Monsters: A
132 monsters whose names start with A.
- Aarakocra Proud, reclusive bird-folk of the highest peaks, aarakocra ride the mountain thermals and fall on their prey in shrieking two-javelin dives that strike with double force.
- Aarakocra [Dark Sun] Vulture-like bird-folk of the deep desert, these aarakocra extort tolls from caravans, drop weighted nets on their prey, and prove their young in the ritual hunt of a silt drake.
- Aartuk Star-shaped warrior plants who sail stolen ships between the worlds, aartuk treat war as holy art, spit stone pellets, and reproduce by turning their captives to jelly.
- Aasimar Mortals touched by celestial blood, aasimar are radiant, keen-sensed champions whose faces blaze with inner light, and whose spotless reputations make the rare crooked one dangerously easy to trust.
- Aballin A living puddle of weak acid, the aballin waits beneath a scatter of dead adventurers' coins, then surges up as a jelly to swallow and drown whoever reaches for them.
- Abhir A six-armed, serpent-bodied fiend of the lower planes, the abhir hunts strong warriors as sacrifices for her dark masters and terrorizes even lesser planar evils.
- Abiorach [Rilmani] Quicksilver-skinned youths who keep the balance on the Elemental Planes, slipping through fire, stone and storm as if they were elementals themselves.
- Aboleth A twenty-foot cavern fish with a genius intellect, the aboleth rules lightless lakes and hunts surface folk to turn them into mind-bound servants.
- Abrian Man-sized, flightless hunting birds out of the lower planes, abrians work in cunning flocks whose combined shrieks can deafen a whole party before the kicking starts.
- Abyss Ant Giant, acid-spitting ants from the Abyss, these telepathic vermin swarm one victim at a time and herd captured people like cattle around their sprawling nests.
- Abyss Bat Rotting, skull-faced bats of the Abyss that come in six outwardly identical breeds, each hiding its own breath weapon or sorcery, so you never know which defenses you need until it is too late.
- Abyssal Lord Each Abyssal lord is a one-of-a-kind demon king ruling a layer of the Abyss; here, a silver-tongued six-fingered schemer and a storm-winged vulture tyrant torn between cunning and rage.
- Achaierai Giant spherical bird-heads on four long metal legs, achaierai stalk the deep caverns in starving flocks and, when crippled, belch a smoke that shatters the mind.
- Acid Pigeon Looking like any city pigeon, the acid pigeon has a stomach so caustic that its droppings burn skin and slowly eat away at statues and rooftops.
- Acidic Hallucigenia A land-dwelling hallucigenia that runs its prey down, rears up to slash with spines and pincers, and finishes the job with stinging jets of digestive acid.
- Actaeon A towering elk-centaur guardian of the wild woods, the actaeon vanishes into the trees, hurls twin spears, and can breathe a mist that turns despoilers into squirrels for good.
- Adamantite Dragon Perhaps the mightiest of all dragons, a shining planar guardian of goodness whose second breath can freeze time itself while it defends its home paradise.
- Addazahr Tiny straw-colored biting flies of the desert grasslands, addazahr are harmless to fight but ruinous to caravans, their bite crippling the backs of camels and horses for weeks.
- Adherer Mistaken for a mummy until it leaps, the adherer is a living glue trap whose resin swallows weapons and pins victims while it beats and smothers them.
- Administrator Genie [Tasked] Genie bureaucrats descended from djinn and marids, administrators run offices for genies and mortals alike, always seem to have a cousin who can help and can wreck a city's paperwork if slighted.
- Aerial Servant [Air Kin] An invisible, half-intelligent air elemental that clerics summon to fetch objects or people, which strangles anything in its way and hunts down any summoner who leaves himself unprotected.
- Aeserpent A twenty-foot snake as black as a moonless night, the aeserpent strikes unseen from the dark, and its venom turns a victim's body into a starving drinker of its own blood.
- Afanc A whale-sized fish mistaken for a harmless whale, the afanc circles ships until its magic-driven whirlpool drags them under, then devours the swimmers one by one.
- Agarat A gaunt, ghoul-like corpse eater whose blood-chilling scream drains life energy, the agarat hangs back screaming while the ghouls it leads tear into the living.
- Agony Beetle A small, eyeless black scarab that creeps unnoticed onto a victim's back, taps the spine with a numbing tendril, and feeds psionically on the screaming pain until death.
- Agrutha Eight-foot lizard folk built like alligators with ape arms, agrutha lie hidden in swamp mud, then burst out bellowing to crush prey with fists, jaws and tail.
