History Characters / DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesNtoQ

** Axani and zenythri have a touch of pure Law in their blood, while mechanatrices are specifically descended from the clockwork beings of Mechanus.
** Chaonds are the descendants of someone who survived a slaad's reproduction attempt, but had their bloodline tainted with raw Chaos in the process.

* FrogMen: Chaonds are a downplayed example, but show their slaadi heritage with stocky bodies, wide feet, and gravelly voices that tend to come out as croaks when they're excited.

* KaleidoscopeEyes: Chaonds crank this up a notch by having not just their eye color slowly shift over time, but so can their hair and skin tone.

* UncannyValley: In-universe; zenythri are noted for their flawless features and hair that naturally falls into place, but don't get any Charisma bonus from it, and in fact their basic statline has them with lower than average Charisma, implying that other creatures find them ''too'' perfect-looking.

->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' Usually 1/2 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Varies by heritage

"Planetouched" is a catch-all term describing those whose bloodlines have been touched by powers beyond the Material Plane. Though this effect is not as pronounced as in a half-celestial or cambion, this extraplanar heritage manifests in supernatural abilities and physical traits for many generations.\\

* PortalNetwork: These drakes can make their own, as they're able to go through any given magic ''portal'' and emerge from one they've traveled through in the past, regardless of where a ''portal'' is intended to take travelers.

[[folder:Protean Scourge]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_protean_scourge_3e.jpg]]

->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E)\\

Diabolic-looking shapeshifters who love to murder, and duplicate themselves when attacked.

* AsteroidsMonster: Protean scourges' signature ability is to, after taking damage, immediately split in two identical monsters, each with as many hit points as the original creature. The only downsides are that the monster can't use its shapechanging ability until its duplicates have re-merged (a process that takes a minute and leaves it helpless), and the duplicates use a shared spell "pool" rather than each having their own array of unspent spell slots.
* BigRedDevil: They appear as such, being {{Horned Humanoid}}s with pebbly red skin, though they aren't actually fiends.
* MagicKnight: Protean scourges are formidable in melee, and cast spells as 8th-level sorcerers.
* PsychoForHire: These monsters excel as assassins, though others find work as spies or as the leaders of thieves guilds, roles they are content with so long as they find chances to shed blood.
* SinisterScythe: An invoked trope, as protean scourges favor the weapons "mostly to add to the myth that the creature is some sort of evil outsider."
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: They can freely take the shape of any Medium-sized humanoid, and revert to their true form when slain.

[[folder:Phaethon]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phaethon_3e_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Origin:''' ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}''\\

'''Challeng Rating:''' 2 (3E)\\
'''Playable:''' 3E\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulNeutral

Distant relatives of elves with the ability to manifest wings of fire. Not be confused with the [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesA abominations]] also known as phaethons.

* AngelicTransformation: Some phaethons feel a pull towards something greater as they mature, until at some point they're compelled to fly skyward towards the sun, to the very limit of their endurance, and undergo an apotheosis into a living embodiment of their gods. Those who complete this Rite of Ascension return as elder phaethons, blessed with 30-foot flaming wingspans that deal increased damage and [[TheSpiny can harm enemies who simply come near them]], and become native outsiders who stop aging and only rarely need to eat. Councils of such elders lead phaethon communities, though other elders are more aloof and spend most of their time on the wing patrolling their homeland.
* BareFistedMonk: Phaethon tend to be spiritual and traditionalists, and their communities are orderly, austure and isolated, built above the treeline on mountainsides -- as such, they're natural monks. Though some phaethon abandon their Lawful traditions to make a more Chaotic "[[DanceBattler Dance of Flames]]" in combat.
* HotWings: Their signature trait, and why phaethon architecture makes no use of wood. As a free action, a phaethon can manifest a set of blazing wings, allowing them to fly or add fire damage to their unarmed attacks or grapple actions. Those who devote themselves to Habbakuk (as Phaeran the Firebird) and complete certain religious rites have their fiery wings [[TechnicolorFire turn blue.]]
* ImmuneToFire: They have the fire subtype, making them immune to fire damage but [[AchillesHeel vulnerable to cold.]] Phaethons thus seek out active volcanoes as a ready source of molten stone and metal to craft.
* OurElvesAreDifferent: Phaethons look like half-elves until their wings ignite, are descended from a Kagonesti elf, and have an elven fondness for nature, animals and forests... as well as a tendency towards aloofness, introversion, and the confidence that outsiders have nothing to offer phaethons that they can't learn from their own predecessors. In 3E they retain the elf subtype, so are subject to anything that targets elves.
* SemiDivine: On Krynn, they claim to be descended from a son of the god Habbakuk, the Blue Phoenix.

[[folder:Phantom Fungus]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phantom_fungus_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Plant (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Mobile, carnivorous fungus monsters that are naturally invisible, and remain so even while attacking.
----
* AttackAnimal: Though only as intelligent as animals, phantom fungi are trainable, and make dangerous guards since most detection magic doesn't pick them up. Their invisibility also makes training them difficult, however, leading to handlers [[SeeTheInvisible throwing flour on them or tying ribbons around them]] to keep track of their location. Phantom fungi are often trained to click their teeth after performing a trick, a habit which can give them away.
* InvisibleMonsters: They're under a constant ''greater invisibility'' effect, which allows them to remain unseen even when taking actions like attacking. Since phantom fungi are pretty quiet while stalking prey, often the only thing that gives them away is their strange, moldy odor.
* ManEatingPlant: Fungus, but close enough. They have bizarre bodies with four stumpy legs supporting a green-brown mass, a toothy mouth, and a cluster of nodules that serve as sensory organs, but are normally only visible when slain.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Phase Wasp]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phase_wasp_3e.jpg]]

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Oversized wasps with a dangerous magical attack, and a tendency to make nests from paper stolen from libraries, magical and non-magical.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: A phase wasp is 18 inches long.
* MagicMissileStorm: They can fire a pair of ''magic missiles'' every few rounds. Since phase wasps live in swarms of up to about 20 creatures, that equals a ''lot'' of [[AlwaysAccurateAttack unavoidable,]] NonElemental damage.
* SeeTheInvisible: Phase wasps can see and attack invisible and ethereal creatures (through the planar boundary in the latter case).

[[folder:Phasm]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phasm_3e.png]]

->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

Amorphous shapeshifters that use their ablities to devote their lives to exploration, philosophical contemplation, or pure hedonism as their whims decree.

* BlobMonster: In its natural form, a phasm resembles an ooze and attacks with pseudopods.
* TheHedonist: They crave new experiences, from scents or flavors to obscure trivia and juicy gossip.
* ItAmusedMe: Phasms' fundamental motivation. This means that there's no telling how they'll react to a given situation, whether they'll attack or parley with or retreat from opponents. Sometimes phasms will team up with doppelgangers just for the fun of it, other times they'll hire out their talents as spies, except they're notoriously unreliable since they don't feel any obligation to share what they learn.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Phasms can take the form of almost any other creature or object of Large size or smaller, an ability they use in combat or to aid their infiltrations.

[[folder:Phirblas]]
[[quoteright:150:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phirblas_2e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:150:2e]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}''\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

Gaunt humanoids sometimes encountered on the Ethereal Plane, known for their unusual non-verbal method of communication.

* CompellingVoice: A non-verbal example; once per day, a phirblas can use its words and telepathy to make a ''suggestion''.
* FearlessFool: Phirblas don't fight among each other, [[TheAgeless don't seem to age]] or [[IdealIllnessImmunity contract diseases]], and rarely meet with fatal accidents. As such, they have little fear or understanding of death, which makes other planar travelers consider phirblas quite naive.
* HoverSkates: In another trait they share with the dabus, phirblas' feet don't touch the ground. They can't actually fly, and move about as if they were walking, just slightly above the surface beneath them.
* MassHypnosis: Three times per day, phirblas can form a dizzying array of words above them to replicate a ''hypnotic pattern''.
* NoBiologicalSex: Phirblas don't have recognizable genders, and in the rare cases they reproduce, do so asexually to produce [[BornAsAnAdult a fully-grown phirblas.]]
* PocketDimension: Though their listed environment is the Ethereal Plane, phirblas properly hail from Inphirblau, an ancient demiplane that contains a veritable metropolis housing millions of phirblas.
* SpeechBubbles: A weird variant; phirblas have a form of telepathy that allows them to communicate by having words form in the air right above them, about ten at a time, appearing in the language of their intended recipient. The nature of said script indicates the phirblas' emotional state, so flowing and elegant letters are used for a formal address, while quick and simple text indicates a casual conversation, messy writing indicates that the phirblas is in a hurry or doesn't wish to converse, and shaky script suggests emotional distress. This trait suggests some connection between the phirblas and the dabus of Sigil, but nothing conclusive has been proven.
* {{Veganopia}}: The phirblas' dietary needs are met by herbariums all over their demiplane-city, and their chefs have devised mutliple hot and cold vegetarian dishes so complicated that it takes several days to prepare them.

[[folder:Phiuhl]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phiuhl_3e.jpg]]

->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}''\\
'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Also known as "vaporous horrors" or "lingering deaths," these murderous clouds of poisonous steam haunt the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna.

* DeadlyGas: A phiuhl more or less is a sentient cloud of superheated poisonous vapor, and anyone within 50 feet of them has to save or take Constitution damage (in 3rd Edition), or be in danger of collapsing and expiring in a matter of rounds (in 2nd Edition). On the upside, their gaseous nature makes phiuhls vulnerable to being blown around by effects such as the ''gust of wind'' spell.
* EvilLivingFlames: They get in on this trope as well due to their sweltering heat, which damages anything that comes close to phiuhls. Things only get worse if a phiuhl envelops a victim in their gaseous form, dealing LevelDrain from the intense, dessicating heat. Some phiuhls are known as "harvesters as flame" because they lack the poisonous aspect or normal phiuhls, but double down on the fire damage, and are even able to damage creatures explicitly immune to heat.
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: Phiuhls have inscrutable and alien minds that can drive anyone trying to make mental contact with them insane. A cambion sorcerer by the name of Rgillyth attempted to use ''ESP'' to interrogate a phiuhl about the creature's origins, and was left ranting about "undead lords of brass," "spirits of long-dead wind dukes," and a "melded prison of steam."
* RiddleForTheAges: No one's sure what exactly phiuhls are, and mortal and fiendish scholars alike have tried to capture and study them, to little success. The prevailing theory is that phiuhls are the spirits of slain elementals, except no priest has been able to successfully turn them, and 3rd Edition classifies them as aberrations rather than undead.
* StarfishLanguage: Phiuhls speak no audible language, but appear to have some way to communicate with one another, as they often operate in pairs. Night hags have been known to strike short-term bargains with phiuhls, usually offering larvae in exchange for safe passage or small favors, but attempts by tanar'ri and baatezu to bring phiuhls into the Blood War have been unsuccessful.

