Posts

• Jun 9, 2020

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Hyena

  

  This article is part of a series! Click here to see the other entries.

  Hyenas are real-world animals, and have been in the game since at least AD&D 1st Edition. Here they are present in both books, though the MV only has them in its animal appendix.

  The Lore

  Real-world hyenas are large carnivores who hunt in packs. They live in the same areas as lions, and compete with them for prey. Their behavior is quite sophisticated and their biology fascinating, but their looks and laugh-like barks have given them a bad reputation among humans.

  This reputation also exists in the implied 4e setting, and paints hyenas as filthy, cowardly, gluttonous and all-around bad news. You won’t see any nobles using hyenas in their heraldry!

  While natural hyenas are pretty much identical to their real-world counterparts, there’s a variety native to the Abyss that’s favored by Yeenoghu and a lot more deserving of their foul reputation. The demon lord likes sending these Cacklefiends to serve his favored gnoll servants in the world. Gnolls are also known to tame mundane hyenas.

  The Numbers

  We have two different stat blocks here. Both have trained Perception, low-light vision, and run at speed 8, all of which are pretty standard dog-monster traits.

  Hyena (MM)

  Mundane hyenas are Medium Natural Beasts and Level 2 Skirmishers with 37 HP. They fight with bites and have a passive Pack Attack trait that gives them a +1d6 damage bonus when two other allies are adjacent to their target. This is a little worse than the gnoll version, which adds a flat +5 damage.

  Their other passive trait is Harrier: if a hyena is adjacent to an enemy, that enemy grants combat advantage to everyone, but only against melee attacks.

  These traits mean a pack of hyenas will try to gang up on a single target at a time.

  Cacklefiend Hyena (MM)

  Cacklefiends are Large Elemental Beasts, though the argument could be made that they should be Magical Beasts instead: they have Int 6 and understand both Abyssal and Common. Anyway, they’re Level 7 Brutes with 96 HP.

  Cacklefiends have the same Pack Attack and Harrier traits of a mundane hyena, and their bite deals ongoing acid damage (save ends). Their blood is also acidic: when they’re first bloodied, it spurts in a Close Burst 1 and automatically deals both immediate and ongoing acid damage (save ends).

  Their cackle also has some supernatural power behind it. Fiendish Cackle (Close Burst 3 vs. Will; recharge 5-6) is a fear power that inflicts a -2 attack penalty that lasts for a turn on those it hits.

  War Hyena (MV)

  A mundane hyena trained for war by gnolls, and likely deployed in huge packs. This is a Level 8 Minion Soldier with a decent bite attack, the Harrier trait and a Savage Response reaction power that allows it to attack any adjacent enemy that makes an attack that doesn’t include the war hyena as a target.

  Sample Encounters

  The MM has one sample encounter: Level 4, 2 gnoll huntmasters and 4 hyenas.

  Cacklefiends and War Hyenas are appropriate as spice for almost any gnoll encounter with little tweaking, since gnolls cluster around level 7 and 8 as well. The given encounter is about the limit of what you can do with mundane hyenas as gnoll pets, unless you level them up. They’re probably more appropriate to use on their own as wildlife.

• Jun 9, 2020

  Dungeoncrawl Procedures at Nature Kills

  Earlier this year I published a post on “Old School Movement” with a simple set of rules I could use when GMing converted old-school D&D and AD&D dungeons in Dungeon Fantasy. Recently, the Nature Kills blog has also published their own take on the same subject in a post titled “Dungeoncrawl Procedures”.

  What I find most interesting on that post, and on the sources it links, is that they see the lack of this detailed procedure in recent D&D editions as a grave omission in that system. Having a canonical procedure to crawl a dungeon or to perform any other sort of exploration is a vital pre-requisite for properly designing these dungeons and other places.

  The actual procedure outlined there is similar to mine in nature, but differs in some details and adds others I didn’t cover. The ones I found most interesting are:

  • This procedure should apply to all dungeon exploration, not just to AD&D adaptations.

  • Default movement speed is double what I guessed (encumbered Move x 20m per turn).

  • Traps are only sprung 2 out of 6 times. A direct translation of an old-school mechanic that’s perfect for use when you’re not constantly using a map and miniatures.

