Monsters as PCs as Monsters part 1

Since I so rarely get to play on the PC side of the table, when I do I go all in. I grab whatever concept I've got and run like the wind!  This leads to some fun stuff, like my Human Barbarian prince Grigor who had been part of a cultural exchange program with the nearby dwarves and is probably still the only barbarian to ever utter the words "Someone should notify the proper authorities". Or Vitriol, the Insult Comic Bard, who never played an instrument and only knew one song.  But we're not even into the weird stuff yet...

Sometime back in early 4e there was a developer sidebar titled "My Son the Fire Archon" by James Wyatt (Oh, look: a link!). It was a cool idea, and it stuck with me. The idea that you could make a monster out of PC parts, and then play it like a PC that FEELS like a monster was to good to forget.  So I did it. More than once.

First there was Talak the Desirable, who was a spider. On paper he was a human wererat mage, but inside he was a spider.  Talak was a spider that thought he was pulling off a human disguise.  He had lines like "We should listen to what the human has to say, because humans use speech to convey information. I should know, for I am human" and other weird circuitous-logic stuff that immediately marked him as not human. It didn't help that whenever a fight started he would turn into a big nasty spider and use webs and poisonous bites.  The only mechanical change I made was I got the DM to switch the wererat's bleeding bite to a poisonous one. Everything else was just flavor-text tweaks. Only 2 Sessions, but tons of fun.

Then there was Ravana Khan. On paper he was a Sorcerer, but that dude was a Rakshasa. He looked and acted like a Rakshasa who was on vacation to the material plane, causing unwarranted strife amongst the city's criminal guilds for his own amusement. Power choices were on a strictly pick-the-coolest-one basis. Lightning Breath: Check! Spectral Claws: Check! A spell that lets you and your assassin buddy fly to the rooftops while your enemies are stuck on the ground with the party tank: check! He wouldn't set foot on holy ground. He bought new clothes anytime he got blood on his old ones. His first step in a murder mystery plotline was to demand the execution of the Guard Captain (for either complacency or incompetence, didn't matter which). And, (like most sorcerers) enough blessed crossbow bolts to the chest would kill him!

Monsters-as-PCs-as-Monsters are loads of fun to play, but since I spend most of my games DMing I rarely get to pull these ideas off. Here's a bunch more (4e style).

• Pixie spellcaster focused on range attacks w/ control effects = Young Beholder
• Goliath Psion/Dual-weild Fighter or Barbarian = Umber Hulk
• Water Genasi (Flow through cracks and enemies) Melee-focused Acid Elementalist = Sentient Ooze
• Psion with some sort of melee execution move and a ritual that lets you steal memories from the dead = Mind Flayer

But making up your own is even better!  Done anything like this? Have any ideas for your game? Want to tell me off for acknowledging Pixies exist? Comments are like attack rolls for the internet! Have Fun!