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Types of Lightning Rods for D&D and 5e

by Mike on 10 August 2026

Lightning Rods are monsters selected to showcase specific character abilities in our D&D and 5e games. You can learn more about this concept in my article, Lightning Rods – Showcase Powerful Character Abilities, and in the book Forge of Foes by myself, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, and Teos Abadia.

For an easy cheat-sheet, there are two types of monsters that work well as lightning rods:

One or two big brutes
Hordes of weaker enemies

Big brutes with poor dexterity, wisdom, and charisma are great lighting rods for spells like banishment, hypnotic pattern, charm monster, dominate monster, and other single-target control-type spells. When we know characters lean heavily on such powerful monster-removal spells (often called “save or suck” spells), we might include big brutes in our battles specifically so characters can control them as part of our encounter design. "Tank" style characters like fighters, paladins, and barbarians also love locking down and controlling brutes so they can't smush wizards, bards, and other characters with lower defensive capabilities.

Hordes of weaker enemies are great lightning rods for spells and abilities that hit a group of creatures. Players love to hit big piles of monsters with fireball, cone of cold, sleep, hypnotic pattern, spirit guardians, Turn Undead, and similar spells and abilities.

Those two types of monsters and groups of monsters are an easy shorthand when you want to include monster types into an encounter that shows off character abilities.

Mostly Valuable At 5th Level and Above

It isn't until 5th level in our 5e games that characters really start to define themselves. Thus, you likely don't need to worry about setting up lightning rods until 5th level or above. These levels are when we start to see spells like fireball, multiple attacks from melee attackers, and other new abilities begin to shine. This power growth continues from 5th level and onward – when the use of lightning rods really showcases new character abilities.

Lightning rods aren’t as vital in lower level play as they can be in higher levels.

Let's break down some specific monster types and situations ideal for each of the twelve character classes in D&D and other 5e games. The bullets under each class describe what type of monster works well to showcase that class’s abilities.

Barbarian

Big brutes dealing damage the barbarian can resist.
Low AC, high hit point monsters barbarians can hammer with lots of damage.

Bard

Monsters they can charm.
Monsters susceptible to the spells they typically cast.

Cleric

Undead.
Creatures vulnerable to radiant damage.
Outsiders able to be banished.

Druid

Big monsters to tank if often shapeshifting into big beasts using Circle of the Moon.
Monsters susceptible to the spells the druid uses.

Fighter

Big monsters with low AC and high hit points.
Several monsters able to be dropped in a single hit for multiattack.
Monsters that provoke opportunity attacks.
Monsters that promote the use of a battle master's maneuvers.

Monk

Monsters with low constitution saving throws for stunning strike.
Monsters far away that the monk can reach with their increased speed.
Monsters that fire arrows at the monk.

Paladin

Monsters vulnerable to radiant damage.
Undead or other monsters that trigger the paladin's higher damage modifier for divine smite.
Monsters that force characters to make saving throws when the paladin can boost those saves within an aura.

Ranger

Monsters at longer ranges to shoot with a bow.
Monsters able to be entangled.
Monsters that run away or hide that the ranger can track with hunter's mark.

Rogue

Monsters able to be easily hit with sneak attack.
Lots of opportunity for cover in the encounter (not a monster specifically but it matters a lot for a rogue).
Opportunities to pick a monster's pocket in or out of combat.

Sorcerer

Lots of little monsters to hit with area attack spells.
Multiple targets for twin spells.
Counterspell opportunities for subtle spell use.

Warlock

Ranged monsters able to be blasted with eldritch blast, particularly ones susceptible to the warlock's improved invocations for eldritch blast.
Monsters susceptible to the spells the warlock chose.

Wizard

Lots of little monsters to hit with area attack spells.
Lots of monsters to be controlled with any control spells the wizard selected.
Battlefields to be sliced up with walls of fire, stone, or force.
Enemy spellcasters the wizard can counterspell.

Talk To Your Players

Every level or so, ask your players what spells and abilities they have that they enjoy using or want to use more. Write their comments down. Take note of the spells and abilities each of the characters has. If you can, look at their character sheets to see what abilities they have that don't get a lot of use. Experiment with different kinds of monsters in different situations to see how the characters (and their players) react.

Give the characters their opportunities to shine.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Talk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Last week I also posted a YouTube video on Ruins of Numera — Dragon Empire Prep Session 75.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Reiterate quest goals at the beginning of a session to get your players back on track.
Show characters what happened before at locations they visit along a journey.
Show how enemy factions inter-relate to one another.
Use a mix of hand drawn maps, printed maps, terrain, tokens, and miniatures. You don’t have to use just one style.
When bringing in alternate players, try to make sessions more episodic so they enjoy their temporary visit.
Limit magic item construction or training to a number of downtime sessions. Building a magic sword might take three downtime sessions.
When running a lot of monsters, pool damage done in a single tally and remove the last monster hit whenever the tally crosses the hit points of one monster.

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