  They have convinced me to apply this mechanic to all dungeon crawls, but I disagree with enough of their details that I feel I have to revise my own procedure. That will happen some other time.

• Jun 6, 2020

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Hydra

  

  This article is part of a series! Click here to see the other entries.

  Hydras are inspired by greek mythology, which as far as I know only had the one. In D&D, I see them on the Rules Cyclopedia, which means they’ve been around at least since the days of BECMI and probably since the beginning. They appear in both books here.

  The Lore

  A hydra is a giant reptilian monster, with a snake-like body and a number of dragon-like heads. The first hydras sprang forth from the poisonous blood of Bryakus, one of the most powerful primordials slain during the Dawn War. They spread throughout the world and the planes and have thrived ever since. There are many species of hydras, each with a different set of abilities and a different number of heads. No species has less than four, though.

  Hydras are nonsapient, but they’re still extremely dangerous predators that require a lot of food to survive. Most species are good swimmers, and though they can’t breathe underwater only one of the heads needs to surface to avoid drowning. Hydras can survive on pretty much any environment as long as they have access to food.

  Despite their innate ferocity, hydras actually take quite well to training if the trainer manages to survive the turbulent early stages of the process. Giants, minotaurs and powerful spellcasters are the most frequent hydra owners, though sometimes a hydra will “adopt” someone more unexpected than that, like a goblin leader.

  The mythological Hydra was notorious for its ability to regrow its severed heads, and here we have an interesting lore divergence between the two books: the Monster Manual describes this as a persistent rumor that has so far proved untrue; and the Monster Vault says it’s true after all.

  The Numbers

  Both books agree hydras are threats for the paragon tier and above. They also give all hydras trained Perception, All-Around Vision, and Darkvision. Hydras always have a swim speed unless it goes against the theme of their specific abilities, though they’re not Aquatic.

  All hydras in both books have Threatening Reach, allowing them to make opportunity attacks out to their full reach instead of just against adjacent enemies. They also have the Many-Headed trait, which does different things in each book. In the MM, it means that a stun or daze only causes the hydra to lose one of its attacks on its next turn (though this stacks). In the MV, it means the hydra can take free actions even while dazed or stunned, which is powerful because “bite everyone in reach” is a free action for them.

  The lore divergence above translates into a numbers divergence as well. MM hydras have no head-severing mechanics at all, and more powerful hydras have more heads. MV hydras always start with four heads, and lose one each at 75%, 50%, and 25% HP. At the start of the next turn after losing a head, two others grow in its place. This increases their number of attacks, but skilled PCs might prevent it from happening by means described in the hydra stat block.

  MM hydras also tend to have considerably more HP for their level, since they use the old math. That’s another thing you should fix if you want to add them to your game.

  Hydra (MV)

  The basic model is a Large Natural Beast with the Reptile and Water keywords. It’s also a Level 10 Solo Brute with 432 HP and the common traits described above. Its land speed is 5, and it swim speed 10.

  The hydra has four heads to start with, and it lose one at 324, 216, and 108 HP. Unless it takes fire or acid damage after losing a head, it will grow two new ones on its next turn.

  The hydra fights by biting, and its Reach 2 bites are kinda weak to make up for the fact that there are so many of them. The Hydra Fury at-will attack allows it to bite once per head it currently has, gaining a damage bonus if it only has 2 or 1 left. As an at-will free action, the hydra can use two bites against anyone who ends their movement within reach of it.

  Fen Hydra (MM)

  This is the basic hydra from the MM. It’s a Large Natural Beast (reptile) with all common traits for MM hydras. A Level 12 Solo Brute with 620 HP, it’s otherwise quite similar to the MV hydra, except it lacks a head-severing mechanic. It has four heads throughout the whole fight, so its Hydra Fury always allows it to make 4 attacks.

  Flamekiss Hydra (MV)

  A fire-themed hydra, this is a Large Natural Beast (reptile) and a Level 12 Solo Brute with 496 HP. Flamekiss hydras have a land speed of 5 and no swim speed, but also have Resist 10 Fire. They lose heads at 372, 248 and 124 HP, and PCs can prevent them from growing more by dealing cold or acid damage before their next turn starts.

