D&D General It's Time To Vote For Your Favourite D&D Monster!

Nominations were taken! Now it's time to vote. What's our favourite D&D monster of all time? Vote now! You may select up to three monsters from the list.

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Remember, we're voting for your favourite monsters; they don't have to be the biggest, or the most iconic.

FAQ: Why isn't [my favourite monster] in the list? Because you didn't nominate it.

 

[not-so-newguy]

Owlbear: it just doesn’t get more “Gygaxian D&D” than an Owlbear

Mind Flayers: I blame Volo’s Guide for this choice.

Goblin: Being the youngest of three brothers, I can really identify with a goblin’s lot in life

 

[Son of the Serpent]

I like how mystically otherworldly the nightwalker is.
Its also a rare opportunity to say "i attack the darkness" meaningfully.

 

[MNblockhead]

Hard to choose. I went with monsters I love to run and make a major part of a campain. Kobolds always play a strong role in my campains. I love small, weak creatures that can coordinate to make a mess of even high-level characters. I like the 5e they-worship-dragons flavor and have used that to great effect. They make dragons more challenging, more meaningful, and more flavorful. Also, Tuckers Kobolds essay is one of the best classic old-school war stories.

Mindflayers - put in a nice far-realms chocolate into my medieval fantasy peanut butter. They make for great factions or primary antagonists. They were great in old editions and they are still great in 5e. Their treatment in Volo's is great. I don't think I'll ever tap all the cool stories I can make with a well-placed mind flayer colony.

Beholder. Trickier because I don't use them in play. I have not yet uses one in 5e. But I love to think about them and have prepared lots of set piece locations for them. Problem is that played well, or at least how I would play them, they would be damn near impossible to beat, except at the highest levels. This is not a creature to just throw into a dungeon as a random encounter.

 

[R_J_K75]

Displacer Beast, Otyugh and Jello-Cube. All lower-ish level, Ive used them many times throughout the years and usually very effectively. I almost went with mimic but trying to figure out what to disguise it at as something new that the players wont think of as being a mimic is about as laborious a listening to a Tool record.

 

[77IM]

Blue dragon: because their cunning and magical nature makes them more interesting opponents than most dragons. They are my favorite chromatics.

Ogre mage: because they have a wide variety of powers, including shapeshifting. They're really more like ogre-mage-doppelganger-masterminds.

Owlbear: because owlbear!

 

[Hussar]

Heh, looks like Owlbear is still in the running, but, Beholder and Mind Flayer are taking a commanding lead.

Funny thing is, I wonder how many people actually use these monsters? I can honestly count the number of times I've used either one in all the years I've been gaming on one hand. I've never run a module that features them that I can recall. They are never my "go to" encounter monster.

Yet, they remain fixed in the forefront of monsterdom. I don't understand why.

 

[Parmandur]

Heh, looks like Owlbear is still in the running, but, Beholder and Mind Flayer are taking a commanding lead.

Funny thing is, I wonder how many people actually use these monsters? I can honestly count the number of times I've used either one in all the years I've been gaming on one hand. I've never run a module that features them that I can recall. They are never my "go to" encounter monster.

Yet, they remain fixed in the forefront of monsterdom. I don't understand why.

Must be some kind of ear worm.

 

[MarkB]

Must be some kind of ear worm.

Somewhat subjective, I'd say. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Parmandur]

Somewhat subjective, I'd say. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

What a hoot.

 

[not-so-newguy]

I’ve used owlbears as random encounters many times.

They’re big, loud, and unreasonably violent. What’s not to love?