a hierarchy, as there is not the clear progression from weaker to more powerful types seen in the interpretations of later editions. Some of the greater devils though are minimally threatening, with the Ice Devil featuring a complete package of multiple attacks per round, useful magical abilities, psionic abilities, reasonable defenses, a decent AC, and at 11 HD the capability to actually hit a PC with those attacks plus a reserve of hit points.
Devil, Pit Fiend – As originally presented, they are but moderately more potent than an Ice Devil, but the 13HD pit fiend is still a potent figure – if not perhaps nearly as threatening as an Arcanadaemon or an Ultradaemon.
Dragons (Any) – Virtually any dragon of maximum size and age and a standard breathe weapon is a potential threat to even high level parties, but mostly as a result of their breath weapons – which are simply overpowered. Breathe weapon aside, most dragons are glass cannons that just simply don’t have good enough defenses to survive. If they achieve surprise though, it’s a potential TPK, and two such dragons will TPK any party not prepared with magical defenses. Dragon’s that lack the normal breathe weapon – with the exception of Shadow Dragons – tend to not have enough offensive potential to make up for their weak defenses (large size, poor AC given the parties level, few immunities, little or no magic resistance). Pay close attention to the rules though, as some of the Dragon’s defenses are buried in their long entry.
Drow – The original DM’s pet NPC race, now widely copied. You can challenge a high level party with Drow, but at this point IMO no good DM would.
Enveloper – This monster is innocuous in its base form, but there is no limit to the number of prior victims such a creature may have consumed. So, maybe its last victim was a 20th level M-U? Suddenly it doesn’t seem so innocuous any more.
Froghemoth – 16HD, immune to fire, virtually immune to electricity, multiple attacks per round, swallow whole, massive damage capability – what’s not to love?
Ghost – Beginning with the ghoul, the original undead of D&D have particularly vicious attacks. The ghost’s aging attack is one of the worst, and the immunity to spells not originating on the ethereal plain just makes it worse.
Giants – Most of the larger giants can be highly threatening if they appear with the maximum possible numbers, but as the G series shows, at this level even giants are basically just big orcs and high level parties can be expected to deal the small armies of these creatures. Still, they have high strength, potent range attacks and decent hit points.
Githyanki – Another DM pet NPC race. Although not as widely employed as the Drow, I still think you lose style points to rely heavily on the Githyanki as foes.
Githzeria – See Githyanki.
Golem, Iron – Virtual immunity to spells combined with high hit points makes for a fairly hard foe to take down. Like any creature that says, “By the way, it heals from attacks.”, it’s easy to cheese up the encounter by adding something like walls of fire to the room, allowing it to regenerate quickly.
Golem, Stone – Similar to the iron golem, albeit slightly weaker.
Hell Hound – Their breath weapon makes them a good choice of mook against high level parties, as a horde of such creatures still must be worthy of some respect.
Hydra – All of the hydras as originally written are nasty foes with two very important features. First, they get maximum hit points per hit die, meaning a ‘mere’ 12 HD hydra has 96 hit points. Secondly, they get one quite powerful attack per HD, allowing a 12HD hydra to do up to 4d10 damage to up to three different foes. The regenerating and fire breathing versions are even worse, though the pyrohydra is officially limited to 8HD and this limits it considerably. However, all the hydras are fairly slow and can’t fly, so they are – as with many similar brutes – only threatening when you are trapped with one in close quarters.
Jann – If you are an official RBDM, you take advantage of typos when those typos are advantageous. The official rules give Jann Sheiks 85HD and Jann Amirs 96HD. No it’s not at all unfair to give the monster 432hp. The party is 13th level. They will still win.
Korred – Most noteworthy is their laughter ability, which requires you to roll charisma OR HIGHER or be stunned. So not only is the attack level invariant, but the better your charisma is, the more effective it is. Beyond that, they can pull the same tricks with earth spells the PC’s can, and they have ranged attacks. A band of these can be surprisingly effective at harassing even a high level party.
Kou-Toa – The Kou-Toa are a little less cheesy than the Drow and the Githyanki and much less overused, making them reasonable choices if you are looking for fodder and even a BBEG – as a Kou-Toa priest-king and his retinue makes for a potentially potent foe. They are also aquatic, with all the trouble that implies. They also have probably the longest write up of any 1e monster, with a thorough and sometimes surprising list of defenses and abilities.
Kraken – Given that they have no defenses to speak of, even at 20HD, these would be a pushover except you have to fight them in water – which can definitely add to the interest.
