Quicklings, the speedsters of the fey realm! 2 ft (61 cm) creatures, they essentially experience the world in slow motion. They move and think so fast they look like a blur, and just cannot stop moving in some way. They're like if the flash was also extremely ADHD and a bit of a dick. Like they don't kill people or whatever, but they do mess with people to instigate fights and drama out of boredom. So you need something to entertain them, but I don't think I need to explain how "vibrating so fast they're a living blur" could be a benefit.

...also I love that the lore is just "Their archfey got mad that they kept showing up late and wasting her time, so she shrunk them and hit the fast forward button on thier existence." Like they didn't used to be 2 foot tall with a 15 year lifespan, she apparently just has life's remote control.

Boggles! Tricky 3 ft (0.91 m) fey born out of feelings of loneliness. They're always emitting either sticky or slippery oil (thier choice) and can create personal use portals. Like, this doorway now leads to right behind you and I can reach in and out, Portal style portals. Needs a doorway or gap or something for one side, but not the other. Other than that, they're just mischivous little fey creatures that like playing pranks!

I'm mostly back, enough I can crank us back up to 2 a day at least. Sorry for the absence. Thanks for respecting the privacy. We're actually going to be reaching the end of the qualifiers in a month! I'm thinking that when we're done, I'll run a quick little 2-week deal for the PC species like goblins and elves and such. Use it as a sort of intermission. So stay tuned for that!

Yeah it took me until like the 3rd time I saw one of these to realize it's Goblin backwards. What is it? Why it's a goblin, around that 3-4 ft (0.9-1.2 m) tall range. Happy, mirthful, great sense of humor, it has mage hand and can even magically make you laugh, because that's a god. Straight up divine possession. Don't try to hurt it, it'll just heal from the pain and charm you into singing its praises. and if you do kill it it'll just instantly go into the next goblin so there's no point. You see, when Maglubiyet killed most goblinoid gods, the god of Trickery and Mischief simply broke itself into pieces and ran. The goblins wiped their name from history and memory so they could never be found. Now in every goblinoid warband there is a jester, who gets to do whatever they want. If they're stopped, or the uptight hobgoblins don't allow a jester, BOOM! It's an endless wave of trickster mode goblins! So what you're fucking is a nameless mischief god who escaped death to annoy the usurping war god in the funniest way possible.

The Barghest, a telepathic magical dimension-hopping fiendish goblinoid werewolf! Magic in the form of minor mind manipulation, minor teleportation, and levitation! They START as your standard 3-4 foot goblin, being able to switch to a wolf form, or goblin-wolf form at will. As they consume powerful souls, they keep growing! Usually they go back to thier native plane of Ghenna (land between Hell and Hades) after they become "Greater Barghest," a 6 foot tall goblin that turns into a Dire Wolf. But they can stick around and keep growing, once one needed a mountain carved out for its den! In 5e they're cunning and tricky, hiding amongst goblins looking to take out strong ones with sudden force, then getting away before people figure out they're not a normal goblin.

Look, I allow myself to be biased with goblins, and I love these things, even if 5e really fucked them over imo. Screw this "yugoloths made them to hunt goblin leaders as revenge on the goblin's oppressor" garbage. Barghest versions existed with any goblinoid, and they were the original natives of Gehenna. They're dumped into the material plane as kids because it's FAR safer, only coming back once they've eaten enough souls to unlock their plane shifting powers because they need that strength. They didn't used to be sneaky goblin traitors, they were were rulers! Their eyes would glow when excited, they turned blue as they grew, and had unusual traits like a streak of white in their hair or different eye colors! Maybe it's just my extreme bias against what they did with goblinoid lore in general in 5e though. Still, Barghests are cool no matter what they change the lore to.

Kobolds! 3 ft (1 m) clever dragon people of passion and teamwork, switching wildly between complete cowardice and pure bravery! They tend to mate frequently and without jealously, it's just what you do to keep numbers up and prosper. So chances are they'll be very experienced! The one on the left knows mage hand and charm person, the one in the middle have great endurance, and the ones on the right are especially great with traps and cages and ropes.

The thing about kobolds is that this could basically be the SAME kobold, they fill wherever needed. Sorcerers know mage hand and charm person, the dragon shield guards dragon eggs, and the inventor loves traps...but they ALL mess with traps, anyone could be a dragon shield if they're just chosen as the new egg guard, and while the scale sorcerer is special...like, they know 5 spells. They serve as advisors, but otherwise they're just a normal kobold. They'll still happily grab a pickaxe or mess with traps if needed, it's just usually not needed.

The Abishai are Tiamat's personal devils, this being the middle of the pack! They're about 7 ft (2.1 m) with magic specializing in illusion, fear, and mental domination. These telepathic devils are diplomats and spies, taking after thier green dragon counterparts with thier wit and charisma.

The abishai are Tiamat's personal devils. The black ones are super stealthy, 8 ft (2.4 m) tall, and can create clouds of magical darkness! Since we know nothing of personality I'm assuming it's like the black dragon they're based on, which means clever and cruel. and also that the females take initiative.

Sidenote: these things got a HUGE glowup in 5e. They used to be just weird horned guys with Challenge Rating between 4 and 8 depending on color. Now? They're cool dragon demons with CR from 6 to 19!

