Minions of the Dark God.

[Xenodeus Blade]

One thing I hate about most Epic fantasies is that no matter how much the forces of the Big Bad are built up, it turns out that they are nothing more than a bunch of human-like creatures with vast numbers. In my story however, because of important story stuff, the Dark God Valestir is unable to send most of his creatures to the mortal realm. So they appear in very small numbers, but are nearly impossible to kill by conventional weapons. And instead of them being generic Orc ripe offs(though Orc do appear) his servants are true monsters. Eldrich abominations that Valestir created after slaying his father and using his corpse to forge his sword. Here are examples:

The Shock Troops: Short in stature(5 ft.) Elongated face, similar to a horse. No eyes. Jackle ears. Razor sharp teeth. Long skinny arms with foot long claws that can cut through stone. Legs resemble something of a kangaroo-tiger hybrid. Their tail resembles a scorpion's tail that fires an acid that can eat through steel. Hunt in packs. They hunt using smell, sound, and vibrations in the ground.

Commanders: Very tall(8-10 ft.) Resemble humanoid shape, only very thin. Only five exist. A black mist sorrounds them giving an appearance of a black robe. No face. Their presence causes strange effects on people, uncontrollable coughing, paranoia, memory loss, and insanity. They are cause magic to malfunction, either backfiring on the caster or not working all together. Tentacules appear from the black mist to attack their enemies.

I do have more, but I can't find the notebook that has all my ideas. If anyone has any better ideas, leave a comment.

 

[Feo Takahari]

So is this a "show off your monster designs" sort of thread? I've got some stuff in Eternal that I think is pretty cool. Copying from my universe bible:

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Imps: The weakest and most expendable demons, with average power equivalent to a human. They're formed from souls weighed down by guilt from cowardice, and they're nourished by feelings of shame. They're always child-sized, and they're often given wings on which they can glide. (They usually can't fly, but it's been observed that when they glide, their downward motion is much less than it should be.) They have a limited supernatural ability to not be seen or heard, but it works best when they're not in direct sunlight.

Imps are typically considered useless in combat, but every well-composed demon army has one or two to act as spies and scouts.

Tempters: Demons of, and nourished by, love and lust, they're as powerful on average as two humans. Tempters always have long tongues, and they must have one or more penetrable sexual organs. They're supernaturally fast and dextrous, and they can dance hypnotically to distract and arouse any humans or demons besides other tempters.

Tempters are typically created just to be raped, and they're killed when their creators get bored with them. Judith is the only greater demon in the past few centuries who's done more than dally with the idea of using them in combat.

Devourers: These demons of greed bear the average power of four humans. They can eat and digest anything--emotion or otherwise. (They always have a strong sense of taste, but their huge appetites often reduce them to forcing down dirt.) They're about half again the size of a large human, and they must walk on at least four feet, though they can have more than four limbs. They have the power to hold anything in their stomachs, even if there's no plausible way it could fit. At will, they can either digest it, or spit it back out to be used. (For unknown reasons, objects and creatures held this way are completely unaffected by the passage of time.) In addition, they maintain life and full muscle control even in severed body parts that comprise only a third of their mass. (Cutting open their stomachs this way reveals nothing inside, and if they die, the objects or creatures they've devoured permanently vanish.)

Devourers make very good soldiers, and most greater demons have an army that consists primarily of them.

Sword spiders: Rage demons with the average power of eight humans, sustained by both anger and pain. They're slightly larger than average humans, and they typically walk on eight bladed limbs. However, despite their names, nothing prevents them from being bipeds--they just need to have some manner of blades or claws. Their regeneration is greatly enhanced, and they can even regrow lost limbs, making them quite difficult to kill without greater demonic powers (or rocket launchers.)

Because of their high utility, most greater rage demons use sword spiders almost exclusively. However, they're typically considered too energy-intensive to be used en masse by any demon that can’t reduce their cost. Instead, the best armies have a select few of them to cut through the enemy ranks.

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I'm not sure how many people actually read all that, but I hope there are some interesting ideas there.

 

[Xenodeus Blade]

This isn't a show off your monster design kind of thread(Though you did put a lot of detail into them). I'm just trying to create evil creatures that aren't to stereotypical orcs, goblins, or imps that are seen as part of a Dark Lord's army. I want to create monsters that actually pose a threat. They may not be in large numbers, but they are extremely difficult to kill.

 

[ThinkerX]

This isn't a show off your monster design kind of thread(Though you did put a lot of detail into them). I'm just trying to create evil creatures that aren't to stereotypical orcs, goblins, or imps that are seen as part of a Dark Lord's army. I want to create monsters that actually pose a threat. They may not be in large numbers, but they are extremely difficult to kill.

Read your Lovecraft. Lots of really bizarre, really dangerous, really hard to kill things that actually are servitors of 'Dark Gods'.

 

[Ravana]

Read your Lovecraft. Lots of really bizarre, really dangerous, really hard to kill things that actually are servitors of 'Dark Gods'.

Yep. Nothing much trumps a shoggoth.

