D&D: Five Perfect Winter Monsters
In case you need another reason to stay, baby, not only is it cold outside, there are monsters there. These ones, specifically.
As we settle in for these cold winter nights, d20s clattering across the table, the time draws nigh for winter monsters. After all, this is a season for holiday-themed one-shots, or even little holiday side-jaunts in your actual long-running campaign. Maybe you dip into the wintry side of Feywild.
But what will you find out there? Monsters like these ones. Monsters with a wintry theme, winter monsters, if you will. And I hope you do because we want to hit some SEO goals. But these winter monsters evoke the sort of cold winter’s night upon which anyone might be in need of an adventurer to swoop in and save the day.
Abominable Yeti
Start with the easy one. Native to the snowy caves of HothFaerûn, and inspired by the legends of abominable snowmen, yetis are massive, hulking creatures who dwell high up in the peaks. Usually. But when frost sweeps down from the mountains like an avalanche, and the yeti’s howl echoes in the dark, you know they’re on the hunt.
They’re especially dangerous because they are expert stalkers, able to easily hide in snowy terrain, meaning they can ambush you. Then meet you with their chilling gaze, freezing you in place so they can drag you off to their caves for an easy meal. But when cornered, their cold breath and frost-tinged claws make them fearsome adversaries indeed.
Remorhaz
These are a classic D&D monster. These monstrous insects live in snowy, arctic environments where they feast on anything that blunders near them. They’re unique though, because, while everything about them screams this is a frost monster, they’re also secretly a fire monster.
Their heated bodies allow them to tunnel deep beneath the snow, reflected in their burrow speed of 20 ft. And when one bursts up from below in the middle of your adventuring party, their heated body means anyone making a melee attack against it (within 5′ anyway) will take damage just for their efforts. And on top of that, it has a deadly bite that also deals fire damage, and lets it swallow a target whole, so it can burst up, bite someone, and then swallow them whole and leave with its newly digesting meal still in its gullet.
Sensing a theme here with these cold monsters.
Snowy Owlbear
This one’s exactly what it says on the tin. It’s an owlbear. But it’s snowy. Snowy owl mixed with polar bear. It does all the things owlbears normally do, including eating entire low-level adventuring parties whole if they’re unprepared.
If you’ve played that one encounter in Baldur’s Gate 3, Honour Mode, you know exactly what I mean.
Bheur Hag
Winter means many things. It especially means witches. And you don’t even have to be stealing from the idea of the Baba Yaga to have your own cold wintry witch. The Bheur Hag is a hag native to snowy mountains and other wintry lands. Like all hags, they have an interest in dealing in esoteric things. These hags love “selfish actions inspired by deadly cold.” Especially those that are needlessly cruel and unwarranted. Like a miserly moneylender foreclosing on a mortgage in the middle of a blizzard.
And they come with a full suite of weather and winter-related powers. They can cast Control Weather (making sure the blizzard never abates) and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Bheur hags make perfect winter monsters because they aren’t slowed by icy terrain (which they cause), and hurl frost at distant enemies. They can fly on their broomsticks/graystaffs, and once your party starts dying, they can feed on the corpses of the fallen, inspiring fear in everyone around them (and incentivizing them to double-tap foes who have dropped below 0).
Ogre in a Fur-Trimmed Suit of Red
Finally, why not go with the classic Ogre. Not every winter monster has to be a high-level villain. Sometimes it’s just an ogre, who is conveniently wearing a suit of red, cap on head, with a cherry nose and laughing this way, ho ho ho.
You can use any ogre. Pictured here is the Ogre Battering Ram (because they’re really fun to run), but any ogre variant will do. You can already picture them in a big red fur suit bringing the Santa-themed pain.
See?
