Monsters A to Z

Source: Monster Manual (2025), p. 10

Monsters (A)

Aarakocra

Aarakocra. Winged Guardians of the Sky

Habitat. Mountain, Planar (Elemental Plane of Air)
Treasure. Implements, Individual

Aarakocra are birdlike folk who soar the skies of countless worlds and the endless expanses of the Elemental Plane of Air. They often resemble avians common to the lands where they dwell; some resemble hawks or condors, while others appear similar to hummingbirds or archaeopteryxes. In many lands, aarakocra tell of their ancient heroics resisting the wicked Queen of Chaos alongside the mysterious Wind Dukes of Aaqa.

Aarakocra Aeromancer

"name": "Aarakocra Aeromancer (XMM)"
"size": "Medium"
"type": "elemental"
"alignment": "Neutral"
"ac": !!int "16"
"hp": !!int "66"
"hit_dice": "12d8 + 12"
"modifier": !!int "3"
"stats":
  - !!int "10"
  - !!int "16"
  - !!int "12"
  - !!int "13"
  - !!int "17"
  - !!int "12"
"speed": "20 ft., fly 50 ft."
"saves":
  - "dexterity": !!int "5"
  - "wisdom": !!int "5"
"skillsaves":
  - "name": "[[skills#arcana|Arcana]]"
    "desc": "+3"
  - "name": "[[skills#nature|Nature]]"
    "desc": "+5"
  - "name": "[[skills#perception|Perception]]"
    "desc": "+7"
"senses": "passive Perception 17"
"languages": "Aarakocra, Primordial (Auran)"
"cr": "4"
"actions":
  - "desc": "The aarakocra makes two Wind Staff attacks, and it can use Spellcasting\
      \ to cast [[gust-of-wind-xphb|Gust of Wind]]."
    "name": "Multiattack"
  - "desc": "*Melee  or Ranged Attack Roll:* +5, reach 5 ft. or range 120 ft. *Hit:*\
      \ 7 (1d8 + 3) Bludgeoning damage plus 11 (2d10) Lightning damage."
    "name": "Wind Staff"
  - "desc": "The aarakocra casts one of the following spells, requiring no Material\
      \ components and using Wisdom as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 13):\n\
      \n**At will:** [[elementalism-xphb|Elementalism]], [[gust-of-wind-xphb|Gust\
      \ of Wind]], [[mage-hand-xphb|Mage Hand]],\
      \ [[message-xphb|Message]]\n\n**1/day:** [[lightning-bolt-xphb|Lightning Bolt]]"
    "name": "Spellcasting"
"reactions":
  - "desc": "The aarakocra casts [[feather-fall-xphb|Feather Fall]]\
      \ in response to that spell's trigger, using the same spellcasting ability as\
      \ Spellcasting.\n"
    "name": "Feather Fall (1/Day)"
"source":
  - "XMM"
"image": "Compendium/bestiary/elemental/token/aarakocra-aeromancer-xmm.webp"

dice: 1d6	The Aboleth Seeks To…
1	Accomplish incomprehensible plans that lead it to act in seemingly random ways.
2	Learn more of the world by kidnapping people and consuming their minds.
3	Manipulate innocents into worshiping it as a god by using its telepathy from hiding.
4	Open a gate to the distant past or future, releasing an invasion from another time.
5	Rouse a dragon turtle, a kraken, or another sea monster to flood a coastal city.
6	Trick treasure hunters into recovering relics from its long-fallen empire.
^aboleth-schemes

dice: 1d6	The Air Elemental’s Body Features…
1	Cumulus or cirrus clouds.
2	A mixture of vibrantly colored gases.
3	A pungent, sour-looking miasma
4	Shifting cloud clusters that resemble animals and simple shapes.
5	Sinister features obscured in a misty mass.
6	Swirling storm clouds.
^air-elemental-compositions

dice: 1d10	Bestial Shape
1	Bear
2	Bee
3	Bison
4	Capybara
5	Carp
6	Rabbit
7	Rooster
8	Sloth
9	Stag
10	Vulture
^forager-animal-lord-appearances

dice: 1d10	Bestial Shape
1	Alligator
2	Badger
3	Bat
4	Cat
5	Hawk
6	Mongoose
7	Praying mantis
8	Shark
9	Snake
10	Wolf
^hunter-animal-lord-appearances

dice: 1d10	Bestial Shape
1	Coyote
2	Crow
3	Elephant
4	Lizard
5	Mouse
6	Owl
7	Salmon
8	Spider
9	Turtle
10	Whale
^sage-animal-lord-appearances

