Newbie Dm’s Bestiarum Vocabulum

Ok, so tonight I want to introduce what I hope is a semi-regular feature here at NewbieDM, some home-made monsters.  Just as a warning though, I don’t claim to be a great monster designer, nor am I 100% comfortable with the monster making mechanics in the DMG, I’m just doing what I have to do for my campaign. 

Just to give you some quick background, I am making this first batch of monsters out of necessity.  I am in the middle of converting “Swords Through the Ice Gate”, by Mike Mearls, and some of the enemies there do not have a 4th Edition equivalent, forcing me to improvise.

Again, I don’t make claims to these monsters being perfectly balanced or great game design.  I leave that to the pros.  But will they suffice my group of guys for a couple of hours worth of gaming?  Damn straight.  And that’s all I need.

First up:  The Bugbear Scrub.  The Bugbear Scrub is a bugbear minion, armed with a morningstar and a set of javelins.  He also gets some extra damage if he’s got combat advantage, so don’t let him flank you…  Why there wasn’t a bugbear minion in the Monster Manual is beyond me, and rules for creating minions are missing in action as well.

Next we have an Ice Mephit.  In my world, these little buggers like to fly around and blind you with a blast of ice shards in your face.  They are nasty little critters with sharp claws.  Don’t stand next to him when he dies, or you may go down with him…

And last but not least, the Water Elemental.  Where is this guy in the Monster Manual?  Why isn’t he there?  Who knows, which led me to have to come up with this version.  He shifts around quite a bit, slams you, and may even knock you prone with a tidal wave. Seems like that’s all he could probably do. As an aside, I’ve always found elementals to be rather bland…

And that’s it for tonight.  My thanks go to Asmor for his awesome monster making tools.  Let me know what you think of my first attempt, but don’t be too harsh…  🙂