looking for interesting monsters

[its_all_ogre]

not posted in here for a while, but reading the heart seeker thread I decided I'd contribute overall.

I'm looking for interesting monsters or monster abilities to keep my players entertained.

I largely homebrew all of my stuff, some monsters I re-skin from the monster builder but normally add some new stuff to as well.

on a related note I've made some interesting monsters in this way and wondered if anyone would be interested in them being pasted in to this forum (if that is acceptable)?

a lot of my monsters are made to fulfil a specific role though and play in a pretty specific home brew world, I'd use some discretion over how their powers work depending on your party composition.
(in other words YMMV)

[Aurthur]

I've always been a fan of the re-animator monsters (usually undead). Party kills it once...then it comes back at half health again. :) I throw those in sometimes and it always causes a little bit of 'Is it really dead this time? *poke it with a stick*' moments.

[DragonBaneDM]

I'm a huge fan of the Angry DM's multi-stage boss fight approach towards solos. You can use it to keep characters on edge and let them feel like they've accomplished something just great with it.

angrydm.com/2010/04/the-dd-boss-fight-part-1

[its_all_ogre]

thanks for that i'll have a read.

I'm not after powerful enemies necessarily, just interesting ones.
ones that require a shift in tactical thinking or have odd powers that entertain/threaten in new and innovative ways

[masteraleph]

Definitely a fan of the Gelatinous Cube family of things.

Also, for a long time I've wanted to do a mid/late-Paragon encounter, or perhaps two or three encounters of mimics. There's a solo, Core of the Tower, that's level 18 as printed- seems like it would be a lot of fun to have a fight or two vs. mimics, only to realize that the tower they're standing in is, itself, supported by a mimic.

[its_all_ogre]

a mimic tower sounds fun!

I also found this, from that angry dm link
http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/fea...worldbreakers/
I'm probably going to use both at different times.
world breakers for regular solos when I fear it will become boring and the Boss fight from angry DM on an end of major adventure fight

[way2blaster]

I use stat/lvl drain type disease's. Groups using fightings styles from mp2. And (if inteligent creature) lock up the tank with a tank and focus the squishy mage. So the controller have to think fast. Skill challange worked into the fights fighting on a boot thats falling out of the sky (doont ask) and creatures who can avoid/ignore controll and/or marking. Suddenly turn of the light. Or turning it on. Heavy rain. On a ledge. Mindcontrolled good folk. Fighting in a room with flameble liquid. (Metal vs metal sparks Lighting and fire can ignite explode)

Have effects be comulative +1 to atack and dmg fore every zomby grabbing and +to the dc to eacape the grab. A groop of 8 zombies wil rip you to shreds and being grapled and imobilized with no escape. Minions are sceary

need more let me know

[DragonBaneDM]

Swarms of regular monsters can be fun to throw at paragon level characters. Like a phalanx of kobolds or a troupe of orcs provides a real challenge while reviving an old heroic tier foe.

[Nathiar]

I think Dhampir is a very interesting sort of villian or anti hero

[its_all_ogre]

thanks for the responses, I've actually used all of these at some point, so sounds like great minds think alike!

currently my "heroes" are fighting lots of minions backed up by swarms of the same enemy: once the swarm are bloodied they are replaced by a few minions also.

makes for an interesting series of fights

[DragonBaneDM]

So back in the day I had Autochan, the Warforged master of couriers from Sigil as a minor campaign villain. This is before I embraced the idea of a 3 stage solo, and I'm not sure if I'd do this for this NPC any way. I gave him a very specific weakness that the party was unable to exploit the first time they met him but loaded up on for their second encounter.