- Ahuizotl A long-legged, blue-green river terror that spits water which rises up as a strangling weird, the ahuizotl bullies whole villages into feeding it treasure and live offerings.
- Air Dragon The ghostly afterlife of a great wyrm from a vast air world: a living diamond of shaped air that hurls objects with violent winds and is sustained by the love of its kin.
- Air Drake [Dark Sun] The leanest and most capricious drake of the desert world, a gliding giant that turns invisible, seizes prey from the ground and tenderizes it with a long fall onto the rocks.
- Air Elemental Beast [Dark Sun] A colossal winged head of howling wind with jaws full of razor teeth, the air elemental beast snatches prey into the sky to drop it, and goes berserk when desert grit fouls its body.
- Air Kin [Elemental] The kindred of elemental air: radiant, dragonfly-winged sylphs who may trade their spells for a favor, and the invisible, resentful aerial servants that clerics bind to their errands.
- Air Sentinel Cheerful, whirlwind-bodied guardians of a storm-battered paradise layer, air sentinels sweep endangered travelers to safety and stun attackers with crackling lightning hugs, but never kill the helpless.
- Air/Earth Elemental The classic conjured elementals of wind and stone: a shrieking storm that strikes like an invisible fist and spins into a killing whirlwind, and a gem-eyed giant of rock that levels walls.
- Air/Earth Elemental of Chaos Two willful elementals of chaos: a vain, shimmering wind-being that can pour itself down a victim's throat, and a lumpy, ore-veined rock giant that loves to make the solid earth unstable.
- Air/Earth Elemental of Law Two orderly elementals bent on cataloguing creation: a cottony, whirlwind-fast air being that flays agents of chaos with abrasive fibers, and a golden crystal star that impales foes on its spikes.
- Air/Earth Fundamental Headless, bodiless pairs of living wings that never stop flying, air and earth fundamentals swarm out of the elemental planes to ram intruders, unharmed by anything but magic.
- Akikage The restless ghost of an eastern assassin who died mid-hunt, the akikage stalks its last target invisibly and can stop a heart dead with a single freezing punch.
- Al-Jahar Glittering spirits of heat-shimmer and light that pose as lovely city folk, al-jahar stir up brawls, greed and lust in crowded streets so they can drink the emotions.
- Al-Mi'raj A unicorn-horned rabbit that teleports around its foes to stab them, the al-mi'raj looks adorable, and one in ten can darken the sky and make your armor explode.
- Alaghi Shy, hairy forest cousins of the yeti, alaghi drift through the woods as silent hunters, though settled clans turn greedy and eat travelers while their hermits play mental chess.
- Albari Oily-feathered bird-folk of the starways who live to spread chaos, albari use invisibility and illusions to wreck a ship one week and rescue it the next.
- Albino Crocodile Small, pale sewer crocodiles twisted by generations of magical runoff into creatures that magic cannot touch, and that have learned to hunt spellcasters first.
- Albino Wyrm [Dragon-kin] A pale, half-mad, flightless dragon of the deepest caverns that swallows prey whole, crushes armor in its tail, and breathes a rattling blast of shattering cold.
- Alchemy Plant An ordinary-looking shrub that turns itself to stone or steel when threatened and can transmute one substance into another, the alchemy plant is every alchemist's unreliable dream.
- Aleax A god's personal avenger made in the exact image of the sinner it hunts, the aleax can be hurt only by its target, and losing to it means bargaining with your deity.
- Algoid A lumbering green brute that is really a colony of thinking algae, the algoid pounds foes senseless, shrugs off blades and fire, and turns riverside trees against intruders.
- Alguduir A scaled, eagle-winged marsh hunter nicknamed the swamp dragon, the alguduir drowns prey with its mate and can bounce your spells straight back at you.
- Alicorn [Unicorn] A unicorn with a gnarled, twisted horn, the alicorn charms defenders who will fight to the death for it and gallops across thin air as if it were solid ground.
- All-Elements Fundamental The humblest true elementals, fundamentals are flapping ribbons of raw element that ram intruders, vanish into their native substance and may be nothing more than the planes' own wildlife.
- Allura Reptilian emotion-eaters disguised as beautiful castaways, allura board passing starships, enslave the crew with charms, and steer them into terror until there is nothing left to feed on.
- Alu Demon [Lesser Tanar'ri] The half-human daughters of succubi, alu demons pass for beautiful women until their wings show, heal themselves with every blow they land, and sometimes wield a full wizard's arsenal.
- Alven [Shadow Fey] Tiny orange-haired shadow fey gardeners with butterfly wings, alven dazzle intruders with a dancing flight that can leave them spellbound, deaf and blind.
