Wierding out / customizing your monsters

[Corsair]

I am running RttToEE for a number of very experienced players. In an effort to throw them off the scent a bit, I've taken to adding templates to monsters occasionally. (Notably the Grell is now a Shadow Grell in the moathouse)

Does anyone else have favorite templates or tricks to easily pimp your monsters into something which is not easily recognizable by the players? I mean going a step beyond just using a different physical description.

 

[caudor]

My favorite is trick is vampire clowns Who is going to hesitate to trust a happy-faced clown?

 

[genshou]

I've found that changing a creature's physical description and applying the Extraterrestrial template from d20 Future can make some very interesting D&D creatures. Try swapping out movement modes, in order to create a swimming, flying, or climbing ankheg instead of a burrowing one. It's also nice that you can pick the special qualities you want. Just make sure you come up with a name that doesn't have the word "extraterrestrial" in it.

Upper Krust has a good CR system in which the calculations are broken down enough that you can alter existing creatures and figure out their CR.

 

[WizarDru]

Piratecat's story hour is chock-full of examples of normal creatures slightly reworked to create a whole new creature. A great example is the corpse-worm, a creature that uses the purple worm as its base, but is made up of thousands of zombies writhing together in a mass. I've found that merely changing a creature's physical description and description of its abilities is enough to give some parties pause; when you're facing an entity of unknown abilities, you hold off some. Use that.

And for the record, my players used to joke that they were going to take my templates and classing abilities away.

 

[Wombat]

...undeadybears...

 

[kigmatzomat]

The tricks of changing description and method of movement are the safest since they have virtually no impact on CR.

Anyone in my X'Aos Spirits of Krinn game can skip the following.

Spoiler

Last session I used a geriviar from MMIII and changed the description so that it was covered in quills instead of spines and the head was closer to an oppossum. One player who actually has MMIII thought I'd invented its barrier-smashing ability just to be mean!

I've revamped the ravenous ghoul so that it is rail thin and when killed disgorges its hit dice in regular ghouls. (Backstory: lock a lot of ghouls together and they end up eating eachother with the lone survivor a Ravenous Ghoul) No significant change to CR other than a few dozen normal ghouls but lots of tasty flavor.

Describe a thorcasid (ELH) as more of an ankheg and you get an anhkill. Half-fiend giant serpents are ltauoc (couatl backwards). Make spellweavers look closer to a xorn (3 legs, 6 arms, 3 faces) and you have hexors, etc, etc.

 

[diaglo]

only thru experience, training, and seeking out those in the know do the PCs learn about the monsters of the world.

sure they have common folk tales. but when myth becomes reality... well... just ask the players in the OD&D campaign in JoeBlank's story hour... what they faced

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

There is the ever popular "Book of Templates: Deluxe Edition" by Silverthorne Games

 

[frankthedm]

The tricks of changing description and method of movement are the safest since they have virtually no impact on CR.

method of movement can make quite a difference in combat if the move is changed from ground to flight if the players have not yet become comic book characters who fly everywhere.

Here is a new gnoll breed i made from the Minotaur critter. I dropped powerfull charge for an int bump, mutiattack and light armor and shield profeciency. [skills not fully refleshed]

Greater gnoll
Large Monstrous Humanoid {Gnoll}
Hit Dice: 6d8+12 (39 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (–1 size, +5 natural +2 large steel shield, +4 chain shirt), touch 9, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+14
Attack: Maul [large warhammer]+9 melee (2d6+4/x3) or bite +9 melee (1d8+4) or [large]Mighty long bow 2d6+4
Full Attack: maul +9/+4 melee (2d6+4/x3) and bite +7 melee (1d8+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks:
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., scent
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +5
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
Skills: Intimidate +7, Listen +7, Search +6, Spot +7

Feats: Multiattack B*Great Fortitude, Power Attack, Track
Environment: See gnoll
Organization: Solitary, with ousted pack {3d6 gnolls & 1d3 feral Gnolls], or leader of Gnoll band[see Gnoll]
Challenge Rating: 4
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually chaotic Evil
Advancement: By character class

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

One of the best ideas I'd ever seen was posted to this board some time ago.

When traveling through a graveyard, the party came across what were basically hot goth chicks. They had a tendency to disappear from sight, and reappear far away. Sometimes, they'd assume the shape of tombstones (an excellent way to ambush the party).

They also had a penchant for mind-affecting magic.

I wish I could find the original post that described them - it was magnificent.

So, what were they? Dryads with the serial numbers filed off, and cemetary-themed powers instead of tree-themed powers.