D&D 5E Best resources for more "interesting" monster fights?

[Bill Zebub]

I've been considering various supplemental resources for monsters, e.g. Monster Manual Expanded, The Monsters Know What They Are Doing, the upcoming Dungeon Denizens by Goodman Games, etc.

The thing is, I'm necessarily looking for more monsters, and certainly not high-level monsters.. I really just want support in creating interesting encounters for Tier I and II that aren't straight up slug fests. AKA, "bag of hit points" syndrome. I put a lot of work into designing encounters to avoid that and would love a trove of fresh ideas.

Any recommendations? Favorite resources?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Before buying The Monsters Know What They're Doing, I would flip through the blog.

Keith Ammann does a good job of reverse engineering the sometimes baroque monster stats (pre-Monsters of the Multiverse) to say "this works in harmony with this and sets up doing that." If you followed his outline, your monsters will instantly become a lot tougher and, often, have a lot more personality. (The goblins are good in this regard, for instance.)

In practice, your monsters will likely suddenly be a lot more effective than they were ahead of time, especially if your players are used to monsters being unoptimized. I would consider dropping the monsters' hit points somewhat to compensate if this is a problem, at least until the players catch up, tactically. I'd also suggest introducing The Monsters Know What They're Doing tactics for bosses and mini-bosses first, rather than suddenly having every bandit fight like a combat veteran.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

The Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide by DMDave

The Lazy DM's Forge of Foes for 5e by Mike Shea, Teos Abadia, and Scott Fitzgerald Gray

Note: neither are available right now but both might meet your needs...

 

[aco175]

I use 4e monsters to add to 5e monsters. If I need a ogre warlord, maybe it has some more HP, but it will have some cool power like a close burst one or even two if it is an ogre. Likely it will also be a recharge power. a caster or archer might have something it can spray in 30ft. Maybe shoot an arrow at the whole party if they are bunched up, a bit like a breath weapon.

I generally do not need more monsters in general, but more of the same type of creature.

 

[Bill Zebub]

The Fifth Edition Gamemaster's Survival Guide by DMDave

This one sounds an awful lot like The Monsters Know What They Are Doing.

The Lazy DM's Forge of Foes for 5e by Mike Shea, Teos Abadia, and Scott Fitzgerald Gray

This one caught my eye, too.

Note: neither are available right now but both might meet your needs...

Thanks for the recommendations!

 

[Bill Zebub]

Before buying The Monsters Know What They're Doing, I would flip through the blog.

Yeah, I have and it's good stuff. My interest in buying the book is mainly just to support author.