Lich – It’s a truth of D&D that any high level spell-caster is dangerous, and the lich is one of D&D’s classic BBEG’s very much for that reason.
Mephit – Mephits deserve mention because, although each is quite weak, they all possess attacks which continue to threaten opponents even of high level. For example, the fire mephit has a small breath weapon that still does half damage if saved against, and can cast heat metal and magic missile (for 2 missiles on each casting). Smoke mephitis have a weak breath weapon that automatically hits no save, and blinds the target. In addition, Mephits can fly and have ranged attacks. What this means is that Mephit’s are almost ideal mooks for facing high level parties, as it is impossible to encounter mephitis without spending some resources.
Mind Flayer – Along with the Bodak, Magnesium Spirit, Nymph, Son of Kyuss and even Rot Grubs, I nearly left the Mind Flayer off the list because they really aren’t so much monsters as mobile save or die traps. There are tons of monsters that present almost no threat at all except they have some sort of save or die or die no save type attack, and as such their only challenge is just, “Do you feel lucky?”. But the mind flayer is so classic that I couldn’t help myself, and its tentacle attack at least usually requires a few rounds to become lethal – giving parties a chance to react.
Modron – Beginning with the Septon, all the more potent modron hierarchs are seriously powerful foes. Quartons and higher are arguably more powerful than beings like Asmodeus, Orcus or Demogorgon, and Secundi – being 26th level clerics, 22nd level M-U’s and 13th level monks certainly are. Trifle with the forces of Law at your peril.
Naga, Spirit – At 10HD with poor defenses, the Spirit Naga barely belongs on this list, but they can appear up to 3 at time and have diverse magical ability as well as a charm gaze attack.
Neried – I have to mention them for completeness, as the Nereid’s near complete immunity to males (no saving throw allowed) makes them annoying to deal with, but… they are annoying to deal with.
Planetar – Each of them is as powerful as a fiend lord such as Orcus. If you want to play for team evil, expect there to be consequences.
Purple Worm – 15HD, burrowing, with a swallow whole attack. You can probably figure out something to do with that.
Quasi-Elemental, Lightning – They have a number of potent level invariant attacks and defenses that make them annoying to fight if you don’t have the right spells prepared. The 12HD version in particular can absolutely wreck fighters.
Quickling – Their 3HD makes them easy to overlook at higher levels, but they have amazing defenses for such a low HD monster. They are immune to surprise, explicitly have 18 Dex, save as 19th level clerics, and have non-trivial AC, plus natural invisibility. They have multiple attacks per round and virtually limitless range to charge into combat. A full 16 of them makes a fairly nasty fight to deal with, as the 1e Book of Lairs noted.
Remorhaz – The 14HD version of these beasts is quite potent, with decent magic resistance, a potent and potentially instantly lethal attack, and the highest single damage ability I know of in AD&D – 10d10 damage to anyone that comes in contact with its blazing hot back.
Retriever – Basically, a dragon reskinned in a slightly different form, so everything that applies to dragons applies here. Its breathe weapons – I mean ‘eye rays’ – are overpowered, and its defenses are negligible.
Roper – In Ultima IV, these along with Balors and Beholders were end game monsters, and it’s reasonable to suggest that they were treated as such because they are capable end game foes in AD&D. With 12HD, multiple attacks, and strong defenses against magic, three such creatures will keep even a high level party busy.
Slaad – Pretty much all the Slaad are rough foes to face, each in their own way. They again strike me as the results of having playtested high level play, and have some interesting features. For example, the Blue Slaad have brutal damage potential for their HD but are one of the few psionic monsters in the game a PC psionic could reasonably defeat in psionic combat – which suggests that the writer has even playtested psionics extensively. Red Slaad are weak, but the party might be best advised to just avoid the potential hordes of them that can be encountered by outrunning them. Green Slaad have a nice suite of magical abilities, while the Grey and Death slaad are more potent than any non-unique creature that had been published to that point.
Solar – See Planatar. Just ignore the typo with their AC. It’s plainly meant to be -9.
Shambling Mound – The entry lists the largest sort of this creature at 11HD, but like the enveloper the potential here has to be noted from the description – lightning bolts cause it to grow by 1HD. No limit is mentioned, so it’s quite possible to imagine how the normal limits might be exceeded. The largest size you may wish to place is really the largest size you may desire. Aside from just putting a 30HD shambling mound in your dungeon and having rules justification for it, the shambling mound has impressive resistance to attacks – taking half damage from almost everything. It also has a delayed death attack dependent on killing the creature before the timer goes off that can make for a rather tense fight.
