15. Mind Flayer / Illithid / Ghaik (Evil)
The Emperor lives rent-free in your mind for quite some time, the audacity!
Mind Flayers are literal creatures of pure horror and horrible personality. They are extremely smart and highly manipulative. They are commonly very lean and about 6-7 feet tall. They have 4 tentacles on their faces. There is a reason why they are called Mind Flayers, they feed on the brains of their victims.
They are xenophobes and isolationists. They don’t just feel superior to other species, they see almost any other humanoid race as their food.
Mind Flayers are commonly very aggressive. They will not care for their victims’ well-being because they don’t see anyone else’s life as worthy of saving and everyone else as food. They usually torment their victims for amusement. Some even claim that fear gives a special taste. They put smaller critters named Tadpole inside the heads of their victims so a new mind flayer can be born. The body of the person is destroyed and they are transformed.
Thankfully Mind Flayers are rarely found in the higher areas of Sword Coast and they are very often hunted down. They are more commonly found in the Underdark. If you are playing a story that takes you to the Underdark, beware of them. They can use their Psionic powers to disarm and hunt you down. And if you are really unlucky, you might start your adventure inside of their flying ships, the Nautiloids.
Powers and Abilities:
Mind Flayers have psionic powers and often can cast arcane spells such as Hold Person or Dominate Person. They usually do this to incapacitate someone for them to feed. Their long tentacles make it easy for them to grapple their victims.
14. Dark Elves / Drow (Evil)
A Female Drow ready to teach you about how to make spider soup.
The Drow are native to Forgotten Realms. They most commonly worship their Goddess, the Spider Queen Lolth. They are cruel, vicious, smart, and ruthless. Many of them can be considered as Diabloists. They are usually very attractive and can be easily identified by their unique skin color, silver or white hair, and purple or red eyes.
The Drow lives in a Matriarchal lifestyle in Underdark. They very often and commonly insult the males, even male Drow. Many Drow noblewomen refuse to even address men because they see themselves as superior, they see addressing a man would admit they are equal.
Drows are very sophisticated and interesting and they are often very aggressive. They commonly attack the higher grounds in raids for lots of reasons. Sometimes to grab slaves, sometimes they just need healthy sacrifices, sometimes to just harm them. If you live over Menzoberranzan you might be commonly attacked by the Drow.
If your group wandered to the Underdark and stepped on a spider… Trust me, you will most likely be hunted by every Drow in the vicinity. They all have one goal, to sacrifice you to the Spider Queen. Oh, you were just chilling at a bar thinking about what you plan to do in your next adventure? Have nothing to listen to other than the bard? The screams outside about a Drow attack will make things more interesting!
Powers and Abilities:
A Drow can be any class in D&D, but other than that, they often use their type of Magic, Poisons, and Curses. While many races can only see 60 feet in the dark, the Drow can see up to 120 feet.
13. Succubus / Incubus (Evil)
“Please stop trying to join the forces of hell after you meet with the Succubus, we are full.” Signed an unnamed demon.
Succubus and the Incubus their male counterparts are very commonly seen as people who suck the life out of someone. They corrupt the minds, souls, and lives of their prey. They commonly enjoy the sufferings of their victims. Their prey is usually seen as delusional or insane.
While it is not easy to encounter a demon in the material planes, it is possible to find a Succubus. And if they are present, they are there with an objective or simply feeding. Their aggressiveness varies by their objectives. They can be there just to manipulate someone in power and if so, they won’t be bothered by lowly adventurers.
Succubus or Incubus encounters are usually quite rare unless you are hunting Diabolist Cultists or you are in the Nine Hells. Many Warlocks, Wizards, or Clerics avoid summoning the Succubus for many reasons. They are lovers, not fighters and most of their abilities are about charming the enemy. But if you angered the Dungeon Master by trying to “seduce” every single NPC they throw at you, you are most likely to find yourself in the web of a Succubus.
Powers and Abilities:
The kiss of a Succubus or an Insubus has a life-draining effect that leaves their victims unable to fight back. Their natural ability to telepathy, mind reading and shape change to a more attractive form of their victims makes them formidable. Because of their demonic nature, they resist some kinds of magic which is a big trouble to spellcasters.
12. Lich (Evil)
This Lich King might be late for his dentist appointment.
Liches are almost always spellcasters who turned completely evil and entered a demonic pact with the Demons. Their original racial body structures stay the same even after they become undead creatures. They put their souls inside a Phylactery to become a Lich and to destroy one, its phylactery must be destroyed.
