Fooling players who have memorized the MM

[Ravilah]

My players are mostly Dnd veterans who know the contents of the Monster Manual front and back. So in order to keep things interesting, I have to fiddle around with the standard abilities and stats of the more traditional monsters.

What are some of the best re-imaginings of standard monsters you have come up with or encountered? (Especially ones that have caught players off guard.)

Examples:

The "basilisk" actually has a fey template and turns things into trees.

Predatory animals (wolves, boars, bears, etc) all have breath weapons.

This troll doesn't regenerate but releases deadly spores.

Oops. These orcs have damage reduction--not so easy after all.


-R

 

[The Souljourner]

One of our DMs made Unicorns evil. That's one of the most simple changes you can make... really makes for a weird encounter. No one studies the combat abilities of "friendly" monsters... plus it's a heck of a surprise when that unicorn charges and does double damage with its horn.


Also, Monster Manuals II through IV (and soon V) help a lot in that regard. I don't know any of the monsters in anything other than the original (since I'm primarily a player, I didn't want to spend the money on the other ones).

-Nate

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

You can change the feat selection of a monster in such a way as to change its tactics quite a bit. Or, the easiest way, is just to make the ecology of the monster seem so different the players don't know what they are fighting. If I said there was a small horde of small flesh-eating, forest-dwelling reptilian creatures bearing down on you with bladed claws and punching daggers, the last thing you would think of if you knew the MM by heart is a Kobold, which is what they could be statistically. Now, it's best to be fair with this method: a friend of mine jokes about how to kill off players like this is to make them face an Albino Red Dragon.

 

[awayfarer]

I don't think even one encounter I've pitted my players up agains so far has been a straight rip from one of the MM's. I can think of at least one player who has every book under the sun and several written during an eclipse. I wouldn't want to spoil the fun by having them completely prepared for everything I throw at them.

Just change one or two stats around, if any. The most crucial thing to do if you don't want players always knowing what they're up against is to describe it differently. I could swear I remember someone posting about a half-dragon hag they sent against their players, with the interesting catch being that they described it as an enormous fly. Sure by the book/stats its a half green dragon hag, but minus the pre-existing flavor text it's a large, winged creature that can bite and spit acid.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

The most crucial thing to do if you don't want players always knowing what they're up against is to describe it differently. I could swear I remember someone posting about a half-dragon hag they sent against their players, with the interesting catch being that they described it as an enormous fly. Sure by the book/stats its a half green dragon hag, but minus the pre-existing flavor text it's a large, winged creature that can bite and spit acid.

See he knows the answer
Just use the mechanics you need and describe it differently. For example just swap out the fly speed of a Beholder for burrow speed and present it as a hideous worm creature ala Tremors that opens its mouth to reveal a dozen mouthed tentacle-tongues that shoot rays. The most wicked I ever got was switching the fiends and angels around, putting the fiends on the side of universal freedom and the angels as merciless enforcers of cosmic order. Didn't take any stat changes just describing them differently.

 

[Land Outcast]

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=106339

 

[robberbaron]

Fire-Proof Trolls.
Shook the players up almost as much as the Flame-Retardent Mummies.

My favourite trick is simply to take a small, inoffensive (to the current party, at least) creature and advance it. A Basilisk with an extra 10 or 12 dice, for example, making it a decent challenge for a 12th level party.

 

[GreatLemur]

I think the cheapest trick in this area--and the safest, if you're not so sure about gauging encounter levels--is to leave the stats of the monster alone, and just change what it looks like. Players won't know that all they're "really" facing is a bunch of dire rats if you describe the creatures as squealing, oily, slug-like things with jawless, tentacle-ringed mouths. And, man, when you ask the ones who were bitten for Fort saves, they're not going to guess it's just an 11 DC filth fever infection; they're going to worry.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I like your dire rat example GreatLemur, think I'll steal it for my next game!

 

[el-remmen]

I always liked the idea (contact) once told me about - a hydra where each head has the power of a beholder eyestalk.