[[folder:Phoelarch]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phoelarch_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid/Magical Beast (3E), Natural Humanoid/Elemental Magical Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (phoelarch) 3 (phoera) (3E); 12 (4E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticGood (3E), Unaligned (4E)

Phoelarchs are humanoids with avian features said to be kin to phoenixes, who wield the power of fire as they wander the world, fighting for freedom. When a phoelarch is slain, its ashes give rise to a purely-avian phoera.

* ArtEvolution: While their 3rd Edition art depicts phoelarchs with brilliantly-colored feathers on their heads and upper bodies, 4th Edition gives them [[HotWings full-on flames]] instead.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: When slain, phoelarchs detonate in a 20-foot fireball.
* FeedItWithFire: Phoelarchs and phoera are healed by fire effects.
* ThePhoenix: They're suspected of being related in some way to the legendary firebirds, and they share many phoenix-like traits, particularly how they die. After detonating, a phoelarch leaves behind a pile of ashes and a black glass egg, which in 24 hours will hatch into a phoera. This phoera is an entirely new creature, with no memories of its phoelarch "parent's" life, but once that phoera has hatched, the original phoelarch cannot be brought back to life by any means short of a ''wish'' or ''miracle'' used in conjunction with ''resurrection''. If a phoera is slain, its body too immolates and leaves behind another black glass egg, which will hatch into a new phoera; once again, it is very difficult to bring back the original phoera after its "child" hatches.
* PlayingWithFire: Phoelarchs wield spell-like abilities such as ''scorching ray'', ''produce flame'' and ''fire shield'', while phoera have a fiery BreathWeapon and can ignite foes they attack with their beak or claws. Both creatures are also hot enough to [[TheSpiny damage foes who touch them]], an ability they can choose to suppress.
* UndergroundMonkey: Vazalkyon and vazalka are cold-themed variants of phoelarchs and phoera, and are identical save for wielding and healing from a different energy type, and causing foes to be shaken from cold rather than igniting from heat.

[[folder:Phoenix]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phoenix_3e.png]]

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Elemental Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 24 (3E), 19 (4E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood (1E-3E), Unaligned (4E)

Large, fiery birds capable of resurrecting themselves when slain.

For the 5E iteration of this creature, see the "Elder Elementals" section of the "Elementals" entry.

* GiantFlyer: Phoenixes are usually very large birds, with wingspans at or over the forty-foot range.
* OrganDrops: Phoenix feathers are useful additions to a ''staff of healing'' or various curative potions, while their eyes, beaks and talons can fetch up to 5000 gp apiece from buyers who aren't appalled by someone killing and butchering a firebird.
* ThePhoenix: There have been several versions and interpretations of this creature over the years. Depending on the edition, they're either NeutralGood inhabitants of the Upper Planes or destructive {{Elemental Embodiment}}s of fire. Either way, they're usually very large, with red-gold plumage, extremely powerful, and hard to keep dead.%%In-universe alignment.
** In the first edition ''Fiend Folio'', it's stated that phoenixes are based on garbled accounts of reptilian ostrich-like monsters called giant striders bathing in fire (see the "Firenewt" entry). This is immediately contradicted by the subsequent ''Monster Manual II'' introducing actual phoenixes to the game.
** 3rd Edition's ''Monster Manual II'' presents phoenixes as being powerful creatures of good and opponents of evil beings, and as being considered omens of either fortune or disasters when seen.
** The 5th Edition ''Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes'' takes the ElementalEmbodiment aspect to the extreme with an elder elemental called the phoenix. It's pretty damn intense, powerful enough to rival an ancient red dragon, and desires to see everything burn.
* PlayingWithFire: While the specifics vary between editions, phoenixes' ties to the element of fire typically allow them some control over flame in the form of spell-like abilities such as ''fire seeds'', ''incendiary cloud'' and ''pyrotechnics''.
* ResurrectiveImmortality: Famously, a dying phoenix will burn itself to ashes and then rise to new life from its own remains. In 3rd Edition, this isn't quite an AutoRevive, but a full-round action the phoenix can take when death is near.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Phoenixes use {{Telepathy}} to communicate with most creatures, but can "speak" with other avians.
* SuperScream: A phoenix can emit a piercing war shriek that ''slows'' opponents.
* WhiteMagic: Beyond their fiery abilities, phoenixes can also wield curative magic like ''cure light wounds'', ''heal'', ''remove curse'', and even ''[[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnate]]''.

[[folder:Phthisic]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phthisic_3e.jpg]]

->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

A repressed neurosis given life, hungering for the mental energy of other creatures.

* AchillesHeel: Since they're creatures of the mind, ''feeblemind'' and ''confusion'' spells deal damage to phthisics in 2nd Edition, and nullify their HealingFactor for several rounds.
* AnIcePerson: In 2nd Edition, phthisics can, once per hour, surround themselves with an aura of cold strong enough to deal damage to anything within 10 feet, though only for a single round.
* ArtEvolution: 2nd Edition phthisics appear as enlarged and twisted versions of the being from which they emerged, but their 3rd Edition incarnation is much more monstrous, so that it takes a DC 25 Spot check to notice the resemblance between the phthisic and its source.
* AttackReflector: Their ''AD&D'' rules explain that phthisics are "born of turmoil, self-deprecation, and doubt," and thus have a 25% chance to reflect any offensive magic back on their casters.
* HorrorHunger: A phthisic "constantly craves the sweet nectar of sanity to soothe its mental torment, if only for a while."
* PsychicPowers: 3E phthisics have the psionic subtype, and an array of powers such as ''brain lock'', ''ego whip'' and ''mind thrust.''
* {{Retcon}}: 2E phthisics are specifically the creations of the mind flayers, the only creatures skilled enough to draw them from the minds of their thralls. In 3rd Edition, phthisics' origins are unknown, though speculated to be the product of a variant of ''psychic chirurgery''.
* SoulJar: In 2nd Edition, phthisics are bound to complex psionic circuitry affixed to an inanimate object. While this means they can't move more than three miles away from this source, or spend too long apart from it, the phthisic can instantly teleport back to its lair, and perceive everything around its psionic circuitry. But destroying the psinoic circuitry will instantly destroy the phthisic (in contrast to killing the creature from which the phthisic is spawned, whose death does nothing to the phthisic).
* StupidityInducingAttack: A phthisics' bite attacks cause a ''feeblemind'' effect in 2nd Edition, and if it's able to feed in peace, the monster can drain Intelligence from its victim. In 3rd Edition, its bite deals Intelligence damage that, should a victim reach 0 Int, becomes permanent ability drain. Those who the phthisic is draining in this way experience a deathly chill, and should they succumb to it, their corpses will shrivel as a side-effect of the feeding.
* {{Tulpa}}: Phthisics are spawned from the troubled psyche of intelligent beings, the physical embodiments of a repressed memory or suppressed neurosis.

[[folder:Pixie]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_pixie_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey (3E, 5E), Fey Humanoid (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 1 (4E), 1/4 (5E)\\
'''Playable:''' 2E-4E\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood, Unaligned (4E)

Diminutive fairies who delight in playing harmless tricks on people.

* CraftedFromAnimals: Pixie wings can be ground into ''dust of disappearance''. "Naturally, pixies frown on this use of their wings."
* TheDandy[=/=]TheFashionista: Pixies style themselves as the princes and princesses of the sky, and dress accordingly in sparkling silken gowns and doublets, or in outfits crafted from leaves, tree bark and small animal pelts. One of the surest ways to win a pixie over is by complimenting their fashion sense.
-->'''Rivergleam:''' Petal gowns and acorn caps are ''so'' last summer!
* FairyTrickster: They amuse themselves by leading travelers astray with ''dancing lights'', sneakily tying shoelaces together, blowing out candles, and so forth.
* HonestAxe: Pixies like to trick misers out of their treasure, accumulate it in a small hoard, and use it to taunt other greedy people. But if one of their victims takes the pixie's pranks in good humor and shows no greed when led to the treasure pile, the fey may allow the individual to choose an item from their hoard.
* OurPixiesAreDifferent: Pixies resemble diminutive elves with bright, luminous gossamer wings and an assortment of magical powers. They use their spells for harmless pranks, though their pixie dust is said to have magical properties ranging from bestowing flight to putting creatures into an enchanted slumber, leading some mages and monsters to pursue pixies to take advantage of this power.
* PaintingTheFrostOnWindows: On both the Feywild and Material Plane, pixies wake the birds for springtime, sprinkle dew on summer flowers, paint the autumn leaves, and draw frost on windows during winter.
* ShrinkingViolet: They like to spy on other creatures and can barely contain their excitement upon seeing interlopers, but their overwhelming urge to introduce themselves and strike up a friendship is only controlled by the fear of being captured or attacked. Those who wander through a pixie's glade might never see them, yet hear the occasional giggle, gasp or sigh.

[[folder:Plague Brush]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_plague_brush_3e.jpg]]

->'''Classification:''' Plant (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 17 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

35-foot wide, poisonous tumbleweeds that normally roll about the scarlet plains of Cathrys, second layer of the Tarterian Depths of Carceri.