Greek mythology is loaded with such monsters: while the majority are one-offs, one tended to be plenty in most cases. Hindu mythology is likewise loaded—and there, you have species, with the biggest and baddest getting special mention and personal names <ahem>. I'm confident inspiration can be found in other mythologies as well; those two just happen to be particularly fecund (in addition to being well-documented). More "mundanely" [sic], there are trolls, giants, dragons, werewolves… I'm sure you can form a list well enough on your own.

Whether or not a given monster "poses a threat" is entirely up to you. One werewolf can trash a battalion, if none of them is packing a silver weapon. Most dragons can do so no matter what the battalion has. One tiny lizard can wreak untold damage… if that lizard happens to be a basilisk. All a troll needs to cause havoc is a hide thick enough to stop arrows and minimize blade wounds—and there's nothing anywhere that says a troll can't augment his natural capabilities with armor and weapons. None of which even begins to address the intimidation factor most of these would have on their opponents.

Some even bigger threats can arise from abilities that are rarely fully thought out. You almost never see anybody handle invisibility correctly, for instance… possibly because they realize it's so dangerous a power they have to use some contrived trick for their hero to overcome it. Conversely, glowing so brightly you can't be looked at may mean your opponents always know where you are in a general way, but not a way that will do them a lot of good. Speed is another I seldom see handled well (both advantages and drawbacks). I'm not even talking running speed here—though that too can make an otherwise "normal" opponent deadly: consider how dangerous an opponent with twice your reaction time would be. (Visualizing this becomes easier if you've ever engaged in hand-to-hand combat.) Flight, used intelligently, means never having to engage an enemy until you want to, and even then from a distance if you so desire… not unless he can fly as well, at which point maneuverability generally becomes the deciding factor. 360º vision. Sound suppression. The ability to summon every gnat in a mile radius.

I'm not suggesting you pile these powers on: I'm saying that any of them, by itself, can make an opponent a credible threat. What matters is what your characters can do about them—and if the answer is "nothing," or if it requires the characters to be aware of the danger, its precise nature, and some form of appropriate countermeasure, and to have the time and resources to obtain said countermeasure, then you've got something that "actually poses a threat."

Maybe you can kill a basilisk by getting it to look at its reflection in a mirror (note, however, that this is a very recent addition to basilisk lore)—but who carries a mirror around with him at all times? One large enough to catch the basilisk's gaze with? If you don't, you need all four of the factors I mentioned: (1) that it's a basilisk you're going up against; (2) that its gaze is fatal; (3) that getting it to look in a mirror can overcome it; and (4) the mirror itself. If you're wrong about any of the first three, you could find yourself in a heap of trouble. Maybe the efficacy of mirrors is a myth. Maybe it isn't a basilisk. Maybe it is, but it has all the other traditional powers of a basilisk as well—the ones D&D left out.

Maybe werewolves can only be hurt by silver weapons… not silver or magical weapons. That could embarrass a few overconfident adventurers. Maybe the only reason vampires are "repelled" by garlic is their enhanced sense of smell—something they can ignore at need, or if they're hungry enough they don't care. Maybe intelligence and mass don't always appear in inverse proportion—that is, trolls, giants and so forth aren't stupid. Four trolls that are smart enough to use bows proportionate to their size could stand well outside of human archery range and plink away with javelin-sized arrows… and when necessary, use their longer legs to maintain their preferred distance: it wouldn't take vast numbers of them. And maybe immensely powerful monsters aren't universally overconfident, in spite of how they always seem to be portrayed.

Though the deadliest creature of all doesn't require any ability on the part of the dark lord to create or transport minions; all it requires is the ability to recruit. Because, let's face it: trolls, demons, dragons and such are pretty obvious when they put in an appearance. But humans look like, well, humans—and they're just as intelligent as your heroes, have access to all the same abilities and all the same resources, and so ought to be able to pose at least as credible a threat as your heroes can pose to them. And unless the heroes know who's a servant of the dark lord, they will never see the blow coming… not the first one, at least. Demons may be more aesthetically interesting—but they aren't required in order to pose a credible threat. All that is required is that you write your threat in such a way that it's a threat… no matter what it is.

 

[James Chandler]

Hello? I saw the forum name and thought you were calling an assembly...

 

[Alex97]

As previously mentioned mythology is a great source of ideas since there's plenty of monsters. Just pick a mythology that suits your world obviously.

Alternatively take a look at some animals. The Carthaginians, ancient Indians, Selucids and loads of other civilizations used elaphants to great effect in warfare mainly for scaring the enemy. So maybe take some animals and change them a bit to suit the story.

I do like the ideas Ravana has. You could gives an adversary some sort of power to make them especially dangerous. Invisibility would give an evil minion the ability to suprise its oponent. What about the ability to never get tired? It's something I'm actualy thinking of giving my protaganist in my book. It goes for any sport but being a fencer I can definately say that never tiring would give someone one of the best advantages since they could keep stricking their opponent constantly with the same speed and aggression whilst they would get worn out. The same goes for real combat, so that might be a good idea.

Just a few ideas for now