D&D 5E (2014) Overused monsters currently

[Sacrosanct]

What monsters do you feel are being overused in current D&D official materials (adventures, video games, etc)? Goblins and orcs always make a big appearance because of the history behind them, but what others? Maybe it's just me, but it seems like you can't find an official D&D product in the past couple years that doesn't have you fighting duergar. They seem to be everywhere. And hags. Always popping up.

I'm almost getting to the point where if I see another duergar, I'm gonna skip it lol.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Drow.
Mages.
Drow Mages.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

Humans. Halflings. Dwarves. Gnomes. Giants. Elves. Orcs. Goblinoids. Dragons.

 

[Voadam]

Duergar and hags do seem to be popping up a bunch.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Duergar and hags do seem to be pop up a bunch.

I was going to mention hags, but forgot about them. They were in Tomb of Annihilation, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, Candlekeep Mysteries, Curse of Strahd, Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, and most recently in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. I might have even missed a few, as they're so common in D&D 5e.

 

[jgsugden]

Nothing, really. There is an assumed 'rarity' level for monsters, and I don't find any monsters appearing too often relative to expectations so as to be annoying. However, there are some I'd definitely like to see that I don't - namely everything I have a D&D prepainted mini from the 2000s for that has not been released in 5E form. I'd especially love to see 'lesser giants' that are large (Stone, Hill, Fire, Frost).

The ones that are appearing more often than expected are a welcome change for me. I like the focus on Hags, for example. They've been underutilized in the past, and make a great major foe. I'd love to see more Oni - in fact, I'd love to see an official WotC monster book that focuses on creatures that have mythological roots outside Europe (with cultural consultants involved in their creation).

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Lycanthropes. Being a low level enemy immune to weapons that aren't magical or silvered makes them a compelling low level threat for that point when the whole group isn't yet tricked out with magic bling, but maybe they have one or two weapons that can hurt such a creature. Unfortunately they are clearly WotC's favorite thing to fill this niche, and every official adventure seems to have lycanthropes. And hey werecreatures are cool, so why not?

The reason why not is because a general knowledge of were-creatures means players will expect their bite to bestow lycanthropy, which unbalances your low level 5e game real quick, and while I don't think this is a real problem if the DM is willing to compensate with more creatures that do magical damage, we are talking about official modules that should be able to be run as is.

I like 5e lycanthropes, and I like that characters can catch lycanthropy, but the catching lycanthropy implementation is undercooked in 5e, and unbalanced in a way that, while I actually appreciate at my own tables, to a degree, seems a poor match for official modules.

 

[Tonguez]

I was going to mention hags, but forgot about them. They were in Tomb of Annihilation, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, Candlekeep Mysteries, Curse of Strahd, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, and most recently in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. I might have even missed a few, as they're so common in D&D 5e.

Yeah Hags are having a renaissance as the New Cool, that may reflect a zeitgeist since ‘witchery’ seems to be popular in non-DnD fiction too. (And personally I like Hags and have been using them for years)

But at least they arent Drow or Mindflayers!!!

Gnolls are starting to get that way (but not too bad yet)

and I’m increasingly starting to hate Dragonborn and all the add-ons that they keep getting. I am going to ban them - Dragons should be epic life defining encounters, not me old uncle Charlie!!

 

[Voadam]

Gnolls are starting to get that way (but not too bad yet)

Gnolls, in the arctic Icewind Dales!

 

[Micah Sweet]

Also drow.