  Flamekiss hydras have the same attacks as the base model, plus Flame Kiss (Close Blast 3 vs. Reflex) which deals immediate and ongoing fire damage (save ends). This recharges every time the hydra loses a head. It can be used in place of a bite during a Hydra Fury combo, and benefits from the damage bonus if only 1 or 2 heads remain.

  Venom-Maw Hydra (MV)

  This is the hydra that most closely resembles the mythological one, which was all about the venom. It’s a Huge Natural Beast (reptile, water) and a Level 17 Solo Brute with 672 HP and all common hydra traits. Its land speed is 7, and its swim speed remains 10.

  The venom-maw hydra’s beheading thresholds are at 504, 336 and 168 HP, and it can be prevented from regrowing heads by taking acid or fire damage before the start of its next turn. Its Reach 3 bites deal 10 ongoing poison damage, or 20 if the hydra is bloodied (its blood is also poison).

  This hydra can attack at range by spitting venom (Ranged 10 vs. Reflex), which deals poison damage and knocks the target prone on a hit from sheer pressure. Despite being a ranged attack, it does not provoke opportunity attacks. Either the bite or the venomous spit can be used as attacks during a Hydra Fury combo, with the usual damage bonus if only 1 or 2 heads remain.

  The venom-maw hydra’s Snapping Jaws only have reach 2, which I think might be a mistake. They should be reach 3 like its normal bites.

  Mordant Hydra (MM)

  This Huge Natural Beast (reptile) is acid-themed. It’s a Level 18 Solo Brute with 880 HP, Resist 15 Acid, and all common hydra traits. It has a land speed of 6 and a swim speed of 12! It also has six heads.

  Mordant hydras fight with Reach 3 bites and Range 10 acid spit (vs. Reflex), and its Hydra Fury allows it to make six of those attacks in any combination. All of its other tricks come from the standard MM hydra abilities.

  Primordial Hydra (MM)

  This one is likely one of the original hydras born from the blood of Bryakus. It’s a Gargantuan Elemental Beast (reptile), and a Level 25 Solo Brute with 1200 HP. It has eight heads, a land speed of 8 and a swim speed of 16, which makes it faster than just about any other monster in the book when in water. It has Resist 20 to Acid and Fire, and all other common hydra abilities.

  The primordial hydra’s bite has Reach 4, and enjoys attack and damage bonuses when used for opportunity attacks. It attacks at range with Flaming Acid Spit (Range 10 vs. Reflex), which obviously does fire and acid damage. Its Hydra Fury gives it eight attacks which can be any combination of those two maneuvers.

  All of its other tricks come from the standard abilities.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  We have three sample encounters in the MM:

  • Level 14, a fen hydra and 3 bog hags. A covey and their pet.
  • Level 19, a mordant hydra and a gibbering abomination. No idea about this one.
  • Level 26, 1 primordial hydra and 2 earthwind ravager elementals. A scenic wildlife encounter for the deep Elemental Chaos.

  Hydras fulfill some of the same dramatic roles as dragons, since they’re giant monsters meant to provide a memorable fight all by themselves. They’re a bit simpler to run. They’re also nonsapient, which is a good thing because it makes their explaining their presence in a location fairly uncomplicated. Dragons are sapient and have agendas; hydras are just hungry.

  I love the hydra head management mechanics they came up with for the MV, since they’re a nice callback to the mythological Hydra and what Hercules had to do to kill it. They also provide some subtle ways to tweak the challenge of a fight since you could start a given hydra with more than four heads.

  The simpler MM varieties still have their place, too, since you might not want every hydra to behave like the mythological one.

• Jun 5, 2020

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Human

  

  This article is part of a series! Click here to see the other entries.

  Humans are obviously inspired by the real world, and have been an integral part of the game since its very beginning. Humans as playable characters are covered by the Player’s Handbook, with both of the books we’re covering having entries for humans as opposition.

  The Lore

  Like in pretty much every edition of D&D, humans are described as being a very diverse lot. 4e goes a bit beyond this traditional description, though, and ascribes a few extra traits to them.