Spectre – The spectre is not destroyable by turning, and has some capacity to resist the turns of even fairly high level clerics. Its attack is one of the most horrifying in the game, eliminating at a stroke two hard earned levels. Up to six of these terrifying foes may appear at a time.
Thessalhydra – Sure it’s a glass cannon, but ten high damage attacks per round plus a 12d6 acidic breath weapon attack means that it is one of the most capable damage dealers in the game – matching the bigger dragons.
Tenebrous Worm – Although only 10HD, they can wreck anyone that tries to attack them in melee, and their bite does up to 4d10 damage.
Titan – The more potent versions of these creatures are at least equal in power to a fiend lord.
Vampire – The base line monster is on par with the dreaded spectre. But the real danger of this foe is the implication that they retain their class abilities beyond death, meaning that the most powerful examples of these creatures are ones not listed in the entry. The DMG lists these creatures as Monster Level VIII, meaning that they are fitting foes for 8th or high level characters, and generally not to be encountered at all before 6th level. But it also lists vampires as 9th to 10th level evil clerics being Monster Level IX, and those which are 9th to 12th level M-U’s as monster level X. It’s thus easy to see just how off the scale of power Strahd is for the suggested level of the party in Ravenloft.
Umber Hulk – They are on the weak end of the scale for a party of high level as they have low HD and no real defenses, but the ability to burrow, high damage when they hit, and a comically dangerous gaze attack (confusion gaze attacks are vastly better designed than the more common charm, fear, death and petrifaction gaze attacks) warrants their inclusion in the list provided they appear in numbers.
Whale – I don’t think I’ve ever seen an encounter with a sperm whale in D&D, but at 36HD, the ability to swallow foes whole, and attacks doing up to 15d4 damage, they deserve mention. Moby Dick, indeed.
Will-O-Wisp – A good armor class and virtual immunity to spells makes up somewhat for a limited offensive punch.
Yochol – Although not particularly powerful, they do have one massively powerful attack mode that makes them worth mentioning. Buried in the text it reads, “A yochol can change from one form to another within a single round.” Now read the text of the ‘stinking cloud’ spell. Ok then. Combined with their other decent defenses and good AC, that means four of these is actually a reasonable challenge despite the low HD.
The last bit of advice is to not limit your self to what is written down. A close reading of Gygax’s work shows that when it comes to challenging player character’s of the highest level, he was fully prepared to create what he needed when what he needed wasn’t yet published. Don’t be afraid to take a monster and fix it in some fashion to make it the challenge it needs to be. Make your own unique foes. Nothing in the text of his monster manual suggests it, but when Gygax writes up a lair of giants, the chiefs of their kind have the statistics of giants of a larger sort. Feel free to make unique foes. Quite often you will find mention of a monster ‘of the largest sort’, suggesting a monster with 8 hit points on the dice. But the utility of just more hit points is limited. A better example within the text is in the section of the DMG on artifacts, Gygax mentions the existence of a unique Iron Golem – Talos – having triple the normal hit points. Now that is a worthy foe even for a party of 16th level characters! Using that as a template, I began doubling or tripling the HD of other monsters to make unique foes. Good candidates are those of 5-8 HD which might otherwise have the necessary attributes to threaten a high level party, were it not for its limited HD. Manticores with their flight and powerful ranged attack are a good example of a creature suited to such treatment. When improving them thusly, fill in the creature’s abilities by improving their AC by 2-4, improving spell resistance by 10 or 20%, adding a dice or two to their primary attacks, and granting them the abilities of similar monsters – like granting our lord of the Manticores the roar of a Dragonne or Androsphynx or the fear ability of an adult dragon is also reasonable. When doubling or tripling the HD, do not forget to double or triple the casting ability of beings with caster levels or by increasing the number of spells and the highest level of spells available by 1 or 2 steps. And of course, if such creatures are undead, they turn as lich at the very least. The aforementioned sperm whale, if encountered in the abyss, will certainly have the immunities common to demon-kind. A double HD spirit naga, having the casting abilities of a 10th level M-U and an 8th level cleric is an easy change and a memorable foe. The triple HD version, having 30HD, AC -4, a bite doing 3-9 damage, 40% magic resistance, the immunities of a demon, and the casting ability of a 15th level M-U and 12th level cleric is as potent as a fiend lord and makes for a great queen of all evil naga-kind. If you let your creativity by your guide, you’ll never be at a loss for challenges to present.