- Amazon [Human] Tall, hard-eyed warrior women who are almost never caught off guard, raiding from chariots, horseback or swift galleys and punishing anyone who thinks them easy prey.
- Amber Dragon [Neutral] A moody, bark-skinned wanderer of ancient pine forests that drinks tree sap, entombs foes in hardening resin, and can magnetize an armored knight into helplessness.
- Amethyst Dragon [Gem] Serene, regal gem dragons of remote mountain lakes who would rather talk than fight, but who spit a violet crystal that bursts with stunning concussive force.
- Amiq Rasol Drowned, murdered or marooned corsairs who rise as pale, green-eyed undead, amiq rasol charm sailors ashore and drain their lives, though a rare few only want proper burial.
- Amiskwia A sleek, wormlike swimmer that lives like a seal, the amiskwia lounges in small shoreline colonies whose members swarm any lone intruder with biting jaws.
- Ammut Bloated crocodile-lion-hippo devourers of the damned, ammut lurk beneath deserts and necropolises, hunting wicked spirits, swallowing small intruders whole, and roaring loud enough to deafen.
- Amphi Dragon A warty, toadlike cross of green and sea dragon that lurks in seafloor mud, spits acid, and reels victims in with its sticky tongue to savor their dying.
- Amphitere A thick-bodied flying serpent with a venom-tipped second tongue, the cowardly amphitere picks off stragglers and children, and every few years erupts in migrating swarms of hundreds.
- Anadian Halfling Dark-skinned halflings of a sun-scorched inner planet, these extremists either love or loathe everything, and their southern clans have fought each other into near anarchy.
- Anadjiin A brilliant, armored reptilian predator with all-seeing insect eyes and a death-lock bite, the anadjiin hunts only the most plentiful prey, which on other worlds usually means people.
- Ancestors The remembered dead of a people who honor their forebears, ancestor spirits stand behind their shamans in vast crowds, granting spells, blessing warriors and guarding the old ways.
- Ancient Mariner Ghostly pirates of a long-dead race, ancient mariners sail phantom ships through the phlogiston, draining life with a chilling touch and turning their victims into shadowy crew.
- Andeloid A gem-like spore that hatches into a living slime, the andeloid glues its victims together into a single horrifying composite creature that grows stronger with every body it collects.
- Angler Fish A bloated, slow-swimming ambusher that dangles a glowing or wriggling lure before its jaws, then clamps down with inward-curving teeth and never lets go.
- Angreden A swollen, black-skinned corpse with a grotesquely huge head, the angreden is pure undying fury, sapping strength with its touch and terror with its stare.
- Anguiliian Eel-bodied raiders of the black ocean depths, anguiliians surround their prey in a living sphere, then latch on with drilling mouths and eat their victims from within.
- Animal Ghost The restless spirit of a beast that died in terror or in loyal service, an animal ghost ages its prey with a touch and kills beyond the reach of anything short of a wish.
- Animal Lord Immortal spirit-sovereigns of the plane of beasts, the animal lords guard their own kind with the ruthless, amoral logic of nature, and nothing ever catches them by surprise.
- Animator Overview Spiteful spirits drawn to hate, anger and fear, animators possess a cherished object near a troubled soul and 'protect' that person with possessive, often murderous zeal.
- Animental Echoes of dead beasts reborn in raw element, animentals are fire hawks, ice elk and lightning dragons that hit harder and resist blows better than the creatures they copy.
- Animerge Hybrid Two animals fused into one by a specialized transmutation spell, animerge hybrids range from comic failures to stable new breeds such as the wing-spurred wolveraven.
- Animus Murdered nobles and generals forced back into undeath by a tyrant's priests and fiends, animuses rule with iron will, dominating gazes, and bodies that crawl back together after death.
- Ankheg A hook-legged burrower that waits beneath fields and forest floors, bursting up to seize passersby in tree-snapping mandibles and dissolve them with acid.
- Ankou A gaunt, red-eyed peasant walking the dusk roads, trailed by the creak of an invisible cart that hauls away every traveler it kills and leaves no body behind.
- Anomalocaris The 'odd shrimp' of the ancient seas, a squidlike hunter with spiny grasping arms that flips boats and feeds swallowed victims through a gut lined with crushing teeth.
- Ant Giant ants guard sprawling underground colonies with venomous stings, while marching swarms of army ants strip bare anything too slow to step out of their path.
- Ape Demon [Lesser Tanar'ri] Six-fingered, orangutan-like ambushers that change color to vanish into their surroundings, ape demons leap 40 feet from cover and swarm a single victim.