Liches are commonly diabolists but they usually have an agenda. They are smart and cunning. Their favorite type of magic is Necromancy.
Liches are very vicious and dangerous. If their agenda is about revenge, they are very hard to stop. They are usually protected by many undead minions which are raised from their graves. They choose their minions well and your teammate whom you loved a lot might be the one who is risen by this evil creature.
Liches are scarce creatures. To become an immortal undead Lich, one has to go through a lot of trouble to become one. Therefore they are usually seen as end-game bosses in mid-level campaigns. If you are seeking ancient forbidden arcane tomes… You might encounter one as a protector of them.
Powers and Abilities:
As undead, they don’t need to drink, eat, or breathe. They can survive underwater. And they can’t be affected by common diseases or poisons. They are usually high-level spellcasters and they have an aura surrounding them that makes the living people feel dread and fear of death.
11. Banshee (Very Evil)
“I DEMAND TO SPEAK TO THE MANAGER!”
The Banshee are vengeful spirits of females, usually female Fairies, Elves, or Half-Elves. After their tragic deaths, they couldn’t return to their gods and stuck to the material world as a spirit. They are usually lonely and that’s why they hate any living person and want to kill them.
Banshee rarely follow any gods or goddesses, they sometimes remember their past lives, but that is not the case all the time. They are usually stuck in a never-ending torment.
Banshee are extremely dangerous, do not openly seek to hunt one without having a paladin or a cleric and a ton of holy water with you. Their screams disorientate people and in many cases, the scream is enough to kill.
The Banshees are often found in desecrated tombs, graveyards, and places where evil aura lurks. They are rarely able to leave the places that are important to them. Usually where their body is buried or where they lived as a living person. It is very hard to get rid of a Banshee peacefully because they rarely speak to the living. But if they do, there is a rare chance to turn them back to life.
Powers and Abilities:
The Banshee has a terrifying presence aura around them, they are hideous too. They can stun someone just by being seen. Their touch is deadly and takes away life force from a person. Also because their bodies are incorporeal, they are almost impossible to hit without magical weapons and they can pass through solid objects such as walls and people.
10. Minotaur (Very Evil)
Minotaurs have the best “Knock Knock” jokes because they like to knock people off their feet.
The Minotaur are quite large and very dangerous creatures of labyrinths and dungeons. They all have heads shaped like a bull with horns. They can easily see in the dark and smell blood from afar.
Minotaurs are extremely aggressive and should be avoided at all costs. They are constantly hungry and they love to eat adventurers who wandered off too far from the surface. Many say they are hard to deal with.
Minotaurs are famous for their brutality. They are usually barbarians with zero common sense. They love to rip people apart with their bare hands or their horns. They enjoy blood and gore.
While it is possible to find Minotaurs on the surface, they prefer a solitary lifestyle. That is why they prefer to live in a labyrinth or a dungeon. They are usually placed or summoned to protect a treasure. Due to their low intelligence, they might not even understand the importance of the item they are protecting. In some settings, Minotaurs are Pirates and their labyrinth is the seas.
Powers and Abilities:
Minotaurs are huge and strong creatures. They are durable and hard to kill. They also can smell your fear and see exceptionally well in the dark. Their charge attacks are very deadly because of their strong horns.
9. Beholder (Very Evil)
“Eye see you!”
One of the most iconic creatures of Dungeons & Dragons is the Beholder. A giant eye with other eyes, all of them have different types of attacks. They are usually extremely paranoid that everyone wants to steal their treasures.
Beholders are highly territorial and are xenophobic isolationists with terrible personalities due to extreme paranoia. They have two minds inside their heads and both openly hate each other. That’s why they are often considered mad. While they are indeed quite insane, they make the best cunning plots which usually cause havoc within an adventuring team.
Beholders are considered extremely aggressive, especially if they are encountered within the area they consider their territory. They also are greedy and love to collect trophies which include people who are turned to stone by their ray beams.
Beholders usually live alone with places they carved themselves. They don’t trust anyone, even their kind. They don’t like anyone. They don’t even like other Beholders. So unless you manage to find a lair of a Beholder, you should be fine to avoid a Beholder. Their lairs are often visited by adventurers for riches and magical knowledge. Beholders hold many treasures and secrets and they hate to share.
Powers and Abilities:
The antimagic cone is one of its most dangerous abilities. It can nullify any magical item or spell and the Beholder can do this with the center eye. The other eyes have different kind of beams that varies from disintegration to petrification.
8. Mummy (Very Evil)
“What do you mean there is no toilet paper left?”
