One variant you may want to look into are Mephits, found on page 215 - 217 of the fifth edition Monster Manual. These little guys are elemental based enemies with a variety of abilities to make combat encounters challenging, but have low hit points (HP) and average armor class (AC) to keep them from getting overwhelming in low numbers.
"Here's mud in your eyes!" |
Most Mephits have the False Appearance ability, which allows them to hide in plain sight, allowing them to get the jump on a party, especially in their favored environment. So mud Mephits hiding a swamp are going to be very hard to to detect. All Mephits also have the Death Burst ability, which causes them to explode when they are killed, causing a Saving Throw for anyone within 5 feet of them or there are consequences. Sometimes it is damage, but other times it can be a condition. For example if a dust Mephit is destroyed, anyone within 5 feet of the Mephit must make a Constitution Saving throw or be blinded for one minute.
Mephits have a standard claw or fist attack that typically does 4 of a standard damage type (slashing or bludgeoning). But a few add some elemental damage to the average damage (typically fire). They also have a breath attack they can use once and recharge on a die roll of 6 on a 1D6. These breath weapons act much like the Death Burst causing damage or a condition impact if the saving throw is failed.
With six types to choose from and a bunch of different abilities and actions you can come up with some really interesting encounters for a low level party to deal with.
His breath is actually very refreshing. |
You can also have the Mephits working as minions for a wizard. Maybe the sorceress sends Magma Mephits to start a fire in a keep, or heat the metal weapons of the guards as she attempts to sneak into the keep and poison the characters.
As in most cases, at 1st level these little guys can be lethal, especially with their Death Burst ability. So you may want to keep the numbers low. But at higher levels, even if they get one shot, Mephits can present a challenging encounter and one that is sure to shake things up if you are looking for an alternative to goblins or kobolds.
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