D&D General Monster Expectations

[KYRON45]

When the DM introduces a monster to a new party in a new campaign for the first time are they under any obligation to stick to the monster manual (of any other creature book)?

If I say you encounter a band of Gnolls but I want that band to be CR 5 is that "screwing" the players expectations?

edit: i spelled Gnolls wrong.

 

[GMMichael]

No.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

When the DM introduces a monster to a new party in a new campaign for the first time are they under any obligation to stick to the monster manual (of any other creature book)?

If I say you encounter a band of Knolls but I want that band to be CR 5 is that "screwing" the players expectations?

Gnolls you mean. You can make a CR 5 Gnoll I guess, there is no issue with that, it should not be messing with the player expectations as the Players are not supposed to know how capable their enemies are or what they can do.

Tons of DMs make custom monsters too. But what do you mean by CR 5 band of Gnolls? Like do you want each Gnoll to be CR 5?

 

[Xeviat]

Nothing at all. One of my most memorable encounters was when I threw goblins with class levels at my party back in early 3E. They shot the lead goblins with arrows and I had them play dead, so they players rushed into the clearing to fight the melee goblins. Then the scouts got back up and surrounded them.

Taught them to not underestimate goblins.

 

[KYRON45]

Gnolls you mean. You can make a CR 5 Gnoll I guess, there is no issue with that, it should not be messing with the player expectations as the Players are not supposed to know how capable their enemies are or what they can do.

Tons of DMs make custom monsters too. But what do you mean by CR 5 band of Gnolls? Like do you want each Gnoll to be CR 5?

The entire time i was typing that i was saying to myself....don't misspell Gnoll.

 

[KYRON45]

Gnolls you mean. You can make a CR 5 Gnoll I guess, there is no issue with that, it should not be messing with the player expectations as the Players are not supposed to know how capable their enemies are or what they can do.

Tons of DMs make custom monsters too. But what do you mean by CR 5 band of Gnolls? Like do you want each Gnoll to be CR 5?

A specific band of Gnolls each with various CR ratings. Not all Gnolls everywhere.
I like gnolls but feel they are grossly underrated.

 

[Rabulias]

Only if the characters were created as experts on gnolls (in your example). Then it would be a mild bait and switch, and should have a way for them to learn how and why these gnolls are different.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

A specific band of Gnolls each with various CR ratings. Not all Gnolls everywhere.
I like gnolls but feel they are grossly underrated.

5e has a bunch of gnolls over multiple CR Ranges. So you probably would not even need to homebrew to have a good balance of them.

 

[Charlaquin]

It’s absolutely within the DM’s power to change monsters as they see fit and/or make up entirely new monsters. That said, I personally try not to do so too often, because I think there’s value in players being able to rely on a shared knowledge base about the monsters they can typically expect to see. So, I try to keep my custom monsters a rare, special thing, and/or to keep changes I make to common monsters consistent across all monsters of that sort. Don’t get me wrong though, that’s a personal preference. There’s nothing wrong with customizing much more heavily than that if you want to.

 

[RangerWickett]

Do what you want, but just be narratively consistent with what you've previously established.

I'm doing a bronze age game where I had the party fight a Hellcat (which I'm not even sure is in 5e - the invisible but glowing devil lion), which I flavored as being an angelic servitor of the god of light. I'd previously established that 'spirits' in the setting could be fooled by wearing masks or smearing yourself with the blood of another creature, so they daubed their faces in lamb's blood, which I let work to help them sneak up and surprise the critter.

I think this week they'll be fighting a kulilu - a 20-ft. long hybrid of a carp and a weasel that generates intense heat from its body and spits steaming geysers from its mouth. Just make up monsters, if you want.