Post/Author/DateTime	Post
sblaxman 01-02-08, 10:29 PM	Was wondering if there were any monster or monster types you never use in your games. Came up when I was thinking about oozes/slimes... I don't think I've ever used a slime/mold/ooze in my games. I could just never wrap my hand around what they were or how to use them. What is a oozes motivation, how did it get there, how do you hurt a wad of snot? Are there any creatures you just never use for one reason or another?
Wandering_Mind 01-02-08, 11:05 PM	Yuan-Ti.............they never seem to fit in the campaigns I run even though I try to keep them as diverse as possible.
lulzapalooza 01-02-08, 11:13 PM	Yuan-Ti.............they never seem to fit in the campaigns I run even though I try to keep them as diverse as possible. I played a game in which the PCs went to a country which was like Ireland, and the Yuan-Ti were the primary enemy, because they were all driven out by St. Cuthbert with a stick.
Loftower 01-02-08, 11:20 PM	I began playing D&D in 1980. There are creatures that I have neither used nor encountered – or at least creatures that I don’t remember using or encountering. For the most part I just feel that I haven’t had the correct environment for them, for whatever reason. For example, I can’t remember ever using a weretiger. I can’t think of any reason why not; I just never needed one. Some monsters seem ill-conceived. (I’ll keep those to myself to prevent a flame war.) It really never occurred to me whether I had used every monster until I read this. I can’t see any reason why a DM would need to use a large variety of monsters. Some of my most popular adventure threads have had only a handful of different types. I also like to have a plausible ecosystem which is difficult to maintain with a different monster behind every rock. (Most monsters qualify as apex predators.) Somewhere down the line you’ll write an adventure and think, “This would be the perfect place for a wad of snot monster!” Until then, they can sit quietly in the book.
IAmTheScum 01-03-08, 12:17 AM	Anything with a glaring, well-known weakness, such as trolls. The first thing everyone is gonna do is break out the fire and acid, which just feels silly to me. Rust monsters. I have a lot of love for the warrior classes and I know how equipment-dependent they are. Having something break all their weapons and armor in the middle of a dungeon would just be too cruel.
Jutter 01-03-08, 04:51 AM	Rust monsters. I have a lot of love for the warrior classes and I know how equipment-dependent they are. Having something break all their weapons and armor in the middle of a dungeon would just be too cruel. I totally agree. But I still found some use for them once. My local assassin's guilt had a trapped entrance, leading to a locked room with trained rustmonsters. Some archers were firing from above. Nasty archers poison those arrows to deal some dexterity-damage. Really mean archers use drow poison. One does not knock on the door of the assassin's guilt and demand to know who killed the minister of foreign affairs. Someday, they might actually invite you in. Personally I never used the cockatrice. At low-levels, the odds are strongly against the PC's. The knowledge check, the save DC, the near-inevitability of the petrification at low levels. But I'll probably use those some day to spice up a mid-level encounter.
SavedSaint 01-03-08, 06:33 AM	Well there are many monsters i have yet to use. I like to keep vet players guessing at what they are facing since some players know how to deal with common used monsters. Most player will spot a rust monster, orc, goblin and instantly know it's HP, AC, and other vital information.
Dissont 01-03-08, 07:07 AM	Well there are many monsters i have yet to use. I like to keep vet players guessing at what they are facing since some players know how to deal with common used monsters. Most player will spot a rust monster, orc, goblin and instantly know it's HP, AC, and other vital information. I know exactly what you mean, Why would a group of level 1's know what the AC, hp, to hits, ect. of any monster. So, I tend to change them a little, maybe add hp, or lower hp but up there gear. (assumeing I'm ok with the players having the gear after the encounter) As for monsters I've never used.....I dont think i've ever acctualy used any swarm type monsters. The groups I DM for are usualy weak in the magic department. There a fighter, rogue, scout heavy group. As for monsters I've never gone up against, oddly enough would be a dragon. I've come close several times but the game will eather end in the "dragon rumor" being false or the game just falls apart befor we get to it. So i've never acctualy fought a dragon.
