What are your fav monsters to pit against players in DnD?

Ruxpin_exe

First Post
The game I'm DMing the party just dinged level 2. I know theres like, hundreds if not thousands of creatures that could be listed here, and feel free, but ideally what are some mobs that I shouldn't miss including in a forgotten realms dalelands campaign? A list of your favs in the first 15 levels or so, and why would be pretty dope. Including stuff from the underdark and shadowfel would be totally fine/appreciated too, thx.

 

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The game I'm DMing the party just dinged level 2. I know theres like, hundreds if not thousands of creatures that could be listed here, and feel free, but ideally what are some mobs that I shouldn't miss including in a forgotten realms dalelands campaign? A list of your favs in the first 15 levels or so, and why would be pretty dope. Including stuff from the underdark and shadowfel would be totally fine/appreciated too, thx.

I'll keep editing this post as I think of ideas.

FR is full of power groups, which means many (demi)humans. Many of these can be stolen from various sources, such as Threats to the Nentir Vale. That one has numerous quality humans and halflings.
 

sabrinathecat

Explorer
My own. I can hybrid a couple of monsters or base one on an existing creature, or just reskin something by changing the description, and give the players far more to worry about, because they don't know what is coming.

Last time, it was "Lepi Hop-lite Legioniers" driving them nuts. I had a dozen rabit-oid minis with spears and bows that had tremmorsense (which annoyed the drow) and could leap into the air and charge straight down (but it did provoke oppies). Annoyed the party no end. That, and their constantly accusing them of being "the weed" and their need to "Protect the ROOT."
 

Rechan

Adventurer
It's been about a year since I looked at a statblock; I couldn't name anything specific, so for now: anything that's a Lurker. I just love the "suddenly something is eating your face with high damage" monster. Especially when you hold that lurker in your pocket until the 2nd or 3rd round of the combat, and suddenly it's "Oh god help the squishy guy". And many can just go back into concealment, so the players know there's something creeping around ready to pop out ag
 

Quickleaf

Legend
Kobolds, rust monsters, and green slimes.

It's been about a year since I looked at a statblock; I couldn't name anything specific, so for now: anything that's a Lurker. I just love the "suddenly something is eating your face with high damage" monster. Especially when you hold that lurker in your pocket until the 2nd or 3rd round of the combat, and suddenly it's "Oh god help the squishy guy". And many can just go back into concealment, so the players know there's something creeping around ready to pop out ag
I found this got tricky because of the prevalence of long range bright light (the sunrod)...unless I used cramped twisting passageways.
 

Rechan

Adventurer
I found this got tricky because of the prevalence of long range bright light (the sunrod)...unless I used cramped twisting passageways.
Most lurkers have powers that either put them in concealment at the beginning of combat, or put them back into concealment.

Invisibility, increased move to put them in darkness, ability to create darkness, burrow, etc. Let's see...

*Cracks open MM3*

Ghoul Flesh Seeker: can use a stealth check become hidden with concealment/cover, instead of needing superior concealment/total cover. (Same for Shadow lurker)
The Gnoll Skulk can do the above, but once hidden, it can move out of cover/concealment and remain hidden.
Air Elemental: becomes invisible when it starts its turn without an adjacent enemy

Nentir Vale:
Blackfang Gravedigger can burrow beneath someone and attack from below.
Wild Coldscale drakes gain partial concealment if on snowy/icy terrain, and have a standard at-will to become invisible if on said cold terrain.

That's just with a little looking through the low levels of two books. Some lurkers don't really have anything (Like the Ogre cave hunter), others just have things that work in combat (like Joplin the Spy, Daggerburg Reaper and the Iron Circle Spy).

However, I do hate sunrods. In my games, sunrods stay put when activated, so you can light up a whole area, but you can't drag them around.
 

Quickleaf

Legend
[MENTION=54846]Rechan[/MENTION] That's a nice solution. What rationale do you use to explain that a sunrod can't be moved after activation?
 

Rechan

Adventurer
@Rechan That's a nice solution. What rationale do you use to explain that a sunrod can't be moved after activation?

I haven't ran a 4e game in a while so I forget, but I can think of three reasons. All hinge on the sunrod basically being an alchemical/alchemagical item:

1) Magical magnesium. When it's activated, the sunrod gets very hot, because in order to create that light it must create a lot of heat, too. It would burn your skin to hold it too long, or catch your clothes on fire if you strapped it to your back, etc. [Bonus: players might use these to start fires. Maybe it takes the sunrod a few rounds to get piping hot, so it could be a delayed trigger for explosive materials.]

2) The chemical has to be motionless in order to create the light. If it's disturbed, it's sort of like a pond set to ripples, and thus the light is fragmented and distorted, resulting a disco ball/strobe effect. Not very good in a fight. If disturbed it takes a full round of motionlessness before the compound settles and the light stabilizes. [Bonus: intelligent monsters who can see in the dark might know this, and intentionally mess with the light.]

3) When it's activated, the chemical becomes super heavy. 100 pounds or so. That's incredibly cumbersome.

If 2 or 3, you could easily say "sunrods are actually used in those always-on magical lights in dungeons, mage colleges, etc", giving them an extended duration like days, months, years. It's just incredibly more practical to install them as stationary lighting.
 

Rechan

Adventurer
Back on topic, I remembered something. Thjere are so many varieties of gnolls in 4e. I think gnolls have the highest number of stat blocks because there's been about 10 Dungeon/Dragon articles, plus they've appeared in almost every monster book. I could run a mini-campaign of nothing but gnolls. And I would enjoy it too, because gnolls love demons and can be super creepy.

My flavor for them is that gnolls are a virus-made-flesh, created by the demon lords: when a hyena consumes a soul, it becomes a gnoll. As soon as it becomes a gnoll, their primary drives are breed as much as possible, capture more humans to feed to hyena, and summon demons.

I also love love love plant monsters, fae, and undead. Also kobolds, but I prefer them as sort of allies or not as pure antagonists, because kobolds are my favorite humanoids.
 
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Quickleaf

Legend
Also kobolds, but I prefer them as sort of allies or not as pure antagonists, because kobolds are my favorite humanoids.

Great ideas about gnolls!

As for kobolds...well, when *my* kobolds come under the banner of "allies" that is when you need to really watch out. The paladin who accepted a bag of treasure tribute to convince PCs to stop slaughtering the kobold tribe remembers this well. Damn bags of devouring and kobold ambushes ;)
 

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