Dungeons & Dragons is a lot more than just dungeons and dragons. The game is full of iconic monsters with unique legends and mystique, some pulled from mythology and others found only in this game. But from D&D, many of these monsters have become pop culture icons with stories and expectations that have taken on a life of their own.

There is a fine line between meeting expectations and playing a boring cliché, though. In some ways, the iconic monsters can be the hardest to DM because you have a type to play, but it helps to play against it just a little to make the game more fun.

Here are seven of the most iconic monsters in D&D and how Thorin, Tony and Dave get the most out of them in their campaigns.

2:00 Embracing the legends: How do you make goblins feel like goblins and vampires feel like vampires, but still make them memorable?

4:00 Give yourself some range for memorable characters … but not too much

6:00 Monster 1: What makes goblins iconic?

16:00 Monster 2: Kobolds – a short flight

20:00 Monster 3: Orcs from D&D to Star Trek

29:00 Monster 4: Mind flayers – Squids From Space! Bring your inner H.R. Geiger to play

38:00 Monster 5: Black pudding or gelatinous cube?

42:00 Monster 0: The Logo: Dragons – listen to episode 62 for more

44:00 Monster 6: Giants – Storm, fire and thunder

52:00 Monster 7: Beholders – The Round Mound of Eye-Beam Beatdown

60:00 Final thoughts