Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 k019 Aug 07, 2009 12:39:15	I need help making things for my PCs to fight in a steampunk adventure. Im new to DMing and i dont know alot of monsters let alone ones that would appear in a steampunk world. So far Im thinking of taking things like giant spiders and the like and just calling them mechanicle spiders and giving them electric spells instead of poison. but if anyone has any suggestions please help me out. I have a lot of books on monsters but there all listed by there names and im not versed in DnD enough to know what a monster by name alone so if you know of anything that I can use outright or can retool like the spider please enclos it's propper name and book. Thanks for your help.
#2 sparkchaser Aug 07, 2009 14:28:01	First thought in my head was to reflavor golems.
#3 garner_adam Aug 07, 2009 14:43:02	If you have a Monster Manual it's really just a matter of scrapping the fluff and reshaping it to meet your needs. Steampunk features a lot of different ideas namely a blend of modern trappings seemingly tacked on to things to "improve" them. It also has a lot to do with "upheaval" of the old ways and social class issues like working 60 hours a weak in a factory just to get by. Beyond just telling you to refluff like crazy how about redress too? You could make a gang of gnolls that are obsessed with time pieces. (or even a cult if you wanted to go way out there) All over their person they could have little pocket watches and the like. If they talked in a crazy victorian accent and had secret base hidden in a wrecked and beached steam powered barge I'm sure the flavor of Steam Punk would get across to your players!
#4 mothsbane Aug 08, 2009 14:34:53	Constructs of all sorts. Steam-powered cyborgs. Undead of all varieties (but especially vampires), werewolves (and lycanthropes more generally), demons, devils, hags, doppelgangers, and anything similarly gothic. Steampunk usually has a 19th century flavor, and alot of the above were the monsters of the period. A lot of these usually express anxieties about death, disease, infection, and civilizational decay. Sentient man-eating gorillas. Very Victorian. Sentient man-eating steam-powered cyborg gorillas. Exotic creatures like Rakshasas, Ravids, dinosaurs, and Coatls. Victorians were obssessed with the exotic, particularly the orient. The idea of foreign threat or contamination was also very prominent (remember, Dracula was European). Orc noble savages. Though Lovecraft came later Lovecraftian creatures fit steampunk settings well. Aboleths, illithids, krakens, kuo-toa, sahuagin, locathah, lizardfolk and generally aberrations or things with tentacles work well. Giant crustaceans (chuuls etc) also qualify. Here they represent fear of moral degeneration or existential dread as science uncovers the mysteries of the universe. Everyone knows that tentacles and existential dread go hand in hand. FEY! Victorians loved faerie and stories about them. In a steampunk world they usuaully represent the ailing forces of nature being crushed under the boot of industry. Things to avoid: generally speaking, things from classical mythology, giants (though if done right they could fit), dragons, hippogriffs, manticores, centaurs, chimera, stuff like that. Some of these might work well as extinct creatures (nostalgia for the medieval period), though, or as the grotesque pets of decadents or dandies. Have a look at the Iron Kingdoms by Privateer Press and Unhallowed Metropolis, they've got more steampunk stuff than you can shake a stick at. Heck have a look at Eberron, its borderline in places. They don't have stats for stuff but you could just steal ideas and imagery from them. Failing that, read some Edgar Allen Poe or Bram Stoker, or Hellboy. Most of the monsters listed above are in the Monster Manual.
#5 garner_adam Aug 08, 2009 19:21:16	Hey I even learned a few things from that Mothsbane! Thanks a ton for that informative post. :D
#6 strand0 Aug 09, 2009 3:14:12	Clockwork beings are steampunk.
#7 strand0 Aug 09, 2009 4:12:13	Animals Cave bear Boar Crocodile Horse Hound Hyena Panther Rat - Giant rat, dire rat, rat swarm Scorpion Snake Spider Wolf Dinosuars and Lost worlds Bloodspike behemoth resembles a large reptile similar in form to the Stegosaurus stenops Macetail behemoth resembles a large reptile similar in form to the Euoplocephalus tutus Drakes - Spiretop drake, guard drake, needlefang drake swarm, pseudodragon, spitting drake, rage drake Lizardfolk - Reptilian humanoids Clockworks Guardian - Shield guardian, battle guardian - Constructs of various materials and humanoid form Warforged - Magic constructs that possess sentience. Weird old stuff Godforged colossus - Large animated statues Gibbering Beast - amorphous aberrations covered with eyes and mouths Griffon Medusa - Scaly skinned humanoids with powerful gaze Minotaur - Bull-like Humanoids Mummy Oni - Asian monsterous humanoids with horns Satyr - Goat-like humanoids of fey origin Sphinx - Winged lion-like creature tasked with guarding a specific location. Vampire - Undead that feed on the blood of others. Strange Beings Doppelganger Dragon Dryad Efreet Fomorian - Deformed giants Foulspawn = Corrupted humanoids Gargoyle - Gargoyle, nabassu gargoyle - Resembles grotesque stone statues Ghost - Phantom warrior, trap haunt, wailing ghost (banshee), tormenting ghost Ghoul - horde ghoul, abyssal ghoul, abyssal ghoul hungerer, abyssal ghoul myrmidon - Undead decomposed corpses Kuo-toa - Fish-like humanoids Lich - Undead spellcasters Rakshasa - Feline humanoids that can alter their appearance Yuan-Ti - Evil, snake-like humanoids that live in jungles. Served by cultists who believe the yuan-ti are emissaries of a god. Zombie - Controlled animated body