Monsters are perhaps the trickiest characters to pull off in costume. But a good monster can go many ways and earns tons of respect. Here's a quick overview of the most common monsters from the fantasy world.
Manticore
Manticores are monstrous hybrids with the body of a lion, the head of a person, the wings of a dragon, and a tail that fires deadly spikes. They are intelligent man-eaters that often rule over other evil creatures to satisfy their greed and hunger. They make for excellent low to medium-level boss enemies with huge roleplaying potential!
Ogres
Ogres are simple, brutal monsters that will often attack and eat anything in their path, considered the lowest of the giant-kind. They are often used by other evil creatures as beasts and guards, rewarded with human flesh and shiny trinkets. They make for great low-level bosses or medium-level regular enemies, or NPCs with huge roleplaying potential!
Gnoll
Gnolls are demonic hyena monsters driven by bloodlust and hunger. They roam the wilderness in savage packs, often plundering towns and villages. Even among orcs and goblins, Gnolls are notorious for leaving no survivors or corpses behind. They make for great low to medium-level enemies that find their strength mainly in their numbers! Witherlings are undead gnolls, brought back to life by evil necromancy. They are servants of the other gnolls in a pack.
Githyanki
Githyanki are feared psionic pirates that dominate the wilderness in space-faring ships. They harbor a deep hatred for Mindflayers, who once brutally enslaved them. Their culture of plunder and conquest values only strength, and they learn to fight to the death from a young age. They make for great medium to high-level regular enemies, especially in campaigns focused on spelljammer settings or aerial travel!
Kuo-Toa
Kuo-Toa are amphibious fishmen from the dark, driven to madness by the influence of evil spirits. In their madness, they have invented new gods, to whom they pray devoutly. They make for great low to medium-level enemies in adventures with a dark or cosmic horror theme!
Dragon
Dragons are intelligent magical creatures that are as old as the world itself. They come in many colors and forms, though most are evil-aligned chromatic dragons, or good-aligned metallic dragons. They possess the ability to speak powerful spells and breathe pure elemental magic.
White Dragons
are the most bestial of the evil dragons, making their lairs in icy caverns and primarily hunting to survive in frigid climates. Their breath is like a storm of primordial frost.
Green Dragons
are masterful liars, making their lairs in swamps. Rather than simply hiring goons, they love to deceive common folk into carrying out evil schemes under the assumption they're doing the right thing, to the sadistic pleasure of the dragon. Their breath is a massive spray of deadly poison.
Copper Dragons
are benevolent tricksters that value jokes and art as much as gold. They make their lairs in rocky deserts and repel intruders with a breath of burning acid and noxious gas.
Silver Dragons
are a regal but peculiar kind of dragon, so fascinated with human societies that they often spend their long lives disguised among ordinary people, inventing new aliases as time passes. Their good nature drives them to take the vulnerable under their protection and defeat evildoers with their breath of deadly frost.
Gold Dragons
are the wisest and strongest of all dragons and dedicate their long lives to fighting injustice and eradicating evil. They will share their knowledge with worthy adventurers and will not hesitate to rain down a blazing inferno upon their enemies.
Because they are the most iconic creatures of the fantasy genre, dragons make for extraordinarily memorable medium to high-level bosses, as well as high-level NPCs, both with endless roleplaying potential!
Zombie
Zombies are undead monsters brought back to life by evil magic. They are the shuffling remains of ordinary people and other creatures that found themselves on the wrong end of a necromancy spell. 9 out of 10 sinister cults agree that they make great low-level monsters that overwhelm players in nightmarish hordes!
Hag
Hags are eldritch fey creatures that take the form of evil crones from classic fairy tales and nightmares. They are grotesque witches that deceive and curse the unsuspecting with sinister bargains. Their evil schemes inspire folktales into warnings to avoid dark forests and fetid swamps. They make for excellent low to medium-level enemies with huge roleplaying potential, especially in campaigns with (folk)horror and mythology themes!
Skeleton
Skeletons are undead monsters brought back to life by evil magic. They are the long-departed shuffling remains of forgotten warriors that found themselves on the wrong end of a necromancy spell. 9 out of 10 sinister cults agree that they make great low-level monsters that overwhelm players in nightmarish hordes!
Golem
Golems are magical automatons determined to carry out the will of the mages who gave them life. They are emotionless and lack any personal will, making them excellent servants for powerful wizards, as well as eternally obedient guardians of ancient tombs.
Flesh Golems
are gruesome experiments brought to life by less than appetizing magic.
They are sewn together from the remains of corpses, protected by thick, magically resistant skin.
Stone Golems
offer the ideal solution for wizards who need a magical guardian and a beautiful statue at the same time. They last the longest of all golems and are often overgrown with the moss, fungi, and plants of forgotten ages.
Clay Golems
are the easiest to make and the most classic flavor of golem.
They are often hastily created by good wizards to protect settlements against attackers.
The versatility and neutral nature of the golem provide endless possibilities in combat, exploration, and roleplay!
Troll
A colossal figure, thick leathery skin and grotesque features. Trolls are fearsome creatures that inhabit the darkest corners of mystical forests and treacherous mountains. These beings have an insatiable hunger and often hunt unsuspecting travelers or even other fantasy creatures to satisfy their voracious appetite with a gruesome feast. Yet trolls are not merely brainless savages. They possess a primitive intelligence, are capable of crude speech and rudimentary problem-solving. Despite their cruel appearance and reputation, some tales tell of trolls that display a twisted sense of humor, toying with their victims before delivering a crushing blow. They are cunning in their own way, setting traps and ambushes to ensnare those who dare cross their territory.