Before going into the monster list, it’s worth noting what makes a good foe. The biggest advantage a high level party has is a combination of good AC and excellent ‘to hit’ bonuses. Monsters generally have no bonuses to hit, and must rely on its high HD alone to achieve a hit. To have a reasonable chance of hitting a party of high level characters, the monster needs at least 10HD and 16HD or more is preferred. If it has less, it needs to also have explicit strength or dexterity and the ability to fight with weapons, or some other explicit bonus to hit. Similarly, if the monster doesn’t have better than AC 0, then it really has no AC at all, since a 13th level fighter, ranger, or paladin with some strength bonus and a +4 sword basically fails to hit AC 0 on a 1 only. AC of -4 or better is desirable, and really only AC -8 or better can be accounted good against such heroes. However, even 16HD only means an average of 72 h.p. which a party of this level will no problem dealing in a round and a half at most. A single magic missile spell – a 1st level spell - will strip away 25 hit points, a lightning bolt or fireball of 13 dice will do average 47 damage save for half to everything in the room, and the each fighter will hack and slash for at least 20-30 damage every round. Eight PC's even in an non-optimized party will ginsu a 16 or 18HD monster with little challenge. To survive even a round, monsters need considerable defenses such as magic resistance above 50%, invisibility, or various spell and damage immunities. Monsters also need some sort of offensive punch, that ties up party members mitigating its attacks, forces clerics to spend healing spells, and generally dish out as good as it gets so that it defeating it isn't merely a slow inevitability. That means it needs either formidable magical abilities, area of effect attacks, or multiple attacks that each represent considerable threat to the party. Finally, monsters ideally need flight or ranged attacks, for the party almost always has better ranged attacks than it foes and will be tempted to kite foes or snipe them if it isn’t surprised by them at close range.
There are also bad foes and poor challenges. These are typified by one of two impulses. The first is a heavy reliance on some single save or die ability in order for the creature to be a threat and otherwise nothing which suggests that they are remotely a challenge if you pass the initial save – banshees, bodaks and basilisks are creatures of this sort. Throw enough of them at the party, and you’ll certainly kill characters and eventually arrive by way of bad luck at a TPK. The other impulse is to throw impotent creatures at the party by the 100’s, which is only enjoyable for so long before it becomes a wholly tedious exercise. For this reason Duergar, Bandits, Beserkers, Tucker's Kobolds, Skip's Goblins, and the like don’t show up on the list. However, should you use such creatures – and they are not already on the list below - if they explicitly have the ability of fighters, and your PC’s have access to Unearthed Arcana, the monsters are certainly double specialized in the weapon that they are currently holding.
I’ve left off the many named unique foes which you might challenge a high level party with, as I think they go without saying, and if you rely on them as your primary challenge you’ll soon have your world depopulated of such beings or at the least crushed their mystique. Even such mighty beings as fiend and slaad lords, or princes of elemental evil, are best thought of as captains of the monsters, and must be surrounded by a suitable retinue of soldiers and helpers – just as leaders of orcs or goblins are at lower levels - if they are to be work as the sort of threats that they are meant to be. Solo foes that can truly test the mettle of a party of high level characters are rare in the extreme.
However, good foes do exist, and many more have at least some of the necessary qualifications as well as strengths that make up for their deficiencies to some extent, allowing small numbers of them to be a strong challenge.
Aboleth – Aquatic nature, psionic ability, multiple attacks per round, powerful special attacks make up for the fairly low HD. Owing to the watery nature of their lairs, a few of these can still be a legitimate threat to even high level parties.
Agathion – Not necessarily a threat, but worth calling out that Agathion’s in the form of powerful magical items are some of the most powerful non-artifact items in the game.
Barghest – The 12HD version of this creature has an astounding 24 strength, making it one of the strongest creatures in the game. It also has multiple attacks per round, fairly decent magic resistance, decent AC, and a suite of minor magical abilities. Weakness to fireball though is a major problem, so make sure they are never encountered except in situations where fireball is suicidal.
Beholder – The 75 hit point version of this classic beast is equivalent to a 17HD monster, and it has a full suite of ‘save or die’ effects which it can target on multiple PCs.
Black Pudding – Since the earliest days of D&D, this has been one of the most feared monsters in the game. They’ve got enough hit points to be a problem; they hit hard; they eat your armor, and most importantly they are just about completely immune to all attacks. Black pudding at the bottom of a pit trap is one of the game’s classic RBDM death traps.
