Giant rats
Kobolds

I'd use just about anything, I'd just put my own spin on it.

Kobolds? Well, don't use them as monsters. Just a breed of dwarves who subsist mainly on mining enterprises.

Giant Rats? Their appearance in the cities always heralds a Skaven attack.

Murlocs/Bullywugs? Make better antagonists when you think of them as Deep Ones...

But Modrons...Modrons are my favourite.

The Great Modron March was the single greatest campaign experience I ever had with AD&D 2nd ed. Any edition of D&D for that matter.  The Modrons themselves I thought were fascinating. Their PoV I took from the novel Flatland: creatures of a 2 dimensional brainspace incapable of percieving the existence of, let alone understanding, a 3d world. They are motes, living cogs sentient only of the great machine they are all a part of. Not so much monsters, as just a fact of nature, whose designs and intentions are as incomprehensible to others as theirs are to The Modrons.

I'm reskinning Kobolds as very very very bad children (I'm converting B2 into a poor complex of buildings in a slum).

I really like modrons (and inevitables) and have a similar take on them.

I like Skaven, but I dunno if I would use them? Rats, I'm just over them. For my B2 project I'm making them aggressive amphibious eels.

Bullywugs I really like, but I also use other froggy humanoids, Tsathar and Ranine, who have fluff that works perfectly with my personal paradigm, so with the wugs I took a cue from Zak and made them into Chameleon People.

I reallyreally love Skaven, just as my players (and anyone who frequents my blog) are very aware, so I tend to use them very sparingly. A few times they've even provided some good misdirection, with players thinking I'm about to unleash Skaven on them, but then I pull something else out of my hat (like first edition WH Lizardmen, before they joined the Space Frogs as Aztecs). Otherwise, I guess I keep the Skaven largely relegated to my wargamming.

If there's one preference I have in regards to monsters, its that I like to make them rare and largely unique. If my players encounter a vampire, its not going to be the same type of vampire they've run into before. I think the experience for the players should be one of mystery and wonder, and not just a Monster Manual checklist.

I don't like D&D Lycanthropes and except for Werewolves, I never use them even remotely as presented. I do use Werebears and Wererats, but they aren't called that and their abilities, origin and statblock are something entirely different. All the others (wereboar, weretiger, werebats, etc.) are right out.

I'm not fond of anthrpomorphic animal monsters, unless they have some well established history (in mythology or the game), so most MM examples are ok, but don't expect, say, catpeople to show up at my table, ever.

I also try to keep halfbreeds and simple hybrids out as well. I just prefer a world where most creatures, including humanoids, don't breed with each other, unless there's a heavy amount of magic and unintended consequences involved. I do make an exception for half-orcs (I do like the implication of orcs and humans beeing compatible, when everyone else isn't), though in my main homebrew this resulted in the near-extinction of "real" orcs.


Just for the record, I like gnomes, even though I used to ban them from my table. I find that behind the goofy and annoying stereotype, there's a lot of potential to the race.

I still toy occasionally with the idea of creating and adventure/module/whatever using only the monsters that NEVER get used. Might be interesting, as a thought experiment if nothing else.

i dont mind gnomes and i do indeed love modrons i think a lot of people cant get passed there apperence but i find the appearance makes them work

inevitibles are great to although i do wish they had received more attention admittedly theres not a whole lot of places you can go with them but that just gives you the opportunity to expand on the few types you can make

kobolds should pretty much always be run tucker style its a huge part of there fluff that they fight that way so why not run encounters that way and its important to remember there not really underdogs they just want you to think they are

as for the wereanimals i dont really mind them in fact i quite like the idea of some werecreatures being aligned with the forces of good. i always thought the fact that the anthropomorphic template created monsterus humanoids instead of normal humanoids was a bit odd i get they were trying to avoid being called furry but it still gets me (although it does not help that the rules themselves were shit)

Dickwolves.

Quote from: CRKrueger;826023Dickwolves.

Eegad, I was glad to forget about that whole sordid affair. Thanks for reminding me :-P