A waste of statistics and an illustrators time.

[DMH]

see Monster Manual 2.....

Hey. There are a bunch of cool Dark Sun creatures, plus moon rat, catoblepas, bronze serpent, corpse gatherer, feyr (I hate the new spelling though), Spelljammer creatures, phoenix, meenlock, and avolakia.

 

[Saeviomagy]

My vote is tarrasque. I mean sure, it's a big godzilla creature, but at the levels where the party could potentially defeat it, it's a cakewalk, and below that it's just a plot device.

Useless, utterly useless.

 

[Imret]

Plot devices aren't useless. Especially when you spring the tarrasque on them in place of the expected "Entombed Hero of Legend Who Can Save The World". *smiles quietly, images of players staring in shock dancing through his head*

But, I'd say my vote is in there for Phantom Fungus. First time I picked up the MM, I thought "Wow, there's the most useless section in this book. I'm so never using that". Then I got the Rast. Both are pointless, but the Phantom Fungus is just a worse design...plus it makes me think of its smaller, dumpier, meatier cousin, the Ghost Eater. And I just didn't dig on Ghostwalk, except the elf/yuan-ti conflict.

/sidetrack

Resume making fun of terrible design mistakes!

 

[Saeviomagy]

Plot devices aren't useless. Especially when you spring the tarrasque on them in place of the expected "Entombed Hero of Legend Who Can Save The World". *smiles quietly, images of players staring in shock dancing through his head*

Yeah, but you don't need stats for it. Really, you don't.

But, I'd say my vote is in there for Phantom Fungus. First time I picked up the MM, I thought "Wow, there's the most useless section in this book. I'm so never using that". Then I got the Rast. Both are pointless, but the Phantom Fungus is just a worse design...plus it makes me think of its smaller, dumpier, meatier cousin, the Ghost Eater. And I just didn't dig on Ghostwalk, except the elf/yuan-ti conflict.

I had fun with a phantom fungus. It's one of the few low-level invisible creatures. It does actually fill a niche.

I've got another vote - the rast. It's stupid looking, has powers that make it unplayable (once per round, add an animated object of up to gargantuan size to the combat), and doesn't really serve any purpose.

 

[Crothian]

Hey. There are a bunch of cool Dark Sun creatures, plus moon rat, catoblepas, bronze serpent, corpse gatherer, feyr (I have the new spelling though), Spelljammer creatures, phoenix, meenlock, and avolakia.

There area few exceptions from that book, but mostly I was very unhappy with it.

 

[Imret]

I had fun with a phantom fungus. It's one of the few low-level invisible creatures. It does actually fill a niche.

I'd sooner a 3rd-level spellcaster with invisibility and a minion or two than the transparent mushroom mech of low-to-moderate doom. But hey, YMMV. If I desperately need an invisible low-level creature, I'd just make up something that isn't plant life. Don't want the trouble? Phantom fungus is there for ya.

And that's why we love the game. What you don't like, you don't need.

 

[BigRedRod]

Meenlocks. I can concieve of no use of them that wouldn't involve the players sighing

 

[DMH]

I've got another vote - the rast. It's stupid looking, has powers that make it unplayable (once per round, add an animated object of up to gargantuan size to the combat), and doesn't really serve any purpose.

You mean the ravid? Rasts looked a lot better in the 2nd ed., almost like fanged leeches.

 

[Archibald Theocliste]

I've got another vote - the rast. It's stupid looking, has powers that make it unplayable (once per round, add an animated object of up to gargantuan size to the combat), and doesn't really serve any purpose.

Actually you are thinking about the Ravid, not the Rast

Nonetheless I fully second you here. Totally unplayable. A CR 5 Monster with low hp, a 25 AC and always protected by an animated objet up to gargantuan size (CR 7, only 148 hp and a +15 slam for 2d8+10 woot !) is a totally ridiculous concept. Granted the animate object power is random, but activates each round (a lucky ravid can gather up to 20 Gargantuan animated objects...). To me such a monster could be killed in half a second or could lead to a TPK depending on the situation, definitively not worth using.
Ooops, I forgot to mention I don't like what it looks like... at all... ok actually I hate that monoarmed (is that a word?) flying albino snake...

 

[Shade]

The grimweird from MM3. It is CR 11, has energy drain with its claw attack that will never hit, has the survivability of paper, and its greatest powers...summon monster IV once every five rounds. (No need to keep track of these rounds, DMs, as it will most certainly be dead by then.)

If anyone has protection from evil available, this fight is over in less than 2 rounds.