Sometime classics are the best, and few monsters are more classic than those featured in the Universal monster movies. Dracula, the wolfman, Frankenstein and his monster, the invisible man (or woman or NB friend) are cliched for sure. That doesn’t mean they can’t serve as the basis for a great adventure, with or without some tweaks to surprise your players. I wanted to do a rundown of published stat blocks you can use to fuel adventures with these monsters.
Dracula
If you’re looking for a basic vampire, you want the vampire stat block from page 297 of the Monster Manual. The vampire warrior and vampire spellcaster stat blocks on page 298 give you a beefed-up version of the vampire. You also get weaker, newer vampires on page 297, the vampire spawn. Lastly, Strahd von Zarovich is the vampire from the adventure Curse of Strahd, and has the biggest Dracula mojo of them all.
Wolfman
You can find the stat block for a werewolf on page 211 of the Monster Manual. Not a lot to say here.
Frankenstein and Monster
The flesh golem on page 169 on the Monster Manual is your best bet for a Frankenstein’s monster. As pictured, he’s a bit gloopier than a standard Frankenstein’s monster. It has an aversion to fire, it absorbs damage from lightning when it heals, and goes berserk when it gets hurt. It’s all right there for you.
It’s a little harder to find a good candidate for Dr. Frankenstein. Cannonically, the monster is stronger than its creator. As the flesh golem is a CR 5, you rule out a lot of good options for stat blocks. I’d recommend an engineer stat block from Waterdeep Dragon Heist, p 141. Another good option is the Quandrix wizards from Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos, p. 209.
If you want a stronger Dr. Frankenstein, the biomancer from Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica is a strong option. Way up at a CR 9, a necromancer wizard (Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, p. 254) is a good option, especially if you want reskin the undead it can summon as constructs.
The Mummy
The mummy is another monster you can easily find. Mummy and mummy lord are in the Monster Manual on pages 228-229.
The Invisible Man
The invisible man is a bit tricker. If you’re looking to hew a little closer to the character from the original movies and novel, you want a humanoid who is good at sneaking about and hurting people. For this purpose, I would suggest the assassin from the Monster Manual (p. 343), or the ambitious assassin from the Book of Many Things (p. 343). You can give either of these a ring of invisibility from the Dungeon Master’s Guide (p. 240), or just grant them a similar ability. Invisibility provided this way is not dependent on concentration, so the assassin will be free to do whatever they want and stay invisible.
A more unusually option would be an invisible stalker (Monster Manual, p. 192). this creature is actually a type of air elemental. It has a fly speed, and it always knows the direction to it’s quarry as long as they are on the same plane of existence.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon
A Sahuagin is probably the most obvious option for this creature. You can find them in the Monster Manual p.263. The monster manual also has a more compelling option, the choker. You can find them on page 76.
The Phantom of the Opera
Until I was researching this article, I didn’t realize the Phantom of the Opera also qualifies as Universal Monster. I think the obvious choice here is a bard. Mordenakainen Presents has a stat block for a bard on p. 59. If you want a range of CRs, the Silverquill Bards from Strixhaven will give you some options to choose from.
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