D&D 5E Low CRs and "Boring" Monsters: Ogre

[Sacrosanct]

I'm trying to think of a humanoid I found more disappointing than the ogre and I can't think of one. It's the poster child for a boring bag of hit points. Ogres should be terrifying for a low level party and they just aren't..

If a low level PC isn't scared of a creature that can kill him or her in one hit, then they aren't a very bright PC.

But let's look at the ogre. Two primary observations:

1) Not all monsters need to have kool powerz. That's a fallacy. There are hundreds of monsters to choose from. Ogres fit a purpose.
2) even if you take #1 away, let's look at what it says for an ogre. No offense to the OP, but in threads like this, it's almost always ignored about what the actual flavor text is and how it impacts the game. That text is there for a reason, and monsters are much more than just a statblock. So what does the text say: "Whenever possible, ogres gang up with other monsters to bully or prey on creatures weaker than themselves. They associate freely with...." This is very important, because it means that the party probably isn't just fighting an ogre, but fighting other creatures along with it. "Whenever possible" is strong language. It's not "occasionally" or "sometimes".

 

[trentonjoe]

Love these.
* Sweep (special rule) : if the Ogre misses with an attack, it can try to hit targets that are adjacent to its initial target, dealing up to to its Strength modifier damage.
> Tell the players beforehand that the monster makes big sweeping moves as he strikes

And / or

* Slam the ground : as a Legendary action, the Ogre slams the ground with his greatclub. Each target adjacent to it must make a DC11 Acrobatics check or be Knocked prone.


I do similar things like:

Foul Breath: As an action (or bonus) the ogre breathes his (or her's) nasty, sticky breath in a 15 ft cone, DC 12 Con or poisoned or one round.

Big Swing: As an action, the ogre can sing his club forcing all within 10' to make a DEX save (DC 13) or take 5 damage and are knocked prone.

Step on him: As a move action the Ogre can try to restrain an opponent by stepping on her.


I also like to give ogres shields and/or crappy armor. A level of warlock makes a good CR 2 ogre leader. Takes about a minute to make.

 

[Jensen]

I almost always give my monsters some kind of special ability (like the excellent suggestions above) or a feat. Heck, use 4e special abilities and convert them to suit 5e.

I like that the monsters are baseline versions. I can power up/down, mix and match monsters in an encounter (like the ogre), and give them abilities that suit the encounter/my game.

 

[Rhenny]

In a game a few weeks ago, our 3rd level pcs faced an ogre in a cave with 6 orcs. The ogre wiffed against the Dwarven paladin about 5 times. Finally, it scored a hit. There was tension in the battle even though the ogre had "boring" attacks.

 

[Tinker-TDC]

I just ran an encounter with an ogre and a bunch of goblins. Gave it this:

Backswing
At the ogre's initiative minus 10 it uses its reaction to swings its club back onto its shoulder.
Normal to-hit, but one damage die instead of two. Cannot target the same creature you targeted with the greatclub attack.

Showed it to the players first by having it hit a goblin.
The ogre was painted green and wearing fake pointy ears. It thought it was clever by tricking the goblins and the goblins thought they were smart by just letting it 'become king' so they had a easily influenced bruiser protecting them.

 

[Satyrn]

Love these.
* Sweep (special rule) : if the Ogre misses with an attack, it can try to hit targets that are adjacent to its initial target, dealing up to to its Strength modifier damage.
> Tell the players beforehand that the monster makes big sweeping moves as he strikes

And / or

* Slam the ground : as a Legendary action, the Ogre slams the ground with his greatclub. Each target adjacent to it must make a DC11 Acrobatics check or be Knocked prone.


I do similar things like:

Foul Breath: As an action (or bonus) the ogre breathes his (or her's) nasty, sticky breath in a 15 ft cone, DC 12 Con or poisoned or one round.

Big Swing: As an action, the ogre can sing his club forcing all within 10' to make a DEX save (DC 13) or take 5 damage and are knocked prone.

Step on him: As a move action the Ogre can try to restrain an opponent by stepping on her.

This would make for an excellent monster manual type product - a great big collection of fun abilities that can be tacked onto already existing monsters. Some of those transfer nicely to hill giants or trolls, for example.

 

[cmad1977]

Do the abilities you guys tack on add to the XP value of the creature for your heroes? Bump the CR by 1-2?


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[Eltab]

tangent:
During my Tiamat campaign, I pulled out an encounter with Lizardmen that had badly frightened the group when we were L4, and unleashed the exact same thing against L14 PCs. The point was to demonstrate how much more powerful they were now, compared to when they began (well, actually when I joined the group).

In this case, the encounter was made interesting by giving the Lizardmen tactics, not an extra combat ability. They threw spears and fell / ducked underwater at the end of their turn.
The group wanted to know how I made those little buggers so hard to deal with.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Ogres in plate mail are an awesome boss accompaniment at higher level.

 

[trentonjoe]

This would make for an excellent monster manual type product - a great big collection of fun abilities that can be tacked onto already existing monsters. Some of those transfer nicely to hill giants or trolls, for example.

I actually am writing that book. I have about 80, it's just a matter of organizing and writing them out.

It's my New Years resolution to actually finish



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