Saric 01-03-08, 07:20 AM	most mm2 monsters. so far the trend has been 1 in 4 encounters someone dies when i use those monsters. also I like to shy away most of the time from save or die monsters. It kinda sucks if you open a door, and bam you die to the bodak on the other side. However if the chars are high level and just waltzed into the necropolis without death ward active, they probably are asking for it.
elondria420 01-03-08, 07:21 AM	There are a wide variety of monsters that I have never used, and I've been DMing on a regular basis since 1989. I relish placing new monsters in the path of my players whe they least expect it, but also when it ultimately makes the most sense. If you're adventuring in a dungeon you're not going to find too many Rocs flying around it, ya know? I will say though that I hope the day NEVER comes when I have used ever monster in existance, because without something new possibly lurking around the corner where's the fun going to be at? Adventurers seek adventure, and nothing yields adventure like facing something you know nothing about. :)
Darkmatter20 01-03-08, 07:50 AM	Owlbears. Just really think they look silly and would have my players laughing at the encounter even as it killed them. Most likely because as I describe them my own opinion will probably leak through. Though I might use them for an insane wizard messing with animals or to actually make the players laugh a bit.
Lord Obsidian 01-03-08, 08:29 AM	Let's see... Digester, I just havn't found a use for such an odd creature. Ethereal Filcher, again I just havn't found the one scenario where they would work. Mephits, I love them, I've just never had an excuse to use them, though I'm currently planning a wizards stronghold specifically so I can use a few mephits :cool:
CrazyOzzy 01-03-08, 08:50 AM	Like the OP, I have never used oozes or slimes. I haven't got the first clue about them. Funnily enough I have never used Giants, that is going to change though! I've never had the chance to use high level demons and devils and honnestly I just can't wait! Usually I use few Animals as monsters, it's just cruel. Never used a swarm. I've never used a rust monster but I will use this only as punishment :devil: just kidding. I probably never will because it is just mean. The only reason you would use it I think, is to deter the PCs from even going near a place or if you messed up and the players have too much equipment which you would like to take away from them.
sblaxman 01-03-08, 11:36 AM	Ha, I forgot the rust monster, I have used them, but I always feel a tad bad inside (hehe). I've been dming since around 1991, there are a ton of monsters that I haven't used just cause I havent' gotten to them (never used a Roc either, though now I'm thinking maybe I should, just for fun). I try to give a good mix, to keep them on their toes. Get them into one tactic mind set then toss a monkey wrench in. Not to kill them, just to keep them challanged. I never had a problem w/ animals, so deranged lion/bear/wolf pack causing trouble... heck, if they have a ranger/druid they might be able to get out of the fight w/o a scratch. If I had any animal-lovers in the game, I might avoid that though just to not offend. I never had an aquatic campaign, so no aquatics, but in the OP I was thinking more of monsters that I have actually avoided using, vs just haven't gotten to yet. There are plenty I haven't that I have plans for (ilithids/githz) I have used gelatonous cubes before, I guess that counts as a ooze/slime, but it's just too much of a 'classic' to not toss in
Evil DM Mk3 01-03-08, 12:18 PM	Beholders always give me a headache. I deeply dislike creatures with too many save or dies. I also hate Psionics, always have.
kelcimer 01-03-08, 01:08 PM	I hardly use monsters. I realized this a while back and have made an effort to make sure to include a few in my adventures. But I traditionally am best at the city adventure/intigue/politics kind of adventure. I would say that I've perhaps used maybe 2% of all monsters available.
concerro 01-03-08, 01:49 PM	Was wondering if there were any monster or monster types you never use in your games. Came up when I was thinking about oozes/slimes... I don't think I've ever used a slime/mold/ooze in my games. I could just never wrap my hand around what they were or how to use them. What is a oozes motivation, how did it get there, how do you hurt a wad of snot? Are there any creatures you just never use for one reason or another? I never use monsters that can destroy a PC's gear. I have been tempted, but have not done it.
bane_of_cuthbert 01-03-08, 02:23 PM	Hmmm, lets run through the (surprisingly long) list, Achaierai Arrowhawk Athach Belker Chaos Beast Cockatrice Delver Destrachan Digester Gray Render Grick Lamia Locathah Naga (All Varieties) Gelatinous Cube (Oddly enough, the only core ooze I haven't used) Owlbear Phantom Fungus Rast Ravid Roc Rust Monster Sea Cat Spider Eater Tarrasque Thoqqua Titan Tojanida Yeth Hound Yrthak Most of these have never been used by me due to the fact that they would rarely fit into my games but some are just so obscure that they kind of fade into the background. Now that I actually look at the list, I'm getting some ideas for unfamiliar challenges to pit against my PCs in an upcoming elder evil campaign.
