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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Doppelganger
Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Doppelgangers have been in D&D forever, in one form or another. As is common with 4e, they’re a little different here than they were in older editions. This time, however, it’s 3.5’s fault. They’re in both the Monster Manual and the Vault.
The Lore
4e Doppelgangers are essentially Eberron’s Changelings given a more generic treatment. In earlier editions changelings were people who descended from a “real” doppelganger, but here the two words mean the same thing. I don’t think anything of value has been lost with the change - the defining trait of a doppelganger in any edition is its ability to change shape, and that has been retained.
Much like humans, doppelgangers are people who can have any disposition and alignment imaginable. They don’t have any kingdoms or settlements of their own, and tend to live in those of other races, usually in disguise. I suspect most of them really do want to live peaceful lives, and maybe have a private space where they can drop the disguises and relax a bit.
When they turn to riskier pursuits, though, their abilities make excellent at infiltration, spying, and all sorts of other underhanded activities. That’s great when they’re on your side, and terrible when they’re on the enemy’s.
About 90% of the lore entry for the Monster Vault then goes on to describe the terrible things an infiltrated doppelganger cell can do. They can live undercover for years if necessary! They can disable a city’s defenses from the inside! Kill and impersonate anyone! Your whole family could have been replaced by doppelgangers and you’d have no way to tell! Fear! Uncertainty! Doubt! Despite the assertion that doppelgangers can be of any alignment the tone here assumes none of them are ever up to any good.
I’m guessing the peaceful folks have a really hard time with prejudice from “righteous citizens” who think they’re all evil infiltrators.
As you’d expect, the Eberron setting treats them a lot better, and makes them valid PC choices.
The Numbers
Doppelgangers are Medium Natural Humanoids (shapechangers). They have a base speed of 6, and their signature ability is Change Shape. This minor action lets them take the form of any Medium humanoid. It can be used at will, and they can hold any given form indefinitely, though the disguise drops automatically if they hit 0 HP.
It’s possible to copy specific individuals. Discovering the ruse requires an Insight check on the part of the observer. According to the MM, this is opposed by the doppelganger’s Bluff with a +20 bonus; the MV gives fixed DCs for each stat block that are somewhat lower than that, though still quite hard.
Any additional abilities doppelgangers have aside from changing shape are the product of training, same as with humans. Technically this means they could be paladins and wizards and so on, but all the stat blocks we get here are for the stereotypical rogue-types.
The Doppelganger Sneak is a Level 3 Skirmisher with 45 HP, present in both books. It attacks with a short sword for level-appropriate damage, has a rogue-like sneak attack ability, and can use a Shapeshifter Feint as an at-will minor action that targets Will to gain combat advantage against someone for a turn if they don’t have it from other sources. It’s Unaligned, and the Insight DC for its Change Shape is 30 in the Vault.
The Doppelganger Assassin is a Level 8 Lurker with 69 HP, present only in the MM. It uses a dagger as a weapon, deals more sneak attack damage than the sneak, and can use Shapeshifter Feint. It has one additional ability in Cloud Mind. This encounter power targets the will of everyone in a Close Burst 5. The assassin becomes invisible to anyone it hits with this attack. It lasts for as long as the assassin sustains it (which requires a minor action on its turn), and drops if it either attacks or is hit by an attack. This one is Evil because it’s an assassin, not because it’s a doppelganger. Since it shares a lot of abilities with the sneak and Cloud Mind is more of an escape hatch than an attack power, it should really be a skirmisher.
The Doppelganger Infiltrator is a Level 11 Lurker with 90 HP present only in the MV. In addition to the Change Shape ability shared by all doppelgangers, it also has an improved version called Perfect Replica. This is a standard action that targets an adjacent Medium creature and hits automatically. The doppelganger copies the target’s appearance (including gear!) and immobilizes it for a turn. If the infiltrator attacks the target with its dagger while it’s so immobilized, it deals an extra 6d8 damage, which is considerable given its basic dagger damage is 2d4+6.
If someone attacks the doppelganger whie it’s affecting someone with Perfect Replica, it can use an opportunity action to automatically swap places with the victim so that the attack targets them instead. It’s the classic “who is the real one?” scenario, but no matter who you choose, you’ll choose wrong. The Insight DC for its Change Shape ability is 32.
