Vote for your favorite original D&D monster!

[Mr. Patient]

I went with the rust monster, but I'd like to have seen ear seekers, thought eaters, and intellect devourers make an appearance.

 

[Henry]

I vote Beholder - what's not to love about those little fleshy Death Stars?

 

[CRGreathouse]

In a two-way tie for 6th place...

 

[Pants]

Go Flayer of Minds

Umber Hulks are pretty cool too.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Umber Hulks are pretty cool too.

We may be the only two in the world who think so, for all the attention they've gotten.

Seriously, they're intelligent monsters who don't seem to be, and they have a form of movement that forces players to rethink standard stratagies. What could be better than that?

Oh, and my current sig refers to an umber hulk incident.

 

[Nifft]

The Eyes Have It!

Beholders are IMHO the most "original" of the original D&D monsters. They're great fun, too!

-- N

 

[Mercule]

I voted for "Mind Flayer". Umber hulk would probably have been my second choice. Really, I don't have a great love for any of the "original" monsters. 75% or more of the critters on the list explicitly don't exist in my setting.

Beholder is definitely near the bottom of my list, along with piercers, owlbears, and ropers. They look more silly that scary, and really just aren't interesting at all. Original? You bet. Interesting? Not really.

 

[Richards]

Owlbears will always hold a special place in my heart -- they were my first "Ecology" article.

Johnathan

 

[FrankTrollman]

Well, the Gelatinous Cube is from a Conan story, and the Displacer Beast is from a short story from the forties. Neither one is really an original D&D monster.

I love the Umber Hulk though - how anyone was supposed to mistake that thing for a pile of baskets was beyond mortal understanding. I think it worked something like the Million Zillion Ninjas' Hedge Disguise.

Maybe the confusing eyerays helped?

-Frank

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Go Mind Flayers! My entire campaign setting is centered around the Mind Flayers constantly taking over the surface and enslaving the surface dwellers...then being pushed back...etc etc.