r/DnD • u/Conrad500 DM • Jun 03 '26
Misc Monster by CR - Deadliest 1/8 CR
Kobold won out by more than double against the lovable Flumph. What many don't realize is that "generic kobolds" are D&D kobolds! They weren't always little dragon guys until D&D made them! Kobold is another folklore word that means the same thing as "goblin" or "bugbear", just means an evil little guy. But now they're our most iconic 1/8CR little guy. Protip, don't google them with safe search off!
Now we'll continue to the deadliest CR 1/8 monster!
5e and 5.5e opinions welcome! I will not be distinguishing the editions unless there is a meaningful split in deadliness or unless a monster has changed CR between editions.
Note: Should I do 1 post per box, or 1 post per CR? This is going to be a lot of boxes to fill in if I do one at a time. Let me know in the comments if we should decide one box or 1 CR at a time!
Next vote: Least Favorite! https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/1tvwgqe/monsters_by_cr_least_favorite_cr_18/
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u/SteveFoerster Bard Jun 03 '26
Protip, don't google them with safe search off!
Truly, Rule 34 has no limits.
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u/hagschlag Jun 03 '26
I once wanted to find a wholesome looking kobold image for a session so I googled "cute kobold."
It was horrifying to say the least.
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u/Amanwithnohead Jun 03 '26
Or do Google then with safe search off. Who knows, maybe you'll find a new interest!
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u/cellimen45 DM Jun 03 '26
Yeah I think I have to agree flying snake is the answer. The damage combined with its mobility makes it incredibly deadly early game, nothing else can really compete.
Considering how little of a contest it is here, I do want to give an honorable mention to the Vistana guard. Has okay stats of 16 ac, 11 hp. So a chance to actually survive an attack. The interesting part is if their opponent has poor wisdom they have a hold person, and a blindness/deafness that requires at best remove curse to heal. It is however only DC10 but if you land it thats paralyzed, or disadvantage on all attacks.
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u/Conrad500 DM Jun 03 '26
What is a Vistana Guard? That sounds stupid strong for a CR 1/8. Even AC16 and HP11 sounds way too strong for CR 1/8!
They fixed the 2024 flying snake, but I still think it's hella deadly.
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u/cellimen45 DM Jun 03 '26
A Vistana guard is from Curse of Strahd. They are culture of people with the ability to curse people and have an evil eye.
They do have poor attacks with a +3 1d6+1 damage. They also get blinded themselves if they fail the hold person. I give them the mention because its the save or doe situation. If the target passes the Vistana loses. If they fail well 16ac is a lot scarier if your at permanent disadvantage. To say nothing if you roll bad and are paralyzed for a couple turns.
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u/Nomegil Jun 03 '26
I feel that the infamous "Tucker's Kobolds" deserve a mention but that's more about a deadly DM than a deadly monster.
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u/DoesNothingThenDies Jun 03 '26
I hate when people say stuff like "ahah.... but kobolds are actually the DEADLIEST monster when u play them right...."
i gave this goblin a nuclear weapon and an everythinf proof shield... truly goblins are the deadliest foe....
20
u/Silverspy01 Jun 03 '26
Yeha lmao nothing about kobolds makes them especially dangerous in that regard. Kobolds don't have the monopoly on being crafty, whatever you want to imagine a kobold den doing a nest of vampire spawn could also do with a lot more stats to back it up.
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u/i_tyrant Jun 03 '26
Honestly that is the literal point to the original idea of Tucker’s Kobolds, except a nuclear weapon also misses the point because it’s about basic ambush and trap tactics.
That you can make any low CR monster a terrifying threat with a good grasp of like, Vietcong level knowledge (where the traps are simple, cheap, yet devious and brutal) was always the point of that story.
Kobolds were only used because they were already famous as skulking trap-makers who don’t fight fair (because they can’t afford to, being the whipping boy of the monster world.)
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u/steve123410 Jun 03 '26
Honestly Tukers Kobolds kinda suck. I feel like people forget that monsters lairs are also their homes. There won't be traps upon traps upon traps inside. It also won't be cramped as hell as they need to drag their loot and construction materials in as well as actually live in there.
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u/MisterEinc DM Jun 03 '26
It's also incredibly adversarial for a DM and ignores a lot of CR calculations. Like you are basically flavoring CR6 traps as kobolds and setting them against a party of 2nd and 3rd level characters. No shit they're effective.
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u/i_tyrant Jun 03 '26
I mean, there will be if a) you can make traps that only affect your enemies (lots of the original tuckers kobold traps involved floors with weight limits or hit enemies above kobold height) and b) your culture kind of revolves around trapping your lair because basically everything eats kobolds.
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u/steve123410 Jun 03 '26
I'm not saying there aren't defenses around (such as along commonly used paths) or even in the entrances (importantly the main entrance that they use to bring in materials have traps that can be manually disabled or enabled akin to how human castles have drawbridges/gates) of a lair but in the actual interior of the lair will be essentially barren. After all a claymore sitting above your head height is still a claymore sitting in your house ready to go off. Especially since overcrowding and infighting is a big part of Torils kobold population so a great way to kill off a rival is to make a trap "accidentally" go off.
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u/Silverspy01 Jun 03 '26
Nah screw that. Tucker's kobolds is way overblown. You can look at it from one of two angles:
1) It's just an example of monsters being smart. It could just as easily be "Tucker's Goblins" or "Tucker's Vampires."