* IndyEscape: They're essentially free-roaming examples, instinctively chasing down and flattening anything they come across. With a 60-foot movement speed, escaping them is more easily said than done.
* PoisonousPerson: Plague brushes constantly emit a 30-foot cloud of spores that cause heavy [[NonHealthDamage Strength and Constitution damage]].
* TrampledUnderfoot: These plants' primary attack is to simply roll over other creatures, dealing damage and potentially causing them to get scooped up in the tangle of vines, trapping them inside the plant until they either extract themselves or succumb to the plague brush's spores. In fact, these mindless plants often ignore creatures they've rolled over or entrapped, and after tumbling through an encampment will just keep rolling along their way.

[[folder:Planar Incarnate]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}''\\
'''Classification:''' Celestial or Fiend (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 22 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Any

* EvilLivingFlames: Planar incarnates from the Lower Planes take sinister forms, roiling waves of fiendish flames.
* PlayingWithFire: In response to being hit by an attack roll, a planar incarnate can magically gaze at a creature and command it to combust.

[[folder:Planetouched]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_planetouched_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A chaond and zenythri (3e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' Usually 1/2 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Varies by heritage

"Planetouched" is a catch-all term describing those whose bloodlines have been touched by powers beyond the Material Plane. Though this effect is not as pronounced as in a half-celestial or cambion, this extraplanar heritage manifests in supernatural abilities and physical traits for many generations.\\
Several of the most common planetouched, the aasimars, tieflings and genasi, are discussed on [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races page]].

* ChromeChampion: Mechanatrices tend to have a metallic sheen to their skin, and are sometimes born with a [[ArtificialLimbs mechanical limb]].
* DivineParentage: Planetouched's heritages can range from Good and Evil to Law and Chaos.
** Axani and zenythri have a touch of pure Law in their blood, while mechanatrices are specifically descended from the clockwork beings of Mechanus.
** Chaonds are the descendants of someone who survived a slaad's reproduction attempt, but had their bloodline tainted with raw Chaos in the process.
** Shyfts are humanoids descended from a creature from the Ethereal Plane, and tend to look supernaturally unremarkable.
* FrogMen: Chaonds are a downplayed example, but show their slaadi heritage with stocky bodies, wide feet, and gravelly voices that tend to come out as croaks when they're excited.
* {{Intangibility}}: Shyfts can use ''ethereal jaunt'' once per day.
* KaleidoscopeEyes: Chaonds crank this up a notch by having not just their eye color slowly shift over time, but so can their hair and skin tone.
* MarkOfTheSupernatural: Planetouched tend to have something that visibly sets them apart from normal Material Plane races, whether something as dramatic as a different skin tone, weird eyes, or vestigial wings or horns, or something as subtle as being a little ''too'' good-looking, or strangely nondescript.
* TheNondescript: Shyfts look remarkably unremarkable, easy to overlook and forget. As such, they get a racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks, and tend to find employment as thieves or spies.
* ShockAndAwe: Mechanatrices can use ''shocking grasp'' once per day, and [[FeedItWithFire are healed by electricity effects.]]
* UncannyValley: In-universe; zenythri are noted for their flawless features and hair that naturally falls into place, but don't get any Charisma bonus from it, and in fact their basic statline has them with lower than average Charisma, implying that other creatures find them ''too'' perfect-looking.

[[folder:Plasmoid]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_plasmoid_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}''\\
'''Classification:''' Ooze (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (5E)\\

Intelligent, amoeba-like beings who can alter their body configuration at will, assuming roughly-humanoid forms or more amorphous shapes. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.

[[folder:Porcupine Cactus]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_porcupine_cactus_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Plant (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Spiny, barrel-shaped cacti that can explode at the slightest touch.

* ExplodingBarrels: They're basically an organic example. Immature porcupine cacti have flat shapes and leathery textures, but the plants swell up during the rare desert rains, sprout large flowers, and soon swell even more with seeds. A turgid porcupine cactus can detonate when struck by a creature, or in the presence of 20-mile-per-hour winds or strong vibrations (such as those produced by a tunneling ashworm). This deals damage to everything in a 10-foot radius, leaves behind thorny flesh on the ground that acts as {{caltrops}}, and most dangerously, is likely to start a chain reaction among the other cacti in the patch.
* ManEatingPlant: They don't have mouths, but porcupine cacti seeds tend to grow in the bodies of those slain in the detonation of their parent plants.
* TheSpiny: Anyone trying to handle (or more stupidly, make a natural melee attack against) a porcupine cactus takes damage from its thorns.

[[folder:Protean Scourge]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_protean_scourge_3e.jpg]]

->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Diabolic-looking shapeshifters who love to murder, and duplicate themselves when attacked.

* AsteroidsMonster: Protean scourges' signature ability is to, after taking damage, immediately split in two identical monsters, each with as many hit points as the original creature. The only downsides are that the monster can't use its shapechanging ability until its duplicates have re-merged (a process that takes a minute and leaves it helpless), and the duplicates use a shared spell "pool" rather than each having their own array of unspent spell slots.
* BigRedDevil: They appear as such, being {{Horned Humanoid}}s with pebbly red skin, though they aren't actually fiends.
* MagicKnight: Protean scourges are formidable in melee, and cast spells as 8th-level sorcerers.
* PsychoForHire: These monsters excel as assassins, though others find work as spies or as the leaders of thieves guilds, roles they are content with so long as they find chances to shed blood.
* SinisterScythe: An invoked trope, as protean scourges favor the weapons "mostly to add to the myth that the creature is some sort of evil outsider."
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: They can freely take the shape of any Medium-sized humanoid, and revert to their true form when slain.

* HumanShifting: Most 4th Edition psurlons can use ''change shape'' to assume humanoid form, though in 5th Edition they use ''[[LieToTheBeholder disguise self]]'' instead.

* HumanSubrace: A realistic example (apart from the possession angle, anyway), as they are caused by specific breeding of desirable traits.

* LizardFolk: In two of their forms, they look like reptilian humanoids with a pteranodon's beak and crest, and potentially wings. There's in-universe speculation over whether pterafolk are a LivingRelic, a precursor to proper lizard-folk that didn't evolve like their kin, or enchanted relations of pterosaurs.

* KillAndReplace: 5th Edition adds psurlon "ringers," which can consume a Medium-sized humanoid, go into a psionic trance for 8 hours, and then physically transform into their meal's likeness. This [[EatBrainForMemories gives the psurlon access to their prey's memories]], and the resulting transformation is permanent until undone with a ''wish'' spell. Other psurlons can recognize a ringer no matter its guise.

* LizardFolk: In two of their forms, they look like reptilian humanoids with a pteranodon's beak and crest, and potentially wings. There's in-universe speculation over whether pterafolk are a LivingRelic, a precursor to proper lizard-folk that didn't evolve like their kin, or enchanted relations of pterodactyls.

* ExtraDimensionalShortcut: The nerra's home plane is one to begin with, and they can also magically jump between mirrors (or potentially highly reflective surfaces like still pools of water, or shiny metal) in a variant of the ''shadow walk'' spell, emerging up to a mile away.

* {{Retcon}}: 4th Edition presents the nerra as the descendents of a group called the Sect of Severity, which planned to use their astral domain of the Constellation of Eyes to watch over the mortal realm. Unfortunately they were infiltrated by cultists of Asmodeus, and the resulting conflict turned the nerra into mirror-skinned creatures with an uncertain agenda, using dedicated combat forms such as the meerak and delphar. 4E also changed the nerra's appearance, going from smooth, mirror-skinned humanoids to blocky humanoid hulks (represented by the 3E art for the susurrus).

[[folder:Phantom Fungus]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phantom_fungus_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Plant (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

Mobile, carnivorous fungus monsters that are naturally invisible, and remain so even while attacking.
----
* AttackAnimal: Though only as intelligent as animals, phantom fungi are trainable, and make dangerous guards since most detection magic doesn't pick them up. Their invisibility also makes training them difficult, however, leading to handlers [[SeeTheInvisible throwing flour on them or tying ribbons around them]] to keep track of their location. Phantom fungi are often trained to click their teeth after performing a trick, a habit which can give them away.
* InvisibleMonsters: They're under a constant ''greater invisibility'' effect, which allows them to remain unseen even when taking actions like attacking. Since phantom fungi are pretty quiet while stalking prey, often the only thing that gives them away is their strange, moldy odor.
* ManEatingPlant: Fungus, but close enough. They have bizarre bodies with four stumpy legs supporting a green-brown mass, a toothy mouth, and a cluster of nodules that serve as sensory organs, but are normally only visible when slain.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Phase Wasp]]
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phase_wasp_3e.jpg]]

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Oversized wasps with a dangerous magical attack, and a tendency to make nests from paper stolen from libraries, magical and non-magical.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: A phase wasp is 18 inches long.
* MagicMissileStorm: They can fire a pair of ''magic missiles'' every few rounds. Since phase wasps live in swarms of up to about 20 creatures, that equals a ''lot'' of [[AlwaysAccurateAttack unavoidable,]] NonElemental damage.
* SeeTheInvisible: Phase wasps can see and attack invisible and ethereal creatures (through the planar boundary in the latter case).

[[folder:Phasm]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phasm_3e.png]]

->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

Amorphous shapeshifters that use their ablities to devote their lives to exploration, philosophical contemplation, or pure hedonism as their whims decree.

* BlobMonster: In its natural form, a phasm resembles an ooze and attacks with pseudopods.
* TheHedonist: They crave new experiences, from scents or flavors to obscure trivia and juicy gossip.
* ItAmusedMe: Phasms' fundamental motivation. This means that there's no telling how they'll react to a given situation, whether they'll attack or parley with or retreat from opponents. Sometimes phasms will team up with doppelgangers just for the fun of it, other times they'll hire out their talents as spies, except they're notoriously unreliable since they don't feel any obligation to share what they learn.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Phasms can take the form of almost any other creature or object of Large size or smaller, an ability they use in combat or to aid their infiltrations.

[[folder:Phirblas]]
[[quoteright:150:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phirblas_2e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:150:2e]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}''\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

Gaunt humanoids sometimes encountered on the Ethereal Plane, known for their unusual non-verbal method of communication.

