D&D 3E/3.5 The 4E Monster Manual -- what 3.5 monsters need the axe?

[Kunimatyu]

So, with the advent of a new edition comes a new Monster Manual -- what stuff in the 3.5 MM do you think doesn't belong in the 4th edition MM?

My own small list of monsters to cut, starting in the beginning:

Achaierai - flightless birds that fart insan-o-gas.
Arrowhawk - Bizarre outsider with few connections to interesting material.
Athach - A dumber version of an ettin. I realize they exist in myth but there's not enough going on here at the moment.
Belker - I think the OotS character would be a better inclusion in a MM than this monster.
Blink Dog - So they're the foes of displacer beasts - I do not care, and by the way, lame monster.
Bodak - Insta-death sucks, and this monster's flavor is so tied to it that I doubt it can be saved.
Choker - I like aberrations, but being attacked by mini-Stretch Armstrong...no.
Delver - LAME.
Destrachan - Oddly, I really like the mechanics, I'm just not sure the flavor holds up.
Devourer - It's got that insta-death connection like the bodak, and just seems overly weird.
Digester - I like this monster, but it fits in Star Wars much better than in D&D.
Dragonne - Give its abilities to another monster -- this guy's halfway between a sphinx and dragon-wanna-be
Ethereal Filcher/Marauder - Dear Ethereal Plane: Your monster application has been rejected.
Ettercap - I'd prefer to beef up the aranea and have them take the ettercap's stuff. Either way, D&D only needs one race of spiderfolk in the MM.

Alright, that's my A through E. Anyone else want to take a crack at some?

 

[Branduil]

I like the Devourer, just make him not save-or-die.

I don't like Formians, just make some huge monstrous ants or something.

Girallons seem silly.

Not a big fan of all the fake dragons either.

Skum are just lame.

Do "Winter Wolves" and "Worgs" really need to be different creatures?

 

[Kunimatyu]

I'm going to keep on going:

Eladrin, all - Super elves? No thanks - create some similar Fey for a mythic vibe, and jettison the rest.
Formians, all - They look goofy, and I think creatures like the various Demonhive ones from MM4 do a better job with the "horde of insectoids" thing.
Frost Worm - Maybe, but I'm not sure it's differentiated enough from the Purple Worm
Fungus, Shrieker - At best, this is a trap, not a monster.
Girallon - A super-rend gorilla?
Grey Render - I like it, but it seems sci-fi-esque.
Grick - I really, really like these guys, but they're just DR training-wheel guys at the moment.
Guardinals - Whee - furries that fight for Good? Kill them all and let the angels take over. In fact, kill off ALL the alignment celestials and let the angels take their stuff.
Hippogriff - Others may cry foul, but it seems too much like a low-calorie griffon, and griffons are actually cool.
Howler - Weird outsider with lousy mechanics.
Krenshar - My players -hate- being scared off by the retractible-face-cat.

 

[marune]

Most of the 3.0 new monsters built for the MM1. They did a really better job in the later ones.

For the classic ones, don't remove them, rebuild them keeping the focus on the basic concept. If you can't came up with different goblins/hobgoblins/orc/bugbear, remove one some of them.

 

[Remathilis]

Erinyes

::ducks::

 

[TroyXavier]

I definitely agree on Fomorians. If we still have the standard planes, give Mechanus back to the Modrons.

 

[Kunimatyu]

I definitely agree on Fomorians. If we still have the standard planes, give Mechanus back to the Modrons.

I'm with you right up until the dice with legs.

 

[heirodule]

I like the Devourer, just make him not save-or-die.

As faar as I can tell, he isn't really save-or-die. He's save-and-now-you-better-kill-him-before-he-drains-your-buddy-to-final-death.

If you kill the devourer, the soul trapped comes out alive and well.

 

[cmrscorpio]

Outsiders from the Outer Planes - I bet all of them will get reworked similar to the way as the fiends.

Since core setting is "points of light", I hope that very few good aligned creatures make it into the 4e MM.

