In our GMing strangeness, we all have a pet monster. Some monster that appeals to us — and to be perfectly honest — to us alone. You bring out this monster and the players around the table may even roll their eyes, as if to say: “That thing, again.”
It’s fair to say the flumph falls into this category. So do a lot of first edition Fiend Folio selections for the old guard players. The logic of the monster’s insertion into the story doesn’t even matter. When it’s your pet creature, the one you love to portray, good sense isn’t even a factor. You just drop that sucker in and delight in the familiar.
So, as GM, do you resist the urge for this indulgence? It’s good to be mindful of your tendencies and try something new. (How else do you discover your next pet monster?) But do you deny yourself your fun, too? It’s a game after all, and everyone around the table needs some fun, including the GM.
I can’t answer those questions. I leave it to you to decide when to put pet monsters into play. But here are some of mine.
Bhuka
My natural reaction to “good” goblins is to recoil. (I’m looking especially at you, Eberron, and the ever-present goblin residents of the city of Sharn.) I prefer sneaky, murderous unclean little green fellas who slit throats and skulk in dark corners of dungeons. Pathfinder’s football-headed singing haters of dogs and horses is a nice touch, but really, I admire their shiftiness more than their capability for holding a tune.
But I have a soft spot for the bhuka, the desert-dwelling goblins who occupy the “noble savage” slot of fantasy gaming. They live in tight-knit communities, dress in colorful clothing, have a hierarchy that reveres the elderly and druids (so, if you’re an elderly druid, you’ve got it made). They have long lashes to protect them from the glare of the sun and the ability to find water in the most inhospitable waste. They make interesting allies, especially for adventurers who haven’t a clue about making preparations for a stay in a desert.
 Talking, armored polar bears
If any players have an inclination to head for the arctic, then I’m going to get all Golden Compass on them. Dire polar bears, with their prehistoric tusks and incredible size are cool enough. But give them a voice (call them werebears or what have you) and the party is suddenly up against a cunning foe that can be as ferocious or helpful as the situation requires. Kodiak and Siberian brown bears are dangerous enough (incredibly stealthy and lethal for creatures of their large size), but there’s something about that added intelligence of talking, armored polar bears that makes the creature something else.
Gudanna, the Bull of Heaven
Ishtar’s chosen instrument for killing the legendary hero Gilgamesh and his beastman friend Ekindu is the great bull that is the mythological antecedent to other hoofed terrors, such as the Atik, the minotaur, and the mechanical gorgon. Its horns are capped with lethal metal points, its stampeding hooves trample anything in its path, torrents of rain and lightning accompany its furious attacks, and even its gigantic cowpats are an unbearable assault on the senses and defenders’ dignity. That’s right, it will run you over and then crap all over you (I’ll leave the metaphorical implication of that for you to ponder on your own time). Even viewing its magnificent black hide is said to intimidate battle-hardened warriors. Any adventurer who sets out thinking it can go out and engage in a little cow-tipping is in for a rude awakening.
Now, it’s time for sharing. What’s your pet monster and what makes it cool to use?
I love the Catoblepas, and my players all hate it.
Perfectly understandable. Especially the AD&D version is delightful: when encountering one, with luck a third of the party is dead before initiative is rolled! XD
I always tuned down the instant death aspect to play up the aspect of simply being a bison-bodied snakaboarapotamus that’s covered in poo, and seems to be really cheesed off about something or other.
Always a classic.
It took me a little while to think of it, but mine are more categories than specific monsters. And not really monsters either.
I have a tendency of using powerful and confident female characters, especially those with something to hide or a dark/creepy past. At least half the authority figures in my games tend to be female, and of them the majority tend to be best described as anti-heroes and blood knights. If they’re tragic characters, all the better.
I also really like to bring psychopomps and other servants of death into my games. I almost always custom create these to fit the setting, but they’re often based on some mythology: a washer woman, a lady in white, a shadowed hood, an old man, a raven.
Combining the two categories tends to be where I create my favourite monsters, my pseudonymsake being a perfect example: an unliving blood knight in service to death and driven by vengeance and her own flawed sense of justice.
I find myself defaulting to straight males when it comes to NPCs, especially villains. I have to consciously go over all my NPCs after making them and review things like race, gender, sexuality to get a decent mix.
Dark knights are always awesome. Especially when they guard bridges. Especially if the bridges go over the river styx.
Psychopumps … It’s time to take you home my dearie. Love it.
I seem to have a weakness for militaristic monsters. I love my hobgoblin regiments, swordwraiths and undead phalanxes, probably because any display of tactical acumen on behalf of “mere monsters” seems to scare the wits out of my players! And there is of course the aesthetic appeal of disciplined troop formations with their banners flying high and war horns blaring loud. I’m happy whenever a combat encounter is heralded by a military procession. 🙂
Kalamar is the place for you. The whole setting is filled with Roman style Legions of hobgoblin centurions.
My players have a fairly hefty menagerie already (demon dogs, spirit bears, hippogriffs, dragons, etc). The one creature they dislike the most (and most of them have attempted to kill at some point) is the goblin jester. He’s irritating and drank a purple potion that makes him periodically sexy. He and the hagwitch also claim they’re married. It’s broadly a disturbing situation.
The stuff of dreams, to be sure.
My players shudder whenever I describe Rotgrub burrowing into flesh and worming their way to the victims heart. Very weak creatures, but being infested with them usually requires the PC injure themselves to get rid of them. Once I even had a Necromancer use them as a torture device on a captured character.
It really is the little things that make GMing so much fun.
>:D
Wasn’t there a fist edition line drawing of a rot grub that was just the creepiest thing ever?
Was it THIS one?
You betcha
love that pic
Blurgh!
My favorite is the lowly demon, the Jovoc, but they’re much more fun when you advance their HD, and then use something very strong to throw them hiiiiigh in the air to land at the feet of their foes. Can anyone say (temporarily) “Living Grenade”?