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<blockquote data-quote="Greatwyrm" data-source="post: 1802495" data-attributes="member: 479">It's not really 3.5 specific, but the best advice I can give you is don't do any more work than you have to.&nbsp; It's pretty easy to take standard creatures, make some small or even cosmetic changes, and come up with something new enough to keep people guessing.For example, in my last game the group ended up in a large, abandoned graveyard.&nbsp; When inspecting a very large crypt, they found two very beautiful, but creepy goth chicks, that smelled of old death.&nbsp; They made cobwebs and dead grass spring from the ground and entangle the party.&nbsp; They tried to charm the party and were resistant to melee damage.&nbsp; When the fight started to go against them, the goths melted into nearby tombstones, only to step out of ones across the graveyard and continue the fight.&nbsp; At one point, one even &quot;disappeared&quot; by changing herself into a grave marker that looked like a statue of an angel.&nbsp; I had a table full of veteran players that had no idea what they were up against.All I did was take a completely off the rack dryad and change the description -- all the abilities were pretty much the same.&nbsp; Entangle just produced dead vegetation and such instead of vines and grass.&nbsp; Tree stride let them move between headstones instead of trees.&nbsp; The power that let them change to look like trees let them look like grave statues instead.&nbsp; Instead of a tree, they were linked to the crypt the party found them in.&nbsp; Totall cosmetic changes -- all &quot;new&quot; monster.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Greatwyrm, post: 1802495, member: 479"] It's not really 3.5 specific, but the best advice I can give you is don't do any more work than you have to. It's pretty easy to take standard creatures, make some small or even cosmetic changes, and come up with something new enough to keep people guessing. For example, in my last game the group ended up in a large, abandoned graveyard. When inspecting a very large crypt, they found two very beautiful, but creepy goth chicks, that smelled of old death. They made cobwebs and dead grass spring from the ground and entangle the party. They tried to charm the party and were resistant to melee damage. When the fight started to go against them, the goths melted into nearby tombstones, only to step out of ones across the graveyard and continue the fight. At one point, one even "disappeared" by changing herself into a grave marker that looked like a statue of an angel. I had a table full of veteran players that had no idea what they were up against. All I did was take a completely off the rack dryad and change the description -- all the abilities were pretty much the same. Entangle just produced dead vegetation and such instead of vines and grass. Tree stride let them move between headstones instead of trees. The power that let them change to look like trees let them look like grave statues instead. Instead of a tree, they were linked to the crypt the party found them in. Totall cosmetic changes -- all "new" monster. [/QUOTE]

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