the Jester
Legend
Assuming about 275 pages of monsters are in the Monster Manual (by whatever name) of the new iteration of D&D, what should they be?
Here are a few of what I think of as "must have" monsters (or at least "really want" monsters); this is pretty much off the top of my head, so I'm no doubt missing a ton of things, but... I count 296 monsters on my list.
How about you?
A (7)
Angel
Ankheg
Ant, giant
Ape
Aranea
Ascomoid
Avolakia
B (18)
Basilisk
Bat (swarm and dire)
Bear (normal and dire)
Beetle, giant (several types: fire, oil, scarab swarm at least)
Beholder (beholder, gauth, eye of the deep)
Black pudding
Bloodbloater (individual, swarm and mutant)
Blue slime
Boneclaw
Bulette
C (4)
Carrion crawler
Chimera
Choker
Chuul
D (60)
Darkmantle
Death knight
Demon (vrock, hezrou, glabrezu, nalfeshnee, marilith, balor, evistro, succubus [yes, return to demon status], babau, goristro, armanite, dretch, chasme, Demogorgon, Orcus, Yeenoghu, Juiblex)
Destrachan
Devil (horned, bearded, barbed, lemure, pit fiend, erinyes, ice, legion, Asmodeus, Levistus, Baalzebul, Dispater, Bel, Glasya)
Dinosaur [yes, change back from behemoth] (triceratops, tyrannosaurus Rex, velociraptor, needlefang swarm)
Displacer beast
Dog (wild, guard, blink)
Doppelganger
Dracolich
Dragon (blue, black, green, red, white, gold, silver, faerie, earthquake, volcanic and a couple of lung/oriental dragons)
Dragon turtle
Dwarf (warrior, priest, smith)
E (11)
Elemental (air, earth, fire, water; perhaps 'lesser' and 'greater' for each)
Elf (wood/archer, grey/mage, bladesinger)
F (3)
Foulspawn (berserker and cabalist)
Frog (giant)
G (42)
Gargoyle (several types)
Gelatinous cube
Ghost (several examples, including the banshee)
Ghoul (ghoul, lacedon, ghast, Abyssal ghoul)
Giant (hill, stone, frost, fire, cloud, mountain, storm, death)
Githyanki (warrior, wizard, gish)
Githzerai (monk, wizard, arcane fist)
Gnoll (gnoll, flind, chieftain)
Gnome (illusionist, sneak, bard)
Goblinoid (goblin, hobgoblin, norker, bugbear)
Golem (flesh, clay, iron, stone)
Gray Ooze
Green Slime
Grell
Griffon
H (27)
Hag (sea, night, annis, green, bog, pact)
Halfling (chef, thief, slinger, master thief)
Hell hound
Hippogriff
Hook Horror
Horse (riding, draft, war, donkey)
Human (bandit, town guard, guild thief, mage, pilgrim, blackguard, priest)
Hydra
Hyena (normal and dire)
I (1)
Intellect devourer
J (1)
Jackalwere
K (7)
Kercpa (several examples)
Ki-Rin
Kobold (several examples)
L (7)
Lizard folk (standard, chief)
Lycanthrope (wererat, werewolf, werebear, wereboar, weretiger)
M (12)
Manticore
Medusa
Mimic
Mind flayer
Minotaur
Modron (monodrone, duodrone, tridrone, quadrone, pentadrone, hierarch, Primus)
Mummy
Mustard jelly
N (4)
Nightmare
Nightshade (nightwalker, nightwing, nightworm)
O (9)
Ogre
Olive slime (olive slime and slime creature)
Oni (the traditional ogre mage)
Orc (orc, berserker, chief)
Otyugh
Owlbear
P (2)
Pennangalan
Peryton
Q (1)
Quickling
R (6)
Rat (giant, dire, swarm)
Rakshasha
Roper
Rust Monster
S (34)
Sahuagin (normal, mutant, priest, baron, king)
Scorpion (giant and swarm)
Shadar-kai (several examples)
Shadow (normal and slow shadow)
Shambling mound
Shark (normal and dire)
Skeleton
Slaad (blue, red, green, grey, white, black, death, Ygorl, Ssendem)
Snake (constrictor, poisonous, amphisbaena, sea serpent)
Spider (several types including 'normal' giant spiders, tarantella, phase spider)
Stirge (single and swarm)
T (13)
Tabaxi
Tendriculous
Tiger (normal and dire)
Treant
Troglodyte (normal and chief)
Troll (troll, two-headed troll, giant troll, ice troll, war troll, spirit troll)
U (3)
Umber hulk (UH and vodyanoi)
Unicorn
V (3)
Vampire (thrall and master)
Violet Fungus
W (11)
Wasp (giant and swarm)
Wight
Wolf (normal, dire)
Worg
Worm (purple, giant maggot [I know, not technically a worm], tunnel worm)
Wraith
Wyvern
X (3)
Xill
Xorn
Xvart
Y (6)
Yellow musk creeper (and zombie)
Yugoloth (mezzoloth, nycaloth, ultroloth, arcanaloth)
Z (1)
Zombie
Here are a few of what I think of as "must have" monsters (or at least "really want" monsters); this is pretty much off the top of my head, so I'm no doubt missing a ton of things, but... I count 296 monsters on my list.
