List of suggestions for adding flair to monsters
I don't know about y'all, but I've said "the ferocious creature snarls, and lunges at you" about a hundred times. So out of boredom, I made this list of ways to add a bit of uniqueness, drama and personality to some of the baddies in my games.
Shapeshifting. Use a normal stat block, but any time it attacks or succeeds a skill check/saving throw, it's narratively described as shapeshifting. it changes into a lion to do a bite attack, it changes into a gorilla for a slam attack, it changes into a mouse to escape a grapple, etc.
Sound. Stomachs that gurgle with hunger, the dripping sound of saliva pooling on the ground, the scraping of disfigured and irregular teeth grinding against each other, the subtle sound of shifting dirt as the monster digs their claws into the dirt for added traction, the sound of birds cawing as they all fly away when the fighting starts, the sound of your heartbeat echoing in your chest, the wheeze of air being forced from your lungs as you get bludgeoned in the chest. Combat does not happen in a vaccuum, let the sound breathe.
Emotions other than angry. The default emotion for a fight is anger. But there's only so much shouting and snarling you can do, before things get stale. Faceless monsters with no emotion. Aloof and nonchalant enemy NPCs who think this fight is beneath them, until they're bloodied and forced to lock in. An angry character who becomes a laughing psycho after they take too many blows to the head. An arrogant enemy who panics and falls apart when they start losing. A monster that isn't actually trying to attack, but is just curiously exploring the world with their extreme size and power, and doesn't understand why everyone keeps hitting it with arrows and fireballs.
Purpose. Sometimes being driven by a purpose is more interesting than being driven by emotion.
She wore the face of a demon you pretended you didn't know.
He was the manifestation of the sins you refused to confess to.
The creature wasn't really a beast. It was a reckoning you were due for after what you did.
It was a challenge placed before you by your god, and you could feel them watching with judgement.
The monster looks around at you and your allies, and you swear you saw the lipless creature smile, confident it was going to win.