- Apparition A bandage-wrapped skeleton that slides out of walls from the Ethereal Plane and convinces its victims they are being strangled, often frightening them to death outright.
- Aquatic Dinosaur Six ancient terrors of the deep sea, from a rubber-shelled giant turtle to long-necked lunging reptiles and a primitive fish big enough to gulp a swimmer whole.
- Aquatic Dwarf Gilled, web-fingered dwarves magically remade for life under the sea, aquatic dwarves forge the only metal of the deep and stand as a bulwark against sahuagin and their kin.
- Aquatic Elf Reclusive, gilled elves of the kelp forests who melt into the seaweed, ride to war beside dolphins, and nurse a burning hatred for the sahuagin.
- Aquatic Lernaean Hydra Half lernaean hydra and half sea serpent, this many-headed lake predator snatches prey from the shore and dunks every severed stump before a torch can seal it.
- Aquatic Remnant The grieving ghost of a worked-to-death soul dumped in a river or pool, an eyeless face and pale hands whose icy touch numbs victims until they die of cold.
- Aranea [Savage Coast] Shapeshifting spider-mages who pass as humans, elves and goblins, araneas hide their true nature at all costs and quietly rule a magocracy of their own.
- Arashaeem Undead araneas who tried and failed to become liches, the arashaeem spin paralytic webs, cast as 9th-level mages and guard their kin's secret even beyond death.
- Aratha [Killer Beetle] A tentacled, psionic killer beetle hunted almost to extinction, the aratha stalks lone travelers by thought and scent and seizes them with crushing claws from 20 feet away.
- Arayashka Snow wraiths born from travelers who froze with unfinished business, arayashka emerge from blizzards to drain warmth, Strength and even campfires.
- Arcane Tall blue merchants of magic who turn up wherever starships sail, the arcane sell starhelms to anyone, both sides of any war, and never explain where they come from.
- Arcane Head Thirteen floating severed heads with blank white eyes and filed teeth, these magical spies stun dream-travelers and spin open portals for the witch who made them.
- Arch-Shadow The botched result of a failed lich ritual, an arch-shadow hides its life in a stolen magic item and hunts powerful beings to drain its way into the even deadlier demi-shade.
- Archer Frog An oversized marsh frog whose tongue ends in a cluster of hooked barbs, archer frogs harpoon lone travelers, reel them in, and dissolve them alive in acidic, pouch-like mouths.
- Archer Skeleton Skeletal bowmen whose bone arrows, if they miss, sprout into fresh skeletons on the spot, turning every volley into a growing undead army.
- Architect/Builder Genie [Tasked] Dao reshaped by ages of construction, builder genies raise cities overnight, double the strength of anything they build and know exactly which stone to pull to bring a building down on your head.
- Archlich A good-hearted wizard, priest or bard who chose undeath to guard a cause, the archlich wields a lich's power without its malice, and returns from destruction unless its soul-object is broken.
- Archon The lawful good dead reborn as guardians of the Seven Heavens, archons climb a seven-step ladder from floating lanterns to hawk-headed tomes, and fight with fury when their mountain is threatened.
- Arctic Dwarf Squat, sunburned, barefoot dwarves of the polar ice who box for fun, sing beautifully and carry a polar bear between two of them, but avoid war as foolishness.
- Argenach [Rilmani] Silver-skinned advisers who secretly coach whichever side of a mortal struggle is losing, firing rays that always strike as the energy their target fears most.
- Argos A floating, hundred-eyed amoeba of the void with fanged pseudopods and a magical gaze, the argos lures prey into traps, swallows it whole and keeps the victims' tools.
- Armadillephant An elephant clad in armadillo plate and made by humanoid gods for war, the armadillephant wades through battle lines carrying a howdah full of crossbowmen.
- Artist Genie [Tasked] Poets, sculptors, potters and goldsmiths of uncanny skill, artist genies create masterworks with frightening speed, but only for patrons who treat them well, and they never forgive a fool's criticism.
- Ascallion [Fish] An 18-foot shark-like ocean hunter that carries her brood in her mouth, unleashes them on prey, and is finally devoured from within when they come of age.
- Ash Crawler A hog-snouted, soot-skinned lurker that buries itself in the ash around a permanent fire, snaring intruders with its long tail and clamping on with jaws that will not let go.
- Ashiera Stocky, gray-skinned sea folk who learned to swim through the sky, ashiera raid coasts in fog-wrapped swarms, hurling ice from their fingertips and abandoning any oath that stops serving them.
- Ashira Giggling, restless faerie spirits of fruit orchards, ashira charm their way out of trouble, yet the whole grove turns fierce and thorny the moment someone threatens its trees.
