Top 5 D&D Beyond Homebrew Monsters for 5E D&D

Every now and again I like to browse through homebrew content at D&D Beyond to see what creative players come up with for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. The homebrew tools at DDB allow players to create their own spells, monsters, magic items, backgrounds, feats, races and subclasses. When it comes to creating 5E D&D homebrew monsters the tools allow users to use an existing monsters as a template or create something new from scratch. At this time there’s about 72,000 homebrew monsters in the DDB database. So let’s get into it.

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New 5E D&D monsters for fighting

Homebrew content at DDB can be filtered in much the same way as official content and also includes several categories to arrange the results. Views, adds, comments and ratings from the 5E D&D community sort content in a variety of ways beyond the standard filters available for official content. Ignoring comments the other three categories are the things I look at whenever examining DDB homebrew content. Usually there’s some connection between those three and it’s fun to see the things scoring high across the board.

Top 5 DDB homebrew monsters by views

• False Hydra. A CR 14 creature boasting its own lore this aberration brings some nifty traits to bear. It’s legendary and includes a lair with lair actions as well as regional effects.
• Archfey. A CR 10 creature in a lot of ways representing The Archfey Otherworldly Patron for warlocks in creature form. I imagine this one developed from a campaign in which a warlock confronts their patron. How’s Dark Delirium feel when it’s on you, huh?
• Pirate. A CR 1/2 creature illustrating two things. First, people love pirates! And second just because a creature is low challenge rating doesn’t mean it’s not useful and exciting.
• Asmodeus. A CR 30 creature with a huge stat block including five legendary actions and five points to use for them each round. Have fun storming the Nine Hells!
• Goblin Shaman. A CR 1/2 creature slaps some useful spellcasting onto a goblin chassis, something lots of folks can find useful in 5E D&D games.

Top 5 DDB homebrew monsters by adds

• Archyfey
• False Hydra
• Floralhydra. A CR 5 creature presenting a plant version of the epitome of multiheaded monsters. This one includes terrific flavor text with it and really evokes strong visual imagery.
• Wendigo. A CR 3 creature with great flavor text and traits to make a fantastic low level wilderness horror story or cryptid hunt.
• Pyrohydra. A CR 13 creature presenting an elemental version of the classic multiheaded monster. According to the creator, “The reason it’s Gargantuan is because it’s essentially a living pyroclastic floe, and thus much larger than a regular hydra.” Incidentally the creator is James Haeck, DDB’s lead writer who also created the floralhydra and several other hydras!

Top 5 DDB homebrew monsters by rating

• False Hydra
• Archfey
• Tatzelwurm. A CR 4 creature described as a draconic shadowcat with some fun flavor and fearsome qualities belying a tender heart.
• Wendigo
• Dwayne “The Rock Golem” Johnson. A CR 10 creature created by someone clearly a fan of the Attitude era of WWE. Players familiar with the most electrifying man in sports entertainment ought to get a kick out of the Rock Bottom or punny Pebbles Elbow from this stone construct.

Seeing Archfey and False Hydra on all three lists tells me these carry broad appeal. In particular the False Hydra does a wonderful job presenting not only a cool monster with an interesting stat block but also flavor and lore to provide some inspiration. I can easily imagine using one of these monsters to inform a long narrative arc.

What are your favorite homebrew monsters from DDB? Are you a creator who shares your creations there? Do you have a favorite fighting style when it comes to battling 5E D&D monsters? Sound off in the comments and of course, stay nerdy!