Bloodthorn – In tight quarters, this plant monster is one of the most dangerous foes you can encounter in 1e AD&D, with an astounding possibility of being a 30HD creature with up to 120 bonus hit points. That’s right, the party is being eaten by a plant with more hit points than Demogorgon! And on top of that, its attacks are just as nasty as most fiend lords, as EACH hit automatically deals extra damage equal to 25% of the maximum hit points of the target. Four hits kills any PC – 3 hits will kill most PCs - and it makes up to 12 attacks per round.
Daemon, Arcanadaemon – One of the most powerful non-unique monsters in the game, the Arcanadaemon or Aracanaloth can be up to an 18th level magic-user in its own right, has powerful psionic abilities, one of the highest magic resistances in the game, a suite of useful minor magical abilities, multiple attacks per round and averages ~98 hit points – an astoundingly high amount in 1e AD&D terms.
Daemon, Nycadaemon – Basically a generic fiend, the Nycadaemon is interesting as clearly the product of play testing high level play. It has hit points, magic resistance, and AC well above what was standard for the time but which is essential if you are going to threaten a party of PC’s at high level.
Daemon, Mezzodaemon – Although individually they aren’t a huge threat, the deamon’s in general are so well conceived mechanically that they are just about perfectly suited to threatening high level parties. Even individually, they are more powerful than Balors, and three mezzodaemon’s is no joke.
Daemon, Ultradaemon – Owing to the fact that they can’t use 9th level spells, and lack psionic abilities, and have less potent offensive capabilities generally, Ultradaemon’s are slightly weaker than the most powerful sorts of Arcanadaemons, but are still no pushovers. They have incredibly high magic-resistance, and are capable of shrugging off most magical attacks that a 13th level wizard could muster (for example, a 13HD fireball that kills or cripples most things in the game only does on average 3 damage to an Ultradaemon). They have a powerful suite of spell-abilities, average 119 h.p., have decent AC, and the ability to teleport out of trouble. They make good reoccurring villains.
Daemon, Yagnodaemon – One of the most powerful brutes in the game, a single Yagnodaemon would probably do down hard alone against a high level party, but up to six of these monsters can appear at once!! Like the Barghest, they have 24 strength, which by itself makes them a serious threat. They have exceptionally high hit points (~98, the same as an Arcanoloth), teleportation ability, and reasonably good (though not great) magical defenses. A weakness here that is even more common in earlier monsters is that they are large sized, opening them up to bonus damage from longswords and two-handed swords – but all the bonus hit points largely mitigates against that.
Demilich – I have to mention it for completeness and because someone will mention it if I don’t, but the Demilich is complete cheese and uninteresting as an encounter. If the party knows its abilities it’s a push over; if it doesn’t or lacks the resources to deal with it, it simply can and should be avoided. It’s more like a hard to disarm trap than a monster.
Demodand, Shator – At 15 HD, they are one of the nastiest medium sized creatures in the game. They have the potential for multiple attacks per round, and decent enough strength on top of their high HD, moderately good defenses, and a decent suite of innate magical abilities.
Cambion Marquis – Potentially one of the most powerful monsters in the game, the Marquis of this race can have up to 16HD plus the possibility of constitution bonuses, and possess the combined abilities of 16th level fighters, 16th level clerics, and 15th level assassins – making them on par with archfiends and low level demigods in terms of power.
Death Knight – A good example of the problems with early 1e AD&D monster design, the Death Knight is a consummate glass cannon with powerful attack capabilities like 20HD fireballs and power word: kill, but for all of that simply not enough hit points to survive against a high level party, along with poor AC and generally poor defenses - creating a situation where surprise and initiative are basically the whole fight. While you can challenge a high level party with such glass cannons, you have better options.
Derro – Although they are frequently overlooked in favor of Drow - typical of underdark races - the Derro are clearly meant to threaten high level parties and much more than some other more famous races, they rely less on needing 200 or more of them to do it. They have explicit dexterity bonuses making them not bad with missile weapons, decent HD for a mook race, and their savants are surprisingly powerful spellcasters once you read through the rules. A typical lair of ~38 Derro will present a reasonable challenge to even parties above name level, especially if given traps and other defenses.
Devil, Ice – You might have noticed that I got to this point without mentioning a single demon – not even a balor. The truth is, none of the original demons are particularly powerful, and each is handicapped in some way. For example, the Type V has good defenses and multiple attacks, but has insufficient HD to ‘hit’ high level PCs or enough hit points resist their attacks and critically can only levitate - not fly. The Type IV has minimally sufficient HD, but weaker defenses and insufficient offensive punch to really threaten a high level party. A close examination shows that the demons were never meant to have a hierarchy, as there is not the clear progression from weaker to more powerful types seen in the interpretations of later editions. Some of the greater devils though are minimally threatening, with the Ice Devil featuring a complete package of multiple attacks per round, useful magical abilities, psionic abilities, reasonable defenses, a decent AC, and at 11 HD the capability to actually hit a PC with those attacks plus a reserve of hit points.
