Iconic low level monsters

[Blue]

So, I'm introducing new players and working on adventures, plot first. But I do admit that there's a few iconically D&D type of creatures I want new players who don't know the books to experience for the first time.

For example, the displacer beast (CR 3) with it's displacement ability. Or a troll (CR 5) with it's regeneration. Or the surprising Mimic (CR 2).

So, what CR 5 or lower creatures do you feel are the most "wow" factor when the player is unaware of them? This need not be a mechanical wow, like the troll's regeneration and fire, it could be just a "wow, that's fantastical" with hybrid beasts like the Owlbear.

(Both Dragons and "Tucker's Kobolds" are also on my list already.)

 

[200orcs]

1) Beholder
2) Displacer Beast
3) Mimic
5) Gelatinous Cube
6) Owlbear
7) Lich
8) The Drow
9) Mind Flayer
10) Rust monster

And of course goblins and orcs are kind of like a must even though they are not funky.

Edit: Now that I am on the PC I see that I was off base on the newbie DM thing...so ignore the part below...

Also as a fellow DM, it sounds like you are a new DM. Prepare motivations and goals for NPCs not plot. Otherwise when the players stray your plot goes in the garbage...or you force them back, and both of those things kind of sucks.

I am saying this because I made the same mistake in the beginning.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

As a new monster it doesn't have iconic status, but I'd like to throw the oblex from MtoF into the ring. With its ability to impersonate anyone that it has assimilated it has a lot of cool story potential. You could set it up antagonizing a village or even have some of the residents in on it to create a town with a dark secret.

 

[200orcs]

Oh I forgot about cranium rats.

My list earlier did have higher CR monsters, but you should be able to Homebrew them. Then things like Beholders have lower level equivalents like Gazers.

 

[Krachek]

Orcs
Ooze
Lizardman
Skeleton
Ogre

 

[Dessert Nomad]

The carrion crawler is a classic, and it's paralysis turns scary fast, especially against a smaller party.

It's not one of the D&D specific monsters, but I've come to love the Giant Octopus (in the beasts section of the MM). A big mass of tentacles grabbing and restraining you is really scary, and stats wise it's strong enough that it's not trivial to kill but isn't really a TPK risk by itself. They also work great as minions for underwater creatures, or as a stat block for 'weird tentacles rise out of the water'. I recently replaced two ghouls in a blackened sinkhole in the middle of a 40' cavern with one (flavored as a zombie), and the fight was so much better - players were freaked out that it could grab them anywhere in the room, and the threat of it dragging them underwater made them want it dead fast.

 

[Laurefindel]

I don't think Blue is that new to DMing, I wouldn't worry.

But I think 200orcs has it pretty spot on.

All the prehistoric animals (owlbear, rust monster, hook-horror, bulette etc) are unique to D&D.

Orcs and skeletons on the contrary are staples of fantasy RP in general, but they can be "comfortable" in the sense that they immediately evoke an image even among the most inexperienced players. Lets call then sure bets.

Mimics, oozes, gelatinous cubes and other "gotcha!" monsters scream D&D to me, but only in the old-school dungeon-delving sense. If you want to explore this emblematic era of D&D, I strongly suggest their use, if only as cameos, but otherwise I'd pass on them.

Perky kobolds and stubbornly standing trolls are good. They can also be devastating; use with caution!

Otherwise, you can't get more D&D than dragons, beholders, and liches, but they're probably punching above the player's weights at that point. But as a cameo or plot villain, they'll make you feel like you're playing D&D instead of another RPG. Especially the Beholder.

 

[Quickleaf]

Goblin ambushes. Not traps (that's a kobold thing), but ambushes like where a group of goblin archers retreat in terror of the "big folk" after lobbing some arrows only for a dozen goblins to be waiting around the corner to stab PCs pursuing the archers. That kind of thing. Also, this typically goes along with the classic "so you've captured a goblin, now what?" scenario.

 

[aco175]

Something like skeletons where all of a sudden you realize that your bludgeoning weapon deals double damage is a great feeling for a player. If you think about it though, most people that grew up in a world with monsters would know this, but the new player would still enjoy it if you let the party figure out when the cleric hits for 20 points all of a sudden.