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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Feb 2011 : 22:45:44
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I was posting a bit ago in the thread for Underdark gladiators, and all the suggestions gave me an idea- what is everyone's favorite D&D monster? Y'know, the ones you can't RESIST using against players, or that you love to run into while playing yourself? So I thought I'd ask here, just to see what nasty (or nice!) beasties people love to use in the game. These could be general monsters (any edition) or Realms-specific.
Mine is the displacer beast. They were some of the earliest creatures I ever fought, and I love using them as a DM. I'm partial to felines anyway, but these are special favorites of mine! (Tressyms are one of my other faves...)
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The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.
"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491
"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs
Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469
My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188
Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2011 : 22:50:43
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Oh, yuan-ti with a doubt. As I've said before, I'm a fan of the scaly-folk, and my players can oft guarantee that yuan-ti will make an appearance in my games, at least once or twice.
Minotaurs are another favourite.
[EDIT:- I should point out that the examples I offered above are within the context of savage encounters by players, and not races in their own right.] |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 09 Feb 2011 22:53:08 |
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Chosen of Asmodeus
Master of Realmslore
1221 Posts |
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Christopher_Rowe
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
879 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2011 : 23:03:05
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| Black dragons. |
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Therise
Master of Realmslore
1272 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2011 : 23:03:26
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Illithid.
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Female, 40-year DM of a homebrew-evolved 1E Realms, including a few added tidbits of 2E and 3E lore; played originally in AD&D, then in Rolemaster. Be a DM for your kids and grandkids, gaming is excellent for families! |
Edited by - Therise on 09 Feb 2011 23:06:15 |
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Christopher_Rowe
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
879 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2011 : 23:12:42
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| Wait, no, blue dragons. Definitely blue. Although green can be fun. Blue! |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8035 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2011 : 23:17:12
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The Gith races. Technically that's more than one monster entry, but I love them all.
And if Sage gets two choices then so do I ... rust monsters. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2011 : 23:34:38
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| So why do you enjoy those creatures? What is it about them that you love? I'm looking for reasons, not just a name. It's always more interesting to see what monsters others like when one can see WHY they like them. For me, it's the combination of the displacement power and those wicked-nasty tentacles. And a huge cat with six legs? Awesomeness! Tressyms are cool just because I'd love to have a winged kitty for a pet!! (Though I'm not entirely sure I don't already- my black female Demona used to almost literally "fly" around the house, without ever touching the floor...) |
The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.
"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491
"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs
Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469
My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188
Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u |
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Chosen of Asmodeus
Master of Realmslore
1221 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2011 : 23:38:30
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Hellfire wyrms are draconic agents of the nine hells; they're among the more powerful types of dragons, and have devastating combat ability. But their role is that of manipulators and schemers; they take mortal form and plot to damn whole kingdoms. They have dozens of schemes on any given world using as many or more identities, and they murder anyone who discovers their draconic heritage.
My namesake, the Chosen of Asmodeus in my campaign(and hopefully one day in a novel), is one of these amazing, terrible creatures. |
"Then I saw there was a way to Hell even from the gates of Heaven"
- John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress
Fatum Iustum Stultorum. Righteous is the destiny of fools.
The Roleplayer's Gazebo;
http://theroleplayersgazebo.yuku.com/directory#.Ub4hvvlJOAY |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2011 : 23:56:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Therise
Illithid.
quote:
Originally posted by Arik
The Gith races.
Ooooh! Put me down for one of each. 
quote:
And if Sage gets two choices then so do I ... rust monsters.
Can't have that. So I chose another two.  |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8035 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 00:17:51
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The giths were on par with the drow ever since both were first introduced in the 1E Fiend Folio (and look how popular drow have become). They have a well-developed history and background, very distinctive appearance, and they lair in mighty fortresses on the planes. They also serve a lich-god, ride red dragons, and exterminate mind flayers for fun — how macho is that? They're militant, brutal, efficient, merciless, even sadistic ... inhumanly perfect fighters, mages, fighter/mages (gish) who are forged through millennia of war (with almost everybody, including the other Giths, lol) ... they're equipped with magnificent armour and their legendary silver swords, psionics, planeshifting powers ... captured Drow items are good but decay into worthless junk after a while, while captured gith items are better but bring endless assault waves of fanatical giths intent on recovery and punishment ... they can appear anywhere on anyworld, no explanations necessary.
The giths have ebbed and flowed a bit (and sometimes suffered from poor artwork) in various D&D editions but they never lost their indefinable excellence. They even emerged completely unscathed after the spellplague and resultant 4E conversion. They've also enjoyed the dubious advantage of being exclusive TSR/WotC property and yet left almost entirely ignored, (thus far) granting them immunity from the terrible third-party mutations and dilutions wrought upon many less fortunate but more popular monsters and races. There's also never any question of "canon" when asking about Giths. Finally, it's nice to have a cool monster that hasn't been turned into a whole family of variants and templates, it gives creative DMs something to work with that isn't entirely expected and overdone.
