D&D 5E (2014) Your favorite monsters to fight (or run)?

[BookTenTiger]

I love fighting monsters that try to eat characters. Giant Subterranean Lizards, Mind Flayers, T-Rexes... the risk of getting swallowed up, the struggle to free gobbled characters... It makes for a fun combat!

I love to run combats with monsters that have ranged attacks! I get to use the terrain more, and combat tends to be more movement-based and dynamic.

What are your favorite monsters to fight or run?

 

[payn]

I love doing hoards of minion zombies. They are nothing to worry about on their own, but there is so damn many of them!

 

[iserith]

Anything with Pack Tactics because at our table we refer to it as Pack TicTacs.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

Dragons are always fun to run/fight against.

I’m also a big fan of monsters with interesting and unique mechanics, or mechanics that have good synergy with other monsters like leaders commanding lesser creatures or mounts and riders working in tandem.

 

[aco175]

I like recharge powers even if they are not on golems and dragons. An orc chief might have one and the players always look a bit more concerned with these recharging. They have a bit more power and can sway battle more than just something like multiattack.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I like recharge powers even if they are not on golems and dragons. An orc chief might have one and the players always look a bit more concerned with these recharging. They have a bit more power and can sway battle more than just something like multiattack.

That reminds me that I love running monsters with Lair Actions! I'll often give them to minor bosses in dungeons.

I once had a giant otyugh eating through an ancient library that had lair actions like jumping up and down to knock down everyone, conjuring a tornado of old pages, and pulling shelves down on characters.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Grey Render!

Their deal with imprinting on random creatures makes for fun and sometimes adorable encounters, especially if the PCs are out hunting and the catch a rabbit in a snare--only to happen upon the ogre version of Macho Man Randy Savage meets Lenny from of Mice and Men freeing their prey.

My favorite stunt was having a group of Moon Rats turning one into a living war carrier.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I love running goblins. I have the stat block mostly memorized, the straight 2d6 HP means their is actually likely to be enough dice variation to make rolling HP worthwhile and interesting, the combination of bonus action disengaging and ranged combat means that they lend themselves to dynamic, mobile fights even when the terrain really wants to force a stand still and hit each other affair. And they're the sort of id-driven, simplistic, minor evil that the players can validly pursue fighting, reasoning with, bargaining with, tricking, scaring off, or befriending in almost any situation, which lends itself to creative play.

 

[J.Quondam]

As a DM, I enjoy running black pudding as that really stretches my method acting chops.

 

[Lanefan]

Giants.

They're big enough to be a threat, they can use ranged or melee weapons, they pack a serious punch, I have it that a few of 'em can cast (usually Clerical) spells, and there's enough different types to allow some variety in setting/terrain/situation. More specifically, Frost Giants are pure awesome.