D&D General Classic Monsters - Retired Roll Call?

[Snarf Zagyg]

Black Pudding
Gelatinous Cube
Carrion Crawler
Mind Flayer
Intellect Devourer
Roper
Umber Hulk
Mimic
Roper
Gelatinous Cube
Rust Monster
Displacer Beast
Intellect Devourer
Carrion Crawler
Beholder
Marilith
Tarrasque

Huh. I have no idea how to respond to this list. Of the list I would say the following:

Never Used
Type V Demon (Marilith) - shrug I mean, I'm just not down to clown in the Abyss, I guess?
Tarrasque- I always viewed this as more of a myth than an actuality, like New Zealand or Canada.

Haven't User in a While
Carrion Crawler- I guess my dungeons clean themselves? This used to be a lot more common when I relied on random monster checks.
Black Pudding- Not sure why I haven't used, but maybe it's because the idea of a deadly "pudding" just seems more stupid-funny than stupid-terrifying.
Roper- No idea, just hasn't come up. D&D has a LOT of monsters.

Use Semi-regularly
Mimic- Not just for chests!
Intellect Devourer & Mind Flayers- Classics, and you gotta have enemies with brains. Or that eat brains. Either/or.
Beholder- See Mind Flayer.
Umber Hulk & Displacer Beasts- Occasional go-tos.
Rust monster- Nice equipment ya got there. Be a shame if something happened to it.
Gelatinous cube- better than pudding.

 

[payn]

Lot of these are gotcha beasts and have fallen out of style. I still like using them as GM but in a less "haha you dummies didnt see it coming" way.

 

[Mad_Jack]

I'll tell you what you do see a lot of these days: gibbering mouthers. Darn things get everywhere!

You're probably watching too many "news" programs on tv, lol.

I haven't used a gibbering mouther in an adventure in decades - I sort of "broke" them for myself the last time, when I unintentionally turned the mouther into a combination of a Greek chorus, Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets Show, and Don Rickles... Ever since then, I can't just play one as a straight Lovecraft-esque horror monster.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah. Most early reviews were positive as is typical - likely based on a flip through. Some others were positive online. The people I know personally IRL who have run it hated it.
Doing a deep dive into it over coffee/bourbon/cigars (or whatever), we could really pull apart its problems.
One DM has sworn off WotC adventures altogether after it. And he is likely quitting 5e too.

I like Rime, but I have a fairly low opinion of the unaccountably popular Curse of Strahd.

But it doesn't matter that we like the adventure or not, the monsters are in there (apart from shriekers).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I haven't used a gibbering mouther in an adventure in decades

I'm really thinking about published adventures - there are swarms of them in Call of the Netherdeap, they are in Radiant Citadel.

Although I did include a Greater Starspawn Emissary (VGR) in one of my own adventures, and that has an attack that spawns gibbering mouthers.

 

[Retreater]

I like Rime, but I have a fairly low opinion of the unaccountably popular Curse of Strahd.

But it doesn't matter that we like the adventure or not, the monsters are in there (apart from shriekers).

I just started running Curse of Strahd for a second time (with another group).
This time there's a whole slew of issues that weren't there last time. I need to course correct, but I think that needs to be another thread.
But yeah, I realize that what we think of adventures is highly subjective.

 

[the Jester]

Yeah, was playing with my son recently and crestfallen when I had to explain to him what a shrieker was.

But overall, D&D has sooo many monsters that you'll never encounter even a quarter of them within the life of a single campaign.

This is so true. I try hard to include a wide variety of monsters in my games, and I can't even come close to using them all.

 

[nevin]

I think the Op's point was the monsters are well known to all the oldtimers and they don't get used much anymore. Also You couldn't challenge any party that could cast 7th level spells with almost all the monsters in that movie. A sorcerer that could cast 7th level spells could kill the displacer beasts with a dagger and no magic.

 

[Bacon Bits]

My wife and I watched the D&D movie yesterday. Don't worry - I'm not including any spoilers here. But she and I had a discussion of some of the "iconic" monsters she hasn't encountered since starting the hobby 7 years ago, and maybe why that is.

My thought is that many of the classic creatures from her list harken back to an old style of play that has disappeared amongst 5e players (which is when she started the hobby).

Here's a selection from the list we made this morning (and the reason why I think she hasn't encountered them) ...

D&D isn't in Dungeons anymore...
Black Pudding
Gelatinous Cube
Carrion Crawler
Mind Flayer
Intellect Devourer
Roper
Umber Hulk

I think "dungeon" has just expanded beyond what OD&D called a dungeon. A dungeon isn't a series of underground monster-filled rooms connected by trap-filled corridors. A dungeon is a series of connected encounters. The dungeon could be anywhere.

That said, I know I've used 5e Mind Flayer, Roper, Umber Hulk, Carrion Crawler and Gel Cube. I can't remember the last time we used a Black Pudding, but it was probably 3e. I'm quite confident we've never used an Intellect Devourer in any edition of the game, but that might have to do with our suitability as a food source for such a beast.

But I'm pretty certain some of those were in official modules.

D&D doesn't like to trick players anymore...
Mimic
Roper
Gelatinous Cube
Rust Monster

We've used Ropers, Gel Cubes, Piercers, and Mimics. Mimics are pretty rare, though. The first three I'm pretty sure were in official modules, even, but I could be mistaken.

I don't think we've ever used a Rust Monster. The last one I recall was in a 1e/2e campaign in high school. It's kind of an intentionally unfair monster. Kind of like Black Pudding. We don't really care for stuff that destroys equipment, I guess.

Mid-Range CR creatures have limited windows of use...
(You can't use them like goblins in large numbers, and a single one isn't a challenge. They don't really have a place in encounter design.)
Displacer Beast
Intellect Devourer
Carrion Crawler

I guess I haven't noticed this problem, but aren't these all CR 2 or so? I use groups of CR 2s all the time -- Ogre, Zombie Ogre, Chromatic Guard Drakes, Ankheg, Owlbear, and Veteran are some of my go-tos -- so I guess I'm confused. They're a great distraction in mid-level combat. Still threatening but rarely do much damage. They make great monsters for encounters with deceptively difficult terrain.

By the time you get to that level, the campaign will end or else the monster won't be a challenge...
Beholder
Marilith
Tarrasque

I've never used the Tarrasque. Godzilla is boring. Well, I think in 3e we did encounter it once, but it was kind of like a post-campaign super boss for fun after the campaign wrapped up.

I've definitely run Beholders and one of our players loves to run Mariliths so we've fought them before.

I have noticed that some DMs are hesitant about throwing high CR creatures against the PCs. IMX, CR stops really mattering around level 11. We had our party of 5 level 13 PCs take out a Balor. And then a minute later take out a second Balor. It nearly killed half the party, but nobody actually died. They just got knocked unconscious. That was in Out of the Abyss.

Edit: Clarity.

 

[GuyBoy]

I last fought a carrion crawler about two weeks ago; my grandson is running Dragons of Icespire Peak, as a first-time DM, and there was one in an old silver mine. I first fought a carrion crawler when Jimmy Carter was President!
I have fond memories of the roper in Forge of Fury, but they’re only fond because I have DM-ed it twice, never played.
Never utilised a tarrasque myself but recently had to release one in Odyssey of the Dragonlords.
My ten year old granddaughter is very new to the game, plays rogues and has a strange obsession with beholders.

So, I guess I just love me some old-school monsters. Hate modrons, though.