Rust monsters ... ha, no other creature of such puny stature can make a pack of hardened adventurers instantly halt and frantically scrabble to gain some distance. I've seen veterans of a thousand battles scream and wail like terrified children after falling into a rust monster pit, even though they suffered not a single point of damage. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 10 Feb 2011 00:56:28 |
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 01:41:07
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| I gotta agree with Arik about the Rust Monsters, the priceless expressions of horror on my PCs faces make my sadistic parts tingle. |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36971 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 03:53:34
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| If limiting myself to just one... Griffons. Dunno why, but something about the mix of eagle and lion is just very, very appealing to me. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 12:43:47
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Hordes of Kobolds with tons of traps. Just so much fun.
That and a big nasty dragon of any sort. |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Elfinblade
Senior Scribe
Norway
377 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 13:34:35
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It's a toss up between the classic Beholder, Illithid or Minotaur for me. I think there is a reason these old rascals are still appealing in the D&D of today. Menace, brute force, cunning and pure evil is always a joy to unleash on unsuspecting players 
EDIT: Oh, and imps. Lots of rabid, cackling-mad power hungry imps! |
Edited by - Elfinblade on 10 Feb 2011 13:35:44 |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 13:56:32
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I am rather partial to demons and hobgoblins. Chaotic engines of destruction who can wield magic with a mere thought are definately favorites to roleplay for me. They usually can strike terror into my players when I need a good final showdown.
Hobgoblins I like because of their monstrous honor geared to their terrifying warmachine. A fully armorplated warchief who bellows his orders in guttoral goblin is a striking image that I adore to use (and imitate) often. |
My campaign sketches
Druidic Groves
Creature Feature: Giant Spiders |
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Therise
Master of Realmslore
1272 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 14:21:13
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Ah, why Illithids?
It has a lot to do with the sheer horror you can inflict on poor PCs, watching their faces drain of color as you describe what's happening. Stumbling through a cave, looking for treasure and an escaped pirate, they first came upon the smell. Not exactly the stench of rotting fish, but a musky and slightly warm odor that reminded one of a putrefying carcass. Waves of uncertainty, followed by a primal instinct to just GET AWAY, they held quiet in the near-dark and saw the thing as it turned the corner.
It was incredibly tall, but bent over and shuffling as it made hardly any noise, and it seemed to approach them out of the deepest part of the cave. It had a bulbous head that seemed to glisten with a cold wetness, and tentacles beneath that were always shifting and moving like snakes. It turned more, perhaps sensing them, and they could see its eyes: scanning with pure hatred, so alien and vile. There could be no understanding of this thing, no parley or discussion, certainly no negotiation.
And then it did see them. Overcome with fear and turning to flee, one of them tripped over a small cave rock. It immediately sped forward with an inhuman grace, an eerie feeding-kreen coming from... somewhere. Then they couldn't move at all, as waves of confusion hit all of them like a brick. Immobile, and forced to watch because they could do nothing else, they saw it kneel down to their fallen friend and pull the man up effortlessly. The tentacles came down on the man's skull, but he could not scream, could not even move.
Another of their companions could move, but that momentary hope was dashed on the realization that they were somehow charmed. He moved to help the thing, calmly removing the first man's helmet so the prying tentacles could more easily contact flesh. And then it began: the sickening crack as the man's skin was cut open and his skull was torn back like an eggshell. Blood gushed down, and the second man smiled as the brain of the first man was pulled out and into a maw beneath those tentacles. Yet still there was no sound, other the drip of cave water in the distance and the insanely rapid beating of their hearts.
No one would hear them die in the dark.
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Female, 40-year DM of a homebrew-evolved 1E Realms, including a few added tidbits of 2E and 3E lore; played originally in AD&D, then in Rolemaster. Be a DM for your kids and grandkids, gaming is excellent for families! |
Edited by - Therise on 10 Feb 2011 14:27:05 |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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Mr_Miscellany
Senior Scribe
545 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 17:39:54
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Beholders are always a favorite. Floating along noiselessly like they do and surprising unsuspecting PCs...hee hee!
There used to be a running joke in a 2E Realms game I ran that a beholder janitor was responsible for cleaning up after the PCs when they made a mess of things on the upper levels of Undermountain. It was how they explained traps resetting, monsters returning, etc…
Aside from their magic nullifying central eye, beholders are fun because you can switch up the powers of their eye stalks. They’re also fun to unleash in waves.
One of the most interesting (and for a few moments: perplexing) encounters I ran involved a group of beholders vs. a party of eight characters. That party included two PC Wizards who’d previously cast Shapechange.
Beholder 1 catches a (non-wizard) PC in its magic-nullifying cone. PC Wizard Shapechanges into Beholder, opens his central eye and bathes Beholder 1. Beholder 2 comes along and opens its eye on PC Wizard 1. PC Wizard 2 opens up on Beholder 2. Finally, Beholder 3 moves in over the non-Wizard PC at the start of the mess and opens up its main eye on him, so he's covered yet again.
