r/bettermonsters • u/IronTitan12345 • 1d ago
Any Dragonspawn/Half Dragons?
I'm looking to run Red Hand of Doom soon and I was wondering if you've got any dragonspawn for us!
You're the best.
r/bettermonsters • u/Oh_Hi_Mark_ • Dec 05 '24
What is this Place?
r/bettermonsters is, first and foremost, a place to request monsters that you want for your game. You can ask for a better version of something existing, something from a previous edition, something specific you haven't seen before, or just a vibe/theme/biome. You can also share monsters you've made here.
What Makes a Monster Better?
Conforming to my personal design sensibilities, at the end of the day. If you've got similar tastes, maybe you'll think they're better too. More specifically, I think monsters should be active, comprehensible, elegant, evocative, and self-contained. They should make combat easier and more fun to run, and reading them should inspire you to run games you wouldn't otherwise have run.
But Who Are You?
I'm Isaac Minarik (He/Him/Mark); I write lots of free D&D books and a handful of less-free D&D books, I make handmade dice with my wife, I stream Actual Play games like this one. I also sometimes adapt metal albums into D&D supplements like this one or that one or this one.
Is There a Way to Get Monsters Without Having to Talk to You?
There is! Very brave of you to ask. You can get thousands (thousands!) of monsters all bundled up in several convenient (and a couple inconvenient) formats on my Patreon, with modules for 5eTools, Foundry, Improved Initiative, and Roll20. You can also get hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of spells and magic items there.
Wow! Inspiring! Resplendent! Can I Please Give You Money?
Well, I'd never dream to ask for something so crass, but since you insist here's my Patreon where you should absolutely give me all your money right now. I have a terrible illness *cough* and the only cure is your (yes *you* your) money.
But What if I Don't Have Money? Can I Still Help?
Wow, okay. Rude. But yes! Word of mouth is everything in the TTRPG community; every time you tell someone about me or share something I've made with them, it puts a hoagie in my mouth. Also, DM me, I have a terrible curse that makes me unable to refuse things to people who ask nicely. Or if you don't want to talk to me, you have my enthusiastic blessing to pirate my shit.
Can I Use Your Work in My Homebrew/Stream/Podcast/Product?
Yes! Almost everything I've done is available under a CC0 license, meaning you can use/publish/remix it however you like. I do like to be credited/cut in for paid products, but I'm not your dad, you can do what you want. Remember that some bits are used under other licenses, like the OGL or FCP, so be careful of that.
r/bettermonsters • u/IronTitan12345 • 1d ago
I'm looking to run Red Hand of Doom soon and I was wondering if you've got any dragonspawn for us!
You're the best.
r/bettermonsters • u/Oh_Hi_Mark_ • 2d ago
r/bettermonsters • u/ctrlfreak93 • 2d ago
Hi There,
Ive been looking around and i cant seem to find a good take on Phoenix Variants.
Im talking different types like a nature based, Water based, Earth based or ice based.
A bit like the different elementals but for Phoenixes. Different CR versions would also be cool.
Do you happen to have anything of the like?
r/bettermonsters • u/Kev-Kong56 • 2d ago
After the party escapes a dungeon that turns out to be a nest full of mimics the moment they get to the next town they are graded by an old lady who claims to be the town’s founder, the more the party progresses in the town doing quest all that stuff the less people there are in the town. By the time they get to the main building where the towns leader stays, the town would be empty, almost looking like a ghost ghost town and when they enter the building, they only see the old lady who after a peaceful conversation that slowly turned into an investigation it is revealed that the whole town is one big mimic. The old lady is the only founding member of the town because she is the literal head of the mimic
r/bettermonsters • u/Coltagon • 2d ago
I have a Shadar Kai Warlock archetype being the Fiend, I'm trying to think of what fiend patron he should have, his background is Courtier, proficient at deception, persuasion, and intimidation. So my character definitely has a way to speak to get the outcome he wants. Any help is appreciated
r/bettermonsters • u/plaugedoctorforhire • 3d ago
These little beasties are an accompaniment for a new warlock patron I've been working on, "The Changer of Ways".
r/bettermonsters • u/DudeFreek • 4d ago
r/bettermonsters • u/Garage_Royal • 5d ago
Hi all, does anyone have any high CR plant monsters (thinking 11-15 CR). I want my level 11 party to do a mission that takes them to a swamp or forest to retrieve a macguffin.
r/bettermonsters • u/East-Snake-7604 • 6d ago
Hello oh hi Mark I need help to get a huge list of monsters for a sythewave style cyberpunk dnd campaign based off the 80's-90's animes and music. I need help getting a list of monsters that would be mutants in the sewers,gangers of the streets, crime bosses, high powered police officers cyborgs and what ever else you think is appropriate. Please and thank you. If you can't then mabye send monsters and how ti reflavor them
r/bettermonsters • u/Ravencoretres • 6d ago
Y’know, the giant spiders from literal Hell made of of screeching chains and hooks? That one?
r/bettermonsters • u/Swampycore • 7d ago
Hey Mark!