Finally we have the Doppelganger Master Assassin, a Level 19 Lurker with 142 HP present only in the MV. This seems to be a properly lurker-ish version of the Assassin we already saw. It also uses a dagger to fight, and has a special Assassin’s Strike that does a whole pile of necrotic damage on top of the usual dagger damage, recharging when the master assassin uses Vanish. Vanish, in turn, is a standard action that makes the doppelganger invisible for a turn and allows it to shift its speed.
As a passive trait, the master assassin has Blend In: it can make Stealth checks to become hidden as long as it’s adjacent to at least one other creature. It remains hidden even if it doesn’t have cover or concealment, which is significant since stealth rules had become a lot more strict by the time the MV came out. This is perfect for disappearing in the midst of a crowd, or again for re-enacting the “who’s the real one?” scenario when the adjacent creature is a PC. Only this time you can choose the right one if you have enough Insight. I guess the assassin spent more time training to stab people than honing their shapeshifting like the infiltrator. This assassin is Unaligned, and their Insight DC is 38.
The sample encounter in the MM is level 3: a sneak, 3 human guards, and a human mage. Looks like this sneak just wants to live out a regular life as a member of the city watch. It’s likely its buddies don’t even know it’s a doppelganger.
Final Impressions
I like Eberron changelings so much I wrote them up for GURPS. They work well as a PC race! As possible opposition these stat blocks work well. If some villain is going to hire assassins to go after a late-paragon party, those assassins are probably going to be doppelgangers or the equivalent.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Displacer Beast
This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Like beholders and mind flayers, Displacer Beasts are one of those monsters who are so uniquely D&D that they’ve been excluded from the SRD. They look like big black panthers with two squid-like tentacles protruding from their shoulder blades. The trait that gives them their name, however, is the ability to look like they’re about two meters to the left of their real location. They appear both on the Monster Manual and on the Monster Vault.
The Lore
The Monster Manual contains only the usual couple of paragraphs for its entries, but the MV piles on the lore.
Displacer beasts are native to the Feywild, but can also be found in the world. They’re cunning carnivores who make extensive use of their illusory powers both to hunt and to escape from danger. Their preferred habitats are dense forests with plenty of foliage and caves to use as hiding spots. When hunting, they stalk their prey and attack from ambush at the most opportune time.
These creatures have gained such fame for their strength and cunning that they often feature in heraldic devices for noble houses and organizations that want to be known for possessing these qualities.
As magical beasts they’re smarter than most animals, but still have a bestial disposition. They have no language or civilization, but they are quite able to set up really clever ambushes, track prey by following clues in addition to using their scent, remember good hunting spots like, say, a seasonal trade route. They’re also smart enough to retreat if outmatched, and prefer attacking animals to humanoids.
Though displacer beasts rarely gather in groups larger than a mated pair, particularly large and intelligent specimens have been known to form and lead packs composed mostly of other, lesser predators. Some humanoids can also befriend them and employ them for hunting, war, or guarding territory.
The Numbers
The standard Displacer Beast has MM and MV versions. In both, it’s a Large Fey Magical Beast, and a Level 9 Skirmisher with 97 HP. Its Speed is 12, it’s trained in Perception and has low-light vision.
The displacer beast has two passive traits: Threatening Reach and the expected Displacement. The first makes it able to perform opportunity attacks against targets anywhere within the reach of its attacks, and applies mainly to the tentacles. The displacement power has significantly different wording between versions.
The Monster Manual says all melee and ranged attacks have a 50% chance to miss the beast. The effect ends when the beast is hit by an attack but it resumes when it moves 2+ squares on its turn.
The Monster Vault clarifies the miss chance: any melee or ranged attack that would hit the beast actually misses if the attack roll was odd. You can see how 13th Age evolved from D&D 4 here! The effect still stops when the beast does get hit, but it resumes automatically at the start of its next turn.
Its basic attack is a Reach 2 tentacle, which in the MM suffers from the damage bug. It also has a slightly stronger Reach 1 bite. The MM version has a Beast’s Fury standard-action ability that allows it to make two tentacle attacks and a bite against a single target it has combat advantage against. The MV trades that for Cunning Blitz, which allows it to shift half its speed (6 squares!) and make tentacle attacks against one or two targets.
