Must-have monsters for a playtest?

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, Stirges - the classic low level 'latches on and does continuing damage' monster.
Purple Worm, 'cause nothing says 'fun' like half the party getting swallowed by a giant earthworm.
Rust monster - 'cause it's funny!

The Auld Grump

 

[Raven Crowking]

I am partial to gnolls and bugbears.

Giant snakes of all types.

Grells and Gricks and Mind Flayers, oh my!


RC

 

[Scott DeWar]

You didn't list the Kobold-Urd!!

 

[Aus_Snow]

Plants? Maybe Assassin Vines, or whatever works best.

I agree that Elementals would be a good idea.

Another little flier that can be annoying, and maybe interesting, is the classic D&D Imp.


edit: Mimic was the first thing I was going to suggest. Excellent choice.

 

[the Jester]

Lots of awesome suggestions, but I just need to make sure that all my bases are covered, not do up an entire Monster Manual! I do want to get this doc ready for playtestin' at some point... so I'll probably only add things that are genuinely 'missing' (in terms of how an element of the monster will play).

I could use another plant (green slime has the 'plant' keyword already), so maybe the assassin vine; also, probably a golem or two, a demon or devil or two and an elemental or two... but at that point I think I'll have the basic 'monster elements' that I need for playtesting. Unless I realize that I have had a huge oversight.

Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions, I really do appreciate them even if I don't use them.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Some monsters that don't exist simply to be fought would be nice, too, including fey as mentioned by Whisper72. I would include the doppelganger among these, as well as any monster that's primary use is to be tricky and opportunistic, such as the mite or snyad. Meenlocks, perhaps, if you give them a 1e feel.

It seems that you aren't looking to distribute (unless you are going to call some of these monsters by other names!), so you should probably include the displacer beast and the beholder as iconics.

If you are going to use the 4e SC mechanic, you should consider a section on "monsters" that cannot (easily) be fought in combat. As an example of such, see the "three heads in a well" encounter from my Faerie Encounters thread (Faerie Encounters - EN World: D&D / RPG News & Reviews ; heads in a well start here: EN World: D&D / RPG News & Reviews - View Single Post - Faerie Encounters ).

The aboleth is also a must-have for me, and one of the first creatures I statted for my own system.


RC

 

[Schmoe]

There's a fair list here, but a couple of broad categories missing:

Burrowing creatures
Incorporeal creatures
Shape-changers
Energy drain

Vampires could cover both shape-changers and energy drain. You might also want Shadows for incorporeal and stat-drain. Ghosts are also good for incorporeal and also have some unusual rules that can test the corner-cases of a system. For burrowing, a bulette or an ankheg is a simple addition.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Kobold- kobold
Kobold- kobold scoundrel
Kobold- kobold assassin
Kobold- kobold wyrmpriest
Kobold- kobold chieftain

And don't forget:

Kolbold- lawyer
Kolbold- auditor
Kolbold- principal
Kolbold- accountant
Kolbold- science teacher
Kolbold- forum moderator

 

[Mark CMG]

Hmmm, Stirges - the classic low level 'latches on and does continuing damage' monster.
Purple Worm, 'cause nothing says 'fun' like half the party getting swallowed by a giant earthworm.

Yup. these are both rite of passage creatures for a D&D-type game, IMO.

 

[Rolflyn]

Wraith or ghost - insubstantial undead
Wight or wraith - draining undead
Mummy or otyugh - disease inflicter
Golem or will o'wisp - immune-to-magic dudes
Phase spider or blink dog - teleporting dudes
Bugbears - love 'em, sneaky big dudes