It was like a string of anti-magic Christmas lights that turned on and off depending on which Beholder (PC or monster) opened up its eye last.
Even so, there were enough active, overlapping fields that the rest of the party moved in and made attacks relying on straight base attack bonus and ability score modifiers + feats, with no magic-derived bonuses.
Ed's Beholder variations are really fun too. Just when players (who've been gaming for years) think they know it all, you spring a Death Tyrant and its beholderkin servitors on the party.
Some of my PCs actually kept Beholder magic items (like crystal eye caps that could be used to twin a beholder eye ray or turn a ray effect into a cone) to use when they Shapechanged into beholders.
Lots of fun, those! |
Edited by - Mr_Miscellany on 10 Feb 2011 17:53:57 |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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Quale
Master of Realmslore
1757 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2011 : 19:56:49
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It'd be easier to pick favourite fifty monsters. Rakshasa probably, cause of shapeshifting and intrigue. Or sharns, excluding some of the 3e lore about them.
In the current campaign Denizens of Leng (from Pathfinder) or ogre magi. |
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Quale
Master of Realmslore
1757 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2011 : 13:10:34
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| Edit: I forgot about the axiomites from PF Great Beyond. When they move, the axiomites disperse into moving hive-like clouds of fine, golden crystalline dust, resolving into moving patterns of equations before they finally coalesce back into their bodily forms. That's the coolest concept ever. |
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Synthalus
Learned Scribe
USA
170 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2011 : 19:25:52
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| berbalang nuff said |
"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."
— H.P. Lovecraft (The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories) |
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Synthalus
Learned Scribe
USA
170 Posts |
Posted - 11 Feb 2011 : 19:33:28
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| berbalang's are weak but the idea of the berbalang and what is capable of is frightening. |
"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."
— H.P. Lovecraft (The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories) |
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MalariaMoon
Learned Scribe
324 Posts |
Posted - 12 Feb 2011 : 08:08:05
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That mindfleyer description was beautifully icky!
My favourites are dark nagas and banelars. A nice alternative to those beholders when you want to make a troublesome group of Zhents a little more interesting!
Some nice concept art has helped them find a place in my heart, and I've always loved the thought of a snaky banelar, lurking behind a screen of servitor creatures and unleashing hell with the high-power wands clutched in its tentacles. |
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MalariaMoon
Learned Scribe
324 Posts |
Posted - 12 Feb 2011 : 08:09:46
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That mindfleyer description was beautifully icky!
My favourites are dark nagas and banelars. A nice alternative to those beholders when you want to make a troublesome group of Zhents a little more interesting!
Some nice concept art has helped them find a place in my heart, and I've always loved the thought of a snaky banelar, lurking behind a screen of servitor creatures and unleashing hell with the high-power wands clutched in its tentacles. |
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swifty
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
517 Posts |
Posted - 12 Feb 2011 : 08:13:59
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| beholders for me every time.does anyone remember the video for one of the old foo fighter videos.i think it was called 'ill stick around'.there was what looked like a beholder in it. |
go back to sleep america.everything is under control.heres american gladiators.watch this.shuttup. BILL HICKS. |
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2011 : 06:46:29
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| Cath'Shee have captured my imagination recently. That is a BIG, smart kitty that can teleport without error at will. Fearsome indeed. In a cat fight with a Displacer Beast, my money is on the Cath'Shee. |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out
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Quale
Master of Realmslore
1757 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2011 : 11:52:03
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| I prefer the couerl to the displacer beast, has rust attacks and oscillation manipulation. Akatas from PF are even more interesting. |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4491 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2011 : 14:23:25
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| I've always had a blast with those skeletons that shoot magic missiles, I think they were called Boneshard Skeletons from Monsters of Faerûn. Anywho, even though they were a CR 3, just a few of them can really rip into a smart group of players as Magic Missile is auto-hit and does some significant damage every round. My player's refer to those monsters as the Disco-Dancin' skeletons hahaha. |
Diffan's NPG Generator: FR NPC Generator
E6 Options: Epic 6 Campaign |
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2011 : 16:21:03
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speaking of cats, I think one of the 2e Dark Sun MMs presented the Kirre, 6 legs, no tentacles, but horns and psionics. Also...
One of these days I'll get my PCs to Chult so I can use Ti-Khana Deinonychus and Fiendish Tyrannosaur. Not as scary as true dragons perhaps, but savage enough.
Actually, Goodman Games put out a Complete Guide for both T-Rex and Velociraptor. I just got both for cheap. I'm hoping to find some keen stuff in there.
edit: any of the above, with frikkin lazers on their heads. |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out
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Edited by - Fellfire on 13 Feb 2011 16:48:49 |
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Favorite monsters?