Both versions can shift 1 square as a reaction when an attack misses them, though the MM version weirdly restricts that to attacks that miss because of the displacement. I prefer the broader MV power here.
The MV-only Savage Displacer Beast is the slower, beefier variant. A Level 11 Brute with 136 HP, it loses the Perception training and runs at “only” Speed 8.
The Displacement and Threatening Reach abilities are the same, but this beast prefers to push others around instead of shifting. Its tentacle and bite attacks do level-appropriate Brute damage, and the tentacle pushes 1 square on a hit. The beast can also push someone who misses it with a melee attack 1 square.
And finally we have the Displacer Beast Pack Lord, present in both books. It’s a Huge Fey Magical Beast and a Level 13 Elite Skirmisher with 258 HP. In both books, the Pack Lord has all the same abilities as the standard beast, plus a few additions.
First, while the other two types of displacer beats have an Int of 4, the Pack Lord has 10! As the name implies, this is the one that can tame other animals and form them into a pack.
In addition to doing more damage with all of its attacks, it has Reach 3 tentacles. The MV version also gains an attack called Clear The Path, which targets Reflex in a Close Burst 3 and slides everyone it hits up to 3 squares. On a miss, it does half damage and still slides the target 1 square. This recharges when the beast is first bloodied.
When someone misses the Pack Lord with an attack, both versions can make a tentacle attack against the attacker in addition to shifting 1 square. It also ignores all difficult terrain and penalties for squeezing, an ability which surely makes it a joy to fight in a thicket tangled with undergrowth.
The sample encounter is level 13: a pack lord, two regular displacer beasts, and a briar witch dryad. This is likely to be an equal partnership between the pack lord and the dryad.
Final Impressions
I definitely prefer the MV writeup on this one. It’s a little more powerful and sounds a little more fun. I also like that the displacer beast is explicitly not an “attacks on sight and fights to the death” monster, and someone who can talk to animals can even make an ally of it. Even the regular variant: it has the brainpower of your average ogre and a much better disposition (they’re Unaligned).
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Devourer
Illustration Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast. This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Rejoice, oh reader, for we are finally done with the devils! Our next monster is no less horrific, but at at least it’s not a fiend.
I think devourers made their first appearance in D&D 3.5. Third Edition tried really hard to create a new generation of iconic monsters with mixed success at best, but I think they got it right here. These things are scary! Despite this, they’re only on the Monster Manual.
The Lore
When a mortal dies their soul goes to the Shadowfell, where the Raven Queen sorts it out and sends it on its way to the great beyond. When a psychotic serial killer dies, there’s a chance their soul goes AWOL once it hits the Shadowfell and builds itself a new body out of other people’s flesh and bones. This is how devourers are made.
Devourers retain all the mental faculties they had in life, which means they get to keep their Evil disposition and Hannibal Lecter-like intellect. There are several varieties of devourer: some enjoy eating their victims still-pulsating viscera, while others go straight for the soft, yummy soul at the center of their flesh wrapping.
I suspect that given time they’d prepare some nicely cooked fava beans and a bottle of Chianti to go with their victims, but they’ll eat them on the spot mid-fight if they’re in a hurry.
Devourers are smart enough to value strategic alliances with other monsters, and they’re even able to hold their unnatural appetite in check to work with living allies. Of course, they’re still only going to ally with creatures that don’t mind their proclivities.
The Numbers
We get three devourer varieties here.
The Spirit Devourer is a Large Shadow Humanoid (undead), and a Level 11 Elite Soldier with 224 HP. It’s trained in perception and has Darkvision. Being undead, it’s immune to disease and poison, has Resist 15 Necrotic, and Vulnerable 5 radiant. It moves with Speed 6.
Its basic melee attack is a Reach 2 claw, but the real star of the show here is Trap Spirit. This has Range 5 and targets the Fortitude of a living humanoid. On a hit, the victim’s body vanishes and its spirit is trapped as an agonizing effigy inside the devourer’s exposed rib cage (save ends). Until the victim saves, it can do absolutely nothing.