Deep inside the desert and sealed inside the tombs, many mummies of the D&D are nobles or knights that protect the sacred burial place of the royalty. Some of them chose to become a mummy to protect the people or the dark gods they were most loyal to.
Almost all mummies are inherently evil because they are created with dark rituals to the evil gods. They are usually heavily cursed because they have done so horrible crimes, that they need to be placed in such a state.
Mummies are very aggressive when encountered. Most of them can not be reasoned with, they can’t be bargained with. Their rotting bodies are left in that area for a reason and they can’t leave their resting place for a long time. Mummies are cursed and their bodies are filled with diseases and curses.
Most of the time, mummies are only encountered in desert plains or inside ancient tombs, burial places, and such. If the group wants to rob an ancient tomb in the desert for treasure or ancient magic, they will most likely encounter one. Mummies are rarely transferred from one place to another, but if the Dungeon Master thinks it is a good little surprise, they can create such a story.
Powers and Abilities:
Mummies carry various curses and diseases such as the Mummy Rot. If you even touch the mummy, you might catch it and yeah, the person starts to decay. It is not pretty. They carry all the benefits of being undead and can see in the dark well. And a mere sight of a mummy can bring dread to the adventurers.
7. Hags (Very Evil)
In this case, the beauty is NOT in the eye of the Beholder.
Hags are hideous, terrible, and equally terrifying creatures of Dungeons and Dragons. They are powerful and fearsome. They hate everything that reminds them of beauty so they usually live in swamps.
The Hags have always been part of the nightmares of even adults. They use their spells to charm others into falling in love with them. Use their insecurities to control them. They always trick people into getting what they want. They openly hate things that bring joy and beauty so they specifically hate bards.
Hags are not very aggressive and they tend to flee if they think they are about to lose a fight. They try to get their attacker close and personal and try to trick them into believing that they are helpless or weak.
Hags always try to create problems so they literally can be anywhere. They live isolated so they can be found outside the city or in dark corners of a town. Is someone stealing pregnant women or babies? Yeah, that might be a Hag.
Powers and Abilities:
Hags are evil alchemists so they brew lots of potions and have lots of magical items. They trick people into getting a dark pact with them and hex or curse them. Some of them manage to enter the dreams of their victims to lower their defenses.
6. Vampire (Very Evil)
They suck, literally.
Vampires are well-known undead creatures of vast powers. They are pale, charismatic, and blood-sucking creatures. They love to drain people of their blood, wealth, and happiness.
Vampires are usually polite and civil, that’s how they entrap their victims. They act very mannered so their victims don’t think they are in danger. Unless stopped, they create Vampire Spawns and have them go and do the hunting for them. They use their wealth to trick people.
The aggressiveness of the Vampires is different from vampire to vampire. They might be completely against violence and love to trick people with love or presents. But if their lives or feeding grounds are threatened they act very aggressively.
If you enter the Ravneloft, you are sure to meet with at least one Vampire. Vampires live in a hierarchy, a good party might go on a journey to overthrow the evil Vampire Lord who is terrorizing his/her commoners.
Powers and Abilities:
They have all the advantages of being undead, additionally, they can control certain types of animals like bats, rats, and such. They are shapechangers, they become nothing more than a mist and regenerate their body parts. They also keep every bit of strength and abilities of their mortal bodies.
5. Death Knight (Very Evil)
It must itch to wear that armor all day long and be unable to take it off.
Death Knights are horrible people. They are usually cursed personally by the gods themselves for their terrible sins. Many of them are forced to stay alive even if their bodies are crippled to increase their torment.
Death Knights are guilty of sins that are beyond measure. They are the worst kind of people out there. In their previous lives, they were champions of the good gods and protectors of people, but after they committed an immensely huge sin, they were punished as a reminder to all.
Death Knights are extremely deadly. Engaging them or having deals with them is not recommended. Avoid them at all costs. Even after their bodies are gone, some may return to life to hunt the characters. They also have their personal armies of undead such as skeletons, and wraiths.
Death Knights can be encountered in protecting areas where dark rituals take place. They are sometimes risen to protect a stronger evil such as Liches and corpses of dark gods. While it is very unlikely, the group may encounter a Death Knight in his/her redemption arc.
Powers and Abilities:
Even if they are not spellcasters themselves, they inherit Necromancy abilities as they are raised. They can cast powerful spells like Finger of Death, Power Word Kill, and Raise Undead. They raise armies to protect their masters.
4. Kraken (Super Evil)
No, you can’t make a sushi from a Kraken! Why? Because it would poison you!