CCS 01-03-08, 02:29 PM	Oh there's all kinds of monsters I've never used - in this & all previous editions. I'd hazard a guess that I've only ever used 3/4 of any given Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, Codex, etc. It's not that I have anything against any particular monster, but often times something will simply not fit the particular story.... And then the action shifts & some other creature won't fit.... Btw, after nearly 25 years I just now got around to using an Oriental Dragon out of the 1st ed Fiend Folio. Better late than never I guess. :) As for your question about how to use slimes/oozes/molds? That's easy. They don't really have any motivation. Just think of them a being more akin to natural hazzards. As for how they got in? Well, odds are if your exploring dank caves, old tombs, sewers, & dungeons, then there's going to be no end of little craks where these things can slip through. Are the other inhabitants happy that they're there? Probably not. But then they also might not be aware of their new neighbor....
Dunsel 01-03-08, 03:16 PM	I have been DMing since 1981 but I have not used all the monsters in the 1st ed MM! Rust monsters are cool! There is nothing like imagining a 14th level fighter, the terror of the land, running away from a monster with a propellor hat! I have never used a Flumph. Too silly. Same thing for the Adherer. In fact, I used very few of the 1st ed Fiend Folio. I used to avoid using undead that took away life levels, but now that you get a save and you can be restored so easily, no problem. I avoid monsters with gaze attacks since they (per the RAW) get to use their gaze attack twice a round - once on the PCs turn (to see if they are looking) and once on the monster's (for the real attack). That just seems like overkill since most gaze attacks are lethal.
Shiftkitty 01-03-08, 03:43 PM	Been a D&Der since '81, and have not used all of the monsters from any edition. I can use slimes, but usually only in sewers or very swampy areas. The owlbear has never shown up, neither have aquatic elves, derro, or any number of things that just didn't fit into my campaign. I never saw the MMs as "This is what populates your world." I saw it more as a Sears catalog of monsters I could use if I wanted to. In a similar vein, I have used very few dragons. Since '81, I've used maybe five. What's so funny about this is that no matter how tough the party is, they always sh*t their pants the first time they actually encounter one, simply because they never encounter one! This last session (before the cat-puke incident) actually forced everyone out of character. "Why did it have to be a dragon? (groan)" "Dude, the game IS called 'Dungeons and Dragons', duh!" "Yeah, but I didn't think they meant it!"
sblaxman 01-03-08, 05:44 PM	I never saw the MMs as "This is what populates your world." I saw it more as a Sears catalog of monsters I could use if I wanted to. I do agree, which was why I brought it up. I used to DM dragonlance and darksun a lot, so there were a lot of creatures that just didn't fit at all, or when I played a homebrew campaign I'd select which creatures were in that world. I was thinking more of creatures that I actually avoid using, but some of the lists on here are reminding me of some monsters I just flat out forgot to use and have got me getting some ideas
CryoSilver 01-03-08, 06:01 PM	I rarely use monsters with powerful spellcasing; it always ends up as a TPK.
concerro 01-03-08, 07:23 PM	I rarely use monsters with powerful spellcasing; it always ends up as a TPK. Other than rakshasas, and that thing from MM2 with six arms I don't know to many monsters with powerful spellcasting unless you gave them caster levels
CryoSilver 01-03-08, 07:36 PM	Those with spell-like abilities are on the list. I also almost never use dragons, or the tarrasque. Dragons are ALWAYS a party wipe unless I play them like total idiots, and the tarrasque is laughable, until I tweak it, and then that's a wipe, too.
mcnoo 01-03-08, 07:42 PM	I try to avoid using undead wherever possible. They just seem to.....cliche. Still, they seem to seep in at the edges of an out of control campaign. There's a huge pile of things I've never uses simply because I've had no reason for them to turn up. I follow conspiracy theory style game writing, there are no random encounters, so I haven't just rolled up some of the lesser used ones, nothing against them though. I don't reckon I'd ever use a dinosaur. They just don't fit in with my view of things.