While the monster has a victim so trapped, it gains a +2 bonus to all defenses, and access to two other actions. Devour Spirit is an at-will minor action that does 10 damage to the victim, and either heals the devourer by the same amount or allows it to immediately use Spirit Rupture. This is a standard action attack that targets the Will of everyone in a Close Burst 1. On a hit, it does necrotic damage and immobilizes the target for a turn. On a miss, it does half damage without the status effect.
Should the victim be killed by Devour Spirit, it can’t be resurrected by Raise Dead. This is particularly concerning here because I don’t think there’s any other way to bring characters back from the dead at this level. At least, there weren’t at the time this book was published.
The Viscera Devourer is a little different because it’s exposed abdominal cavity comes pre-filled with squirming, drooling intestines tipped with gnashing mouths. It’s a Medium Shadow Humanoid (undead), and a Level 12 Controller with 124 HP. It has the same senses, resistances and speed as the Spirit Devourer.
Aside from the weaksauce basic claw attack, this devourer can use up to four of its tentacle-like intestines as a weapon. Their Reach is 1, and on a hit they do a bit of physical damage and grab the target. The devourer can grab up to four victims this way, or use multiple bowels to grab a single target, giving them a -2 to escape the grab for each extra intestine. Grabbed victims take 5 ongoing necrotic damage for each appendage wrapped around them until they escape, with the devourer gaining the same amount of HP as it drains their life.
Oh, and it also gains a +2 to all defenses while it has at least one person grabbed.
And finally we have the Soulspike Devourer, AKA the Big One. It’s a Huge Shadow Humanoid (undead), and a Level 20 Elite Soldier (Leader) with 376 HP. It has the same speed, senses and resistances as its smaller cousins, though its numbers here are more extreme: resist necrotic 20 and vulnerable 10 radiant.
The Soulspike Devourer’s gimmick is that it impales the souls of its victims on the many bone spikes that protude from where its ribs should be. This happens whenever its basic claw attack reduces a target to 0 HP. When encountered, the devourer will probably have at least one spirit so impaled. It’s maximum “capacity” is 4.
Impaled victims can’t perform actions at all. They can try to make a save to escape when the devourer takes radiant damage, but otherwise they’re helpless. The only other way to free them is to destroy the devourer. If either of these things happen their body reappears next to the monster’s and can be brought back to health in the usual way. The devourer and any allies within 10 squares of it gain a bonus to all their defenses equal to half the number of soulspiked spirits.
The devourer’s other special attack is Soul Shatter, which targets Will on a Close Burst 3, does a lot of necrotic damage, and stuns for a turn, after which the targets are weakened (save ends). This recharges whenever the devourer uses its variant of the Devour Spirit ability.
This, in turn, is a standard action that automatically kills one of the soulspiked spirits and heals the devourer for 75 HP. The victim’s dead body reappears adjacent to the monster, and it would seem that they can be resurrected via Raise Dead normally.
The sample encounters showcase some of those unholy alliances. The first is level 11, a spirit devourer, a vampire lord, and 5 vampire spawn. The second is level 13, 2 viscera devourers working for a posse of drow.
Final Impressions
Spooky! I also can kinda see why they didn’t make it into the Monster Vault - by the time that book came out, monsters that heal themselves had gone out of style. Still, I think they might be fine if used in moderation. The devourers presented here are all in dire need of a damage fix, but otherwise they should be able to scare your players both on a roleplaying and on a mechanical level. The soulspike devourer in particular could literally eat an ice devil for breakfast.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: War Devil
Illustration Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast. This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
The War Devil, previously known as the Horned Devil and also known as the Malebranche, has been a staple of D&D since at least AD&D First Edition. You know those traditional images of winged, horned devils poking the damned with tridents? They depict these guys. In 4e, they’re only on the Monster Manual.
The Lore
A War Devil is about the most powerful devil that’s likely to be found in the service of a summoner. In the overall diabolic hierarchy they only take orders from pit fiends or archidevils. It some mortal tyrant is summoning up a literal army from Hell, a malebranche is going to be at the head of that army, and will have ice devil senior officers. At Int 15, that malebranche is also likely cooking up a scheme to bring his pit fiend boss into the world for a hostile takeover of the tyrant’s operation.