dice: 1d10	The Object Was Animated By…
1	A Celestial or Fiend using the object to protect or torment a mortal.
2	A combination of magic and technology, such as alchemy or alien science.
3	The essence of someone transformed by a supernatural trickster.
4	Fey as part of their games or wiles.
5	Happenstance, with the item gaining a semblance of life after a hundred years of use.
6	A magic-user in need of a guardian or servant.
7	The song of a magical instrument.
8	A spirit possessing the object.
9	Wild magic, a spell that went awry, or a chaotic Artifact.
10	The will of a powerful psychic being.
^animated-object-catalysts

dice: 1d8	Inside the Ankheg Tunnel Is…
1	Another tunnel (either natural or of worked stone) that extends into the Underdark.
2	A buried ruin or grave exposed by the tunnel.
3	A cluster of `1d4` fresh ankheg eggs that can be broken and used as vials of Acid.
4	A dead ankheg and evidence of a deadlier subterranean predator.
5	A piece of ankheg carapace usable as a Shield.
6	A pouch with `2d6` GP near a puddle of acid.
7	A stray farm or woodland animal.
8	A viciously mauled scarecrow.
^ankheg-tunnel-discoveries

dice: 1d10	The Arch-hag’s Weakness Is…
1	The bones of the arch-hag’s first love.
2	A devil’s tear.
3	An egg with a miniature castle inside.
4	A flower that blooms only when time stops.
5	A gift from the hag’s twin.
6	The multiverse’s worst pun.
7	One of the hag’s missing teeth.
8	Snow from the top of Mount Celestia.
9	A star pulled from the sky.
10	A thread from the Lady of Pain’s robes.
^arch-hag-anathemas

dice: 1d6	The Assassin Is Infamous For…
1	Arranging their victims in artful tableaux.
2	Hiding within large objects, such as suits of armor or hollow furnishings.
3	Leaving behind a signature item, such as a calling card, flower, seashell, or tooth.
4	Posing as celebrities, holy people, or servants.
5	Taking trophies from their victims.
6	Using poison with a distinctive color or smell.
^assassin-modus-operandi

dice: 1d6	The Bandit…
1	Fights only oppressors.
2	Is an ex-soldier who was discarded by their nation and now takes what they were promised.
3	Is in a gang that views nonmembers as foes.
4	Hesitantly serves a villainous leader.
5	Secretly works for a government or a regional ruler to sow chaos.
6	Takes what they need to survive.
^bandit-motivations

dice: 1d6	Torment Compels the Banshee To…
1	Appear prior to a family member’s death.
2	Haunt the site where it was executed.
3	Lament a lost love and haunt their grave.
4	Presage a disaster or tragedy.
5	Seek the return of a stolen treasure.
6	Slay those more beautiful than it was in life.
^banshee-sorrows

dice: 1d8	A Basilisk Used Its Gaze to Petrify…
1	An adventurer with an ornate key hanging around their neck.
2	Animals like bats, bears, deer, or goats.
3	A climber clinging to a stalactite.
4	Itself using a large mirror or shiny surface.
5	A mimic disguised as a chest full of treasure.
6	A monster such as an umber hulk or a troglodyte.
7	Someone caught in a comic pose or making a regrettable face.
8	A victim now being used as a nest for insects or other vermin.
^petrified-basilisk-victims

dice: 1d6	The Black Pudding Formed From…
1	An ancient black dragon’s acidic saliva.
2	The blood or extreme emotions of a foul deity.
3	Cosmic entropy or ruinous planar forces.
4	A curse that transformed a forgotten tyrant.
5	Forbidden or industrialized magic.
6	Necrotic material animated by aimless spirits.
^black-pudding-sources

dice: 1d10	The Blob Contains…
1	An Amulet of the Planes.
2	An Artifact of the DM’s choice.
3	The corpses of two gods who were entangled in battle when the blob consumed them.
4	A Cubic Gate.
5	A Deck of Many Things.
6	A magic key that opens a door in Sigil that no other key and no spell can open.
7	The preserved corpse of an empyrean.
8	The remains of half a kraken.
9	The skull of a death god.
10	A tarrasque that just died.
^blob-of-annihilation-contents

dice: 1d4	The Bone Devil Seeks To…
1	Capture a soul that escaped the Nine Hells.
2	Convey a message or make an example of someone in the name of an archdevil.
3	Find someone who broke a deal with a devil.
4	Slay someone or steal something as part of its pact with a wicked magic-user.
^bone-devil-objectives

dice: 1d6	The Cambion Gained Its Power After…
1	Being possessed by a fiendish being.
2	Being resurrected by an evil magic-user.
3	Lengthy exposure to a Lower Plane.
4	Making a bargain with a Fiend.
5	Suffering a god’s curse.
6	Taking part in fiendish rituals.
^cambion-origins

