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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9540146" data-attributes="member: 6750502">For the purposes of this thread, I’m referring to monsters that are of good alignment as the default, as opposed to being potentially good. Blink dogs, flumphs, and the like. Most monsters are either neutral or evil, which makes sense given the implicit assumption in most campaigns that the PCs aren’t the villains and makes it easier to justify dungeon-crawling when the inhabitants are a threat to wider society. But while rare, there have been a few good-aligned monsters throughout D&D’s history.They often serve to help worldbuilding, particularly in regards to verisimilitude. Such as angels being the servants of benevolent deities and the cosmic counterbalance to demons and devils, and why the Material Plane hasn’t been overrun with fiends. Or having close ties to the good-aligned PC races, like Giant Eagles being common allies of elves.But what role are good-aligned monsters meant to have when it comes to game design? One could argue that they serve as allies to the party, particularly when viewed in the case of summoned monsters, but that set of spells hasn’t been universal throughout Editions. And in regards to the more explicitly powerful entities like ancient metallic dragons, storm giants, and solar angels, they can become a minor version of the Elminster Problem where one asks why they haven’t gotten around to dealing with some problem or other that the PCs must handle. Another argument I’ve heard is that they can be an alternative set of antagonists in campaigns where the PCs are evil-aligned or otherwise morally compromised, but evil campaigns tend to be rather rare. And the amount of good-aligned monsters that exist typically aren’t large enough to match the versatility and scale of the rest of the monster manuals.So, what purpose do you think good-aligned monsters serve from a mechanical standpoint? I’m eager to hear people’s thoughts.</blockquote>

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