The Numbers
The War Devil is a Level 22 Brute (Leader) with 255 HP. It has a speed of 8, and a clumsy flight speed of 8. Like all devils it has darkvision and is highly resistant to fire (resistance 30, in this case).
Its attacks are a little weird. The basic melee attack is a Reach 1 claw which, as usual for devils, is weak and useless. The infamous trident is Reach 2 and, weirdly enough, recharges on a 4-6 instead of being at-will. It does more damage than the claw, but way less than it should for a level 22 brute. On a hit the target also takes a bit of ongoing damage, slides to a square adjacent to the malebranche, and is knocked prone.
Despite being a brute, the war devil has a very soldierly minor action at-will ability called Besieged Foe. This automatically marks a target within line of sight of the malebranche, and gives the monster’s allies +2 to attacks made against it. This lasts until the malebranche uses the ability against someone else, or until the end of the encounter.
As an at-will move action it can use Devilish Transposition, a teleport power which makes it swap places with an allied devil within 20 squares.
And as a minor action that recharges on 5-6, it can employ Fiendish Tactics to direct up to two equal-or-lower-level devil allies to make a move action or a basic attack out of turn.
As a brute the War Devil wants to be right on the front lines tying up your defenders. Then when one of its more mobile buddies manages to make it to your squishies, it’s going to swap places with them and direct its other buddies to run closer for a proper stomping.
War devils pair exceedingly well with… other war devils! They can each use Besieged Foe on a different target and engage someone else they’re not marking, and can use Fiendish Tactics on each other. They also go well with other highly mobile devils to set up transposition combos, and can be pretty dangerous when combined with a ridiculous number of legion devils.
The sample encounter is level 21: 1 war devil, 1 ice devil, 2 bone devils and 12 legion devil legionnaires (the level 21 variant). Remember that both the bone devils and the legionnaires can teleport at will!
Final Impression
The tactical aspect of the war devil’s powers is quite interesting, but they suffer heavily from the math bug. Personally, I’d make their trident an at will attack with level-appropriate damage and get rid of the claw while keeping everything else. I’d also make them soldiers instead of brutes, since the flavor of their powers is a lot more “soldierly” than “brutish”.
Flavor-wise… I guess I can kinda see why they were left out of the Monster Vault. Even back in previous editions I imagine it would be hard to distinguish a horned devil from, say, a bearded devil if you were not already familiar with the monster entries. Changing their name to War Devil was probably an attempt at making them more distinctive, but the success was mixed. Mechanically they’re a bit like junior pit fiends, so if you’re strapped for space and are already including pit fiends in your lineup, I can see leaving these guys out.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual/Vault: Succubus
Illustration Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast. This is part of a series! Go here to see the other entries.
Succubi are very traditional D&D monster. Just like mariliths (the other sexy fiend), they’ve been a part of the game since the start. Unlike mariliths, sexiness is their main schtick. Here we can find them both in the Monster Manual and in the Monster Vault.
The Lore
Now, the first thing anyone familiar with older editions will notice is that there’s something very non-traditional about succubi in Fourth Edition. They’re devils!
You see, from at least AD&D 1st edition all the way to 3.5, succubi were demons. I suspect this was mainly due to their Chaotic Evil alignment, since they’ve always been beautiful and cunning manipulators with superlative skill in seduction and other mind games. They’re still all those things in Fourth Edition, which has approximately nothing to do with the demon idiom while being a 100% culture fit for Hell. Making them devils makes a lot of sense from that perspective. As devils, their alignment is Evil.
A succubus is all about the classic concept of infernal temptation, using their guile and good looks to convince foolish mortals to sign away their souls and perform evil deeds. They might also be sent to the world as emissaries to important mortals, establishing channels of communication between these villains and the lords of Hell.
There’s no Succubus Lore entry in the MM, possibly because of space concerns, but there is one very interesting detail in their description: unlike in previous editions there is absolutely no mention of a succubus’ natural form being that of a beautiful woman with bat wings (even though the illustration depicts one like that). Instead, the description says they take the form of beautiful men and women to tempt mortals.