dice: 1d4	To a Viewer, the Chain Devil Looks Like…
1	The corpse of a loved one.
2	A disapproving deity.
3	A harsh instructor or superior.
4	The viewer at their lowest point in life.
^chain-devil-masks

dice: 1d4	The Clay Golem Follows Orders To…
1	Block the path of anyone who enters a site with a weapon drawn.
2	Defend any member of their creator’s family or community who is threatened in its sight.
3	Prevent any Fiend from crossing a bridge.
4	Remove any who enter its creator’s workshop.
^clay-golem-orders

dice: 1d6	The Cultist Strives To…
1	Bring about the end of a dominant order, an age, or the world.
2	Burn away the comfortable lies of reality, revealing forgotten or terrible truths.
3	Expand their faith though mind control or supernatural coercion.
4	Make global changes, like sinking the land or awakening volcanoes.
5	Remake life on a mass scale, altering other creatures’ bodies or spiritual beings.
6	Summon their deity or its herald, weapon, or realm into their world.
^cultist-agendas

dice: 1d10	The Symbol Is…	Depicted As…
1	An alchemical sign	A calendar or map
2	An animal	A crest or as heraldry
3	A celestial body	An elaborate diagram
4	A deity’s icon	A metaphorical image
5	An element	A mystical being
6	An eye	Part of an equation
7	A geometric shape	A repeating pattern
8	A letter or number	A series of scratches
9	Part of a monster	A simple pictogram
10	A skull	A weapon or tool
^cult-symbols

dice: 1d6	The Death Dog’s Malady Causes…
1	Marks from canine jaws to appear on the victim’s body, as if they were still being mauled.
2	The victim’s body to wither, as if constantly exposed to desert heat.
3	The victim to be distracted by distant howling or vague whispers only they can hear.
4	The victim’s flesh to rot like a corpse.
5	The victim to itch, as if they had fleas or sand beneath their skin.
6	Wicked symbols to gradually appear on and spread across the victim’s body.
^death-dog-malady-symptoms

dice: 1d6	The Deva Tasks a Mortal with Delivering…
1	The corpse of a hero in need of redemption.
2	The cure for a plague in a distant land.
3	A holy coffer that must not be opened.
4	A magic weapon usable only by a true hero.
5	A seedling that wilts if exposed to anger.
6	Someone from another world with a prophesied purpose but no memory.
^deva-messages

dice: 1d6	The Doppelganger Schemes To…
1	Cause chaos within the temple of a deity that cursed it to live without a true form.
2	Conceal evidence of a vast conspiracy.
3	Control a community through fear by posing as a legendary bogeyman.
4	Replace a noble to enjoy a decadent lifestyle.
5	Spy on wizards to learn how to complete its own botched magical creation.
6	Take an influential position, acting as a sleeper agent for a doppelganger invasion.
^doppelganger-deceptions

dice: 1d10	A Dracolich’s Soul Gem Is Hidden In…
1	Another dragon’s treasure hoard.
2	The body of a servant or an ancestor.
3	The core of a dracolich’s melted hoard.
4	A corrupted dragon egg.
5	A dragon horn a hero took as a trophy.
6	A nation’s royal or religious treasure.
7	A powerful magic item.
8	A source of magical wonders, such as a giant tree or mystical pool.
9	The vault of an archdevil, a wicked god, or another extraplanar villain.
10	The weapon that slew the dracolich.
^dracolich-soul-gem-vessels

Theros

Explorer

Monsters A to Z

Monsters A to Z

Monsters (A)

Aarakocra

Aboleth

Air Elemental

Animal Lord

Animated Objects

Ankheg

Arcanaloth

Arch-hag

Assassin

Awakened Plants

Axe Beaks

Azers

Monsters (B)

Balor

Bandits

Banshee

Barbed Devil

Barlgura

Basilisk

Bearded Devil

Behir

Beholder

Berserkers

Black Dragons

Black Pudding

Blights

Blink Dog

Blob of Annihilation

Blue Dragons

Bone Devil

Bone Naga

Brass Dragons

Bronze Dragons

Bugbears

Bulettes

Bullywugs

Monsters (C)

Cambion

Carrion Crawler

Centaurs

Chain Devil

Chasme

Chimera

Chuul

Clay Golem

Cloaker

Cloud Giant

Cockatrices

Colossus

Commoner

Copper Dragons

Couatl

Crawling Claws

Cultists

Cyclopes

Monsters (D)

Dao

Darkmantle

Death Dog

Death Knights

Death Tyrant

Demilich

Deva

Displacer Beast

Djinni

Doppelganger

Dracolich

Dragon Turtle

Dretches

Drider

Druid

Dryad

Monsters (E)