  These mostly come from looking at humanity from the perspective of the other races: humans are incredibly ambitious and intense, always aiming to achieve great things in their short lifetimes. While only a few truly manage it, they tend to leave profound marks in the world and its history. Collectively, all of this passion has also led them to spread further than any other “civilized” people. You can find humans in any environment, and in greater numbers than almost anyone else. When they work together, they can easily form grand organizations or empires that vastly outlive its individual members. Nerath is only the most recent of those, and there’s at least one more: ancient Bael Turath.

  This combination of ambition and the willingness to serve causes greater than any one individual also makes humans incredibly succeptible to corruption. When some elves pledge allegiance to evil and move underground, it’s an event of mythical proportions! When a group of humans does the same thing, it’s a Tuesday. Nerath fell because it became too decadent to protect itself, and we’ll get into what happened to Bael Turath later.

  The Numbers

  The signature human trait is that they have no signature trait! Each book has 6 stat blocks, and they have little in common aside from the words “Medium Natural Humanoid” and their native speed of 6.

  As it happens with all playable races, every stat block has an alignment of “Any” or “Unaligned”, and is meant to represent either enemies or NPC allies.

  Human Minions (Both)

  Our minions are a bunch of schlubs with clubs. They come in two power levels: 2 and 7.

  The level 2 variety is called “Human Rabble” in the MM and “Human Goon” in the MV. In either case they’re Minion Soldiers that have a basic club attack and a trait named Mob Rule, hich gives them a +2 to all defenses if they have at least two other goons are within 5 squares.

  The Level 7 variety is called “Human Lackey” in the MM and “Human Thug” in the MV. Lackeys are brutes and also get Mob Rule, while Thugs are skirmishers and get Rush Into Battle: if they hit with a charge attack, their target grants combat advantage for a turn.

  Basically, if the PCs manage to rile up a classic torches-and-pitchforks mob, or piss off a tavern-full of unsavory drunks, it will be made up of these people. They’re also good to represent low-ranking cultists, or peasant allies.

  Human Bandit (Both)

  Called a “Common Bandit” in the MV, this Level 2 Skirmisher is another classic. It has 37 HP, wears leather, and fights with a mace and a brace of throwing daggers. It’s trained in Stealth, Streetwise and Thievery.

  Mace attacks allow the bandit to shift 1 square on a hit. Once per encounter they can perform a Dazing Strike that works as a mace attack and also dazes for a turn. Finally, they deal a bit of “sneak attack” damage if they have combat advantage.

  Bandits are fond of ambushes and tend to retreat if bloodied. All of the usual historical considerations about why someone would become a bandit apply here. A large bandit gang will likely be mostly made up of Goons, with these guys representing their veterans.

  Human Guard (Both)

  Called a “Town Guard” in the MV, this is a Level 3 Soldier with 47 HP. Guards wear mail (which reduces their speed to 5) and carry both halberds and light crossbows.

  Their basic halberd attack has Reach 2 and also marks the target for a turn on a hit. Every so often they can make a Powerful Strike (recharge 5-6) which does more damage and knocks prone on a hit. Their crossbows have Range 20, which is pretty good.

  These stats also seem appropriate for soldiers on a battlefield. In both cases a squad made up entirely of Town Guards is a pretty versatile threat, since they can attack both at range and in melee. It could act as a sort of “pike and shot” unit, keeping a tight formation and marching towards the enemy. The front ranks would wield their polearms all the way through, and the ones towards the back would switch weapons whey the front ranks engage the enemy.

  Human Berserker (MM)

  Berserkers are actually an extremely traditional “monster”, with their first appearance being in OD&D. Here, they are Level 4 Brutes with 66HP. Berserkers run at speed 7, wear hide, and fight with axes.

  Their greataxes are a High Crit weapon, and they can also throw handaxes if they can’t reach someone for melee combat this turn. When first bloodied, they use an attack named Battle Fury (free action; encounter), making a basic attack at a +4 attack bonus and a +1d6 damage bonus.

  As expected, they are likely to fight to the death, and their tactics can be summed up as “Chaaaarge!”.

  Human Mage (MM)

  These spellcasters are Level 4 Artillery and have 42 HP. They wear robes and wield a staff that’s nothing special in melee, and their main weapon is magic.