CryoSilver 01-03-08, 07:47 PM	Undead can be cliche, or they can be truly terrifying, especially if the party is unprepared to fight them. Parties that use lots of save-or-dies (most of which are Fort based) and Divine Metamagic (sucking down turn attempts), as well as things like sneak attack, can be totally screwed over by fighting powerful undead. Undead also have a near-monopoly on energy drain, which isn't scary until you consider that the CR 3 wight only has to hit you three times to make you dead in an EL appropriate encounter. A group of wights and ghouls using Aid Another can paralyze and drain a mid-level party quite fast.
mcnoo 01-03-08, 08:05 PM	True, but I'm capable of challenging my party with a whole variety of other things.
Mock26 01-03-08, 08:08 PM	I don't use most of the monsters, but that's only because there are so many of them.
Aryxbez 01-03-08, 08:16 PM	Most creatures I haven't used likely because too many creatures is bad for the ecosystem. Otherwise it's because I haven't found a chance yet, such as the Frost worm. Another reason might be is that they're unappealing to my game, such as all the angels. So here are some creatures I can think of I haven't used, Lycanthropes Most of the MM2 (not all too balanced for such) MM3 too, just haven't got the chance for the real cool ones for me. Beholder (I guess I'm saving my chance to use this till a certain part in my campaign series or something) Most outsiders, like Eladrin, the hound archon.
Shiftkitty 01-03-08, 09:23 PM	I don't reckon I'd ever use a dinosaur. They just don't fit in with my view of things. I keep the dinos very limited. Greyhawk and FR they just don't fit very well, but the velociraptors gave the drow party in my Eberron campaign a good run for their money, so to speak. The smaller ones fit very well in Xen'drik, but I don't think I'd drop a bronto or a T Rex in without damn good reason. As far as the dinosaur riding halflings go in that campaign setting, I haven't gotten that far yet. I did set up a game once where the PCs were doped up and dropped into a dungeon with the phrase "TIME TO LEARN YOUR ABC'S". I then ran them through room after room of one monster from each letter of the alphabet. I was surprised at how many I had never used in any other game.
Silvanas84 01-03-08, 11:17 PM	1) Save or die monsters. 2) Monsters with well known weakness's unless I can fake the PC's out (make them think the ghost is really a Vampire). 3) Yuan-Ti; they've never really fit in any adventure I've made. 4) Swarms of any kind. 5) Sahuagin. 6) Mephits. 7) Anything with Psionics. 8) Rakshasa's. 9) Xill's.
Cuindless 01-04-08, 12:02 AM	I rarely, if ever, use dragons because I either play them too well and kill everyone or play them too poorly and they die very quickly. Basically, I suck at playing dragons so I don't use them.
SearcherOmega 01-04-08, 01:20 AM	Hmm... things I've never used. Rust Monster. For the same reason cited by other DMs, it just seems too cruel. Demons and Devils. I honestly want to involve devils in my campaign (I am such a sucker for scheming, powerful lawful evil villains), but I have had such a hard time figuring out how to organically orchestrate an encounter with one. The PCs are not planeshoppers, and if a devil has found its way onto the material plane, you can bet it most certainly has a dang good reason for being there. I have alluded that certain evil organizations and forces have ties to Baator, but the players have never actually had a chance to uncover any actual devils. So far, no aquatic monsters. The last campaign was entirely landlocked. Almost as a deliberate reversal, this new campaign takes place in an archipelago - but so far, the only combat the players have taken on the open seas was against pirates. Beholder. For that matter, most of the 'iconic' monsters (Displacer Beast, Beholder, etc) have not been used. Most of my antagonists, even the relatively out-of-the-blue encounters, tend to be humans. My party finds itself fighting evil organizations more often than stray monsters. That said, I have run dragons before, and they have made excellent antagonists. None of them fell easy at all, but I never got a TPK running one either. Seeing the players panic when the wizard fell into the negatives from the green dragon's acid breath was fun. >:)
metalmayhem80110 01-04-08, 04:05 AM	I JUST started my new game about a month ago. So far I havn't used any iconic/well known monster. Level 1 orc encounter? That's no fun, lets go for Shadar-Kai! Undead? Why those arn't fun... Unless of course, you add constructs to them :D (Undead with a short sword in each arm instead of hands, been there, done that.) I just look for the iconic monsters, and find something that can kind of do what they can for the same CR. That way I get a lot of monsters that the party hasn't beaten down 10 times.