Devil, Pit Fiend – As originally presented, they are but moderately more potent than an Ice Devil, but the 13HD pit fiend is still a potent figure – if not perhaps nearly as threatening as an Arcanadaemon or an Ultradaemon.
Dragons (Any) – Virtually any dragon of maximum size and age and a standard breathe weapon is a potential threat to even high level parties, but mostly as a result of their breath weapons – which are simply overpowered. Breathe weapon aside, most dragons are glass cannons that just simply don’t have good enough defenses to survive. If they achieve surprise though, it’s a potential TPK, and two such dragons will TPK any party not prepared with magical defenses. Dragon’s that lack the normal breathe weapon – with the exception of Shadow Dragons – tend to not have enough offensive potential to make up for their weak defenses (large size, poor AC given the parties level, few immunities, little or no magic resistance). Pay close attention to the rules though, as some of the Dragon’s defenses are buried in their long entry.
Drow – The original DM’s pet NPC race, now widely copied. You can challenge a high level party with Drow, but at this point IMO no good DM would.
Enveloper – This monster is innocuous in its base form, but there is no limit to the number of prior victims such a creature may have consumed. So, maybe its last victim was a 20th level M-U? Suddenly it doesn’t seem so innocuous any more.
Froghemoth – 16HD, immune to fire, virtually immune to electricity, multiple attacks per round, swallow whole, massive damage capability – what’s not to love?
Ghost – Beginning with the ghoul, the original undead of D&D have particularly vicious attacks. The ghost’s aging attack is one of the worst, and the immunity to spells not originating on the ethereal plain just makes it worse.
Giants – Most of the larger giants can be highly threatening if they appear with the maximum possible numbers, but as the G series shows, at this level even giants are basically just big orcs and high level parties can be expected to deal the small armies of these creatures. Still, they have high strength, potent range attacks and decent hit points.
Githyanki – Another DM pet NPC race. Although not as widely employed as the Drow, I still think you lose style points to rely heavily on the Githyanki as foes.
Githzeria – See Githyanki.
Golem, Iron – Virtual immunity to spells combined with high hit points makes for a fairly hard foe to take down. Like any creature that says, “By the way, it heals from attacks.”, it’s easy to cheese up the encounter by adding something like walls of fire to the room, allowing it to regenerate quickly.
Golem, Stone – Similar to the iron golem, albeit slightly weaker.
Hell Hound – Their breath weapon makes them a good choice of mook against high level parties, as a horde of such creatures still must be worthy of some respect.
Hydra – All of the hydras as originally written are nasty foes with two very important features. First, they get maximum hit points per hit die, meaning a ‘mere’ 12 HD hydra has 96 hit points. Secondly, they get one quite powerful attack per HD, allowing a 12HD hydra to do up to 4d10 damage to up to three different foes. The regenerating and fire breathing versions are even worse, though the pyrohydra is officially limited to 8HD and this limits it considerably. However, all the hydras are fairly slow and can’t fly, so they are – as with many similar brutes – only threatening when you are trapped with one in close quarters.
Jann – If you are an official RBDM, you take advantage of typos when those typos are advantageous. The official rules give Jann Sheiks 85HD and Jann Amirs 96HD. No it’s not at all unfair to give the monster 432hp. The party is 13th level. They will still win.
Korred – Most noteworthy is their laughter ability, which requires you to roll charisma OR HIGHER or be stunned. So not only is the attack level invariant, but the better your charisma is, the more effective it is. Beyond that, they can pull the same tricks with earth spells the PC’s can, and they have ranged attacks. A band of these can be surprisingly effective at harassing even a high level party.
Kou-Toa – The Kou-Toa are a little less cheesy than the Drow and the Githyanki and much less overused, making them reasonable choices if you are looking for fodder and even a BBEG – as a Kou-Toa priest-king and his retinue makes for a potentially potent foe. They are also aquatic, with all the trouble that implies. They also have probably the longest write up of any 1e monster, with a thorough and sometimes surprising list of defenses and abilities.
Kraken – Given that they have no defenses to speak of, even at 20HD, these would be a pushover except you have to fight them in water – which can definitely add to the interest.