  As a ranged basic attack, they can cast Magic Missiles of the kind that deal a nice bit of force damage and require an attack roll (Ranged 20 vs. Reflex).

  Once per encounter, they can use Dancing Lightning (Ranged 10 vs. Reflex), which targets up to three enemies and does lightning damage.

  Also once per encounter, they can use Thunder Burst (Area burst 1 within 10 vs. Fortitude), which deals thunder damage and dazes (save ends).

  These wizards seem to be somewhat storm-themed, but aside from this there’s no restriction on what sort of person they represent. You could find them as members of a town guard, bandit gang, sinister cult, witch coven, and so on.

  Human Transmuter (MV)

  This one is actually an update of the Human Hexer from the MM2, which has a bunch more human opponents of varied levels. It’s a more powerful spellcaster than the MM Mage, with a transmutation theme. This Level 7 Controller has 77 HP and the usual staff and robes outfit.

  Being a MV controller, its staff actually does respectable damage in melee. The transmuter’s at-will ranged attack is Capricious Earth (Area Burst 2 within 5 vs. Will; enemies only) which does damage and slides the targets up to 3 squares. This is a charm effect, so I guess that it only makes the targets think the earth is pushing them around.

  The transmuter can also resort to the Beast Curse (Ranged 5 vs. Fortitude; recharge 4-6), which turns the target into a Tiny animal like a frog or rabbit for a turn. While thus polymorphed, the target can’t use powers or attacks.

  As a minor action, the transmuter can Hex someone (Close Burst 5 vs. Will; one enemy in burst). The hex lasts a turn and gives the target a -2 penalty to attack and damage rolls against the transmuter. As a move action, the transmuter can use Hex Jump once per encounter to switch places with a hexed target.

  As befits a controller, the transmuter is a lot trickier than the standard mage. Ideally it will be able to keep someone squishy locked down with Beast Curse and use Capricious Earth to prevent the fighters from forming up properly. Hex should be applied to someone as far away as possible to allow an easy escape from being surrounded.

  Human Duelist (MV)

  This one seems to be entirely new. Duelists are Level 8 Soldiers with 85 HP, wearing leather and carrying a longsword.

  Their longsword attacks mark for a turn, and Advantageous Jab allows them to attack as an interrupt anyone who attempts to ignore the mark. Hit or miss, the target takes a -2 penalty to their attack.

  Duelists also have a trait named Duelist’s Poise that gives their attacks an “immobilization for a turn” rider if they have combat advantage against the target.

  This stat block also looks like a good stand-in for a military officer or the like. They combo rather well with skirmishers.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  The MM gives us no less than three encounters:

  • Level 3: 1 berserker, 2 guards, 2 spitting drakes. A guard patrol where one of them is a loose cannon who doesn’t play by the rules.

  • Level 4: 1 mage, 2 bandits, 3 gravehound zombies, 3 zombie rotters. A necromancer and their lackeys, out for a spot of grave-robbing.

  • Level 5: 2 mages, 6 human lackeys, 1 evistro. And here’s your standard entry-level demonic cult.

  Humans are of course one of the most important building blocks of any D&D setting. Sure, you can write up a setting that has no humans in it, but that’s the sort of decision that tends to ripple outward to become one of that setting’s main traits. They’re significant even in their absence, because they’re pretty much everywhere else.

• Jun 1, 2020

  Alternative Dungeon Fantasy Reward Systems

  

  For a lot of players, a big part of the fun of playing in the Dungeon Fantasy genre comes from the rewards their characters acquire in play. And these in turn fall into two main categories: treasure and experience.

  In GURPS, “experience” means Character Points, which are usually obtained for successfully completing adventure goals and can be directly used to improve characters. “Treasure” in a Dungeon Fantasy context can be split into magic items and “monetary” treasure (i.e, coins and stuff you end up selling in town).

  By default these two reward types are mostly unrelated. Going by the experience rewards scheme on p. 92 of DF: Exploits, a party could enter a dungeon, win lots of battles, find a secret area or three, and win plenty of experience even if they never find a single coin’s worth of treasure.

