Your Top Three Classic 1st Level Monsters

saskganesh · April 15, 2015, 02:11:09 PM

A single, lonely, Ogre.

1 on 1 the Ogre could smash any party member, but with group tactics including the right spell (s), it's a major player victory. And when they win, it feels real GOOD. Memorable. The decent treasure helps a lot too.

... and then when they hit 2nd level, you give them a single, lonely, Hill Giant. ;-0

Simlasa · April 15, 2015, 02:15:32 PM

I'm a fan of the various slimes, puddings and molds... can be run as creepy proto-shoggoth type creatures who are easy to run from but harder to actually deal with if you don't know their specifics.

Spinachcat · April 15, 2015, 04:30:46 PM

Are these programmed undead? AKA, the undead have a mission to do XYZ? Or are these free roaming kill-the-living undead? If your undead are programmed to stay to a limited area, or do a limited task (aka guard the amulet, kill any who take it), then other living creatures can be in the region.

Personally, I like cultists and the undead are programmed to never attack those wearing the sacred robes while displaying the pendant of the Evil One. Then PCs could figure out how to sneak past the undead.

Of course, if you want to make stuff much harder, the pendant is magical and glows red when it Detects Law (or Good).

rway218 · April 15, 2015, 08:37:44 PM

Sometimes we forget that mimics work well after a party gets past a smaller group. They work well in dungeons or tombs with your undead, even adding the gelatinous cube for fun.

Spinachcat · April 15, 2015, 09:39:00 PM

Just slapping some plate armor on those skeletons and zombies changes the equation of the combat.

The only concern with the undead is how the encounters balance against a party with clerics vs. a party without one.

RPGPundit · April 18, 2015, 03:13:19 AM

The monsters that appeared in the solo adventure of the Mentzer basic set.

APN · April 20, 2015, 01:27:09 PM

Kobolds (few in number they were a joke until a bunch turned up with missile weapons to hand the party their ass)

Skeletons (I'd mix it up by giving them Chain Mail - with a black plumed helm - or Plate Mail - with a red plumed helm and +1 strength modifier)

Green Slime. Had the players running in fear and desperately trying to light torches as they realized their one torch had already been lit for 10 minutes and was starting to sputter, and this thing ran the length of the corridor.

In later levels it was anything with level drain. Monsters guaranteed to send players hair white, especially Spectres.

Exploderwizard · April 20, 2015, 01:34:44 PM

Goblins
Skeletons
Men

flyerfan1991 · April 20, 2015, 02:49:08 PM

The Rot Grub.

The great equalizer.

Omega · April 20, 2015, 06:21:50 PM

Humans: Worst monster of all. Can never seem to kill enough of them to keep the numbers down...

Kobolds: Killed more magic users than cats.

Skeletons: Way cooler than those stupid zombies.

Michael Dean · April 20, 2015, 08:13:06 PM

Skeletons

Giant spider

Lizard men: just because Keep on the Borderlands was my first adventure as a kid.

tuypo1 · April 21, 2015, 12:07:08 PM

goblin
skeleton
human or similar bandits

kobolds come a close 4th after bandits which come after skeletons with goblins being the main one