Beginners' Monster List

[GMMichael]

1. Animal, Avian: eagle, falcon/hawk, owl, raven, vulture
2. Animal, Herd: antelope, buffalo, camel, cattle, sheep, zebra
3. Animal, Marine: dolphin, giant squid, shark
4. Animal, Reptiles: alligator, frog/toad, lizard, snake, turtle
5. Animal, Woodland: badger, beaver, deer, ferret, fox, otter, rabbit, squirrel
17. Dwarf

20. Elf
28. Human: Bandit, Barbarian/Berserker, Cultist, Nomad/Tribesman, Street Thug

This seems, to me, to be more than enough for many many different types of adventures in a variety of environments and definitely a wide enough spread to challenge (and/or overwhelm) at all starting levels without simply having to make the encounter "10 giant rats instead of 5" for those first few starting levels.

--SD

No hobbits or gnomes? Nasty buggers.

Dwarves and elves deserve just as much expounding as humans and animals.

Dwarves: Deep miner, righteous cleric, drunken ruffian.

Elves: wood elf archer, grey magician, saboteur.

Then there's the dark elves. And the red caps (supernatural dwarves)...

 

[steeldragons]

Well, I use redcaps as their folkloric origins, that is to say dark-faye goblins lookin' to kill things and soak their caps in their blood.

You're correct that there should be various types of elf and dwarf NPCs to encounter, I suppose. Though for a Beginner/Starter kit, I'm not interested in introducing the wood/high/grey/dark elves all at once. Rather, "Here's what 'the' elves are like" which would be 1) the old school definition of a "high" elf and 2) the type of elves that beginner PCs can play a.k.a. the most populace/commonly encountered kind of elves. Wood elves, Dark elves, etc...are not necessary right off the bat and can easily all be introduced in later material, imho.

I was under the impression that gnomes and halflings were on that list...maybe I'm recalling wrong. Or I made the executive decision, in the interest of keeping the list to...what was it 50?...that they weren't necessary out the gate and could be introduced as player races in at a later time...That would make sense, to me, for gnomes. Halflings though, you're right, should definitely be on that list.

 

[Li Shenron]

Nice little game

So, let's say, 20 "normal" animals (varieties may be included as a single entry. i.e. "Cat" could include domestic, puma, tiger, etc... and giant/dire versions of each. So it would only count as 1.)

I don't think I'd go as far as 20...

Wolf
Bear
Lion
Tiger
Crocodyle
Shark
Giant octopus
Giant constrictor snake
Giant poisonous snake
Giant spider

...and, let's start with 20 "monsters"/magical/not-real-world creatures. Again, variants of types (different dragons, for example) could all be included as a single entry.

Orc
Goblin
Troll
Hill giant
Skeleton
Zombie
Mummy
Ghost
Rust monster
Fire elemental
Gelatinous cube
Stone golem
Imp
Gargoyle
Minotaur
Drow
Werewolf
Vampire
Beholder
Red dragon