narack 01-04-08, 08:11 AM	I rarely use Animals i never used Fey type like dryad and these stuff i used once a swarm and in fact it wasn't a swarm monster. It was a monster in the MM2 or 3 or 4 which look like a big beetle 20' long and it's the monster that release the swarm. Anyway it last 2 rounds so i didn't put another since. I would although like to put more worms in my campaign, i like the shattering explosion they do when they die.
CryoSilver 01-04-08, 12:52 PM	I did set up a game once where the PCs were doped up and dropped into a dungeon with the phrase "TIME TO LEARN YOUR ABC'S". I then ran them through room after room of one monster from each letter of the alphabet. I was surprised at how many I had never used in any other game. That's an interesting idea. Sometimes I pick a monster I've never used before with CR 2-3 abive the party's level and build an adventure around it just to see what it can do.
Lemurion 01-04-08, 01:33 PM	No Save or Die, very few life drainers. I hated the demi-lich
zvbxrpl 01-04-08, 05:29 PM	The loacthah (that weird lionfish-man) would have to be #1 on this list. I've always wondered what it added to have this in the monster manual. It looks freaky, but is boring as hell, CR 1, and ACQUATIC for god's sake. It's the classic 'weird-ass monster I found in a supplement' except it's in core for some reason.
Entropy_Judge 01-04-08, 07:21 PM	Monsters I don't use ... most Underground, Aquatic, Aberration, and extra-planar monsters fit that list. I've never used gibberlings, but I'd like to ... just need to find a good time for them.
Kuronue 01-04-08, 10:03 PM	heh, a couple people never used Owlbears. I hadn't either, until I made my crazy "biologist" NPC - she swears up and down that she's a "scientist", despite holding a degree in Wizardry, and her favorite thing to do is to meld various creatures together to create more powerful ones (I've got a third-party supplement I'm using for rules when I need it). She made her boyfriend an Owlbear as a pet, and it decided to "fetch" one of the PCs when they came near the boyfriend's house. Elphie swears up and down that he's just a "harmless little baby-thing", much to the Psion's dismay. Then again, between his being fetched by Fluffy and our undead adventures that followed, and getting impaled the one time we threw monsterous wasps at them, he really had a tough time of his low levels >.> I've never used a lot of the creatures out there, having only run 3 real campaigns. I'm starting to use more fey and so forth, though. Never ran a campaign at high enough levels to use beholders, adult dragons, things like that, though I've used young ones for lower leveled characters. Haven't done very much incorperal either, or plant-creatures. Last time I branced out much I used these birds, I forget what they were called, from the MMIII I think it was, that could do Color Spray at will, and they kicked the party's ass.
Darth_Serenous 01-05-08, 07:55 AM	I never use Ooze and Ineviteble. Well not yet, because Im thinking sending Inevitable (Kolyarut) againts them soon. I never make my players fight a Dragon. Yeah I know thats a crime!
Senevri 01-05-08, 08:37 AM	Half-celestial Half-fiend anything with 30+HD. Can you imagine the combat? Round 1: "I use Holy Word" and most die Round 2: "I use Blasphemy" and the rest die.
ppirilla 01-05-08, 12:39 PM	I use mostly Humanoids and Monsterous Humanoids with class levels, plus whatever might be found with / summoned by them. So, just about anything else I probably haven't put to use.
Sunic_Flames 01-05-08, 01:04 PM	Any sort of screw you monster (rust monster, ethereal filcher, oozes...) because that's what they are. They aren't meant to be a challenge, they're meant to be in the same category as 'rocks fall, everyone dies'.
TheViolinist 01-05-08, 02:41 PM	I don't like those "oops-I-spilled-paint-on-the-paper-oh-well...-it-kinda-looks-like-an-ooze-like-creature"-creature... Cant remember any names... I just don't like them. In addition never use dinos, nor that four armed gorilla, he actually looks kinda funny:P Too be honest I don't send monsters that often on my players, and if I do, they are mostly homemade, too make it more surprising.