30 Day D&D - Favorite Monster (Humanoid/Natural/Fey)

When I saw this one my mind immediately went to Fey. I find most humanoids and natural creatures fairly boring. After all, they are too akin to what we see everyday and D&D is about the exciting and fantastical. Sure orcs are not something we see everyday in real life, but then again, they are common in most fantasy settings. From there most humanoids are nothing but a variation on a theme. Drow are evil elves (and done to death as well), Aarakocra are flying people, Derro are dwarf variants, Merfolk are fish-people, etc. So my mind went to the Fey. From there I chose the Dryad.

Thus far my Favorite Monsters have been those that I like to use against the players. The Dryad is the "monster" that I would like to meet as a character. And this all stems from boyhood fantasies. As a young boy, as with most young males, there is the dream of meeting the girl who wants you. The first time I read about the D&D Dryad, I instantly zeroed in on the fact they are beautiful and then to the fact they like to charm males to live with them. Sounded like a win-win to me. Since then they have been my favorite fey.

(For the record, Githyanki almost came in first but puberty won out.)

30 Day D&D - Favorite Monster (Elemental/Plant)

Treant.

This harkens back to my love of the Lord of the Rings. The Ents of LotR were some of my favorite parts of the books. It really brought out the fantasy aspect. Could trees talk? Could we hear them? In addition, I always liked the scene from the Wizard of Oz movie with the trees that attacked. This carried over into my D&D games where my players could meet Treants both as possible friends but also as tenacious enemies.

30 Day D&D - Favorite Monster (Immortal/Outsider)

Azmodeus.

To me he was always the demon/devil that was the most powerful. However, while he is certainly powerful in might, he also does a lot through subterfuge, guile and diplomacy. I liked that aspect of a powerful being who uses his intelligence as well. It meant he was more than a hp meat bag. It also meant I could also use him in a variety of ways and the players wouldn't know it was him until it was too late.

30 Day D&D - Favorite Monster (Animal/Vermin)

Rat.

Actually a Moonrat but I like the picture

Rather uninspiring isn't it. The Rat is found as an adversary in virtually every 1st level dungeon at least once. All in all they are rather boring. But that is why I like them. They are a work-horse of a monster for low levels. You can throw them into any type of adventure from a city adventure to a dungeon crawl and they make complete sense for being there all without needing to provide a reason. If skeletons (another favorite low level monster) are in a dungeon you need to explain what raised them as undead and why they are still there. If you use kobolds in the sewer of a city you need to explain how they have lived there so long undetected. Not so with the Rat.

30 Day D&D - Favorite Monster (Abberation)

This is another category that is full of some excellent choices: Aboleth, Carrion Crawler, Catoblepas, Chuul, Cloaker, Gibbering Mouther, Intellect Devourer, Mimic, Mind Flayer, Naga, Neogi, Otyugh, Rust Monster, and Umber Hulk to name just a few of my favorites. However, my all time favorite is the Beholder.

Aberrations walk that fine line between the weird and the intelligent. They are not simply mindless creatures, in fact, many of them are highly intelligent. That is what makes them exceptionally dangerous; they have weird, unique abilities and the cunning to use them in strange and interesting ways.

Similar to the Lich yesterday, the beholder is good for both the one shot encounter or the main bad guy of a campaign. They also can be the antagonist of an adventure, but sometimes they may be the enemy that is willing to fight with the party against a greater evil. Their use is versatile...and they never fail to scare my players.