What are your favourite and worst "Monsters"

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Jenara
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What are your favourite and worst "Monsters"

Post by Jenara »

Following on from a thread in another part of the site, I was wondering... It doesn't matter what edition or different system you play (ie Pathfinder is acceptable)... just consider the following:-

As a Player:
1. What is your favorite monster to come up against? Does your DM bring out a certain for that makes you smile?
2. What Monster do you really HATE coming up against? Something that the very thought of them makes your skin crawl and you really just want to kill the bu$$er and get out of there.
3. What is the lamest Monster to fight? You know what I mean, it couldn't fight its way out of a paper bag?

As DM (if you are one of course, or if you had the chance)...
1. What Monster do you love to chuck at your players? Something that you always bring out and you know your players will respond to in seconds...
2. What Monster is far too powerful for most normal games? (ie the 1st to 15th range.. I know games go higher than that but they loose their interest at about 15th or so).
3. What is the worst monster to throw at a party? You want a good fight, something they can win with some teamwork and good planning and you bring out ____ and they just slaughter them?

The first three are for anyone, the second three... if you haven't had the chance to DM, just imagine what you would LIKE to use...
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Post by Jenara »

My own answers:

1. Most Loved: I always loved Draconians, coming from the DL world first they just seemed new and different from the usual Orcs you always seem to come across.
2. Hated: Spiders any type of spiders, I hate them in the real world, and I detest them in games, I didn't came about them too much until I played the old Eye of the Beholder Games, after seeing them scuttle around the idea freaks me out!
3. Crapest: I used to think this was Kobolds until Dragon Mountain, but now I guess its boring old skeletons or similar...

As for the DM questions:
1. Best: Spiders (lol) they are so much fun to freak players out with, having a fear means you can instill that in others and freak them out too...
2. Hardest: The obvious is the Tarrasque (i know typical) but some of the dragons played well can defeat the best party (I tend to use the Council of Wyrms rules and make my dragons up as NPCs...)
3. Lamest: Myconids? lol (what were they for?). But seriously there are a ton of stupid lame monsters (most of them came out of Spelljammer) but I'd say the Flumph, do I need to say anymore?!!
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LordWilly
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Post by LordWilly »

Wow this could be tough..

As a player:
1) Most Loved: Giants. Usually play smaller races (halfling, gnome, dwarf) so Giants it is.
2) Most hated: Anything that has magic resistance! I usually play priests and creatures that have high magic resistance just mess with you.
3) Crappiest:hmm.. I'd have to go with goblins. They are just so blah to me.

As a DM:
1) Best: hmm best? Lich. There is SO much you can do with these guys its just not funny
2) Hardest: Dracolich. Seriously. Ancient wyrm dracolich. nuff said.
3) Worst: I'm not sure. I tend to customize if I'm using a monster that the party will walk over so...
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Post by Ismaels-Legacy »

As a player:

Favorite: anything with a low morale score. Mostly goblins or kobolds. I love making those things flee in terror!

Hated: Oozes - man, nothing worse than watching a glowing glob of Jell-O eat your weapons and digest your friends!

Crappiest: Dire Animals (Mostly a 3ed thing) - not just a badger but a BIGGER and ANGRIER badger! :roll:



As a DM

Favorite: Evil Aligned Humanoids - Especially the real devious and deceitful ones. The real con-artists and smooth talkers. "Suuuure, this is a one of a kind magic sword! I'm not really willing to part with it, but I do have a problem that needs.....remedied." :twisted:

Hated: Orcs - really, they're an overused staple of D&D. (Mostly being Tolkein based and with the advent of World of Warcraft). That said, I do allow orc PCs. I dunno....it's a tough call since I hate them as a stereotypical creature, but when tweaked, they can be as unique as any PC race.

Worst: Anything with a large number of spells or spell like abilities. I'm not a spell-slinging player, so that's a challenge for me as a DM. When facing wizards and such, I've had to make flashcards with spells to figure out what to use when. :lol:
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Post by TigerStripedDog »

Wow, great questions.

As a Player:

Best: Dragons, bar none. They allow for great flexibility, they are difficult, they are huge, they are classic, and they come with a buttload of treasure. That said, they are also rare, and I recognize that they are more of the BBEBG kind of creature. So as far as the more "common" creatures, or those that can be used as a staple for a campaign I like Giants.

Worst: Faerim. Sorry Marcus. But I'm just not happy :(

As a DM:

Best: Again, Dragons, and aside from Dragons I like LIzardmen. Goblinoids are good too. I did a homebrew that did "Evil Twisted Humanoid" versions of all the "good" races. That worked well too.

Worst: Beholders... too dangerous, too random. Too many save or be destroyed type of deaths from which there is no return. It leaves you with a fight that you can't plan or predict for. Great if you want to scare the bejesus out of a party, and a really cool monster in general. But such a pain as a DM to plan around.


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Post by Jenara »

Great answers guys!

What monster would you really love to see remade? It could be so good but they really just didn't do it justice?

Oh if you liked these questions you'll soon find many more on the blog :wink: lol
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Post by Wizard_of_Wumbo »

As a player

Favorite: Something about fighting bandits just makes me feel heroic...that or demons
Hated: i hate fighting bears...it just feels wrong
Crappest: rats...once i got killed by three big rats, it wasnt a good day.