* CompellingVoice: A non-verbal example; once per day, a phirblas can use its words and telepathy to make a ''suggestion''.
* FearlessFool: Phirblas don't fight among each other, [[TheAgeless don't seem to age]] or [[IdealIllnessImmunity contract diseases]], and rarely meet with fatal accidents. As such, they have little fear or understanding of death, which makes other planar travelers consider phirblas quite naive.
* HoverSkates: In another trait they share with the dabus, phirblas' feet don't touch the ground. They can't actually fly, and move about as if they were walking, just slightly above the surface beneath them.
* MassHypnosis: Three times per day, phirblas can form a dizzying array of words above them to replicate a ''hypnotic pattern''.
* NoBiologicalSex: Phirblas don't have recognizable genders, and in the rare cases they reproduce, do so asexually to produce [[BornAsAnAdult a fully-grown phirblas.]]
* PocketDimension: Though their listed environment is the Ethereal Plane, phirblas properly hail from Inphirblau, an ancient demiplane that contains a veritable metropolis housing millions of phirblas.
* SpeechBubbles: A weird variant; phirblas have a form of telepathy that allows them to communicate by having words form in the air right above them, about ten at a time, appearing in the language of their intended recipient. The nature of said script indicates the phirblas' emotional state, so flowing and elegant letters are used for a formal address, while quick and simple text indicates a casual conversation, messy writing indicates that the phirblas is in a hurry or doesn't wish to converse, and shaky script suggests emotional distress. This trait suggests some connection between the phirblas and the dabus of Sigil, but nothing conclusive has been proven.
* {{Veganopia}}: The phirblas' dietary needs are met by herbariums all over their demiplane-city, and their chefs have devised mutliple hot and cold vegetarian dishes so complicated that it takes several days to prepare them.

[[folder:Phiuhl]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phiuhl_3e.jpg]]

->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}''\\
'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Also known as "vaporous horrors" or "lingering deaths," these murderous clouds of poisonous steam haunt the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna.

* DeadlyGas: A phiuhl more or less is a sentient cloud of superheated poisonous vapor, and anyone within 50 feet of them has to save or take Constitution damage (in 3rd Edition), or be in danger of collapsing and expiring in a matter of rounds (in 2nd Edition). On the upside, their gaseous nature makes phiuhls vulnerable to being blown around by effects such as the ''gust of wind'' spell.
* EvilLivingFlames: They get in on this trope as well due to their sweltering heat, which damages anything that comes close to phiuhls. Things only get worse if a phiuhl envelops a victim in their gaseous form, dealing LevelDrain from the intense, dessicating heat. Some phiuhls are known as "harvesters as flame" because they lack the poisonous aspect or normal phiuhls, but double down on the fire damage, and are even able to damage creatures explicitly immune to heat.
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: Phiuhls have inscrutable and alien minds that can drive anyone trying to make mental contact with them insane. A cambion sorcerer by the name of Rgillyth attempted to use ''ESP'' to interrogate a phiuhl about the creature's origins, and was left ranting about "undead lords of brass," "spirits of long-dead wind dukes," and a "melded prison of steam."
* RiddleForTheAges: No one's sure what exactly phiuhls are, and mortal and fiendish scholars alike have tried to capture and study them, to little success. The prevailing theory is that phiuhls are the spirits of slain elementals, except no priest has been able to successfully turn them, and 3rd Edition classifies them as aberrations rather than undead.
* StarfishLanguage: Phiuhls speak no audible language, but appear to have some way to communicate with one another, as they often operate in pairs. Night hags have been known to strike short-term bargains with phiuhls, usually offering larvae in exchange for safe passage or small favors, but attempts by tanar'ri and baatezu to bring phiuhls into the Blood War have been unsuccessful.

[[folder:Phoelarch]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phoelarch_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid/Magical Beast (3E), Natural Humanoid/Elemental Magical Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (phoelarch) 3 (phoera) (3E); 12 (4E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticGood (3E), Unaligned (4E)

Phoelarchs are humanoids with avian features said to be kin to phoenixes, who wield the power of fire as they wander the world, fighting for freedom. When a phoelarch is slain, its ashes give rise to a purely-avian phoera.

* ArtEvolution: While their 3rd Edition art depicts phoelarchs with brilliantly-colored feathers on their heads and upper bodies, 4th Edition gives them [[HotWings full-on flames]] instead.
* DefeatEqualsExplosion: When slain, phoelarchs detonate in a 20-foot fireball.
* FeedItWithFire: Phoelarchs and phoera are healed by fire effects.
* ThePhoenix: They're suspected of being related in some way to the legendary firebirds, and they share many phoenix-like traits, particularly how they die. After detonating, a phoelarch leaves behind a pile of ashes and a black glass egg, which in 24 hours will hatch into a phoera. This phoera is an entirely new creature, with no memories of its phoelarch "parent's" life, but once that phoera has hatched, the original phoelarch cannot be brought back to life by any means short of a ''wish'' or ''miracle'' used in conjunction with ''resurrection''. If a phoera is slain, its body too immolates and leaves behind another black glass egg, which will hatch into a new phoera; once again, it is very difficult to bring back the original phoera after its "child" hatches.
* PlayingWithFire: Phoelarchs wield spell-like abilities such as ''scorching ray'', ''produce flame'' and ''fire shield'', while phoera have a fiery BreathWeapon and can ignite foes they attack with their beak or claws. Both creatures are also hot enough to [[TheSpiny damage foes who touch them]], an ability they can choose to suppress.
* UndergroundMonkey: Vazalkyon and vazalka are cold-themed variants of phoelarchs and phoera, and are identical save for wielding and healing from a different energy type, and causing foes to be shaken from cold rather than igniting from heat.

[[folder:Phoenix]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phoenix_3e.png]]

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Elemental Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 24 (3E), 19 (4E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood (1E-3E), Unaligned (4E)

Large, fiery birds capable of resurrecting themselves when slain.

For the 5E iteration of this creature, see the "Elder Elementals" section of the "Elementals" entry.

* GiantFlyer: Phoenixes are usually very large birds, with wingspans at or over the forty-foot range.
* OrganDrops: Phoenix feathers are useful additions to a ''staff of healing'' or various curative potions, while their eyes, beaks and talons can fetch up to 5000 gp apiece from buyers who aren't appalled by someone killing and butchering a firebird.
* ThePhoenix: There have been several versions and interpretations of this creature over the years. Depending on the edition, they're either NeutralGood inhabitants of the Upper Planes or destructive {{Elemental Embodiment}}s of fire. Either way, they're usually very large, with red-gold plumage, extremely powerful, and hard to keep dead.%%In-universe alignment.
** In the first edition ''Fiend Folio'', it's stated that phoenixes are based on garbled accounts of reptilian ostrich-like monsters called giant striders bathing in fire (see the "Firenewt" entry). This is immediately contradicted by the subsequent ''Monster Manual II'' introducing actual phoenixes to the game.
** 3rd Edition's ''Monster Manual II'' presents phoenixes as being powerful creatures of good and opponents of evil beings, and as being considered omens of either fortune or disasters when seen.
** The 5th Edition ''Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes'' takes the ElementalEmbodiment aspect to the extreme with an elder elemental called the phoenix. It's pretty damn intense, powerful enough to rival an ancient red dragon, and desires to see everything burn.
* PlayingWithFire: While the specifics vary between editions, phoenixes' ties to the element of fire typically allow them some control over flame in the form of spell-like abilities such as ''fire seeds'', ''incendiary cloud'' and ''pyrotechnics''.
* ResurrectiveImmortality: Famously, a dying phoenix will burn itself to ashes and then rise to new life from its own remains. In 3rd Edition, this isn't quite an AutoRevive, but a full-round action the phoenix can take when death is near.
* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Phoenixes use {{Telepathy}} to communicate with most creatures, but can "speak" with other avians.
* SuperScream: A phoenix can emit a piercing war shriek that ''slows'' opponents.
* WhiteMagic: Beyond their fiery abilities, phoenixes can also wield curative magic like ''cure light wounds'', ''heal'', ''remove curse'', and even ''[[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnate]]''.

[[folder:Phthisic]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_phthisic_3e.jpg]]

->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticEvil

A repressed neurosis given life, hungering for the mental energy of other creatures.

* AchillesHeel: Since they're creatures of the mind, ''feeblemind'' and ''confusion'' spells deal damage to phthisics in 2nd Edition, and nullify their HealingFactor for several rounds.
* AnIcePerson: In 2nd Edition, phthisics can, once per hour, surround themselves with an aura of cold strong enough to deal damage to anything within 10 feet, though only for a single round.
* ArtEvolution: 2nd Edition phthisics appear as enlarged and twisted versions of the being from which they emerged, but their 3rd Edition incarnation is much more monstrous, so that it takes a DC 25 Spot check to notice the resemblance between the phthisic and its source.
* AttackReflector: Their ''AD&D'' rules explain that phthisics are "born of turmoil, self-deprecation, and doubt," and thus have a 25% chance to reflect any offensive magic back on their casters.
* HorrorHunger: A phthisic "constantly craves the sweet nectar of sanity to soothe its mental torment, if only for a while."
* PsychicPowers: 3E phthisics have the psionic subtype, and an array of powers such as ''brain lock'', ''ego whip'' and ''mind thrust.''
* {{Retcon}}: 2E phthisics are specifically the creations of the mind flayers, the only creatures skilled enough to draw them from the minds of their thralls. In 3rd Edition, phthisics' origins are unknown, though speculated to be the product of a variant of ''psychic chirurgery''.
* SoulJar: In 2nd Edition, phthisics are bound to complex psionic circuitry affixed to an inanimate object. While this means they can't move more than three miles away from this source, or spend too long apart from it, the phthisic can instantly teleport back to its lair, and perceive everything around its psionic circuitry. But destroying the psinoic circuitry will instantly destroy the phthisic (in contrast to killing the creature from which the phthisic is spawned, whose death does nothing to the phthisic).
* StupidityInducingAttack: A phthisics' bite attacks cause a ''feeblemind'' effect in 2nd Edition, and if it's able to feed in peace, the monster can drain Intelligence from its victim. In 3rd Edition, its bite deals Intelligence damage that, should a victim reach 0 Int, becomes permanent ability drain. Those who the phthisic is draining in this way experience a deathly chill, and should they succumb to it, their corpses will shrivel as a side-effect of the feeding.
* {{Tulpa}}: Phthisics are spawned from the troubled psyche of intelligent beings, the physical embodiments of a repressed memory or suppressed neurosis.