This means there’s no separate “incubus” monster, and opens up a lot of other possibilities. Maybe all succubi are genderfluid! Maybe their real appearance is the lumpy hunchbacked goblin-thing of medieval legend… or it could just be a real pretty bat-winged humanoid of any gender (including “none”). I mean, they are fallen angels, and angels are androgynous.
The Numbers
The MM and MV versions are quite similar, so we can discuss both of them simultaneously. Succubi are Medium Immortal Humanoids (devils, shapechangers). The Shapechanger keyword applies to any monster who can change their shape in some way. It’s mostly there for reference, since the actual rules related to this will be in the monster’s stat block.
Succubi are Level 9 Controllers with 90 HP. They have ground and fly speeds of 6, and the usual devil traits of Darkvision and Fire Resistance 20.
A succubus can Change Shape as a minor action, altering its physical form to that of any Medium humanoid until it decides to change again or drops to 0 HP. It can duplicate any specific individual that fits that category and whom it has seen before. Noticing the deception requires passing a DC 30 Insight check according to the MV.
Going by the difficulty table, that’s considered a Hard check for Level 15 characters, meaning a level 15 character with both high Wisdom and Insight training but no further Insight min-maxing will pass this around 50% of the time. Level-appropriate PCs will find it even harder to spot a succubus in disguise unless they spend a lot of effort on that min-maxing.
The succubus’ basic melee attack is a Reach 1 Corrupting Touch which which does untyped damage and is otherwise uninteresting. The real beauty is in its other attacks. There’s a straight-up Dominate attack that targets Will at range 5, and dominates for a turn on a hit. Dominated targets act under the direction of the dominator, but also count as dazed.
Then there’s the infamous Charming Kiss, which is more insidious. It’s reach 1 and targets Will. A hit means the target can’t attack the succubus, and will interpose itself between any melee or ranged attacks targeting the devil if the two are adjacent to each other. This lasts until one of the succubus’ allies attacks the target, or until the succubus is reduced to 0 HP. This effect can be sustained indefinitely out of combat as long as the succubus can kiss the target at least once every 24 hours. More on that under Final Impressions.
As mentioned before, there isn’t much difference between versions, and most of them are in the Charming Kiss. The MM version has the effect described above as a secondary attack, requiring an successful (non-damaging) attack against AC before the attack against Will can be rolled. The MV version has the attack against Will as the primary, which I like. It also specifies that the interposing effect is an Imediate Interrupt, which IIRC limits it to once per turn. I like this change less, because it sounds a bit less fun to the cruel GM in me.
The sample encounter is level 9, 1 succubus, 2 snaketongue assassins (yuan-ti) and 2 constrictor snakes. Zehir wasn’t mentioned by name under “gods who are friends with Asmodeus”, but this is like the third snake-themed encounter in the multi-entry, so I guess he’s included in that group.
Final Impression
The succubus is the iconic “sexy monster”… in theory. My impression is that if you want to turn even the most impulsive lecherous barbarian into a chaste ascetic all you have to do is announce a succubus is somewhere nearby. And if you want to turn that barbarian into a chaste ascetic contract lawyer, you show them the description of Charming Kiss. They’re going to spend all their time between turns looking for loopholes in there. It’s wonderful!
Let’s enumerate a few of them… A PC under the effect of Charming Kiss can’t attack the succubus, but they are in no way compelled to attack the other PCs and can still attack the succubus’ allies normally. They are compelled to take attacks aimed at the succubus if the two are adjacent, but are not compelled to stay adjacent to it.
I mean, clearly the intent is that the Kiss makes the target fall in love with the succubus. They’d want to stay close to her and make impassioned pleas for the party to spare her and so on. But I think few players would enjoy roleplaying that to the detriment of the group, particularly in the middle of a fight. So here you have our brave barbarian gloating that he’s far too clever to be taken in by the succubus’ devilish wiles… when in truth the succubus has succeeded in turning him into a chaste ascetic contract lawyer who keeps running away from her.
The succubus can pursue by flying, and can keep trying to charm other people. There’s no restriction on the number of charmed targets! And there’s always Dominate for preventing the PCs from running away. Clearly, the best succubus encounter isn’t the one described above, but a succubus surrounded by innocent charmed victims who will do anything to protect their love.
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