Krakens are fearsome and dangerous creatures of the seas. One of the main reasons why many players refuse to play a full pirate game in a Dungeons and Dragons setting. They are majestic and very strong.
Krakens are colossal, they are way bigger than many ships and creatures. They are hundreds are feet. They are monsters that serve the dark gods of the realm. They love to hunt and harm innocent sailor ships.
Krakens are very much aggressive, if they are summoned they are most likely to sink a ship and make the sailors their food. They enjoy squeezing the ships to break it. If the ship is fighting back, the Kraken can fight back with magic.
Krakens can only be encountered in deep seas as they are way too large to be in shallow water and can’t be on land. Unless you are a very brave adventurer to hunt a Kraken, they are hard to find. Of course that doesn’t mean that a strange wizard opened up a portal to where Kraken is and summons one to defend his/her tower or belongings.
Powers and Abilities:
Krakens have genius-level intelligence and they can cast spells. They can manipulate waters with their colossal bodies or they can use their spells to do it. They have huge bodies to slap a ship to destroy one and it can swallow a small ship with its massive jaws.
3. Balor (Super Evil)
He is “totally” not a rip-off of the Balrog.
Balors are Strong, Powerful, and dangerous types of demons from the Nine Hells. They are generals of the Abyss and personal servants of the supreme Demon Lords of the Nine Hells. They are huge about 14 to 18 feet. They are symbols of Tyranny.
Balors are very strong and have deadly weapons. Their strength comes from their passion for cruelty and hatred. They hate everything and are cruel to everyone. The Balors have overwhelming lust and an urge for battle.
Balors are extremely aggressive if encountered. They love to fight, they love to kill they love to hunt. They love to hear people scream. They are cruel and deadly. They are dominant and can control many demons who fear them.
It is quite unlikely to encounter a Balor in low-level campaigns. They are not meant to be fought with under levels 13-15. So, unless you enter the Abyss personally, it is probably easy to avoid one. But if you wander into the Abyss, beware. If you take the attention of the Demon Lords, they might send you a Balor to capture or kill you.
Powers and Abilities:
Balors are spellcasters as many demons but their spells are directly damage related. They have Vorpal blades which are used to sever the heads of their opponents in critical hits. And they carry flaming whips and they blow up if they die.
2. Red Dragon (Super Evil)
It is barbeque time!
Red Dragon is the most iconic evil creature of the Dungeons and Dragons. It is symbolic. They are strong, capable, smart, calculating, charismatic and sinister. They are one of the most important creatures in all Dungeons and Dragons.
Red Dragons are representatives of all the 7 deadly sins. They are majestic and greedy while hungry for more, and they have wrath beyond measure. They envy a lot of things and take pride in cruelty. They lust for power but they also sleep a lot so they are lazy as a sloth.
Depending on the Red Dragon, they are very dangerous and cruel. Their sizes go up as large as mountains and cities. They can easily destroy unprotected towns, cities even major cities. And they usually do this for a breakfast snack.
The Red Dragons can be anywhere from hot volcano mouths to evil leaders of a city. They love to gloat and flaunt their wealth. Since they are immune to heat and fire, they love to live where lava exists. And they love to recruit creatures to be their servants by telling them that they should be grateful to be alive.
Powers and Abilities:
Red Dragons are the largest evil dragons. They are colossal and can fly. They also have razor-sharp teeth and breathe fire strong enough to melt even the strongest metal. Due to their vicious and cruel nature, mortals usually fear them a lot. Many of them have wands in their wings and have many magical possessions.
1. “Chaotic Neutral” Player Characters (Super Evil)
YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!
While the alignment system can be confusing to many new players, the Chaotic Neutral is the alignment that sticks out the most. Many players who play this Alignment are literal nightmares to the Non-player children. They do so many crimes even crimes against humanity, they shock even the most experienced Dungeon Masters.
“Chaotic Neutral” is a personality type that values personal freedom, not being free to do whatever crime they want. They are extremely dangerous, they are cruel beyond measure and they simply don’t care. Burning down churches and orphanages is their favorite pastime activity. They love to torture and murder.
“Chaotic Neutral” Player Characters are extremely dangerous due to their cruelty. They are usually obsessed with their brutality but somehow they are not “Evil”. They can attack anyone without any probable cause and anything. Many of them are called “Murderhobo”.
A player can encounter a “Chaotic Neutral” Player Character anywhere within a party. They usually enter any type of party. The majority of them don’t care about the game and is only there to spread evil and cruelty.
Powers and Abilities:
Changes from Character to Character. Many of the “Chaotic Neutral” player characters are only there to ruin the fun for everyone else. Beware of them.