[[folder:Pixie]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_pixie_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Fey (3E, 5E), Fey Humanoid (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 4 (3E), 1 (4E), 1/4 (5E)\\
'''Playable:''' 2E-4E\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood, Unaligned (4E)

Diminutive fairies who delight in playing harmless tricks on people.

* CraftedFromAnimals: Pixie wings can be ground into ''dust of disappearance''. "Naturally, pixies frown on this use of their wings."
* TheDandy[=/=]TheFashionista: Pixies style themselves as the princes and princesses of the sky, and dress accordingly in sparkling silken gowns and doublets, or in outfits crafted from leaves, tree bark and small animal pelts. One of the surest ways to win a pixie over is by complimenting their fashion sense.
-->'''Rivergleam:''' Petal gowns and acorn caps are ''so'' last summer!
* FairyTrickster: They amuse themselves by leading travelers astray with ''dancing lights'', sneakily tying shoelaces together, blowing out candles, and so forth.
* HonestAxe: Pixies like to trick misers out of their treasure, accumulate it in a small hoard, and use it to taunt other greedy people. But if one of their victims takes the pixie's pranks in good humor and shows no greed when led to the treasure pile, the fey may allow the individual to choose an item from their hoard.
* OurPixiesAreDifferent: Pixies resemble diminutive elves with bright, luminous gossamer wings and an assortment of magical powers. They use their spells for harmless pranks, though their pixie dust is said to have magical properties ranging from bestowing flight to putting creatures into an enchanted slumber, leading some mages and monsters to pursue pixies to take advantage of this power.
* PaintingTheFrostOnWindows: On both the Feywild and Material Plane, pixies wake the birds for springtime, sprinkle dew on summer flowers, paint the autumn leaves, and draw frost on windows during winter.
* ShrinkingViolet: They like to spy on other creatures and can barely contain their excitement upon seeing interlopers, but their overwhelming urge to introduce themselves and strike up a friendship is only controlled by the fear of being captured or attacked. Those who wander through a pixie's glade might never see them, yet hear the occasional giggle, gasp or sigh.

[[folder:Plague Brush]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_plague_brush_3e.jpg]]

->'''Classification:''' Plant (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 17 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

35-foot wide, poisonous tumbleweeds that normally roll about the scarlet plains of Cathrys, second layer of the Tarterian Depths of Carceri.

* IndyEscape: They're essentially free-roaming examples, instinctively chasing down and flattening anything they come across. With a 60-foot movement speed, escaping them is more easily said than done.
* PoisonousPerson: Plague brushes constantly emit a 30-foot cloud of spores that cause heavy [[NonHealthDamage Strength and Constitution damage]].
* TrampledUnderfoot: These plants' primary attack is to simply roll over other creatures, dealing damage and potentially causing them to get scooped up in the tangle of vines, trapping them inside the plant until they either extract themselves or succumb to the plague brush's spores. In fact, these mindless plants often ignore creatures they've rolled over or entrapped, and after tumbling through an encampment will just keep rolling along their way.

[[folder:Planetouched]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_planetouched_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A chaond and zenythri (3e)]]
->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' Usually 1/2 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Varies by heritage

"Planetouched" is a catch-all term describing those whose bloodlines have been touched by powers beyond the Material Plane. Though this effect is not as pronounced as in a half-celestial or cambion, this extraplanar heritage manifests in supernatural abilities and physical traits for many generations.\\
Several of the most common planetouched, the aasimars, tieflings and genasi, are discussed on [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races page]].

* ChromeChampion: Mechanatrices tend to have a metallic sheen to their skin, and are sometimes born with a [[ArtificialLimbs mechanical limb]].
* DivineParentage: Planetouched's heritages can range from Good and Evil to Law and Chaos.
** Axani and zenythri have a touch of pure Law in their blood, while mechanatrices are specifically descended from the clockwork beings of Mechanus.
** Chaonds are the descendants of someone who survived a slaad's reproduction attempt, but had their bloodline tainted with raw Chaos in the process.
** Shyfts are humanoids descended from a creature from the Ethereal Plane, and tend to look supernaturally unremarkable.
* FrogMen: Chaonds are a downplayed example, but show their slaadi heritage with stocky bodies, wide feet, and gravelly voices that tend to come out as croaks when they're excited.
* {{Intangibility}}: Shyfts can use ''ethereal jaunt'' once per day.
* KaleidoscopeEyes: Chaonds crank this up a notch by having not just their eye color slowly shift over time, but so can their hair and skin tone.
* MarkOfTheSupernatural: Planetouched tend to have something that visibly sets them apart from normal Material Plane races, whether something as dramatic as a different skin tone, weird eyes, or vestigial wings or horns, or something as subtle as being a little ''too'' good-looking, or strangely nondescript.
* TheNondescript: Shyfts look remarkably unremarkable, easy to overlook and forget. As such, they get a racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks, and tend to find employment as thieves or spies.
* ShockAndAwe: Mechanatrices can use ''shocking grasp'' once per day, and [[FeedItWithFire are healed by electricity effects.]]
* UncannyValley: In-universe; zenythri are noted for their flawless features and hair that naturally falls into place, but don't get any Charisma bonus from it, and in fact their basic statline has them with lower than average Charisma, implying that other creatures find them ''too'' perfect-looking.

[[folder:Plasmoid]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_plasmoid_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}''\\
'''Classification:''' Ooze (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1/4 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Any

Intelligent, amoeba-like beings who can alter their body configuration at will, assuming roughly-humanoid forms or more amorphous shapes. See [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsRaces the Playable Races subpage]] for more information about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Porcupine Cactus]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_porcupine_cactus_3e.jpg]]

'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (3E)\\

Spiny, barrel-shaped cacti that can explode at the slightest touch.

* ExplodingBarrels: They're basically an organic example. Immature porcupine cacti have flat shapes and leathery textures, but the plants swell up during the rare desert rains, sprout large flowers, and soon swell even more with seeds. A turgid porcupine cactus can detonate when struck by a creature, or in the presence of 20-mile-per-hour winds or strong vibrations (such as those produced by a tunneling ashworm). This deals damage to everything in a 10-foot radius, leaves behind thorny flesh on the ground that acts as {{caltrops}}, and most dangerously, is likely to start a chain reaction among the other cacti in the patch.
* ManEatingPlant: They don't have mouths, but porcupine cacti seeds tend to grow in the bodies of those slain in the detonation of their parent plants.
* TheSpiny: Anyone trying to handle (or more stupidly, make a natural melee attack against) a porcupine cactus takes damage from its thorns.

[[folder:Protean Scourge]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_protean_scourge_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

Diabolic-looking shapeshifters who love to murder, and duplicate themselves when attacked.

* AsteroidsMonster: Protean scourges' signature ability is to, after taking damage, immediately split in two identical monsters, each with as many hit points as the original creature. The only downsides are that the monster can't use its shapechanging ability until its duplicates have re-merged (a process that takes a minute and leaves it helpless), and the duplicates use a shared spell "pool" rather than each having their own array of unspent spell slots.
* BigRedDevil: They appear as such, being {{Horned Humanoid}}s with pebbly red skin, though they aren't actually fiends.
* MagicKnight: Protean scourges are formidable in melee, and cast spells as 8th-level sorcerers.
* PsychoForHire: These monsters excel as assassins, though others find work as spies or as the leaders of thieves guilds, roles they are content with so long as they find chances to shed blood.
* SinisterScythe: An invoked trope, as protean scourges favor the weapons "mostly to add to the myth that the creature is some sort of evil outsider."
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: They can freely take the shape of any Medium-sized humanoid, and revert to their true form when slain.

[[folder:Psurlon]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_psurlon_5e.jpeg]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_psurlons_3e.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:2e]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_psurlon_2e.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/DarkSun''\\
'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E), Aberrant Magical Beast (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E), 17 (4E), 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil, Evil (4E)

Malicious, worm-like beings with formidable mental powers.

* ArtEvolution: Psurlons' depiction can vary even within an edition. In some 2nd and 3rd Edition art, they look like a clothed humanoid figure comprised of giant earthworms, but a later 3E supplement gave them a bloated, monstrous body on spidery legs, which carried over into 4th Edition. 5th Edition gives them thicker bodies with hoofed legs, but upright fronts draped in clothing.
* EmergencyTransformation: 4th Edition asserts that only the psurlons' minds survived the distruction of their homeworld, forcing them to possess mindless slug creatures on the Astral Sea. After thousands of generations, the psurlons had modified their new bodies to their liking, and now prefer their worm-like forms.
* AHeadAtEachEnd: In 5E, one in a hundred psurlons is born a mutant with a head at each end of its body, granting them superior intellects and mental powers, and making them natural leaders of their kind.
* KillAndReplace: 5th Edition adds psurlon "ringers," which can consume a Medium-sized humanoid, go into a psionic trance for 8 hours, and then physically transform into their meal's likeness. This [[EatBrainForMemories gives the psurlon access to their prey's memories]], and the resulting transformation is permanent until undone with a ''wish'' spell. Other psurlons can recognize a ringer no matter its guise.
* LampreyMouth: In some depictions, they have large, circular mouths filled with gnashing teeth.
* MonstrousCannibalism: When a psurlon dies, others lay their eggs in its corpse, which hatch into Tiny infant psurlons that consume both the corpse and each other, until seven days later a single adult psurlon emerges from the putrefying remains.
* PsychicPowers: Psurlons fight with their psionic powers, crushing foes with telekinesis or immobilising them with mental energy.
* ToServeMan: Every century or so, the psurlons leave the Astral Plane to embark on the "Feast of Worlds," spending the next seven years infiltrating various worlds and eating as many sentients as they can, particularly relishing the taste of humans and halflings.
* StrongerWithAge: Psurlon elders are simply ordinary psurlons that have developed even more psionic powers as they aged. Other psurlons instead undertake a rapid physical growth into giant psurlons the size of ogres.
* SuperSenses: They have darkvision thanks to the sensory organs round their mouths, as well as blindsight due to being able to detect foes by scent, sound and vibration.
* HumanShifting: Most 4th Edition psurlons can use ''change shape'' to assume humanoid form, though in 5th Edition they use ''[[LieToTheBeholder disguise self]]'' instead.
* WhereIWasBornAndRazed: The psurlons attempted to create a HiveMind amongst their race, but the psychic backlash blew up their homeworld, forcing the survivors to relocate to the Astral Plane. They're unrepentant about this, and have no desire to return to the Material Plane... though they are interested in the world of Athas, which they think would survive another attempt to psychically link their minds together.

