D&D: Five Monsters Perfect For An Intro Adventure
Sometimes you want monsters outside of the usual goblin/kobold/bandit milieu for your early adventures. Fortunately, the manual is full of monsters ready to oblige.
After a while, you start to get familiar with the rogue’s gallery of the typical level 1-3 adversaries. Bandits. Goblins. Kobolds. They’re classics for a reason. But even if you eat the same delicious meal day in and day out, every now and then you might wonder about trying something from the rest of the menu. And in 5.5E, there are plenty of weird options to go with.
So the next time you’re putting together an intro adventure, consider reaching for one of these creatures.
Gricks
Gricks are amazing. Sure, they’re a little high-powered to spring on a level 1 party as the first ever encounter. But – they don’t have to be a fight. Gricks are weird creatures in general – they are strange, monstrous worms that have possibly been mutated by magical “radiation” or what have you.
But whatever the origin, these CR 2 creatures are capable of making two attacks each and can grapple a foe, which makes them an interesting tactical challenge on their own. Especially great as a “this is the monster that has been stirring up other lesser things” that isn’t as deadly as a dragon wyrmling.
Dretches
Dretches are an amazing little chaos demon lurking right there in the manual. They are bruiser-type enemies, meaning they have a big hit point pool but are easy to hit. And they fit that “low-level monster” vibe so well; they’re the lowest of demons and as such they embody the most petty instincts and violent impulses.
Also they smell awful, and if you get within 10 feet of them, you have to make a DC 11 saving throw or be Poisoned and only able to take an action or a bonus action, but not both. That can make playing against a swarm of them dangerous to even adventurers at higher levels.
Jackalweres
Jackalweres are tricksters – but they’re malevolent ones. They are shape-shifting creatures who can become a jackal, a human, or a humanoid hybrid form; a lot like a werewolf, but they aren’t supernaturally cursed. They’re just magical beings from the wilds.
And their schees are often the perfect plot for a low-level adventure. “Someone has been tricking travelers by luring them into the wilderness and abandoning them.” Or “rumors of hidden treasure abound, but everyone who goes in search of it is magically ensorceled and their mounts/supplies stolen.” And at CR 1/2 a couple of these – with a focus on malicious glee rather than outright murder, can vex a low-level party until they’re ready to become true heroes.
Worgs
You might think of Worgs as just the evil mounts that goblins ride. But in 5.5E, they’re wicked fey predators in their own right. A pack of them, marauding through the forest can make any place hostile to travelers (and thus in need of heroes). Especially if they’re led by a Dire Worg, though at CR 10, it’ll be a while before a low level party can tackle one of those without a specific Fey-warding magic item or the like.
Kuo-Toa
Kuo-toa embody the weirdness of the Monster Manual in the best ways. These are weird fish creatures that live in the murky waters of the Underdark and are, in 5.5E surprisingly covered in sticky slime. Like, more than you’d think.
What makkes them amazing is that they have a tendency to ‘invent gods’ and that whatever they worship – there’s a whole table for how to create a kuo-toa deity, which could be something like a Ship’s Figurehead with the head of a Treasure Chest, I kid you not, and they actually gain power from it. A group of these strange cultists from the sunless sea isa perfect way to set an eerie tone (or a comedic one) for the first leg of your campaign.
What are some of your low level monsters that you like to mix things up with? Give me your rarest pull.