Lich – It’s a truth of D&D that any high level spell-caster is dangerous, and the lich is one of D&D’s classic BBEG’s very much for that reason.
Mephit – Mephits deserve mention because, although each is quite weak, they all possess attacks which continue to threaten opponents even of high level. For example, the fire mephit has a small breath weapon that still does half damage if saved against, and can cast heat metal and magic missile (for 2 missiles on each casting). Smoke mephitis have a weak breath weapon that automatically hits no save, and blinds the target. In addition, Mephits can fly and have ranged attacks. What this means is that Mephit’s are almost ideal mooks for facing high level parties, as it is impossible to encounter mephitis without spending some resources.
Mind Flayer – Along with the Bodak, Magnesium Spirit, Nymph, Son of Kyuss and even Rot Grubs, I nearly left the Mind Flayer off the list because they really aren’t so much monsters as mobile save or die traps. There are tons of monsters that present almost no threat at all except they have some sort of save or die or die no save type attack, and as such their only challenge is just, “Do you feel lucky?”. But the mind flayer is so classic that I couldn’t help myself, and its tentacle attack at least usually requires a few rounds to become lethal – giving parties a chance to react.
Modron – Beginning with the Septon, all the more potent modron hierarchs are seriously powerful foes. Quartons and higher are arguably more powerful than beings like Asmodeus, Orcus or Demogorgon, and Secundi – being 26th level clerics, 22nd level M-U’s and 13th level monks certainly are. Trifle with the forces of Law at your peril.
Naga, Spirit – At 10HD with poor defenses, the Spirit Naga barely belongs on this list, but they can appear up to 3 at time and have diverse magical ability as well as a charm gaze attack.
Neried – I have to mention them for completeness, as the Nereid’s near complete immunity to males (no saving throw allowed) makes them annoying to deal with, but… they are annoying to deal with.
Planetar – Each of them is as powerful as a fiend lord such as Orcus. If you want to play for team evil, expect there to be consequences.
Purple Worm – 15HD, burrowing, with a swallow whole attack. You can probably figure out something to do with that.
Quasi-Elemental, Lightning – They have a number of potent level invariant attacks and defenses that make them annoying to fight if you don’t have the right spells prepared. The 12HD version in particular can absolutely wreck fighters.
Quickling – Their 3HD makes them easy to overlook at higher levels, but they have amazing defenses for such a low HD monster. They are immune to surprise, explicitly have 18 Dex, save as 19th level clerics, and have non-trivial AC, plus natural invisibility. They have multiple attacks per round and virtually limitless range to charge into combat. A full 16 of them makes a fairly nasty fight to deal with, as the 1e Book of Lairs noted.
Remorhaz – The 14HD version of these beasts is quite potent, with decent magic resistance, a potent and potentially instantly lethal attack, and the highest single damage ability I know of in AD&D – 10d10 damage to anyone that comes in contact with its blazing hot back.
Retriever – Basically, a dragon reskinned in a slightly different form, so everything that applies to dragons applies here. Its breathe weapons – I mean ‘eye rays’ – are overpowered, and its defenses are negligible.
Roper – In Ultima IV, these along with Balors and Beholders were end game monsters, and it’s reasonable to suggest that they were treated as such because they are capable end game foes in AD&D. With 12HD, multiple attacks, and strong defenses against magic, three such creatures will keep even a high level party busy.
Slaad – Pretty much all the Slaad are rough foes to face, each in their own way. They again strike me as the results of having playtested high level play, and have some interesting features. For example, the Blue Slaad have brutal damage potential for their HD but are one of the few psionic monsters in the game a PC psionic could reasonably defeat in psionic combat – which suggests that the writer has even playtested psionics extensively. Red Slaad are weak, but the party might be best advised to just avoid the potential hordes of them that can be encountered by outrunning them. Green Slaad have a nice suite of magical abilities, while the Grey and Death slaad are more potent than any non-unique creature that had been published to that point.
Solar – See Planatar. Just ignore the typo with their AC. It’s plainly meant to be -9.
Shambling Mound – The entry lists the largest sort of this creature at 11HD, but like the enveloper the potential here has to be noted from the description – lightning bolts cause it to grow by 1HD. No limit is mentioned, so it’s quite possible to imagine how the normal limits might be exceeded. The largest size you may wish to place is really the largest size you may desire. Aside from just putting a 30HD shambling mound in your dungeon and having rules justification for it, the shambling mound has impressive resistance to attacks – taking half damage from almost everything. It also has a delayed death attack dependent on killing the creature before the timer goes off that can make for a rather tense fight.