[[folder:Pterafolk]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_pterafolk_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Hybrid form (3e)]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms''\\
'''Classification:''' Shapechanger (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 1 (5E)\\

Evil reptilian humanoids that use their shapeshifting to aid in their attacks on neighboring tribes.

* TheBeastmaster: Averted; unlike proper lycanthropes, which often take command of mundane animals related to their bestial forms, pterafolk have no particular control over proper pterodactyls and pteranodons, the latter of which actually prey upon them.
* DeathFromAbove: They often attack by swooping on victims from above, which in their ''AD&D'' rules deals double damage.
* LizardFolk: In two of their forms, they look like reptilian humanoids with a pteranodon's beak and crest, and potentially wings. There's in-universe speculation over whether pterafolk are a LivingRelic, a precursor to proper lizard-folk that didn't evolve like their kin, or enchanted relations of pterodactyls.
* TreetopTown: They make their homes in collection of huts built high in thick-trunked trees, and all but invisible from the ground.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Pterafolk can naturally ''polymorph'' between three forms: a fully-humanoid shape, a fully-pteranodon form with a 15-foot wingspan, or a hybrid between the two, replacing the humanoid arms with functional wings.

[[folder:Puppeteer Parasite]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_puppeteer_parasite_5e.png]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:3e]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_puppeteer_3e.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Aberration (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 1 (standard), 2 (flesh harrower) (3E); 3 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil (3E), NeutralEvil (5E)

Psionic parasites that can hijack the bodies of their hosts.

* AntiTrueSight: 3E puppeteers can hide their minds from detection by divination spells or clairsentience powers.
* ArtEvolution: In 3rd Edition they're small and leech-like, able to hide beneath a host's clothes, while in 5E they're amoeba-like creatures the size of dinner plates with a ventral surface covered in bony hooks.
* CharmPerson: 3E puppeteers know the psionic version of ''charm person'', and use it to take over a host by asking to be picked up by it.
* DumbMuscle: Comparatively speaking; a puppeteer variant known as flesh harrowers lack the ability to psychically dominate a host, but are larger and much more physically capable than their kin, possessing a maw of fearsome teeth and a twin-bladed tail. They're used to deal with threats through direct combat if the puppeteers' usual methods fail.
* LifeDrain: In 5th Edition they can make a "Consume Life" attack against a creature they're attached to, healing themselves by the amount of damage dealt.
* PuppeteerParasite: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin It's in the name,]] though the mechanics differ by edition.
** If a 3E puppeteer is able to make physical contact with a ''charmed'' host, it'll attach itself somewhere out of sight on their body. The parasite will drain a negligible amount of nutrients from the host creature, but so long as the puppeteer is attached, the host creature is mentally dominated by it. Once they have hosts, puppeteers strive to take control of a society to ensure a steady supply of bodies for their kind.
** 5E puppeteer parasites are larger and harder to hide, and have a more limited capacity to control their host, as they can only cast ''suggestion'' once per day.

[[folder:Purple Worm]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_purple_worm_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Natural Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 12 (3E), 16 (4E), 15 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

Enormous subterranean worms with armored bodies and insatiable appetites.

* BewareMyStingerTail: They have a poisonous stinger at the end of their tails.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: It is a wormlike monster, and it is purple.
* FastTunneling: They have a 30-foot burrow speed, and can even bore through solid rock at half that rate, leaving behind a 10-foot-wide tunnel.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: It's impossible to ride a purple worm normally, but the mind flayers have developed an odd way to use one as a mount. If an irritant is placed in the purple worm's throat, it will develop a cyst that can be drained and used as a driver's compartment. Though since purple worms are mindless, illithids have to resort to speaking Undercommon to give them commands, and the rider's cyst prevents the worm from swallowing Large creatures, while smaller ones might make an attack of opportunity at the worm's rider as they're swallowed.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: A little-known fact is that the purple worm is referred to as the purple ''dragon'' in Gary Gygax's notes: "the purple, or mottled, dragon is a rare, flightless worm with a venomous sting in its tail." This was quickly dropped in later editions.
* SandWorm: Giant, carnivorous worms that burrow underground at high speeds, and which hunt by tracking prey from below and attacking in a sudden, explosive surge through the surface.
* SwallowedWhole: With its cavernous maw, a purple worm can swallow even an ogre in one gulp.
* UndergroundMonkey: In older editions, mottled worms are an aquatic variant of purple worm that inhabits the shallow muck at the bottom of bodies of water.

!!Q

[[folder:Quaggoth]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quaggoth_5e.png]]

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (3E, 5E), Natural Humanoid (4E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 3 (3E), 9 (4E), 2 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral (1E-2E), NeutralEvil (3E), Unaligned (4E), ChaoticNeutral (5E)

Sometimes called "deep bears," these savage, 7-foot ursine humanoids eke out a primitive existence in the Underdark.

* GoodOldWays: The great divide in the free quaggoths' society is between those who "follow magic" by using weapons and dyeing their white fur with dung, blood and mind flayer gall to help them blend in with their surroundings, and those who "follow the beast" by fighting with their claws and eschewing camouflage.
* ImAHumanitarian: When they can't find food, quaggoths prey on each other. A thonot that fails the tribe is devoured in a cannibalistic ritual, in the hope that its power passes to another more worthy quaggoth.
* ItCanThink: Quaggoths' bestial appearance, snarling language, and penchant for fighting unarmed and unarmored have led many to assume they're bipedal cave bears, but quaggoths are in fact sapient, though not particularly intelligent. Their Intelligence score has even been going down over the game's editions, so their current stats only make them slightly smarter than ogres.
* MadeASlave: Approximately half the quaggoth population has been enslaved by races like the drow or illithids.
* TheMorlocks: At one point the quaggoths had a more advanced society on the surface, before being driven underground by the elves and falling into cannibalistic savagery. For this reason, quaggoths captured by the drow need little prompting to join raids against surface elves.
* PsychicPowers: Thonots are quaggoths which have gained psionic powers through exposure to the psychic energies which permeate the Underdark.
* TurnsRed: When a quaggoth comes close to death, it flies into a berserker rage, making its attacks more powerful and more accurate.

[[folder:Quanlos]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quanlos_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 6 (3E)\\

Insectoid monsters sometimes called "abyssal wasps" due to their ability to control other creatures, and for their gruesome reproductive method.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: Quanloses are dog-sized insectoids with a horrific life cycle.
* BizarreAlienReproduction: Though they look like insects, each quanlos is in fact a self-contained hive, reproducing asexually and storing their larvae in abdominal sacs. After being implanted in a victim, quanlos larvae spend a week to a month consuming their host's corpse before bursting out as Tiny quanloses that reach full adulthood in another year.
* ExplosiveBreeder: They have a rapid reproductive cycle, and quanloses implant five to ten larvae into a creature at a time, but quanloses are still relatively rare, since [[MonstrousCannibalism the bulk of quanlos larvae are consumed by other larvae while inside their parent]], and three-quarters of adult quanloses are slain by other quanloses within the first months of their lives.
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Quanloses can inject a creature with larvae, which acts something like a poison that, should a victim fail their saving throw, will [[DamageOverTime deal damage each subsequent round.]] Unless a victim is saved with ''neutralize poison'' or ''remove disease'', they'll slowly be devoured from within.
* MindControl: Their stingers carry a potent magical toxin that replicates a ''dominate monster'' spell, usable three times each day. With their Intelligence of 1, quanloses aren't smart enough to direct their ''dominated'' minions to do more than follow general commands such as attack, defend, gather food, etc. Slaying a quanlos instantly frees any mind-controlled creatures.

[[folder:Quaraphon]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quaraphon_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E)\\
'''Playable:''' 3E\\
'''Alignment:''' ChaoticNeutral

Blue, bellicose, centaur-like creatures that wander the plains in search of food, good fights, or wargear to steal.

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Their tribes' "bullmasters" are the strongest males in them, but have to constantly defend their positions from younger rivals. "The bellows of dueling quaraphons can be heard for miles around, lending a chilling quality to the desolate plains."
* BoisterousBruiser: They're described as "belligerent, swaggering creatures" constantly looking for a challenging fight.
* DoesNotLikeMagic: Quaraphons have a superstitious distrust of arcane magic, and any of their kind who befriend a mage are deemed insane and exiled from their tribes.
* DumbMuscle: They're not too bright, and have -4 racial penalties to Intelligence and Wisdom, but compensate with a +10 bonus to Strength and +12 to Constitution.
* ExtraEyes[=/=]TooManyMouths: Quaraphons' faces have four eyes, placed seemingly at random, and two mouths positioned one on top of the other.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: They look something like centaurs with warty blue skin and highly assymetrical features.
* SuperScream: Once per day, a quaraphon can use its two mouths to loose a bellow that deals sonic damage and can potentially deafen those within 60 feet.

[[folder:Quesar]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quesar_3e.png]]

->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}''\\
'''Classifiaction:''' Construct (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

Radiant, free-willed humanoid constructs native to the marshes of Belierin, third layer of the Blessed Fields of Elysium.

