Calling All Humanoids - CR 1/4 - Monsters of the Multiverse

Collections like Monsters of the Multiverse (MotM) have a lot of unique monstrous creatures, but one of the things I like to have in my DM back pocket is a stable of humanoid creatures to draw on.  I can grab these for low prep or improvised encounters. reskinning them as needed.  

Note most of the stats in MotM are updates to stats in two previous books (Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes) that are now out of print.

Here's my thoughts on the CR 1/4 Humanoids from MotM, with my suggestions of when to use them and how they could be reskinned on the fly.  CR 1/4 threats are usable throughout Tier 1 (Levels 1-4) play.  Initially as the main event, and eventually as larger groups or backup for higher CR threats.  With just these four stat blocks, you've got a great mix of the high defence Tortle, the mobile Grung, flexible Apprentice Wizards, and the grab bag of the Kobold Inventor.

Apprentice wizard

This is an incredibly versatile low level NPC.  

As written, it is a spellcaster, but you can easily reskin the abilities to fit a more mundanely powered character.  The Arcane Burst melee/ranged attack could be weapons if you make the damage piecing/bludgeoning/slashing, or change the damage type to an element like fire depending on what makes sense.  Once daily they can cast Burning Hands, which can be reskinned and damage type changed to be a martial attack flurry, an alchemical explosive, etc.  Having access to Disguise Self is a nice option for a spy, etc.  If using this creature against parties that are weaker, I'd say leave the AC lower (ie: without Mage Armor active), or only let a leader have that bonus to AC.  Mage Hand and Prestidigitation are really flavour more than combat mechanics, use them as inspiration for actions they might take outside of combat that can be reskinned as non-magical if you aren't portraying them as a spellcaster.

Grung

A little threat so capable of maneuvering around the environment that it makes them your party's parkour nightmare.  

Having a climb speed, and ability to jump both long and high makes me think of someone like the antagonist in the opening chase scene of Casino Royal.  If the party feels safe resting somewhere, having a couple of these guys be assassins who climb or jump around static defenses seems like a fun surprise.

The Grung has poison immunity and skin that poisons if grappled or touched, which you could just ignore without it loosing real utility in combat.  Same goes for the water breathing / dependency, which is more flavour more than crunch.  The poisoned dagger attacks work fine for any assassin or thief type, but you can always just convert the poison damage to more piercing damage to give the impression these are real experts with aiming a blade, if they are some kind of ex-circus knife throwing acrobat.

Kobold inventor

This is a perfect template for whatever one-time combat ability you need to tell your story.

The core utility of this creature is having eight different powers, which as written it can use each once per day.  For reskinning, I like to just pick one of the eight options and let it use that option once per combat just to keep my mental administration to a minimum.  Alternatively, you can copy/paste one or more of these abilities onto any CR 1/8 to 1/2 monster and it works just fine.  The abilities are:

a) 3 different projectile options:

Acid, Alchemist's Fire, Green Slime Pot - mechanically the same attack, you just need to choose any damage type and you've got one-time grenadiers that either hit for one time decent damage, or apply a weak ongoing damage on the target that requires dexterity checks to remove, or applies a stronger ongoing damage that takes an action to remove.

b) 3 different swarms:

Basket of Centipedes, Swarm of Rot Grubs, Wasp Nest in a Bag - Call the swarm it produces whatever creature makes sense for the story.  Use the Wasp stats for a flying threat, the Centipede stats if you want to paralyze the target, and the Rot Grubs if you want killing PCs outright without death saves to be on the table.

c) Scorpion on a Stick - can represent any one-time poison attack, like a very thin needle that breaks on a miss.

d) Skunk in a Cage - this could be a metallic bottle the creature shakes, then drops, which bounces or rolls in a random direction then pops/sprays. There’s no need to have it be a stat block like a skunk.

Apart from the above abilities, the Inventor's dagger and sling attacks are weak, initially propped up by Pack Tactics until their numbers dwindle in combat.  Use this creature when you want to do something flashy with the eight abilities, not to be combat masters.  The darkvision and sunlight sensitivity can be stripped out if it does match your story, such as if you present this as another humanoid species where that wouldn't make sense.

Tortle

A simple soldier with an option for digging in to grant cover or block movement.

This can be presented as any heavily armoured martial threat, like a hoplite or legionary.  Their attacks don't do much damage, but their job is to take a lot of hits because they have high AC and hit points.

I like to have the Shell Defence ability be described as bracing a large shield against the ground and crouching behind it.  It makes sense in combat if you have other monsters with ranged attacks standing behind the Shell Defense, benefiting from the cover this offers.