  Depending on the exact nature of your campaign, you might want to mess with this reward scheme. Here are two possible ways to do that. In both, magic items remain pretty much as written, but a stronger relationship is established between experience and monetary treasure. They replace the standard system from DF: Exploits entirely.

  Old School: Money Is Experience

  When the party returns to town, add up the total value in $ of all the monetary treasure they acquired. As usual, coins contribute their full value. Other items contribute their sale value, but only if the PCs sell them. Those items they decide to keep should be excluded from this calculation.

  This total should be divided among the PCs. If your party is an anarchist commune that keeps all money in a collective pile (like mine are!), then assume an equal split for experience purposes. Most other parties probably also split their take evenly, though if they’re really into that old-school vibe they might have a complicated scheme set up that includes henchmen with half-shares, seniority bonuses, and thieves who steal from the other PCs.

  The PCs who survived the process of splitting the loot get to earn XP from it. Divide each PC’s share by $500: that’s how many points they get. This is the exact same exchange rate they’d get from converting character points to money during character creation. Depending on how much treasure your adventures feature, you might want to adjust the rate! For example, a PC in a campaign that follows Petter V. Del’Orto’s suggested house rule would earn one point for every $5000 they earned.

  Example: Let’s say we have a party of 5 PCs that agree to split their loot evenly. They meet a dragon shortly after they enter a dungeon, and are forced to retreat having only found a small coin stash worth $1500. That comes out to $300 per PC, which is not enough for them to earn any points from this delve.

  The PCs prepare themselves better and try again, and this time they’re able to kill the dragon and loot its hoard, which contains $25000 in monetary treasure and several magic items. The magic items don’t enter into this calculation, so each PC ends up with $5000 and earns 10 character points from it.

  Dungeon Souls: Experience is Money

  Some campaigns take place in settings where money is worthless. One example is the Havens and Hells setting presented in Pyramid #3/89. Another is the Dark Souls franchise. This alternate system is inspired by the latter, taking the usual “battle experience” mechanics and making them into an in-character concept.

  The metaphysics of the world are such that when you defeat a monster in battle, you siphon off a little of its life force! Depending on the setting this might require killing the monster, but it could also involve simply defeating it in combat and performing a small ritual.

  In either case, people in the setting can use this accumulated “soul energy” for all sorts of purposes, and it can be voluntarily transferred. So it becomes the de-facto currency in a setting that has no use for mundane money.

  The simplest way to implement this is to say that victory in battle is worth 500 “soul points” for every character point it would have been worth according to p. 92 of DF: Exploits. This means a battle against a small amount of fodder is worth nothing, and a big boss fight with lots of extra henchthings thrown in might be worth 1500 SP. Again, this is the same exchange rate you use to convert points into money during character creation, and you can vary it to suit your preferred pace of advancement.

  A more detailed way to model it is to use the optional rules on the It’s a Threat! article on Pyramid #3/77, and say that a slain monster is worth soul points equal to its Combat Effectiveness Rating. This method is a bit math-intensive: the article has a table with values for a few published monsters, but for anything outside of that you’ll have to calculate it.

  No matter which method you’re using, an important decision you must make is whether the “soul points” from a battle must be split among the PCs or if each PC gets the full amount when the fight ends. The former setup results in much slower advancement than the system in Exploits, while the latter more or less keeps pace with it as far as combat experience is concerned. I do not recommend fully copying Dark Souls and giving soul points from a monster only to the PC who dealt the last blow: that works in a solo campaign, but nowhere else.

  “Treasure” might still exist in this model in the form of dead adventurers with residual soul points still present in their remains. This could lead to entertaining scenes such as the party slaying a dragon and leaving its piles of gold behind in favor of searching for the corpses of the previous parties that failed to defeat it. And of course, if you’re using Havens and Hells then Souls-like corpse runs are totally a thing that happens in that setting.

  Using soul points for advancement is a matter of converting them in town using the reverse exchange rate: 500 SP for 1 character point. They can also be used to buy stuff, in which case 1 SP is worth $1. So characters must choose between buying equipment or upgrading their abilities, which will end up slowing advancement overall and making looted gear that much more desirable. A suit of fine armor you find in the wild is one you don’t have to spend Soul Points on!

subscribe via RSS