Favorite Fantasy Monsters?

[Dominique]

There are tons of fantasy creatures out there. What are your favorites, and why? Are there any cool, barely known monsters you wished showed up more often in games and literature?

For me, my number one favorite is harpies. I just love the idea of bird-winged people, which are far more fantastical than people with pointy ears (elves) or short dudes (dwarves), but there seriously isn't enough harpy stuff out there... so I add harpies into almost everything I do.

I've also been researching Inuit mythical beasts, and I really think they're cool ideas for a game. are awesome - super-fast, man-eating, dog-legged people are a sadly underused concept. Although they tend to be weaker and not as clever as humans. Oh well.

[J.K.Mosher]

Fairies . . . I don't know why exactly, but I've always wanted to try and do something from the view of the fae people, and their struggles with the larger fantasy world.

And of course Dragons . . . but my version of them of Miniture Dragons (the size of large house cats) . . .

[maledictus]

The Ahuizotl, a creature in Aztec mythology that lives in lakes. A monstrous dog with a claw on its tail to drag innocent victims to the bottom.



It also appeared on my .

[I_luv_magick]

Giant intellegent scorpions. Like idea of non-humanoid civilizations in general.

[Rob Lang]

Can I be boring and say Dragons?

There is something undeniably awesome about a flying lizard thing that breathes fire. For me, you can't top that.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

If you don't mind D&D style fantasy from the 70s - I'll say Gnolls. Hyenas are pretty awesome creatures already - three fourths of the remaining species are known as "bone crushing hyenas" (and the fourth is the "dog like" aardwolf) and they will sometimes chase off lions. Some of the old folk tales about hyenas as the mounts for witches or the existence of wereheyenas make them worthy fantasy creatures themselves. The Gnoll takes all this up to eleven, with both six times the size, and humanoid intelligence.

From more traditional folklore I'd say the Japanese Kappa - for about the same reason a lot of people like zombies. I could probably defeat one. Admittedly, that involves either bowing until the water reservoir in their head drys up, or bribing them with cucumbers - but I'm certainly not about to defeat a dragon by any means, so I'll take what I can get.

Considering how I normally organize things in my room, I'm not sure if a Domovori house elf would be a blessing or a huge pain.

[madunkieg]

Orcs.

Yes, I know they're the classic bullies, and they have to reproduce constantly to keep up with how fast player characters wipe them out, but what if they were more social? A good example of an orcish civilization would be the Mongols of ancient times, minus most of the horses. Brutish, short-tempered, and lacking in manners (at least as far as the "civilized" societies can tell). They trade for what they can get and raid for everything else. The Mongols are herders, and make several products (mostly milk-based, including alcohol) from their animals.

This throws a lot of assumptions about orcs out the window. Perhaps the orcs found just outside of town are looking to trade. Perhaps the villagers aren't looking to have the orcs killed. Those same orcs could turn nasty with a hard spring. Spring is the season of worry for the Mongols (and almost every herder society), because it is the season when the grass grows, or doesn't.

[koipond]

Undead. Hands done undead.

With any other type of creature I start to want to build societies and understanding how they work because when players blunder into it, that's going to have an effect.

Mindless zombies and skeletons? Bash away friends, bash away.

Not that you can't build undead societies, but constructed undead are fun for mindless entertainment!

[Rob Lang]

[vulpinoid]

I'd have to say the Japanese Kitsune...for reasons that should be obvious.