The Abishai are Tiamat's personal devils, the white one being the dumbest and lowliest. If you served Tiamat and she liked you, you become this when you die! They're about 7 ft (2.1 m) tall and can bite you if you slap them!...yeah that's as close to a special power as I got, but they don't need special powers! They're brave, love a good fight, have weirdly long arms, and apparently often work for the TSA. Yeah that's not a joke, they do strip searches and such if you're travelling to thier checkpoint after getting off a boat. They get a kick out of humiliating people.

hey. um. going down to one a day for a bit. my queue's almost dry and I just had something extremely urgent come up. Don't ask. I'll be fine, just figured I'd mention since I know some of you will notice. Be back soon.

So, I am discovering that my most solid, uncrossable lines w/r/t smashing monsters are ‘is not/ doesn’t look like it’s guaranteed to give me some kind of disease’ and ‘not a fiend’. Being literally made of raw Evil is a hard no, apparently.

Always glad to see people discover thier lines, just as much as I am to see people discover new things about themselves! And not wanting to become sick is a very understandable one. On the bright side for you, after the abashai we're breaking back into more fairy tale creatures. New kinds of fey, trolls, hags, giants, goblins, that sort of thing.

The Abishai are Tiamat's personal devils, the Blue one being the second most powerful! They're about 7 ft (2.1 m) tall scholars of magic and most else. They know mage hand, greater invisibility, wall of force, charm person, and more! Assuming they're like blue dragons, they work well with others and are more "evil as in they like to fuck with people." Instead of "evil as in kills people for fun" like most devils.

The Abishai are Tiamat's personal devils, the Red one being the strongest, rivalling the might of a Pit Fiend! They're about 7 ft (2.1 m), can magically frighten people, can charm you into treating them as trusted friends, can increase your performance by inspiring fanaticism, and are amazing leaders. Probably a bit arrogant too if they're anything like thier draconic counterparts, but when you're one of the strongest things in hell I guess your self hype is just honesty.

Zariel, Lord of the First, Archduchess of Avernus. Essentially a 10 ft (3 m) angel who got sick of heaven refusing to intervene against demons. Took a huge contingent to the first layer of hell and just started carving a swath through both sides of the Demon vs Devils war. Was corrupted because she'd rather be Evil and saving the world from demons than Good and doing nothing. "I did not fall into the clutches of evil. I rose to shoulder a cosmic burden." She can turn invisible, transform into other humanoid species, make plenty of simultaneous illusions, and has a surprising amount of children. Odd given how she hates being drawn away from battle. After all, that eternal martyr battling the demons thing isn't just about her need for justice anymore, it's to drown out the regret of what she's become in the process.

Geryon, The trifold Duke, patron of controlled fury and patient vengence! That's not a weird hand, that's his magical horn that summons up to 20 minotaurs to do whatever he wants. It's just being held at a weird angle. Anyway, he's 30 ft (9.1 m) long, usually "standing" around 10 ft (3 m) tall, and honestly just wants to take care of his realm and hunt things. He's a neat person who likes to keep his environment and self clean. He can magically bind you in chains, terrify with a glance, transform into other humanoid species, turn invisible, and magically influence your thoughts a little. Also makes SO many children with mortals. Makes them leaders in his community, I guess just hoping he can at least trust his family. His story is a tragic one. He was one of 7 absurdly powerful angels. After heavy injuries on a mission, his master patched him up with pieces of fallen comrades. The echoes of his best friends stayed in his head, dragging him back any time he tried to move on from his grief, and eventually making him fall via SuperPTSD. He then ruled a layer of Hell, and was very content!...until it was randomly given to someone else for reasons nobody understands. The new ruler was locked in an impenetrable frozen prison, so they can't touch each other either and it's frustrating. So yeah, he's a brutal hunter who likes making the most complex traps he can think of for fun. But mainly he's just stuck in a cycle of caring/trusting and having it blow up in his face

Moloch, the former Grand Duke of Hell! He's 14' 5" (4.4 m), can transform into other humanoid species, magically terrify, fly, muddle your mind, and charm you into following his mental commands! He was once the second most powerful being in hell, but Asmodues really tries to hide how MASSIVE the gap is between him and everyone else. Moloch failed his coup, gets turned into an imp whenever he's in hell, and now spends all his time and effort obsessing over getting his old realm back. He will do damn near anything for money right now since he's trying to raise an army with basically no followers while broke AF. So this is likely going to be a very transactional smash, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Titivilus, advisor/ambassidor for the ruler of hell's second layer. His normal form is a 5' 6" (1.7‑meter) satyr-like creature meant to resemble his master but shorter. He can supernaturally frighten with a word, transform into other humanoid species, use illusions, modify memories, and magically charm you into doing as he says. He's also a teleporting ventriloquist that can make an illusory body-double whose senses he can control and hijack. while he hides invisible and undetectable. If you're looking for personality, he's as slippery as you might suspect. He's in power over the second realm despite their being better people for the job, because he's the only person his incredibly paranoid boss trusts. He's incredibly clever and one of the multiverse's best charmers and manipulators. Hit smash and you won't be the first, but sometimes a pretty lie is nice for an afternoon.