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

[Pants]

Needs to Go:
Achaierai
Aranaea
Delver
Digester - Just lame
Ethereal Filcher/Ethereal Marauder
Phasm - I've never used one. Ever. Not even crossed my mind.
Mohrg - Just boring
Phantom Fungus

Need Fixin':
Bodak - It is the anti-fun, but its flavor is solid enough that it can stay
Devourer - The save-or-die attack sucks
Gauth - Bring it back to its pre-3e roots
Giants - Tone down the massive amounts of HD these guys get. As it is, its almost impossible for a team of PC's to take on more than a few giants without getting totally creamed
Mind Flayers - Too one-trick-ponyish. Tone down the mind blast and give them some actual way to make thralls other than 'charm' monster.
Ogre Mage
Shrieker Fungus - Could be just a hazard
Vampires - They need some real fixin'

 

[Kunimatyu]

And I continue from L onward:

Lamia - Suffers from the Athach problem - either it gets in touch with its roots in myth, or gets the axe
Lammasu - What the previous poster said with it and the androsphinx
Lillend - CG bard-lady-snakes? Reimagine or get out.
Locathah - D&D's doing just fine with sahaugin and kuo-toa, thanks.
Magmin - Fire Mephits and Small Fire Elementals are better.
Mephits - Consolidate to the major elemental types, lose the rest.
Nightshades - I like the Nightwalker, but the other two aren't really unique enough.
Phantom Fungus - OUT. NOW.
Phase Spider - See: Ethereal creatures.
Phasm - Too similar to the Chaos Beast.
Rast - 2nd worst monster in the book.
Ravid - Worst monster in the book. God I hate stupid Planescape monsters.
Sea Cat - Huh?
Shield Guardian - Too similiar to golems
Shocker Lizard - I've got a Pikachu on the line, and he doesn't sound happy.
Hieracosphinx - Wait, head of a falcon, body of a lion, wings of an eagle? Sounds like a Griffon to me.
Spider Eater - Just make a parasitoid wasp a monstrous vermin.
Tojanida - No.
Triton - This is WAY too similiar to a merfolk.
Vargouille - Cute concept, but no. Thanks anyways, Planescape.
Will-O-Wisp - Reimagine or get out.
Xill - Not good enough. The Xern from MM4 are far cooler.
Yeth Hound - Too many evil hounds, and you don't have the traction.
Yrthak - WTF.

 

[dangerous jack]

Heh heh. When I was designing my homebrew world, I wanted to see if I could use a bunch of these types of creatures and make them into cool opponents. I ended up with societies of Athach (swamp dwelling and led by evil druid-types), Chokers (love to choke to unconsciousness, and then drag back for a sacrifice to their dark god), Titans (bald desert dwellers, and their innate magic was changed to tattoo powered magic), and Formians were initially included too. But I was intentionally trying to use the odd stuff, so it wouldn't bug me too much if these were cut.

My top three monsters to get the axe:
Dragon Turtle - I prefer to use Green, Black, and White dragons, all of whom can swim. Or a simple giant turtle.
Spectre - I already have Shadows (+Greater), Wraiths (+Dread), and Allips that are more interesting.
Tojanida - I find it's a little too weird to try to describe to players.

 

[The Human Target]

I just think so many monsters need consolidated if they're going to be so similar.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Nooooo! Girallons are cool. We fear the girallon.

And besides I've go two of them.

 

[hong]

Mang, at this rate we're going to be struggling to fill 50 pages, let alone 280.

 

[STARP_Social_Officer]

I don't think it's fair to "cull" monsters. I know they will, and I can understand why they might, but to label individual monsters as useless or lame is being a tad unfair. There's a niche for all monsters, even the lame ones. It's just a matter of finding it.
I personally was sorry to see the Giff cut from the 3E MM. I loved those guys. There's something about a big hippo-headed doofus with a shoulder-mounted gun...

Except the flumph. There's no niche for the flumph.

 

[Imp]

The least inspiring monsters to me are, in order:
- the lawful neutral extraplanars (inevitables, formians)
- the various underwater humanoids
- the nightshades (they would make good big bads if I needed a Sauron or Ringwraith stand-in. I never do.)
- sphinxes (I've never run an Egyptian-flavored setting and never run an alternate take on them)

But I'd rather keep a good variety of beings even if some are pretty similar. Nobody says you have to use them all. Some people might just use orcs and ogres for their monstrous humanoids, I just use goblins and bugbears. Better to have the options.

 

[Branduil]

I don't think it's fair to "cull" monsters. I know they will, and I can understand why they might, but to label individual monsters as useless or lame is being a tad unfair. There's a niche for all monsters, even the lame ones. It's just a matter of finding it.
I personally was sorry to see the Giff cut from the 3E MM. I loved those guys. There's something about a big hippo-headed doofus with a shoulder-mounted gun...

Except the flumph. There's no niche for the flumph.

No, they should replace the Phasm with the Flumph.

 

[Baby Samurai]

Nooooo! Girallons are cool. We fear the girallon.

And besides I've go two of them.

But we're not talking about Plastic Crack; we're talking about the RPG.

For all of those wanting the celestials (archons. eladrins, guardinals) to get a shake up, I have a feeling you will be pleasantly surprised…

We now know that the Erinyes has been folded into the Succubus, which in turn is now a devil.