Spoiler: Autochan, The Bell Ringer

Show

Autochan the Bell Ringer Level 9 Solo Soldier
Large natural construct
Initiative: +11 Speed: 7
HP: 384 Bloodied: 192
AC: 25 Fortitude: 23 Reflex: 20 Will: 21
Saving throws: +5 Action Points: 0
Traits:
Resist 5 all damage (except psychic)
Bells of Baphomet: When Autochan is dealt psychic damage, he loses all resistances, loses the Instinctive Asault trait, and grants combat advantage until the start of his next turn.
Instinctive Assault: On an initiative count of 10 + Autochan’s initiative check, Autochan can use a free action to move 4 squares and use his Sigil Special attack. The movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Aftershock: On a crit, Autochan knocks each enemy adjacent to the target prone.
Combat Superiority: Autochan gets a +2 bonus on opportunity attacks, and his opportunity attacks stop movement.
Attacks:
The Sigil Special: Reach 2 +14 vs AC: 2d12 + 8 damage, and the target is marked until the end of Autochan’s next turn.
Hook-Fist: Ranged 5: +12 vs. Fortitude: 3d6 + 8 damage and the target is pulled 2 squares and marked until the end of Autochan’s next turn.
Grappling Strike: Reach 2 +14 vs AC: 2d12 + 8 damage, and the target is marked until the end of Autochan’s next turn.
Effect: Autochan then makes a secondary attack against either that target or one target within close burst 3.
Secondary Attack: Close burst 3. +12 vs Fortitude: Autochan grabs the target and pulls the target adjacent to him. The grab ends automatically at the end of Autochan’s next turn. The target is marked until the end of Autochan’s next turn.
Chains of the Grey Waste: (Recharge 4, 5, 6) Close burst 3: +14 vs Fortitude: The target is pulled 2 squares adjacent to Autochan, takes 1d12 + 11 damage, and is marked until the end of Autochan’s next turn.
Staggering Blow: (Reach 2; Recharge 6 and when first bloodied) +14 vs. AC: 3d12 + 10 damage and the target is pushed 3 squares by Autochan’s chain-fist. The target is dazed (save ends)
Miss: Half damage, the target is pushed 1 square, and the target is dazed until the end of Autochan’s next turn.
Triggered Actions:
Snagging Grip: (Recharge 4, 5, 6) Close burst 10, triggers if an enemy forces Autochan to move or knocks him prone. If the enemy forced Autochan to move, Autochan pulls the enemy next to him. If it knocks him prone, he knocks them prone.
Combat Challenge: If an enemy marked by Autochan shifts or makes an attack that does not include him as a target, Autochan can make a Sigil Special attack as an Immediate Interrupt.
Equipment: The Sigil Special (A +3 Aftershock Greataxe) and residuum-powered plate armor.

Oh yeah, and I went through this phase where I tried to make as many DotA heroes and Magic cards into DnD monsters as possible, but I think a lot of DMs go through those phases.

[Blake Hannon]

I'm a huge fan of the Angry DM's multi-stage boss fight approach towards solos. You can use it to keep characters on edge and let them feel like they've accomplished something just great with it.

angrydm.com/2010/04/the-dd-boss-fight-part-1

Angry DM is a god among men when it comes to encounter design. The new version he came up with for 5E is even better, and you can use it in 4E as well with only minor changes.

Anyway, OP, I'd be interested to see your homebrew monsters. Mind if I share my own as well?

[Havelocke]

A fun encounter I threw at that party was a Darkness trap being triggered in the room and then having monsters with tremorsense underneath the party. They cannot see what they are fighting! I used this in an underground setting, to mix things up I had some bats attack from above, they were SO confused and panicked it was awesome. The party was really tooled up for close combat, and taking away their primary sense made them freak out a LOT, it was fun as a DM and challenging for the party, they survived, but just barely.

[MoutonRustique]

short-version (lost the post )

Delayed effects telegraphed to players so they can avoid it if they choose - adds player agency, mobility and tactics to encounters. Allows for stupid powerful attacks. :)

The coolness usually comes from the encounter as a whole (the interaction between monster synergies, environment, dramatic choices, alternate success conditions, etc.)

Play upon player expectation once in a while - make the "caster-looking-dude" actually be a melee-destruction-brute/soldier (enigmas of vecna are this concept condensed in one creature).

Give the option to (or "force") the players to use the foes' toys - a canon, a mind-control altar (to control the "allies" the foes summoned), etc. The thing is to make them single (or very few) use and also significantly better than "I attack". (Ex: if the striker deals ~20 dmg, have the cannon deal at least 30 dmg.)

Give foes significant strengths and weaknesses - that they are obvious is rarely a problem (most often, it is a blessing). Ex: archers have weak melee options, the massive brute can be kited with slow, etc. It's not about making it easy for the players, it's about making their choices matter. You can have a creature that deals so much damage it bloodies the tank in one hit - but if you give a clear way to avoid it or disable it for a little while, then that becomes a meaningful choice on the players' part. (That's one thing I disliked about the post-MM3 creatures, especially artillery, they're not significantly more or less dangerous in a specific situation, IME.)

IMPORTANT - a weakness that the party can't really capitalize on or that plays into "automatic play" isn't "significant". (Ex: a low will defense if the party would have attacked its will anyway doesn't add much... But a weakness to poison that can be learned and then capitalized on by using limited resources, that can be cool.)

The single greatest thing which is very, very hard to do is having the party face a foe, fail to defeat it, learn a weakness and then succeed. THAT is awesome, but so very hard to do well...