How about you?
A (7)
Angel
Ankheg
Ant, giant
Ape
Aranea
Ascomoid
Avolakia
B (18)
Basilisk
Bat (swarm and dire)
Bear (normal and dire)
Beetle, giant (several types: fire, oil, scarab swarm at least)
Beholder (beholder, gauth, eye of the deep)
Black pudding
Bloodbloater (individual, swarm and mutant)
Blue slime
Boneclaw
Bulette
C (4)
Carrion crawler
Chimera
Choker
Chuul
D (60)
Darkmantle
Death knight
Demon (vrock, hezrou, glabrezu, nalfeshnee, marilith, balor, evistro, succubus [yes, return to demon status], babau, goristro, armanite, dretch, chasme, Demogorgon, Orcus, Yeenoghu, Juiblex)
Destrachan
Devil (horned, bearded, barbed, lemure, pit fiend, erinyes, ice, legion, Asmodeus, Levistus, Baalzebul, Dispater, Bel, Glasya)
Dinosaur [yes, change back from behemoth] (triceratops, tyrannosaurus Rex, velociraptor, needlefang swarm)
Displacer beast
Dog (wild, guard, blink)
Doppelganger
Dracolich
Dragon (blue, black, green, red, white, gold, silver, faerie, earthquake, volcanic and a couple of lung/oriental dragons)
Dragon turtle
Dwarf (warrior, priest, smith)
E (11)
Elemental (air, earth, fire, water; perhaps 'lesser' and 'greater' for each)
Elf (wood/archer, grey/mage, bladesinger)
F (3)
Foulspawn (berserker and cabalist)
Frog (giant)
G (42)
Gargoyle (several types)
Gelatinous cube
Ghost (several examples, including the banshee)
Ghoul (ghoul, lacedon, ghast, Abyssal ghoul)
Giant (hill, stone, frost, fire, cloud, mountain, storm, death)
Githyanki (warrior, wizard, gish)
Githzerai (monk, wizard, arcane fist)
Gnoll (gnoll, flind, chieftain)
Gnome (illusionist, sneak, bard)
Goblinoid (goblin, hobgoblin, norker, bugbear)
Golem (flesh, clay, iron, stone)
Gray Ooze
Green Slime
Grell
Griffon
H (27)
Hag (sea, night, annis, green, bog, pact)
Halfling (chef, thief, slinger, master thief)
Hell hound
Hippogriff
Hook Horror
Horse (riding, draft, war, donkey)
Human (bandit, town guard, guild thief, mage, pilgrim, blackguard, priest)
Hydra
Hyena (normal and dire)
I (1)
Intellect devourer
J (1)
Jackalwere
K (7)
Kercpa (several examples)
Ki-Rin
Kobold (several examples)
L (7)
Lizard folk (standard, chief)
Lycanthrope (wererat, werewolf, werebear, wereboar, weretiger)
M (12)
Manticore
Medusa
Mimic
Mind flayer
Minotaur
Modron (monodrone, duodrone, tridrone, quadrone, pentadrone, hierarch, Primus)
Mummy
Mustard jelly
N (4)
Nightmare
Nightshade (nightwalker, nightwing, nightworm)
O (9)
Ogre
Olive slime (olive slime and slime creature)
Oni (the traditional ogre mage)
Orc (orc, berserker, chief)
Otyugh
Owlbear
P (2)
Pennangalan
Peryton
Q (1)
Quickling
R (6)
Rat (giant, dire, swarm)
Rakshasha
Roper
Rust Monster
S (34)
Sahuagin (normal, mutant, priest, baron, king)
Scorpion (giant and swarm)
Shadar-kai (several examples)
Shadow (normal and slow shadow)
Shambling mound
Shark (normal and dire)
Skeleton
Slaad (blue, red, green, grey, white, black, death, Ygorl, Ssendem)
Snake (constrictor, poisonous, amphisbaena, sea serpent)
Spider (several types including 'normal' giant spiders, tarantella, phase spider)
Stirge (single and swarm)
T (13)
Tabaxi
Tendriculous
Tiger (normal and dire)
Treant
Troglodyte (normal and chief)
Troll (troll, two-headed troll, giant troll, ice troll, war troll, spirit troll)
U (3)
Umber hulk (UH and vodyanoi)
Unicorn
V (3)
Vampire (thrall and master)
Violet Fungus
W (11)
Wasp (giant and swarm)
Wight
Wolf (normal, dire)
Worg
Worm (purple, giant maggot [I know, not technically a worm], tunnel worm)
Wraith
Wyvern
X (3)
Xill
Xorn
Xvart
Y (6)
Yellow musk creeper (and zombie)
Yugoloth (mezzoloth, nycaloth, ultroloth, arcanaloth)
Z (1)
Zombie