What can I use instead of kobolds, goblins & orcs?

[Werebat]

I didn't know anything about mites, they look like a good threat for the PCs when they are just starting.

Yeah, just be wary of giving them swarm allies. Many/most low level parties can't do anything to swarms other than run away from them.

I used mites as low level adversaries in my current campaign... They were living in a cave infested with fire beetles and they had trained/tamed some flash beetles as well as a few medium sized giant spider mounts. It worked out pretty well.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Draconians. There's nothing like members of an evil race that explode or turn to stone (encasing your sword in it) when they die.

 

[DMBrendon]

Draconians. There's nothing like members of an evil race that explode or turn to stone (encasing your sword in it) when they die.

I'd forgotten about those, they'd certainly give my PCs the willies.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Awakened animals gathered together and led by evil druids who worship ancient and unknowable primordial powers of nature. Also throw in some vegepygmies, thornies, and russet molds for fun. Give the evil druids the Verminheart feat (or better yet make them mite druids!) to really bug out your pcs. Ettercaps and spiders work here too.

I've found derro can be remarkably creepy with the whole alien insantiy thing they've got going on. Haunts (from the Game mastery guide) can also be disturbing, and might be a nice break from hacking and slashing for those times when it is becoming tedious. Gremlins can be rather worrisome with their various curses (particlarly the pugwumpi, from what I've heard- this critter goes well wit gnoll and animal encounters since they aren't affected by the pugwumpi's bad luck aura)

Boggards and giant frogs seem like they'd go naturally together if you've got and bogs or marshes nearby. You might give them a disgusting and vile sort of character, make them sort of humoriously incompetant, or do some of both.

 

[Burn_Boy]

Undead. At long as your players have magic or someone with bludgeoning and slashing weapons you can get past zombie and skeleton NPCs like a blowtorch through butter. And everyone loves bashing skellies =D

 

[Shoe]

Troglodytes, bugbears, Kuo-tao/sanguine, hobgoblins, skeletons, giant vermin (spiders, centepedes, scorpions, ants, wasps...etc), dire rats, derro? (i forget thier CR), gimmie a bit to skim some books and then i could come up with a lot more

 

[Herobizkit]

'Evil' Pixies, twisted Centaurs, Grugach, and other Sylvan horrors.

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

I'm starting a new campaign and I'd like to try something different than have the characters fighting the usual kobolds, goblins and orcs. Initially I tried to shake things up by getting the players to be the goblinoids, and be going against elves, humans etc, but they didn't go for that. What other "monster families" provide similar challenges?

Fight other humans/elves/dwarves. It's war! And you can choose not to make it too clear cut who is right and who is wrong.

 

[Matthias]

Drow, derro, duergar, tieflings

 

[Wik]

I'm starting a new campaign and I'd like to try something different than have the characters fighting the usual kobolds, goblins and orcs. Initially I tried to shake things up by getting the players to be the goblinoids, and be going against elves, humans etc, but they didn't go for that. What other "monster families" provide similar challenges?

(fair notice: I haven't read any posts beyond the first post... sorry if it seems I repeat earlier entries!)

To answer your question: VEGEPYGMIES.

The pathfinder vegepygmies are great - plantlike creatures that have a reason for abducting people, and have a completely foreign outlike on life. There's also something really CREEPY about having an NPC with the odd habit of playing with his beard.... and then having six or seven vegepygmies grown from that NPCs corpse, who share that same habit.

They are a villain race that is not particularly villainous, which I think resonates with modern audiences (much like how people love zombies these days - zombies aren't really evil, which makes people love them all the more). Couple that with the fact that most players are unfamiliar with them, and that you can add NPC levels so that they are always in check with PC level progression... and they're a perfect villain race.

For what it's worth, I'd do a bit of work and make sure that you can apply a "vegepygmy" template to some big monsters, so you can throw vegepygmy hill giants, ogres, trolls, and the like at the PCs. Also, there needs to be a spore-filled vegepygmy that explodes when struck - infecting those nearby with nasty diseases and spores.