 

[olshanski]

What I'd like to see go:
ACHAIERAI
ALLIP: Can a ghost do this?
Arrowhawk: WTF?
Avoral: put with other celestial creatures.
Azer: too many humanoids
Belker: too similar to air elemental
Cloaker/Darkmantle: How about ditch these and bring back lurker above?
Derro: racial insanity doesn't seem like a survival trait.
Devourer/Mohrg/Bodak: Pick one to keep. There are more undead than living! Also, lets stop with the "different undead for every possible method of death--drowning in a well, vs drowning in a swamp, vs drowning in a lake should not result in 3 different types of undead.
Hellcat: Doesn't seem like it belongs with the other devils
Bebilith/Retriever: How many arachnid demons do we need?
Choker: these guys don't do much for me. If they are going to be a serious choking threat, lets not make them so small.
Ethereal filcher/maurader
Dragon Turtle: change its name to Gamara and we are talking
Dragonne: Chimera wanna-be
Elf sub-races for every character concept: nuff said
Formian: how about just make some dire vermin ants and be done with it.
Frost Worm/Remorhaz: One of you has to go.
Ghoul/Ghast/Wight: Consolidation time... Wight is like half ghoul half wraith... too many undead as-is.
Girallion: This is nice as a perfect combination of silly and stupid. The only way to be stupider is to perhaps give it horns and make it purple.
Grey Render: Sorry, Hill Giants are already taken.
Grick: Cave Moray or lesser purple worm.
Hippogrif: Griffon wanna-be
Lamia: Lame-ia
Lamassu: You or the androsphinx has to go.
Locathah/KoaToa/Sahaguin/Merfolk/Skum/Triton: One or two aquatic humanoids is enough. 6 is overkill.
Were-everything: lets put a cap on it somewhere. While we are at it, I'd rather see Skaven or Rat-folk than were-rats.
Magmin: Not needed. Mephit or Salamander does it better.
Mephit: Lets eliminate half of these. I don't need pollen-mephits, dust-bunny mephits, or dandruff mephits. Not every substance known to man must have an associated mephit.
Phantom Fungus: Beware the invisible plant!
Night Hag: We already have Hags. Either get with them or get out.
Nightshades: Give me negative energy elementals. I don't need another giant or another purple-worm wanna-be.
Ogre Mage: give me an ogre with class levels.
Giant Owl/Giant Eagle/Roc: why aren't these in with the dire animals?
Rast/Ravid: The two of you are two too many.
Shield Guardian: Golems have taken your spot.
Spider Eater: You belong with dire vermin (giant wasp).
Titan: join the giants.
Thoqqua: see Grick.
Tojanda: I don't even know what this is. I've never used it or seen it used.
Troglodyte: we already have skum/lizard folk/grimlocks/koa toa. Other than stinking, how are you different?
Xill: Are you a lame "Alien" wanna-be?
Vargouille: A flying head is not a monster.
Xorn: Betwen earth elementals and umber hulks, these guys don't have a decent spot to fill.


CONSOLIDATION NEEDED!
Dire Wolf, Worg, Winter Wolf: Consolidate these
Krenshar, Bargest, Howler, Shadow Mastiff/yeth hound (enough with the dog-like creatures already).
Wraith Spectre: Consolidate these
Shambling Mound/Tendriculous: One big brawling plant is enough, thanks. Assasin vine has dibs on grappling, by the way.


MONSTERS THAT COULD STAY BUT NEED FIXIN'
Chaos Beast: Lets get a little closer to John Carpenter's "Thing" while we are at it.
Phasm: be careful not to step on the toes of the Chaos Beast above.
Destrachen/Digester: combine these and make them less silly.
Elementals: how about a little more variety in them... also consolidate some of the other planar creatures as elementals
Piercer: where are they? at least give us a DMG Hazard for these guys.
Gargoyle: Cool creature, these guys could be beefed up a bit.
Gibbering mouther: Make this distinct from the chaos beast.
Goblin/Hobgoblin/Bugbear: Lets make bugbear large or consolidate it with hobgoblin.
Kobold/Gnoll: Was there a time when these were big and little dog-people?
Kobold/Lizardfolk: if kobolds are more reptilian than dog-like, then lets make them cousins to lizardfolk.
Orc: I love em, but their slot has been taken by hobgoblin/gnoll/bugbear.
Grimlock: lets call them Morlock (time machine) and be done with it. Better yet, there are already too many evil humanoids to worry about... lets make this a human subrace or something like that.
Hydra
Mimic
Green Slime
Rust Monster
Roper: Somoene please tell me which episode of "Space 1999" these guys originally appeared in. When I was a kid they scared the crap out of me.
Stirge: You need better mechanics.
Yrthrak: You need to be larger and more like Rodan.