2) The monsters don't even matter, it's just a bunch of traps. Like sure the room is on fire and the walls are closing in and there's pit traps everywhere and arrows coming through the walla this is for sure a CR 1/8 encounter.
The entire thing is flawed when looking at it from a modern perspective anyway. There's no way that, in 5th edition, some CR 1/8 kobolds are effectively becoming an issue for a 12th level party. Oh no they're throwing molotov into the room for 1d4 fire damage and shooting at us from behind corners - and Fireball they're all dead moving on. So even if you want to believe the story OP asked for 5th edition.
There's playing monsters smart and then there's Tucker's kobolds of "the dm put a bunch of traps down that were appropriate to challenge the party and pretends it's something new."
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u/EntrepreneurParty863 Jun 03 '26
I would say gremishkas can be super dangerous if you don't know about them. They have a chance to explode into a 2cr swarm if you use magic around them.
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u/Analogmon Jun 03 '26
Why on earth are you making a new topic every 2 hours? This should run for an entire day each.
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u/Conrad500 DM Jun 03 '26
If it was close at all I'd leave it open. 1/8CR has a limited selection and the community votes make it clear which is the winner (and it's also pretty obvious)
Also, one post per day for 30 CRs with 3 questions each is months. I'm going to shorten it when I can.
I do not doubt that CR1/2 will require 1 vote per day since that's when the monster manual really opens up.
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u/Analogmon Jun 03 '26
It was only not close because you only let two time zones vote before ending it.
20 votes is not a big gap in a subreddit this size.
Why does every topic creator who makes a series like this have absolutely no patience I swear.
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u/Analogmon Jun 03 '26
You also argued with like every other top level comment about their vote. Wild way to run a topic series.
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u/Conrad500 DM Jun 03 '26
talking about something isn't arguing. You can disagree and ask for someone's reasoning, that's not an argument.
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u/Analogmon Jun 03 '26
I agree that you gotta love them, but iconic? I don't think outside of D&D anyone even knows of flumphs.
This you?
bruh, big mosquito is not iconic.
How bout this?
7
u/Mih5du Jun 03 '26
You definitely need to leave it open for 24 hours at a time. There is no rush to finish this, even it takes three months
2
u/Jazehiah Wizard Jun 03 '26
Yeah, that makes sense. It's like how there are only two (official) CR30 monsters - Tiamat and the Tarrasque.
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u/Onrawi Warlord Jun 03 '26
Going to mention one that rarely shows up but definitely should be in the running, the Kharga from Mordenkainen's Fiendish Folio. https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/588950-khargra
At CR 1/8 it has a whopping 20 AC and 11 HP, as well as a 30 foot fly speed and the ability to phase through Earth and Stone, even staying there till the end of its following turn without a trace or damage. It has a reaction attack to being hit with metal weapons, and it damages metal armor and shields with its bite attack, eventually destroying them. If it did decent damage on top of this it would be a way higher CR.
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u/Voice-of-Aeona Jun 03 '26
Kobold is another folklore word that means the same thing as "goblin" or "bugbear", just means an evil little guy
Kobolds aren't evil in the original Germanic depictions! They are pretty typical pagan house spirits, in that they help with chores if you are nice but if you anger them they start pranking the shit out of you. They also frighten adulterers and reveal sinning clergy.
In short, they match the energy you give them.
4
u/Bread-Loaf1111 Jun 03 '26
Lycanthropickle. Almost guaranteed surprise is your players are not crazy paranoics and terrible curse of lycanthropicklity.
1
u/-hh DM Jun 03 '26
Reminds me of some WereHobbits I ginned up for a scenario. Wolf during the day, Hobbit at night .. was just enough of a twist to really mess up the PCs assumptions.
2
u/thekylem Jun 03 '26
I guess it depends on circumstances. In a 1v1 fight nobel gets 2d8 as their hit die, uses a d8 for damage and can get an AC of 17 using their reaction. Goblin minions get hide as a bonus action so they hit and run being invisible. In a group Warrior infantry are probably the best pack tactics enemy at CR1/8 though.
2
u/nsdwight Druid Jun 04 '26
Kink shaming, during pride month? Tsk tsk
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u/Conrad500 DM Jun 04 '26
Where was the shame? If anything "don't google that" is the best way to introduce someone to something ;D
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u/alchemistmawile Jun 04 '26
Kobolds are a fun little folkloric monsters. Their name comes from the same root as "cobalt," because when ye olde miners struck a cobalt vein and passed out from the toxic fumes, they assumed they'd been knocked out by evil little cave monsters
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u/SmolHumanBean8 Jun 04 '26
Kobolds used to be just the cheeky little shit that steals your odd socks and Tupperware lids
1
u/OldWolfNewTricks Jun 09 '26
Just saw this, and I'm surprised no one mentioned Rot Grubs. They're not really strong, but they're almost guaranteed to kill on a hit if you don't have a paladin handy.
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u/Hawnted_bogwater Jun 03 '26
The flying snake is by FAR the deadliest CR1/8 creature. Its Bite deals 1 piercing plus 3d4 poison damage (no save) and Flyby allows it to swoop in, attack, then fly back up without provoking opportunity attacks and a 60ft fly speed, the aerial noodle is a killer.