- Ashland Exile [Dark Sun] Hardened outcasts and runaways who scrape a living in a volcanic wasteland, ambushing prey with bone weapons and poisons their haughty city-born masters scorn.
- Askhalite An alien will bound into a medallion, the askhalite possesses whoever willingly accepts the gift, and if anyone pries that trinket away, the host's body erupts into a clawed, ebony-skinned brute.
- Asperii Wingless sky horses that ride the wind itself, asperii see through illusion into other planes and make devoted mounts, if you can raise one from a foal.
- Aspis Weevil-like insect warriors that fight upright with two blades and two shields, aspis guard an acid-slick queen deep in a trap-riddled hive and take revenge by scent.
- Asrai Tiny golden-haired water faeries who melt in sunlight, asrai schools weave hypnotic dances on the surface, luring sailors overboard to the sharks that follow them.
- Assassin Imp A tiny black familiar of the misty dread realm, the assassin imp kills its master's enemies in fittingly ironic ways and loves to see its drugged victims buried alive.
- Astereater [Gazer Abomination] A stone-skinned, stalkless cousin of the gazer tyrants that floats among asteroids posing as one, then gulps passing travelers whole into a belly full of acid.
- Asteroid Spider A ten-legged, jet-black hunter of the asteroid belts that strings invisible miles-long webs between rocks, snaring ships, paralyzing crews and stealing their air.
- Astral Dragon Ancient golden ancestors of every dragon race on their world: feeble and furry alone, but godlike once wed, bound to a mate forever by a divine golden chain.
- Astral Dreadnought A storm-giant-sized horror with crushing claws, an antimagic eye and an endless silver tail, the astral dreadnought hunts astral travelers and frightens even the mightiest fiends.
- Astral Searcher Mindless phantoms spun from rage and terror in the silver void, astral searchers claw at the minds of planar travelers and move into the bodies of those they kill.
- Astral Wolf Ghosts of starved dogs and wolves that hunt through dreams, astral wolves drag sleepers onto the Astral Plane, and those who starved them to death never escape their vengeance.
- Astro-Sphinx A mad, brass-scaled sphinx of the void with a goat-skull face that asks impossible riddles and answers every wrong guess with sleep gas, chain lightning and slaughter.
- Asuras Flame-winged heralds of the good powers, asuras bring prophecy to the faithful and doom to the wicked, swooping on ruby talons while their war trumpets break evil hearts.
- Athach [Giant] A reeking, three-armed brute dripping venom from its tusks, the athach squats beside lonely trails waiting for travelers to eat and baubles to hoard.
- Audreeana A two-headed, bat-winged patchwork beast with a horse's body and a fish's tail, the audreeana weaves illusions and charms before it bites, and no arrow can touch it.
- Aurumach [Rilmani] Golden-skinned, ogre-sized masters of the rilmani who weigh the balance of the cosmos and, when it tips too far, wade in with vorpal blades and time-stopping magic.
- Aurumvorax A badger-sized, eight-legged gold-eater that weighs over 500 pounds, the aurumvorax locks its jaws on a foe and refuses to let go until one of them is dead.
- Autognome A clanking, rouge-cheeked clockwork gnome built for exploring hostile worlds, the autognome follows orders with crushing literal-mindedness, until it inevitably malfunctions and does something worse.
- Avanc A twenty-foot, six-limbed crocodilian cursed out of human shape, the avanc lurks motionless in lakeside reeds, spinning whirlpools to tip boats and drag fishers into the dark.
- Avangion The serene, silver-winged final form of a master preserver, the avangion is a nearly immortal being of light and life, and the sworn enemy of the dragon-defilers who ravage the desert world.
- Averx Horned, winged little cave imps with a thief's skills and a pocketful of illusions, averxes harass trespassers in the crystal caverns they guard, and curses simply slide off them.
- Aviarag A goat-horned, blue-winged lion that reads minds before it strikes, the aviarag dives from behind with a paralyzing roar and rakes its prey with its hind claws.
- Avoral [Guardinal] Eagle-winged sentinels of the blessed fields who can read a face at 200 paces, avorals patrol the skies of paradise and dive on invaders with talons that strike twice as hard.
- Azer [Fire Kin] Dour, brass-skinned dwarves of the plane of fire with flames for hair, who live in rigidly ordered basalt towers, covet red and purple gems, and never break their word.
- Azoul A wrinkled, armless, bat-winged horror that dissolves its victims to steal their shapes, the azoul poses as a hero, gathers loyal friends, then leads them all to ruin.