D&D 5E Best low level monsters to freak the hell out of a low-mid level party?

[Aimian_Silverflash]

I unleached a legendary tyrannosaurus rex on a party that was near the jungles of chult once. Basically a jurrasic park adventure, where they felt and heard it coming a mile away. Sometimes simply trying to survive certain death is what characters need, haha.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Remember that the Monster Manual only specifies AVERAGE HP. You can give low CR monsters even more HP and still stay close to their bounds to make them tougher. So if your players are taking out those 15hp Orcs, jump them up to 25hp and watch 1-2 hit-to-kill monsters become 2-4 hit-to-kill monsters.

 

[Aimian_Silverflash]

Drow elf raiding party armed with sleep poison is always something characters hate.

 

[Unwise]

The best monster I have used in 5e was a certain 'eye monster' in LMoP. The bad guys called it The Eye Monster, but also The Beholder. They knew the name of that type of monster and just assumed the name fit. So the PCs were freaked the hell out, thinking that a very high CR Beholder was in the area. They avoided that area like the plague. So in short, the scariest monster can be one that is not even there. They eventually did come across the monster to somewhat comedic effect.

The next time they came across another type of "Eye Monster" in LMoP was really hilarious. They had heard that there was a Beholder in the room. They kicked open the door, I gave the description and the guy going first screamed, "it IS a Beholder, run run!" Panic ensured and nobody made their monster lore roll to know any different.

 

[pming]

Hiya.

If you want to "freak out" your players... use normal, every day critters. However, have said every day critters behave in a decidedly un-normal way.

Example: Have whomever is on watch that evening suddenly notice five, grey squirrels, spaced evenly around the parties camp. They're just sitting there. Staring at the character. Doing nothing. Just...staring. When the player tries to scare them away, have them squint their eyes a bit, and move forward a foot or so. Then, just for fun, tell the character that he feels a cold breeze blow into camp, sending a few bright-red embers swirling up into the stary night sky...where the PC notices about another dozen grey squirrels in the branches. Staring blankly. Silently. Just...staring...

That kind of thing will freak the hell out of your players. "Normal things" behaving in a decidedly un-natural way.

Mechanical "Wow! Those were tough! And kinda weird!" things will only get you so far. You need to play on your players fears and uncertainties...not their characters. Unusual aspects of a normal critter are fun for little surprises, but a surprise is not the same thing as actual 'fear'. Having Orcs with glowing green skin that give off Radiant damage to those within 5' are a surprise...but not 'freaky'. Encountering three dead orcs, with glowing green skin, giving off Radiant damage to all within 5' is freaky...the players imaginations will ignite and they will likely start to think the worse.

Unless, of course, I totally missed your question and you don't really want to "freak out your players" and instead you just want to surprise them with unusual monster attributes. In that case...er...sorry? My misunderstanding. Carry on!

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Jester David]

Ghouls. +5 to hit is still decent and a DC 10 Con save to avoid paralyzation is still nasty. Four or five of these can still scare a party.

Banshees. DC 13 Con save or lose all your hit points. Two or three of these will make your players hate you.

 

[Unwise]

Little old ladies in places they should not be is a favorite too. I often use an old lady herding pigs in the dead of night in an unsafe area. Some of the pigs have run away and she is trying to regather them, but seems largely unconcerned. PCs generally ignore her, soon after they hear oinks mixed with children's crys, but can't seem to find them anymore.

Regular use of hags is fun, I tend to make them a bit more powerful and a lot more weird. Most are not just plain evil, sure they might do terrible things, but they can also be persuaded to do divination or make potions for PCs. I find that my PCs always fear meeting them, as they never know if they are going to be hostile or not. Refusing to drink an offered up of tea might be enough to turn them hostile, drinking the tea could be enough to kill you.

 

[77IM]

Zombie Beholder is only CR 5 (I think?) but has a disintegration beam that does a lot of damage and can insta-kill PCs if it drops them to zero. I fought one at level 5 and it scared the crap out of me.

My players are most frightened of doppelgangers...

 

[PnPgamer]

Vampire intelligent goblins. Fit your description of most frightening.

 

[Cyan Wisp]

I quite like the Nothic as a creepy stalker. I really want to find a good way to use their Weird Insight ability. It's freaky that its very gaze rots your flesh. A trio of them might be a horrid, unsettling encounter. Use guerilla tactics, emerging from the shadows and...looking at you...then retreating. They also have truesight 120 ft. so good luck hiding from them.

Not creepy, but a squad of melee hobgoblins will rip you to shreds if you underestimate them. Well-armoured, disciplined and they have Martial Advantage.

I think ghouls can be built up to be creepy as heck. Scraping of claws, snapping of bones, slurping of marrow, sniffing. That's before the party see what they are up against. Then comes the paralyzing, gnashing, gouging and licking. Not for the faint of heart!