So...wondering what interesting fantasy monsters people can think of, that aren't standard D&D creatures? Either from non-D&D systems, homebrew creatures, or even from fiction.

Put all of the editions of D&D together and you come up with a huuuuuuuge list of monsters. Its that depth of resources that makes the game the titan it is today. So I make no representations that the below don't resemble in some way some sort of D&D monster, by accident.

...flips open a notebook at random...

Growback Bramble: Dense bramble that grows in huge clumps over a wide area. People cutting through it quickly find however that it has closed and grown back behind them, making them lost, disoriented, and hedged in more and more by fast growing , sharp and painful tearing thorns.

While not immediately lethal, people quickly grow tired, blades blunt, and there is no rest trying to clear a space. Eventually the thorns pierce the flesh and immobilise the limbs, and animals die. This is how the plant colony gets its sustenance.

Creatures of the spirit: Otherwise unremarkable animals with an unusual trait - they can see, hear, and damage spirits and the hidden. They are favoured by witches who can use they to locate spirits needed for incantations, leading to all sorts of mistaken rumours about "familiars".

Passengers: Antediluvian bodiless demons that attach themselves to an unwitting innocent, riding around in or near their bodies, waiting until they sleep at night to come out and work mischief. Starting with frivolous or petty tricks, banging on the walls, and generally being a nuisance, they grow stronger as the spiritual and emotional turmoil in the area increases, causing ever more violent disturbances, sometimes resulting in death.

These neverliving have no master plan or agenda, they are simply predators moving from host to host as the sustenance runs out, which doesn't mean they aren't highly intelligent. Fear is the very air that they breathe, their presence often leads to rumours of hauntings and spooky areas, and they can slumber half awake for thousands of years.

Some cultists are rumoured to have convinced or ensnared some of these creatures into servitude, at great hazard in an increasingly uneasy relationship.


Using just the last two (fairly recognisable beasties) as the only magical creatures in a game world I ran one of the most enjoyable campaigns of my life. Sometimes less is more I guess.

SCP-173

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;553166So...wondering what interesting fantasy monsters people can think of, that aren't standard D&D creatures? Either from non-D&D systems, homebrew creatures, or even from fiction.

The French d20/OGL game dK did a whole book(let) full of them:
Bestiaire Monstrueux

Two examples (rough translation by me...):

Chevalier de chitine
Undead are like cheese: they don't smell very well, they are hard when new/young/fresh and soft/squishy when old, and fungi and insects like to settle on the crust.
The Chitin Knight is a kind of zombie that provides refuge to a teeming colony of insects forming a carapace which is harder than steel. Covering it completely, these insects do not care what the undead does - they are only insects that dig tunnels into the beast to install their larvae, where it's hot.
The Chitin Knight is a wandering collective, attacking travelers and villagers alike, or ending up serving as a steed for a necromancer who doesn't mind the odor.

   Type: undead
FD: 2*
Level: 2
Behaviour: stupid
Milieu: warm climate
Skills: combat (+8), knowledge (+2), guile (+5), survival (+5)
Combat: claw or cudgel (attack +8, damage 2d6+2), natural armor (protection 2, vs. non-magical weapons 6)
Hit points: 20
Energy points: 8*
Special abilities: Cursed (abomination (+4 armor vs. normal weapons), cause fear, restless), force (+1d6 dmg, +2 natural armor), invulnerability vs. cold,  vulnerability vs. fire.

Fatal-coutis
A man walks down the street, minding his own business, oblivious to the doom that awaits him, just happy to live and breathe. The next instant, a spray of blood sprinkles his neighbors. He collapses, chest pierced from inside by devastating outbreak of a thousand thorns of a fatal-coutis. Immediately, air, wind, and other motions start to disperse thousands of floating seeds. They are beautiful, fuzzy and white, like snowflakes from heaven. Cover your nose and mouth. Get yourself to safety. If, by accident, you ingest such a seed, know that soon you will end like that heap of blood in the track of the road!

   Type: plant
FD: 1*
Level: 5
Special abilities: Save** vs. DC20 in case of accidental ingestion of a flying seed. Its outbreak causes [level]***d6 damage. If this is enough to kill the victim all bystanders must make a saving throw 1d6 hours later.

I have to see if I can scan the illustrations for these two...

I short: if you can read French, get this book.

* ignore these stats, they are dK-specific
** dK uses a single saving throw, S&W style
*** I am pretty sure that means the level of the character, not the plant.

OGL Section 15 addendum
dK System Copyright 2006, John Doe, Authors Eric Nieudan, John Grümph
Bestiaire Monstreux Copyright 2008, John Doe, Authors John Grümph, Matthieu Destephe, Jean-Baptiste Durand, Yannick 'Orlanth' Polchetti, Guillaume Vasseur

I've been occasionally posting some weird homebrew (but D&D) monsters on my blog, several of which are pretty non-standard. Recently, I've been pulling inspiration from folklore and half-remembered disturbing visions (and weird personal experience.) These are certainly "non-D&D" in the sense that they don't sound much like the typical "hunt it down, kill it, and take its stuff" beast.

You wake up to see a ghostly, hairy hand reaching straight down towards your face!

A huge number of decapitated bloody heads rolls towards you!

Every night, there is a blood-curdling scream and animals are slaughtered, and the only evidence left behind are footprints left by someone with one goat hoof.

Thanks guys, some interesting stuff here.
 

Quote from: The Traveller;553282Put all of the editions of D&D together and you come up with a huuuuuuuge list of monsters. Its that depth of resources that makes the game the titan it is today. So I make no representations that the below don't resemble in some way some sort of D&D monster, by accident.

Fair enough, I just said non-D&D since otherwise the thread would inevitably have become about which D&D monster was the weirdest.
And thanks for the thingies, these are cool.
 

Quote from: thedungeondelver;553290SCP-173

Thanks. These are weird alright. Site definitely worth some looking over.
 

Quote from: talysman;553442I've been occasionally posting some weird homebrew (but D&D) monsters on my blog, several of which are pretty non-standard. Recently, I've been pulling inspiration from folklore and half-remembered disturbing visions (and weird personal experience.) These are certainly "non-D&D" in the sense that they don't sound much like the typical "hunt it down, kill it, and take its stuff" beast.
 
You wake up to see a ghostly, hairy hand reaching straight down towards your face!
 
A huge number of decapitated bloody heads rolls towards you!
 
Every night, there is a blood-curdling scream and animals are slaughtered, and the only evidence left behind are footprints left by someone with one goat hoof.

Good stuff. They remind me a bit of Dragon Warriors monsters in theme, actually; any of them would work great in a DW game.
 
 
Also, @ Dirk: alas no French here, but thanks.

Quote from: Bloody Stupid Johnson;553455Thanks. These are weird alright. Site definitely worth some looking over.
 

They have a Basic Set, too.

Added to my collection:

An undead heart that continues to beat... and feeds on fear.