Summary
Dungeons & Dragonshas no shortage of amazing monsters to use, but there are only so many times you may put a band of orcs or a group of cultists on the board before players start to find your combat encounters predictable. It’s important to bring a variety of adversaries for your players to have to deal with.
The Monstrosity category of monster is one of the most versatile, but also the most overlooked. It’s tempting to think thatundead are the best monsters, or thatnothing beats the excitement of a dragon, but take a moment to consider the following Monstrosities and realize what a fantastic suite of options it has for you as a Dungeon Master.
8Asteroid Spider
You’re Going To Need A Bigger Ship
If you’re running a Spelljammer campaign and your players are cruising through space then there’s nothing more terrifying you can throw at them than an Asteroid Spider. This Gargantuan Monstrosity simply can’t fail to get a reaction.
Able to snare an entire ship and able to disguise itself perfectly as a regular asteroid, this ambush predator is a great way to spice up interstellar travel if your players get too focused on simply getting from one place to another.
You don’t have to be running a Spelljammer campaign to use an Asteroid Spider. If players hear about a fallen asteroid they’ll be inclined to investigate it, and the last thing they’ll be expecting is for it to get up and start walking around.
7Deep Scion
The Drowned Return
Aquatic campaigns are often littered with sea serpents, krakens, and leviathans, but don’t overlook the Deep Scion. They were people lost at sea and saved by those kinds of monsters, at the cost of their humanity.
Now they serve the creature that saved them, luring others to it. With their conscience a thing of the past, and able to disguise themselves as who they once were, a Deep Scion can be a tricky infiltrator to root out.
6Hoard Mimic
Terrible Treasure
The Hoard Mimic is a more dangerous version of the beloved classic monster, the Mimic. Unlike the regular variety, the Hoard Mimic can change its appearance to resemble a collection of objects rather than a single one, allowing them to disguise themselves as a large portion of a dragon’s treasure trove.
This is the perfect monster to keep in your back pocket as a DM when your players are fighting a dragon. If the dragon encounter was grueling and one they barely survived, save the Hoard Mimic for another time. But if they breezed through the fight and are gleefully gathering up treasure…you know what to do.
5Ironscale Hydra
Hydra Plus
The Hydra is a tried and true favourite, you really can’t go wrong with it. The only problem is if your players have been rolling dice for several years already and know what to expect from classic creatures like the Hydra.
The Ironscale Hydra is the answer to that problem. Significantly stronger and tougher to kill than the regular variety, the Ironscale Hydra will catch your players off guard when they might have been expecting an easier fight.
4Kamadan
Fight Monsters Not Animals
Many players prefer not to have too many combat encounters with animals or even any at all. Dealing with a pack of wolves might be a staple of the genre, but the genre is fantasy. If someone wants a fantasy where they don’t have to hurt an animal, why not let them?
The Kamadan is a way to have the feeling of combat with a predatory animal, while also making it clear the creature is a monster and making the fight less morally ambiguous. Just make sure to gauge your player’s reactions. If they’re still unsure, you can always have the Kamadan flee.
3Loup Garou
More Of A Beware-Wolf
A werewolf is a real crowd pleaser of a monster, but their challenge rating is an unimpressive three. At higher levels of play, they just can’t hold their own and will be wiped out by your players in less than a full round.
A Loup Garou is far, far stronger, with a hefty CR of 13. Drop one of these into a group of werewolves as the pack leader and watch your players panic as they realize they’re dealing with far more than they bargained for.
2Mage Hunter
Sharing Is Scaring
The D&D community often makes a lot of fuss about the disparity between casters and martials, saying that martials can’t compete with the utility of casters. Whether that’s actually true or not, monsters like the Mage Hunter make it clear you can produce challenges for any character.
Mage Hunters are arachnoid monsters designed to do exactly what their name suggests. If hit with a spell, they only take half the damage and the person who cast the spell has to make a Dexterity saving throw or take the other half. Go on, use Disintegrate, we dare you.
1Remorhaz
A Critter From The Cold
A Remorhaz is a fantastic monster to spring on your players if they’re trekking through a snow-covered environment. They often strike from beneath the snow, catching weary travelers by surprise.
The thing most likely to surprise your players though is that striking a Remorhaz in melee causes whoever attacks it to take damage. They might expect this to be Cold damage, but it’s actually Fire since the Remorhaz has an extremely high body temperature to help it survive in arctic climates.
Remember, you’re never confined to only using monsters in the environment they’re normally found in, and you can change anything about them if you want to. If you want a Remorhaz to appear in the desert instead, and deal Cold damage instead of Fire, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from doing just that.
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game that first took the world by storm in the 1970s, and continues to enchant millions of players today. With a seemingly endless number of modules and campaigns for you to play, as well as the possibility to do your own thing, you’ll never get bored of playing D&D.