* BlindedByTheLight: At will, quesars can intensify their glows sixfold, potentially blinding nearby creatures.
* HealingFactor: They constantly recover hit points so long as they're exposed to sunlight, or magic like ''daylight''. This functions even after a quesar has been "killed," so the only way to permanently destroy one is to keep its remains in an area of darkness, forever, or to use magic like ''disintegrate'' to dispose of their bodies.
* InterserviceRivalry: Their ''AD&D'' write-up notes that Lawful Good celestials resent the quesars for their past rebellion. "On the planes of goodness, the aasimon are to be obeyed without question. Those that do not adhere to that stricture are not well liked." This lack of support can result in proactive quesars leading one-person crusades against the Lower Planes, which for all a quesar's power are still suicidal actions.
* LightEmUp: After they've had their blinding radiance active for a round, quesars can replicate a ''sunburst'' effect, dealing damage to all in 30 feet.
* PhosphorEssence: Quesars constantly shed bright light in a 20-foot radius, providing shadowy illumination 40 feet beyond that.
* ReducedToDust: A quesar's most dangerous ability is to, three times each day, unleash a burst of energy so intense that it subjects every creature and object within 15 feet to a ''disintegrate'' effect, dealing heavy damage and reducing those that succumb to ash.
* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: After becoming independent, most quesars remain on Belierin, pondering the purpose of their new lives.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The quesars were crafted by angels as servitors, and while the intelligent constructs were initially grateful enough to follow their creators' commands, the quesars eventually expressed that they did not intend to exist as slaves. This offended the angels -- "The clockworks do not tell the clock maker what to do. The clay does not instruct the sculptor." -- and so there was a brief war in Elysium before the local deities intervened, chiding the angels that the quesars were not creatures of order, and the quesars that they should not foment chaos by rashly causing conflict with those who had treated them well. Thus the angels wordlessly departed Belierin, leaving the quesars to figure out what to do with their independence.

[[folder:Quickling]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quickling_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}''\\
'''Classification:''' Fey Humanoid (4E), Fey (5E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (4E), 1 (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' Evil (4E), ChaoticEvil (5E)

Tiny and malicious fey notable for their incredible speed.

* BlessedWithSuck: It is said that they were once a human-sized race of fey belonging to the Gloaming Court, but they were lazy and blew off their Queen's summons once too often. To quicken their pace and teach them to mind her will, she sped up their internal clocks. This gave quicklings their characteristic fast pace, but also sped up their aging process, leaving them with a lifespan of twenty years at best.
* SuperSpeed: In 5th edition they can move 120 feet per round without dashing, and their sheer speed imposes disadvantage on all attack rolls made against them.
* TheTrickster: A quickling spends most of its time perpetrating acts of mischief on slower creatures: tying a person's bootlaces together, unbuckling a saddle while no one's looking, or planting a stolen item in someone's bag. They don't commit outright murder, but quicklings can ruin lives in plenty of other ways. Quicklings enjoy causing suffering that transcends mere mischief, especially when they can create discord by blaming others for their actions.
* WeAreAsMayflies: Quicklings live incredibly short lives on account of their hyperactive metabolism. They die of old age in less than twenty years.

[[folder:Quori]]
[[quoteright:272:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_the_quori_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:272:3e]]
->'''Origin:''' ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}''\\
'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E), Aberration (5E)\\
'''Alignment:''' LawfulEvil

Otherworldly and hostile entities from a realm of nightmares, who seek to claim the waking world as well.

* DemonicPossession: They have the natural ability to possess other creatures, with the caveats that the host has to be {{willing|channeler}}, boast a Charisma score equal to or greater than the quori's, and share the same alignment. While possessing a host, a quori can use its spell-like and psionic abilities, combines its skill ranks with its host's, and grants its host a bonus to Charisma.
* DreamWeaver: Quori can invade the dreams of other creatures, appearing however they wish as they replicate a ''dream'' or ''nightmare'' spell. This is one of their most powerful tools for manipulating mortals.
* EldritchAbomination: Though originally classified as Outsiders, quori come from a plane of dreams and nightmares, and thus tend to look more bizarre than most fiends.
* EternalRecurrence: In their home cosmology, Dal Quor alternates between ages of light and darkness at regular intervals. The ending of the current Age of Darkness would mark the end of the quori, so the Dreaming Dark wants to break this cycle and keep their Age of Darkness going indefinitely.
* LivingDream: The quori are the embodiments of dreams and nightmares that serve a dark power known as il-Lashtavar, or the Dreaming Dark.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: While quori are generally considered evil, a number of good-aligned quori live in self-imposed exile from Dal Quor. They often end up bonding with humans, and this bond has given rise to a sub-race of humans known as the kalashtar.
* PsychicPowers: The quori are natural psions, with each type having different psychic abilities.
* SealedEvilInACan: In Eberron, the ancient giants, with the assistance of the dragons, prevented a quori invasion by using powerful magic to permanently isolate Dal Quor, the plane of dreams, from the Material Plane. To get around this, the quori have devised new tactics to exert their influence over the waking world, reaching it through the dreams of its inhabitants.

!!Du'ulora
[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quori_duulora_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3E)

Also known as "blackfuries," these quori act as battlefield commanders when they aren't engaging their foes directly.

* CombatTentacles: The du'ulora fights by grappling its enemies with tentacles formed from shadow matter.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Each of a du'ulora's tentacles is capped with an eyeball.
* HatePlague: The du'ulora's fury aura induces rage in other creatures, stripping foes of their ability to use magic or sophisticated tactics.
* {{Oculothorax}}: The du'ulora's body is a bulbous mass dominated by a central eye.
* PlayingWithFire: After constricting an enemy, a du'ulora can call on its inner rage to trigger spontaneous combustion.

!!Hashalaq
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quori_hashalaq_3e.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 9 (3E, 5E)

Also known as "dreamstealers," hashalaqs are the loremasters and judges of the quori, studying mortals for weaknesses and ensuring that their underlings don't interfere with their race's grand schemes.

* CounterAttack: When a hashalaq takes damage, it can force its attacker to experience painful empathic feedback.
* EmotionBomb: The idyllic touch of a hashalaq can make it victim laugh so hard that they fall prone.
* InTheHood: In 3rd Edition they're usually depicted as hooded figures with [[NoFaceUnderTheMask nothing but a glowing void where their face should be]], though their true form is that of a [[CreepyCentipedes centipede]]-like creature made up of squirming tentacles.
* PsiBlast: 5th Edition hashalaqs primarily attack with Mind Thrust, a psychic power that inflicts large amounts of psychic damage to the victim.
* SenseFreak: Inhabiting human bodies as Inspired has granted the hashalaqs a taste for the hedonistic urges of humanity.

!!Kalaraq
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quori_kalaraq_5e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:5e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 20 (3E), 19 (5E)

Also known as "eyebinders," these are the quori ruling caste, the rare and terrible masters of Dal Quor.

* AnimalisticAbomination: 5th Edition depicts kalaraqs as a shadowy mixture of mantid and serpent, in contrast to the more humanoid kalaraq of earlier editions.
* EyesDoNotBelongThere: A host of disembodied eyes whirl around a kalaraq, each reflecting a consciousness the creature has consumed.
* IntangibleMan: Kalaraqs are incorporeal in their true form, allowing them to pass through solid matter and making it impossible to grapple or restrain them.
* LivingShadow: A kalaraq is an intangible, monstrous shadow surrounded by a haze of sinister light.
* ManchurianAgent: Kalaraqs can implant a sinister "mind seed" into a humanoid just by touching them. if the seed is allowed to germinate, it takes over the person's body, turning them into a loyal puppet of the kalaraq.
* PsiBlast: Kalaraqs can bombard an area with spectral eyes, inflicting psychic damage and, ironically, blindness to anyone caught in the blast.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Although the kalaraqs never fight one another overtly, each has its own agenda, and each hopes to someday seize the throne of the Devourer of Dreams.
* YourSoulIsMine: When a kalaraq kills someone in melee combat, it rips out their soul and shoves it into one of the many eyeballs orbiting the creature, making it almost impossible to revive them while the kalaraq still lives.

!!Tsoreva
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quori_tsoreva_3e.jpg]]

->'''Challenge Rating:''' 5 (3E)

Also known as "mindblades," the tsoreva can serve as enforcers among the quori, but relish their role as shock troops.

* BloodKnight: They're bloodthirsty creatures that live for the sensation of slicing through their foes.
* LaserBlade: Their primary weapons are a pair of "mind blades" of solid psychic energy, similar to the key feature of the soulknife psionic class.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: Anyone struck by those mind blades has to save or become shaken from fear.
* WallCrawl: They're canny enough to take advantage of their climbing speed to attack enemies from high on walls or ceilings.

!!Tsucora
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quori_tsucora_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:3e]]
->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E, 5E)

The most numerous of the quori, tsucoras are as hideous as they are cunning and cruel, talents which serve them well as the Dreaming Dark's primary agents on the Material Plane.

* BewareMyStingerTail: The tsucora's serpentine tail is tipped with a vicious stinger.
* BrownNote: The prick of a tsucora's stinger ravages body and mind, instilling terror and inflicting psychic damage.
* ExtraEyes: A tsucora's face is dotted with eyes in every shape and color.
* LifeDrain: In 3rd edition, a tsucora recovers hit points whenever it kills a creature with its stinger.
* PowerPincers: Tsucoras have lobster-like pincers with which to put the squeeze on their foes.
* SupernaturalFearInducer: Tsucoras keep their humanoid chattel in line by manipulating their fears.

!!Usvapna
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quori_dream_master_3e.png]]

->'''Challenge Rating:''' 11 (3E)

Also known as "dream masters," these quori are inquisitors and assassins, studying the dreams of mortals to identify threats to the quori's rule.

''[[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreatures Creatures]]'': [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesA A]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesB B]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesC C]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesD D]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesE E]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesF F]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesG G]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesH H]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesIToL I to L]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesM M]] | '''N to Q''' | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesR R]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesS S]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesT T]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsCreaturesUToZ U to Z]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons Dragons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends Fiends]] ([[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDemons Demons]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsDevils Devils]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiendsYugoloths Yugoloths]]) | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead Undead]] | [[Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures Setting-Specific Creatures]]\\

This page covers general ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' monsters such as can be found in the ''Monster Manual'' or in setting-agnostic books such as ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'' or ''Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes''. The creatures on this page can be found in any world of the ''D&D'' multiverse and can be encountered in just about any campaign.