Earth Elemental

Efreeti

dice: 1d6	The Drider Gained Its Form As…
1	A blessing from a deity of assassins, dangerous wildernesses, or the Underdark.
2	A curse from a powerful hag, vengeful witch, or strange Artifact.
3	An experiment by an aboleth, a mind flayer, or another life-shaping magic-user.
4	A magical means of escaping disaster or some worse fate.
5	A mutation after exposure to chaotic planar energies or strange Underdark radiations.
6	A punishment from a spiteful god, like Lolth or the Queen of Air and Darkness.
^drider-metamorphoses

dice: 1d6	The Druid Is…
1	An avenger who strikes against destructive civilizations and those who abuse nature.
2	A guide who aids travelers in navigating the realms of Beasts, Fey, or Plants.
3	A hermit who works alone to protect the lands, seas, or skies they call home.
4	A mender who travels the world healing natural, magical, or manufactured disasters.
5	Part of a loose organization that adheres to timeless rituals and guards natural secrets.
6	A warden who minds the underpinnings of reality and protects against extraplanar threats.
^druid-traditions

dice: 1d6	The Dryad Dwells in and Protects…
1	An acres-large clonal colony—a stand of identical, interconnected trees.
2	A fortress-like tree, like a baobab or sequoia.
3	A living lock—a plant that seals evil below or blocks the path to a dungeon.
4	A lonely tree that stands atop a windswept mountain or amid a petrified forest.
5	A plant with magic fruit or remarkable seeds.
6	A shambling mound or treant that the dryad lives in or around as a Fey symbiote.
^dryad-sanctuaries

dice: 1d8	The Earth Elemental’s Body Features…
1	Colorful mineral formations.
2	Cooled magma in melted heaps.
3	Grass, moss, or plant roots.
4	Heaps of peat or decaying matter.
5	Mounds of sand studded with shells.
6	Rubble or pieces of a ruined structure.
7	Striking striations or bands of color.
8	Veins of iron or other ore.
^earth-elemental-compositions

dice: 1d8	The Elemental Cataclysm Leaves Behind A…
1	Dramatic increase or decrease in temperature.
2	Gigantic coral reef or fungal forest.
3	Never-ending storm or whirlpool.
4	Passage to the Underdark or portal to an Elemental Plane.
5	Primeval or previously extinct animal population.
6	Rapidly growing rainforest.
7	River where previously there was none.
8	Series of dramatic rock formations.
^elemental-alterations

dice: 1d6	The Empyrean Has Features That Are…
1	Balanced, naturalistic, or suggestive of watching eyes.
2	Colorful, shadowy, or fluid or that vary depending on the viewer.
3	Comforting and gentle or that remind viewers of pleasant memories.
4	Disconnected parts, visible thoughts, or errant shapes.
5	Machinelike, stoic, symmetrical, or suggestive of judgment.
6	Morbid, menacing, or monstrous or that embody the viewer’s fears.
^empyrean-influences

dice: 1d8	The Ettin’s Heads Are…
1	Amping up one another in preparation for a conflict or challenge.
2	Arguing over plans for battle, dinner, or how to spend the day.
3	Criticizing one another as they perform separate tasks.
4	Engaged in a staring contest.
5	Making polite small talk as if they were meeting for the first time.
6	Performatively ignoring one another.
7	Talking over an increasingly convoluted plot.
8	Trying to keep one another awake.
^ettin-interactions

dice: 1d8	The Fire Elemental’s Body Features…
1	Colorful, superheated gases.
2	A column of diabolical or divine flame.
3	Crackling shapes that look like animals, fiends, skeletons, sprites, or other beings.
4	Flames that are predominantly white, blue, or a more unusual color.
5	The form of a calm or tormented humanoid.
6	Smoke that forms eerie shapes or symbols.
7	Soot that smells like cedar, cloves, incense, or burning meat.
8	Swirls of cinders and burning debris.
^fire-elemental-compositions

dice: 1d6	The Flameskull Features…
1	Arcane diagrams etched into it.
2	Flames like dramatic features, horns, or hair.
3	Fractured pieces that fly in unison.
4	An iron plate bolted over its mouth.
5	Lethal head trauma.
6	Mismatched animal teeth.
^flameskull-details

dice: 1d6	The Flesh Golem Has…
1	Animal parts among its humanlike pieces.
2	A disguise of makeup and heavy clothing.
3	Missing parts and exposed insides.
4	Parts serving unintended roles, like a body composed of dozens of hands.
5	Perfect features accented by beautiful stitching.
6	Visible mechanisms, bellows, and engines.
^flesh-golem-characteristics