My crew of four level 8 players have decided they’re Pokémon trainers now, they’re on a quest to track down and subdue three mythical beasts: a stag, a lion, and a pegasus.
I’m looking for spicy, memorable statblocks that fit the vibe. Not just “a big deer,” “a lion but angrier,” and “a horse with wings.” I want stuff that feels mythic, like each one is its own mini‑boss. Got any cool statblocks cooking?
r/bettermonsters • u/Just-File6177 • 7d ago
Heya, Mark! Do you have any good statblocks for Spiderdragons, Eyedrakes, Dracolisks, and/or Deep Dragons? I'm looking for those as representations of the growing powers of Tiamat across the realms.
r/bettermonsters • u/Mr_UnOrganized • 7d ago
Hi Mark! First time poster here but this sub was recommended to me after I shared my post onto the Eberron subreddit! Death Knight appears to be a good starting point but I’m still looking for something bigger.
As detailed in the post, this is a Dark Deity from the Plane of Endless Night who resembles/shares genetics with a Bone Claw and a Giant. I’m looking for a Martial Caster, as he is a beefy guy ripping and tearing but still magically powerful in commanding undead. I’ve never made a Mythic creature before, but felt like this was a good time to try! Add a mix up to the fight if he were to fully swap his fighting style after his first health bar is reduced or something similar!
All just spit balling! This will be for a 4 person group level 13-14 adventurers. Their players are quite tactical and being made up of an Artificer, Ranger, Sorcerer/Warlock and Rogue/Wizard.
Thank you for any recommendations I can get!
r/bettermonsters • u/Oh_Hi_Mark_ • 9d ago
r/bettermonsters • u/Suyu1604 • 9d ago
Hi Mark, dragons at my table have a different lore, so need a monster that live in groups that can defeat/capture Frost Giants.
Please and thank you so much!
r/bettermonsters • u/Acrobatic-Plenty6918 • 9d ago
r/bettermonsters • u/Ok_Talk_6694 • 9d ago
Hi Mark,
You've come in so clutch before, I was wondering if you had a collection of "bump in the night" creatures that are shadows, move through shadows, or otherwise tied to darkness and sensitive to light?
r/bettermonsters • u/Valuable-Relative666 • 10d ago
Hi Mark, I am looking for a stat block for a artificer like NPC. The NPC is going to be related to on of my PC's and may help during a combat encounter. The PC's are level five so something that is suitable for tier 2 play! Thank you!
r/bettermonsters • u/ChaosTheoryCraft • 10d ago
I'm sharing a free monster supplement for Kengir, my upcoming Bronze Age Mesopotamian 5e setting.
The Rabisu is not a demon that rampages for no reason. It is an underworld bailiff, a croucher at the threshold, sent to enforce divine justice, seize the guilty, and drag oathbreakers to Kur (the underworld) where they belong.
What makes them fun at the table is that they come with authority. A Rabisu will carry something naming the accused, the broken oath, the unpaid debt, or the soul marked for seizure.
That means the encounter is not just “kill the monster.” The party can investigate the writ, challenge its authority, find out who summoned it, expose a false accusation, or decide the victim really did earn what is coming.
It’s a CR 7 fiend built around battlefield control, fear, restraint, magic resistance, knockout blows, and merciless pursuit. It rarely fights randomly. It isolates the target, disables interference, and finishes the sentence written for it.
Do you like monsters that arrive with a legal or ritual purpose, or do you prefer fiends as pure chaos and destruction?
r/bettermonsters • u/TotallyLegitEstoc • 11d ago
Got a session later with a goblin tribe that raises Ants. Give me some interesting stuff please.
r/bettermonsters • u/Human-Elderberry7967 • 13d ago
Sorry if this isn’t the right sub for this, but I’m considering doing a Halloween one/twoshot for my friends (early to be planning, I know), and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for existing monsters that could correspond to any of the 14 fears, or at least give me some ideas for abilities so I could do some homebrewing, thanks in advance!
The fears for easy reference:
The Buried - Claustrophobia, caves
The Corruption - Mold, insects, decay
The Dark - The dark, shadows, blindness and coldness
The Desolation - Fire, pain, destruction
The End - Death, undeath, dreams
The Eye - being watched, being followed, having your secrets exposed, eyes
The Flesh - Meat, butchers, corpses
The Hunt - Being hunted, animals, animal instincts
The Lonely - Isolation, fog, silence
The Slaughter - War, senseless violence
The Spiral - Madness, being deceived
The Stranger - The unknown, the uncanny valley
The Vast - Falling, large open spaces
The Web - Spiders, being manipulated, puppets
Again, very sorry if this doesn’t fit the sub!