Strange Dungeons & Dragons Monsters

 A list of strange or obscure official Dungeons & Dragons monsters I'd like to see return.

Banshrae

First introduced in 3.5, the Banshrae is a musical trickster from the Feywild that has been cursed in such a way as to remove its facial features so that it may not play its beloved instruments. However, by pledging themselves to wicked fey lords, the Banshrae have managed to retain some of their musical abilities by using just their minds to play their flutes (which double as blow guns). They can also communicate telepathically. Being unable to eat by traditional means, the Banshrae gain nutrition from resting on unworked earth. Banshrae are spiteful, malicious, smart, and deceptively hard to hit. They can force listeners to sing or go silent, to move every round and fail stealth checks, or to be stricken with fear. Its darts can cause locusts to spring from the target's mouth and follow its orders. The Banshrae can also curse someone to be disliked by all they interact with, suffering penalties to armor and charisma.

 

Dread Blossom Swarm

A plant from the Wilderness of the Beastlands Outer Plane that is easily mistaken for a flower while motionless. They produce a perfume-like scent that just barely masks the stench of decay emanating from the dead bodies they grow upon, sustained by the blood absorbed through their roots. They can launch themselves into the air, attacking with pointed thorns and paralyzing poison. Dread Blossoms have been introduced to the material plane by cultivators who did not fully understand the nature of the plant.

 

Disenchanter

Disenchanters have no known predators and much of their lives is a mystery, leading many to believe their existence is tied to the availability of magical energy in the environment. Disenchanters were typically docile but drawn to items with strong enchantments and repelled by extremely potent ones. They can detect magic and by using their long snouts, siphon magic from objects, leaving them fully intact but magically inert. They are immune to damage dealt by non-magical means and could speak their own language, although a rare few could speak Common or Elven.

 

Ethereal Filcher

Ethereal Filchers are long-lived thieves from the ethereal plane, so obsessed with treasure and obtaining more of it that they don't associate with members of their own species out of fear of being robbed. The objects they horde may follow a 'theme' but are usually gathered indiscriminately for the sake of having rather than to fulfill some purpose. They continuously detect magic and rely on their mobility to get them out of trouble by jumping from the etheral plane to the material plane and vice versa as they are terrible in combat. Filchers can not speak, but are smart enough to be reasoned with.

 

Gaj

From the tablelands and rocky badlands of Athas (Dark Sun setting), the Gaj are solitary hunters that spend their time in burrows. They are bug-like creatures with six four-jointed legs ending in hand-like feet. Its spongy white head has a set of mandibles covered by feathery tentacles that they use to detect life, requiring both the flesh and thoughts or mental energy of intelligent prey to survive. Without food they start to loose their psionic powers and will to live, succumbing to starvation within a week.

 

Odoopi

Introduced in 3rd edition, the Odoopi is a creature born on Carceri, the prison plane. They roll with surprising speed through hazardous terrain such as canyons, and are capable of throwing large stones, detecting invisible enemies, teleporting (via dimension door) and grappling up to 20 individuals at once. Although simple minded, Odoopi can speak using a guttural tone interspersed with hand gestures and claps. It is not uncommon for them to be forced into service with threats of violence from powerful malevolent beings.

 

Susuruss

Occupying a variety of habitats, they were typically peaceful inhabitants of the material plane, only becoming agitated around undead or anyone polluting the air (such as with the flame of a torch). By inhaling air through their hole riddled bodies the Susuruss could produce a dronesong that turned listeners torpid, and by detecting disruptions in the airflow was unimpeded by magic that effected sight or hearing. Anyone that tried attacking the Susuruss with a melee weapon would find themselves cut by its jagged body.

 

Tigbanua Buso

Native to the isles in Kara-Tur and descended from cannibalistic giants, the Buso have a taste for human flesh. Their tall bodies are coated in hair, moss, lice and soil that helps to camouflage them as they stalk the forest at night in hunting packs of six and rest in trees during the day. Their long necks can turn all the way around and bend backwards, giving them an increased range of vision. They communicate in their own language and rely on ambush tactics when hunting. Anyone wounded by their claws is afflicted with the 'tagamaling curse' which has a cumulative 1% chance each night to transform the victim into a Tigbanua Buso. They return to their normal form at dawn and can be cured via a curse removal spell until day 100 when the change becomes permanent.

Uvuudaum

A creature native to the Far Realm that delights in bringing madness to structured realities. Without facial features, Uvuudaum use their natural abilities to sense objects in their surroundings, and can communicate telepathically in any language. The are excellent spellcasters capable of healing themselves and destabilizing the mind of their target with each successful attack.