Worlds Without Number: Forgotten or Lackluster D&D Monsters worth Importing

The upcoming Worlds Without Number from Sine Nomine is well on its way to be great, what with the usual excellence of projects by Kevin Crawford. While it could be used for fairly 'generic' fantasy, its core setting of Latter Earth is much more steeped into weird fantasy and scif-fantasy, akin to the pulp and fantasy of old which blurred the lines a lot more. While legally Kevin Crawford cannot flat out add any monster from Wizards of the Coast books that aren't SRD this can't and won't stop any aspiring Game Master. Given the focus on the weirder side of fantasy this got me thinking about the plethora of often forgotten and crappy monsters, especially those from the latter end of D&D Third edition and from Fourth edition. There's a ton of critters which were a flash in the pan and didn't come back for the very successful Fifth Edition, usually because they weird alien thingies with weird mechanics or barely cooked ideas. However, this make them well suited to be re-imagined for Worlds Without Number.

Generally I've stuck to monsters who have not made a transition to Fifth Edition.

Foulspawns/Ushemoi

A nice family picture.

Sources: Monster Manual V (3e), Monster Manual (4e)

The creatures called Foulspawn are to Anakim what the Anakim are to other human/demi-human. Their origins are unclear: perhaps they are the Ur-Anak, the original form of the living bioweapon of the Outsiders or perhaps they were the prototypes to the Anakim. While the Anak physiology is roughly human-like, albeit deformed or more fearsome looking, the Foulspawns only conceit to human physiology is that of general shape, usually that of a bipedal creature with two arms and two legs and even then not always. Foulspawn may share some vaguely biological similarity with the root race of humanity but their bodies are so bizarre as to be functionally Outsiders. Foulspawn are irredeemably mad, or at the very least completely and utterly alien as to find no common ground with other races and are driven by their own version of the "Hate" which extend over to to 'regular' Anakim. Perhaps they see them as 'too human' in relation to their alien physiology.

Foulspawn dwell in underground Arratu whose environment is so completely alien as to sometimes be enough to kill a human through mere exposure to meta-dimensional energies, toxic spores or flesh-eating mold caverns. Disturbingly, the Foulspawns are gifted with telepathic ability and their alien minds seem to almost exist on a separate plane, able to communicate across even time and space on some bizarre instinctual level few can grasp. Individuals and groups alike are in a state of biological flux and several individuals and breeds are able to mutate or 'evolve' in response to stress or even absorbing spells somehow. Despite their twisted appearance and seemingly mad behavior, several Foulspawn are towering giants when it come to intellect and spellcasting. They are, for all intents and purposes, a bridge between the Outsiders and the masses of demihuman. What flaw or limitation which exist in them which made them near extinct beyond certain pockets is unknown but some speculate they are sterile and cannot breed true without Outsider science and magic, which would require a human to transmute.

Silthilar and Zern

Source: Lord of Madness (3e) and Monster Manual IV (3e)

Two unrelated monsters with disturbing
similarities. Coincidence or...?

The term 'Outsider' in Worlds Without Number refer to alien beings which are either extraterrestrial and/or extradimensional. In the past, they ruled Latter Earth and enslaved humanity but now the rule of the innumerable creatures is shattered. There are many, many creatures found in a variety of often forgotten books which could form the basis for a race of Outsiders.

The Silthilar and the Zern are, unknown to most people and even themselves, the same race or at least share a common ancestor. Rulers of vast bio-engineered forests, jungles and other similar environments the ancestor of these creatures inhabited. They sought to engineer and achieve a state of biological perfection, although no two factions agreed on what that meant. The Silthilar have been broken and transformed into a sentient swarm while the Zern are diminished and limited to a form which roughly mock that of their human slaves, albeit one they can reorganize in fascinating ways to gain a temporary advantage. They have mastered the arts of genetic modification and inter-species grafting, which in ages past was a skill they often offered to other Outsiders to help create whatever minions they needed to engineer. The Silthilar clade of these beings are generally more open minded and respectful of life than the Zern but they remain exceedingly alien in their understanding of what life is and many will see no problem with engineering a life form beyond its normal limitations, granting it enhanced physical and mental abilities. Unfortunately the poor Silthilar will often express confusion at any rejection of its gifts and may not understand that a group of humans did not want to be, for example, merged into a single immortal organism. Different strokes for different 'people', really.

Mindshredders

Insectoid and hive-based? What a shock!

Source: Monster Manual III (3e)

The Mindshredders are alien creatures, designed as a biological weapon against civilizations whose advanced magic and technology derived from mental power, such as mind constructs, hive minds or simply the powerful will and intellect of a semi-immortal ruling caste. Mindshredders were engineered to counter such things. They are squat, insectoid creatures with a terrifying and dangerous ability to drain the mental energies of living beings (especially human, demi-human and even some Outsiders) as a food source. They have a life cycle split into three phases, with the mindless Larvae, the bulky Warriors and the intelligent (yet alien) 'Zenthal' which have bizarre yet potent psionic abilities.

Because their biology is built around feeding off mental energy, Mindshredders are pretty much 'locked' into a predatory lifestyle where they must find something with enough of a true mind to drain in order to sustain themselves, grow and eventually reproduce. It is unclear if they truly have anything resembling a culture beyond the Warriors and Larvae having some deference for the intelligent and fully matured 'Zenthal'. The eldest and most intelligent of the Zenthal rule a colony via their seniority and ensure the colony grows and remain safe.