Collective Nouns

[sirpercival]

So, what are the collective nouns for D&D creatures?  We have to be able to come up with a good set.  I'll edit the best suggestions into this post.

If you have a better suggestion for something already in here, feel free to add it.

EDIT: Now a sortable table!

(click to show/hide)

Creature	Collective Noun
slaadi	chaos
dragons	flight
doppelgangers	shift
inevitables	gear
orcs	raid
kobolds	annoyance
cloakers	closet
merfolk	shoal
elves	orchard
yuan-ti	clutch
minotaurs	maze
dwarves	forge
fiends	corruption
devils	pact
yugoloths	company
demons	mob
quori	terror
mephits	mischief
xill	infestation
kenku	rumor
snowcloaks	ruffle
goblins	gaggle
wraiths	wail
shadows	blot
allips	mutter
ghasts	rot
wights	blight
skeletons	rattle
zombies	shamble
vampires	brood
mummies	wrap
liches	cabal
Tarrasque	singular
blink dogs	glimpse
invisible stalkers	observance
rust monsters	oxidation
warforged	phalanx
illithids	psyche
battlebriars	garden
oozes	congealing
otyughs	offal lot
sphinxes	riddle
girallon	army
modrons	polygon
treants	forest
chokers	cough
aboleths	slime
shriekers	cacophony
lycanthropes	howl
nymphs	harem
dryads	copse
hobgoblins	regiment
animated objects	scatter
golems	statuary
giants	mountain
mimics	furnishing
nagas	slither
earth elementals	mound
fire elementals	conflagration
water elementals	lake
air elementals	storm
titans	mythology
succubi	possession
ghouls	hunger
mohrgs	slobber
bodaks	vision
achaierai	cloud
kelp anglers	fleet
nightwalkers	horror
whisper gnomes	murmur
gargoyles	cathedral
hags	coven
planetars	orbit
solars	system
yrthaks	screech
keepers	whodunit
clockwork horrors	chittering
banedead	blasphemy
monks	pilgrimage
heirophants	procession
medusae	sisterhood
incubi	fraternity
spelljammers	jam
crusaders	crux
vrocks	cotillion
pelorites	sunburn

[Halinn]

A raid of orcs.
An annoyance of kobolds
A stumbling of dwarves

[xaotiq1]

A labyrinth of Minotaurs. Yeah, herd is more appropriate, but I like this.
A closet of Cloakers.
A shoal of Merfolk.
An orchard of Elves.
A clutch of Yuan-ti.

[Kajhera]

A corruption of fiends
(A pact of devils, a company of yugoloths, a mob of demons)
A terror of quori
A mischief of mephits
An infestation of xill
A rumor of kenku
A brick of golems
A ruffle of snowcloaks
A gaggle of goblins
A wail of wraiths
A blot of shadows
A mutter of allips

[Kajhera]

A rot of ghasts
A blight of wights
A rattle of skeletons
A shamble of zombies
A conspiracy of liches
A brood of vampires
A wrap of mummies
A Feng Shui of mimics

[sirpercival]

A Feng Shui of mimics

Lol.

[altpersona]

a convention of DM's
a table of players


 

[zook1shoe]

A conspiracy of liches

A cabal of liches?

[SorO_Lost]

A single Terrasqua
A glimpse of Blink Dogs
An observance of Hidden Stalkers

An oxidation of Rust Monsters
A phalanx of Warforged

[linklord231]

A psyche of illithids
A garden of Battlebriars
A schlorping of oozes
An offal lot of Otyughs
A riddle of sphinxes
An army of girallon

[Chrononaut]

Per the appropriately named magic card,

A Storm of Dragons
An onslaught of avalanchers
A bearing of Modrons
A forest of treants

[Jackinthegreen]

A cough of chokers
A slime of aboleths
A cacophony of shriekers
A nosebleed of nymphs
A hoot of owls
A howl of lycanthropes
A poo fling of apes (or monkeys)
A bray of donkeys
A wish of genies

[Keldar]

A raid of orcs.

A group of orcs is a horde.  Its well established in every fantasy novel with orcs ever.   

A clutch of Hekatonchires
A clinic of Atropols

[sirpercival]

A cough of chokers

An exploit of chokers?

A nosebleed of nymphs

 

A hoot of owls
A poo fling of apes (or monkeys)
A bray of donkeys

These exist already -- a parliament of owls, a shrewdness of apes, a barrel of monkeys, a drove of donkeys.

[Kethrian]

Harem of nymphs
Copse of dryads
Regiment of hobgoblins
Scatter of animated objects
Statuary of golems
Stool of otyughs
Mountain of giants
Waaagh! of orcs (or orks)
Craven of kobolds
Furnishing of mimics
Slither of nagas
Table of elementals
(Mound of earth elementals, conflagration of fire elementals, lake of water elementals, storm of air elementals)

[Complete4th]

A nosebleed of nymphs

 

I believe it's a reference to the inexplicable tendency of anime characters to gush blood from their noses when confronted by a sexy naked member of the opposite sex.

[gorfnab]

A Storm of Dragons

Flight of Dragons - see Three Dragon Ante

A brood of vampires

Coven of Vampires - see Underworld, Twilight, True Blood, Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles

[Jackinthegreen]

A nosebleed of nymphs

 

I believe it's a reference to the inexplicable tendency of anime characters to gush blood from their noses when confronted by a sexy naked member of the opposite sex.

Bingo.  I was going to add a descriptive sentence to the effect of "If you don't get this you haven't seen enough anime" kind of thing but decided against it.  And said females don't have to be naked; merely provocative enough that the arousal can be displayed as a nosebleed.  I'm reminded particularly of an episode of Tenchi Muyo! GXP where Seina's teacher has him scrubbing the floor then realizes she's quite... Distracting in her short shorts and high cut tank top.

And Perce, You never mentioned we weren't allowed to mention ones already given a name like a clowder of cats.

[sirpercival]

A nosebleed of nymphs

 

I believe it's a reference to the inexplicable tendency of anime characters to gush blood from their noses when confronted by a sexy naked member of the opposite sex.

Bingo.  I was going to add a descriptive sentence to the effect of "If you don't get this you haven't seen enough anime" kind of thing but decided against it.  And said females don't have to be naked; merely provocative enough that the arousal can be displayed as a nosebleed.  I'm reminded particularly of an episode of Tenchi Muyo! GXP where Seina's teacher has him scrubbing the floor then realizes she's quite... Distracting in her short shorts and high cut tank top.

Yeah, I've watched very very very little anime...

And Perce, You never mentioned we weren't allowed to mention ones already given a name like a clowder of cats.

Well, I was looking for D&D creatures specifically, monsters which were never given collective nouns.  Makes writing stuff easier/more fun if this is around as a resource, you know?  But collective noun dictionaries already exist for normal animals.

[Halinn]

A raid of orcs.

A group of orcs is a horde.  Its well established in every fantasy novel with orcs ever.   

It depends on group size. 2-7 is a skirmish of orcs, 8-20 is a raid of orcs, 21-30 is interchangeable between raid and horde, and 31+ is a horde.

A mythology of titans.