Spectre – The spectre is not destroyable by turning, and has some capacity to resist the turns of even fairly high level clerics. Its attack is one of the most horrifying in the game, eliminating at a stroke two hard earned levels. Up to six of these terrifying foes may appear at a time.
Thessalhydra – Sure it’s a glass cannon, but ten high damage attacks per round plus a 12d6 acidic breath weapon attack means that it is one of the most capable damage dealers in the game – matching the bigger dragons.
Tenebrous Worm – Although only 10HD, they can wreck anyone that tries to attack them in melee, and their bite does up to 4d10 damage.
Titan – The more potent versions of these creatures are at least equal in power to a fiend lord.
Vampire – The base line monster is on par with the dreaded spectre. But the real danger of this foe is the implication that they retain their class abilities beyond death, meaning that the most powerful examples of these creatures are ones not listed in the entry. The DMG lists these creatures as Monster Level VIII, meaning that they are fitting foes for 8th or high level characters, and generally not to be encountered at all before 6th level. But it also lists vampires as 9th to 10th level evil clerics being Monster Level IX, and those which are 9th to 12th level M-U’s as monster level X. It’s thus easy to see just how off the scale of power Strahd is for the suggested level of the party in Ravenloft.
Umber Hulk – They are on the weak end of the scale for a party of high level as they have low HD and no real defenses, but the ability to burrow, high damage when they hit, and a comically dangerous gaze attack (confusion gaze attacks are vastly better designed than the more common charm, fear, death and petrifaction gaze attacks) warrants their inclusion in the list provided they appear in numbers.
Whale – I don’t think I’ve ever seen an encounter with a sperm whale in D&D, but at 36HD, the ability to swallow foes whole, and attacks doing up to 15d4 damage, they deserve mention. Moby Dick, indeed.
Will-O-Wisp – A good armor class and virtual immunity to spells makes up somewhat for a limited offensive punch.
Yochol – Although not particularly powerful, they do have one massively powerful attack mode that makes them worth mentioning. Buried in the text it reads, “A yochol can change from one form to another within a single round.” Now read the text of the ‘stinking cloud’ spell. Ok then. Combined with their other decent defenses and good AC, that means four of these is actually a reasonable challenge despite the low HD.
The last bit of advice is to not limit your self to what is written down. A close reading of Gygax’s work shows that when it comes to challenging player character’s of the highest level, he was fully prepared to create what he needed when what he needed wasn’t yet published. Don’t be afraid to take a monster and fix it in some fashion to make it the challenge it needs to be. Make your own unique foes. Nothing in the text of his monster manual suggests it, but when Gygax writes up a lair of giants, the chiefs of their kind have the statistics of giants of a larger sort. Feel free to make unique foes. Quite often you will find mention of a monster ‘of the largest sort’, suggesting a monster with 8 hit points on the dice. But the utility of just more hit points is limited. A better example within the text is in the section of the DMG on artifacts, Gygax mentions the existence of a unique Iron Golem – Talos – having triple the normal hit points. Now that is a worthy foe even for a party of 16th level characters! Using that as a template, I began doubling or tripling the HD of other monsters to make unique foes. Good candidates are those of 5-8 HD which might otherwise have the necessary attributes to threaten a high level party, were it not for its limited HD. Manticores with their flight and powerful ranged attack are a good example of a creature suited to such treatment. When improving them thusly, fill in the creature’s abilities by improving their AC by 2-4, improving spell resistance by 10 or 20%, adding a dice or two to their primary attacks, and granting them the abilities of similar monsters – like granting our lord of the Manticores the roar of a Dragonne or Androsphynx or the fear ability of an adult dragon is also reasonable. When doubling or tripling the HD, do not forget to double or triple the casting ability of beings with caster levels or by increasing the number of spells and the highest level of spells available by 1 or 2 steps. And of course, if such creatures are undead, they turn as lich at the very least. The aforementioned sperm whale, if encountered in the abyss, will certainly have the immunities common to demon-kind. A double HD spirit naga, having the casting abilities of a 10th level M-U and an 8th level cleric is an easy change and a memorable foe. The triple HD version, having 30HD, AC -4, a bite doing 3-9 damage, 40% magic resistance, the immunities of a demon, and the casting ability of a 15th level M-U and 12th level cleric is as potent as a fiend lord and makes for a great queen of all evil naga-kind. If you let your creativity by your guide, you’ll never be at a loss for challenges to present.
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