For the game's iconic dragons, see ''Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsDragons''. For demons and devils, see ''Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsFiends''. For the various undead creatures, see ''Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsUndead''. For creatures found only in specific settings, see ''Characters/DungeonsAndDragonsSettingSpecificCreatures''.

* DemonicPossession: They have the natural ability to possess other creatures, with the caveats that the host has to be {{willing|channeler}}, boast a Charisma score equal to or greater than the quori's, and share the same alignment. While possessing a host, a quori can use its spell-like and psionic abilities, combines it and its host's skill ranks, and grants the host a bonus to Charisma.

* EldritchAbomination: Though originally classified as Outsiders, quori come from a plane of dreams of nightmares, and thus tend to look more bizarre than most fiends.

* DemonicPossession: They have the natural ability to possess other creatures, with the caveats that the host has to be {{willing|channeler}}, boast a Charisma score equal to or greater than the quori's, and share the same alignment. While possessing a host, a quori can use its spell-like and psionic abilities, and grants the host a bonus to Charisma.

!!Tsucora
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_quori_tsucora_3e.png]]

->'''Challenge Rating:''' 7 (3E, 5E)

The most numerous of the quori, tsucoras are as hideous as they are cunning and cruel, talents which serve them well as the Dreaming Dark's primary agents on the Material Plane.

Otherworldly and hostile entities from a realm of dreams, who seek to claim the waking world as well.

* DemonicPossession: In Eberron, quori are typically encountered while possessing a host body, most commonly those of the Inspired.

* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: While quori are generally considered evil, a number of good aligned quori live in self-imposed exile from Dal Quor. They often end up bonding with humans, and this bond has given rise to a sub-race of humans known as the kalashtar.

* HatePlague: The du'ulora's fury aura induces rage, stripping foes of their ability to use magic or sophisticated tactics.

Loremasters and judges of the Quori, appearing in their true shape as countless tendrils they can shape however they like.

* PsiBlast: 5th edition hashalaqs primarily attack with Mind Thrust, a psychic power that inflicts large amounts of psychic damage to the victim.

Lords and rulers of the Quori, appearing in their true form as shapes of shadows outlined by a red cloud of energy and countless floating eyes.

* AnimalisticAbomination: 5th edition depicts kalaraqs as a shadowy mixture of mantid and serpent, in contrast to the more humanoid kalaraq of earlier editions.

The most numerous of the Quori. Tsucoras are as cunning and cruel as they are hideous, talents which serve them well as the Dreaming Dark's primary agents on the Material Plane.

->'''Classification:''' Giant (3E, 5E), Natural Humanoid (4E)\\

* WasOnceAMan: The first ophidians were a human tribe in the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting who devoted themselves to a snake cult, found a powerful artifact in some yuan-ti ruins, and were trasnformed into serpent people themselves.

->'''Classification:''' Fey (3E)\\

->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E)\\

->'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

->'''Alignment:''' Unaligned

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d&d_petal_3e.png]]
[[caption-width-right:320:3e]]

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Natural Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\

->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\

* SealedEvilInACan: In the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms, most phaerimm were sealed beneath Anauroch by their ancient sharn rivals, and only a few escaped -- though some of those are working to free their kin.

->'''Alignment:''' NeutralGood

->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\

'''Playable:''' 3E (shadowswyft)\\

* DayHurtsDarkAdjustedEyes: Shadowswyfts have superior darkvision, but are blinded by sudden exposure to bright light, and will be dazzled so long as they remain in the area.

** Shadowswyfts have an ancestor from the Plane of Shadow, and are most comfortable in darkness.

->'''Classification:''' Ooze (5E)\\

->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E), Aberrant Magical Beast (4E)\\

->'''Classification:''' Shapechanger (3E), Monstrosity (5E)\\

->'''Classifiaction:''' Construct (3E)\\

->'''Classification:''' Fey Humanoid (4E), Fey (5E)\\

A creature entry's listed '''Challenge Rating''' may be for "baseline" examples of the monster, rather than listing every advanced variant presented in ''Monster Manual''s. Also remember that 3rd and 5th Edition use a 1-20 scale for "standard" Challenge Ratings, while 4th Edition uses 1-30. Not all '''Playable''' creatures are created equal, especially in 3rd Edition, in which MonsterAdventurers can have significant Level Adjustments for the sake of party balance. A creature's listed '''Alignment''' is typical for the race as a whole, not an absolute for every individual in it -- even supposed embodiments of Good and Evil can change their alignment. Also, if there are two alignments listed, and one is for 4th Edition, assume that the other alignment holds true for all other game editions. Finally, the "Always Neutral" alignment listed in previous editions for nonsapient creatures has been equated with the "Unaligned" alignment of recent editions.

->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E), Elemental Humanoid (4E), Humanoid (5E)\\

* SpeakOfTheDevil: In 2nd Edition, nagpas can sense when other creatures are talking about them, to a range of 100 miles, and will seek out and murder those creatures before departing "consumed with feeings of guilt, remorse, relief, and joy."

->'''Classification:''' Fey (3E)\\

->'''Classification:''' Plant (3E)\\
'''Challenge Rating:''' 2 (3E)\\
'''Alignment:''' TrueNeutral

* UnreliableIllustrator: Their art makes them look like bug-like humanoids made out of cacti, though their write-up describes bark and small leaves covering their bodies.

->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E)\\

->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E, 5E), Aberrant Magical Beast (4E)\\

* RatMan: They're humanoid rats that are faster and have better vision than humans, as well as racial bonuses to stealth and resisting poison, and they can deal improved unarmed damage with their claws and teeth.

->'''Classification:''' Magical Beast (3E), Shadow Magical Beast (4E), Monstrosity (5E)\\

* PsychicPowers: The nightmare beast debuted in ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'', and thus its original ''AD&D'' incarnation sports a formidable repertoire of powers from the psychokinesis, psychometabolism, psychoportation and telepathy disciplines. Later editions replace these with spell-like abilities such as ''disintegrate'', ''chain lightning,'' ''dimension door'' and ''wall of fire.''

->'''Alignment:''' NeutralEvil

->'''Classification:''' Outsider (3E)\\

->'''Classification:''' Humanoid (3E, 5E), Elemental Humanoid (4E)\\

->'''Classification:''' Monstrous Humanoid (3E)\\

* MakeMeWannaShout: A nycter can emit a hunting cry at will, dealing sonic damage in a cone and potentially paralyzing targets -- though should anything successfully save against those effects, they become immune to that nycter's hunting cry for the next 24 hours.

->'''Classification:''' Aberration (3E)\\

* MakeMeWannaShout: A phoenix can emit a piercing war shriek that ''slows'' opponents.

* MakeMeWannaShout: Once per day, a quaraphon can use its two mouths to loose a bellow that deals sonic damage and can potentially deafen those within 60 feet.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Their tribes' "bullmasters" are the strongest males in them, but have to constantly defend their positions from younger rivals. "The bellows of dueling quaraphons can be heard for miles around, lending a chilling quality to the desolate plains."

* ChestBurster: Neogi reproduce by laying their eggs within another member of their species, derisively called a "great old master" by the others. The resulting spawn gestate within the adult neogi's body, eating it from the inside out before chewing their way to freedom.

* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: They're clearly related to the likes of goblins and hobgoblins, sometimes described as resembling the latter on the scale of the former. Norkers are sometimes conscripted as shock troops by a hobgoblin warhost, and some sources suggest that the norkers' deity was the first to be slain by Maglubiyet.
* {{Retcon}}: 4th Edition casts norkers as goblins who found their way into the Elemental Chaos, taking on the strength of elemental earth to survive there. As such, their hides are literally rock-hard, and they're often minions of the archmental Ogremach or the cult of the Elder Elemental Eye.

* CraftedFromAnimals: Memory moss can be used to brew a ''potion of forgetfulness'', or its spores can be distilled into an elixir that can restore the memories of the senile or forgetful.

* HeWasRightThereAllAlong: Obliviax looks like a patch of thick, black moss with the unappetizing odor of damp, loamy dirt, difficult to distinguish from a non-magical plant (though a hungry obliviax will quiver, as if in anticipation). Any mosslings it spawns are similarly hard to distinguish from the main mass when immobile.
* ItCanThink: Obliviax are intelligent, enough to make the best use of their stolen spells, though they don't have a society, as each patch of moss is concerned only with stealing the best memories for themselves.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Oblivion moss is feared for its ability to steal memories from creatures that pass near it, which in most editions translates into losing all recollection of the past 24 hours... as well as all of a spellcaster's unused spells. This disorients the victim, who takes some Wisdom damage in 3rd Edition, while the moss goes dormant for a day to "digest" its meal, while spawning a mossling to defend itself. This trait means that some beings cultivate obliviax as a passive defense, especially if their lair is meant to remain hidden.

* StationaryEnemy: As a moss, obliviax cannot move unless transplanted by another creature (preferrably in a lead-lined box to block its mind-stealing powers). Beyond feeding upon the mental energy of their victims, obliviax crave knowledge of the world beyond their immediate vicinity, and wish to vicariously experience what life is like for mobile creatures.

* MirrorMatch: While mosslings have long had the ability to use spells stolen from the minds of casters, in 4E they can also make "Simulacrum Attacks" using the at-will powers of their opponents. Their entry describes a caravan guard finding himself unable to remember his best combat moves while fighting a moss monste wielding a wooden copy of his own greatsword.
* MookMaker: Obliviax can create "mosslings," mossy mockeries of those whose memories the plant stole. In most editions these are Tiny buds on the moss' main mass that may be unable to leave it, though 4E provides a variety of Small-to-Large combat forms that are considerably more mobile.

* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: They're clearly related to the likes of goblins and hobgoblins, sometimes described as resembling the latter on the scale of the former. As such, they're sometimes conscripted as shock troops by a hobgoblin warhost, and some sources suggest that the norkers' deity was the first to be slain by Maglubiyet.

* SuperToughness: Norkers' thick hides offer them a hefty natural armor bonus, leading them to charge into battle wearing nothing more than a loincloth.

* AlienLunch: [[TabletopGame/DarkSun Athasian]] [[RocBirds rocs]] consider psurlons a delicacy, giving the creatures another incentive to remain on the Astral Plane.