As a DM

Favorite: Zombies...and zom-bees
Too strong: the 20th level wizrd/cleric/fighter troll that rode a dracolich and had a +5 heavy ballista-axe that fired +5 swords of slaying (everything)...why are you looking at me like that? me and bryant made it up for a make your own monster thread a long time ago.
Too killable: goblins, no matter what i do, my goblins getted owned in the face with a longsword.
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Post by BryantTheSwordsman »

As a player
1) Favorite: My favorite creature to slay has to be Ogres. I just feel bad ass defeating a 8-9ft buff, ugly butthole.
2) Disliked: I hate fighting skeletons. the 1/2 dmg with anything, but blunt weapons aggravates the hell out of me.
3) Crappiest: I would have to say Gnomes. There is no point for them. We have dwarves for mountians and hills. Oh look we mine, we love gems, we hate battle, and are pansies. They are just lame dwarves.

As a DM
1) Favorite: Hobgoblins. Yes. Hobgoblins. These guys are delightfully evil, intelligent, cunning and devious. They are my favroite because they give me a creature that is a monster and that is equal to the players.
2)Gibberlings. If I were to play these guys correctly they would slautgher my players. No why they could survive their madness.
3) Iwould have to say giant rats because they are so puny and do not pose a big threat to my Players.(except that one time where Wizard was raped.)
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Post by Ismaels-Legacy »

Personally, I'd like to see another book like Deities and Demi-gods that had pantheons and godlings from various cultures and several characters from contemporary literature as well. :up:
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Post by Jenara »

Wizard_of_Wumbo wrote: Too strong: the 20th level wizrd/cleric/fighter troll that rode a dracolich and had a +5 heavy ballista-axe that fired +5 swords of slaying (everything)...why are you looking at me like that? me and bryant made it up for a make your own monster thread a long time ago.
Pardon??? lol!!! Yes that would be overpowered, did you ever actually use it?
Ismaels-Legacy wrote:Personally, I'd like to see another book like Deities and Demi-gods that had pantheons and godlings from various cultures and several characters from contemporary literature as well. :up:
Is there not a new one for 3e or 4e :?:

I have posted a new question on weapons on the Blog
You can read my answers Here

I'd be interested in your answers like always.
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Post by Blackbranch »

As a player:
1. Favorite- Trolls. Because they allow me an excuse to set something on fire..
2. Least favorite: Rust monster.
3. Lamest: I'd probably have to go with the consensus of the skeleton.

As a DM:
1. Favorite- Displacer beast.
2. Least favorite- orcs. Over-used in my opinion.
3. Lamest- Leucrotta. Just used them for the first time in an adventure, and I was completely un-impressed with this creature.
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Post by Serian »

As a player:
Favorite: Other human/demihuman sorts. It gives a common ground to work with whether you are negotiating with them or fighting them.
Least Favorite: Level-draining undead ... of any kind!
Lamest: Tarrasque - Is there really any need for this stupid thing to even exist?

As a DM:
Favorite: Orcs. You don't have to play them like mindless minions that march to their death. A group of orcs armed with simple stuff like spears, bows, flaming oil, etc. (a lot of the same kind of stuff the PC's can get readily!), and played with reasonable intelligence can really ruin a PC group's delusions of grandeur.
Too Powerful: Pretty much anything with more than 10-12 hit dice. You don't need them, they tend to give too much treasure (if you use the TT table in the MM), and you can give a better challenge to high level PC's by using low HD monsters and extraordinary tactics.
Too Weak: Nothing, really. You can use "puny" monsters as a set up. No matter how easily slaughtered, your PC's will still waste time and make lots of noise killing puny monsters, thus making sure the more whoop ass mosters are forewarned ...
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Post by Aphex_Nobody »

As a player:

Best: I've always like fighting Trolls. Because setting things on fire is fun. :D

Worst: Anything extremely resistant to physical attacks - my 'default' character is a fighter, so anything that doesn't let me hit it can be frustrating.

Lamest: The Tarrasque. Whoever came up with it must've been huffing something... is there even a point in the damned thing existing?

As a DM:

Best: Individually weak humanoids (like Kobolds, Goblins etc.) - I love throwing players for a loop by having them use elaborate tactics or giving them subtle environmental advantages.

Worst: Anything that means that the characters have only one way really of hurting it - I like to reward ingenuity, and this kind of monster practically relies on metagaming to beat. Fortunately, there aren't many of them.

Lamest: "I am evil because I am evil" intelligent creatures. Motivation is important for memorable encounters - even if it's just "tasty PCs look tasty".
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Re: What are your favourite and worst "Monsters"

Post by Rivselis »

Jenara wrote: 1. What Monster do you love to chuck at your players? Something that you always bring out and you know your players will respond to in seconds...
Hellhounds. One player of mine has a vendetta against them, leading to hilarity.
2. What Monster is far too powerful for most normal games? (ie the 1st to 15th range.. I know games go higher than that but they loose their interest at about 15th or so).
Honestly, Kobolds played perfectly are overpowered in 4th. Played right, combat advantage can allow enough Kobolds to drop a PC in one round.
3. What is the worst monster to throw at a party? You want a good fight, something they can win with some teamwork and good planning and you bring out ____ and they just slaughter them?
Xivorts. Easily SLAUGHTERED them.
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Post by Hopcat »

I have a short list:

My FAV (to play against): Giants
I hate MOST: Centipedes (come on, geez, STEP ON 'EM!)
The Toughesst (Lvls 1-15): Tarrasque I would think; or Demons/Devils

As a DM
Fav to pit against players: Mummies, Clay Golems, Vampires
The Lamest to throw at them: Centipedes Horseflies! :roll:
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