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• Oct 1, 2019

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

  

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

  The Monster Manual lists demons in alphabetic order, and the Vault lists them by level. Since we’re using the Monster Manual as our guide here, let’s examine them alphabetically. Doing this means our first demon is the one right at the top of their “monster ladder”: the Balor.

  Let’s be real here: Balors are Balrogs. They were even named Balrogs back in the oldest days of D&D, before the Tolkien estate complained. They look like towering red-skinned humanoids with horrible fanged and horned horse heads, shaggy black manes, and bat wings. They wield huge flaming swords and whips. So yeah, Balrogs.

  Here Balors command large hordes of lesser demons, who all fear being torn apart by them. Balors often answer directly to the demon lords in turn, though some of them stake out some territory of their own to rule as princelings, answering to no one. You can sometimes find balors bound against their will to ancient places in the deepest reaches of the natural world, just waiting for some fool of a Tûk to wake them up.

  Since we have a whole post just for them, let’s discuss the MM and MV versions separately!

  Balor (Monster Manual)

  The Balor is a Huge Elemental Humanoid (demon). Anything with the “demon” keyword is officially a demon, and also doesn’t need to sleep. It’s also a Level 27 Elite Brute with 624 HP and higher defenses than its role and level would indicate. In combat they like to focus on a single opponent to the exclusion of all else - yes, they’ll trip your defender’s mark punishment like no one else, but they can take it. These demons very rarely retreat. So if you were wondering why the PCs would ever need access to their own colossus ally, here’s your answer.

  Balors have truesight 6, are immune to fear, have Resist 40 fire and Resist 20 variable (3/encounter). That last bit means the balor can change what element that resistence 20 applies to as a free action up to 3 times per encounter. Variable resistance is a demon signature trait in 4e, and I prefer it over having to memorize that long list of resistances and immunities from previous editions. It also prevents PCs from just loading up with sonic damage and ignoring all of that as well.

  It also has a Flaming Body: an aura 2 that does 10 fire damage to any enemy that starts its turn inside it. When the balor is bloodied, the aura’s size increases to 3 and the damage increases to 20.

  The balor walks with Speed 8 and flies with Speed 12 (clumsy). It would have some trouble taking off midair if Gandalf threw it off a bridge.

  Balors fight with a sword made of lightning (range 3) and a whip made of fire (range 5). The sword is its basic attack and does lightning damage with the High Crit property. The whip targets Reflex and does both instant and ongoing fire damage. The monster can attack with both in a single standard action, and the “tactics” section says it will use its action point to attack again as soon as it hits the same target with both weapons. Both of them suffer from the usual math bugs.

  As a free action the balor can call upon its Demonic Accuracy, which allows it to reroll a missed attack with a +5 bonus to hit. When it dies, it explodes, subjecting everyone in a close burst 10 to an attack against Reflex that does a somewhat underwhelming 7d10 fire damage, half on a miss.

  As you’d expect, Balors are Chaotic Evil. They speak Abyssal and Common and are trained in Perception, Bluff, Insight and Intimidate. Their Int is 12, which is pretty good but not “mastermind” level. Just goes to show you brawn is more valuable than brains when it comes to rising through the ranks of the Abyss, such as they are.

  Balor (Monster Vault)

  The Monster Vault balor is also a Huge Elemental Humanoid (demon) and a Level 27 Elite Brute. Its defenses are in line with its role and level, and it has 622 HP.

  While the MV Balor maintains the Flaming Body aura, all of its other passive traits are pretty different. It replaces truesight 6 with blindsight 6 and darkvision, which are more useful when you think about it. Its fire resistance is down to 20, but it keeps the variable resistance to other elements. This is now listed among its Triggered Actions, at the end of the stat block, which tripped me up for a second.

  The damage of its Death Burst actually went down, from 7d10 to 6d10, but it more than makes up for this with the damage of its other attacks. The sword went from 2d10+10 to 6d10+11 while still being High Critical. That’s 7d10+71 lightning damage on a critical! The whip underwent a more modest increase (3d8+5 to 2d10+10), but its ongoing damage also went up from 5 to 15. The MV Balor can still attack with both weapons using a single standard action.

  It also gains a new attack named Beheading Blade, an encounter power that recharges when it’s bloodied. It’s an attack with the sword that does around 30% more lightning damage than the basic version, crits on 15-20, and is also High Critical. Yikes!

  Final Impressions

  The Balor definitely looks like something that was on the level of a demigod before it was corrupted by evil. I remember that balors in previous editions had tons of spell-like abilities that ended up being its main way of fighting, but it feels like 4e did a good job of making them impressive physical threats like they’re supposed to be.

  The Monster Vault update is hands-down the best of the two, so you should definitely use that if you have both books. It’s actually punching a bit above its (already impressive) weight class in terms of damage.

  Both versions even have somewhat decent ability to counter ranged attackers, since their own attacks have a very long reach. Plus nothing prevents it from bringing in some artillery support.

  I notice these 4e stat blocks lack the infamous ability to summon other demons, which is understandable because accounting for it when building encounters was a big hassle. If you want the flavor of it, though, you can simply build an encounter with a balor and several other demons and describe the others as being summoned when the fight starts.

  Speaking of encounters, the sample one in the MM is level 26: one balor, 1 thunderblast cyclone elemental, and 2 efreet pyresingers. It’s likely these two efreet wizards have managed to bind a balor, because I can’t really see the relationship going the other way.

• Sep 23, 2019

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

  Strap yourselves in, because we’re in for a huuuge multi-entry. So huge, in fact, that this post is just an introduction to it, and each individual demon will get their own.

  To understand the what 4e demons are like, we have to talk a bit about the cosmology of D&D 4th Edition, which is significantly different than that of previous editions.

  Fourth Edition’s cosmology has been nicknamed the World Axis, because it’s more, well, vertical than the wheel-shaped Great Wheel of earlier editions. You have the World at the center, with its fey and shadow echoes to either side. You have the Astral Sea above, and the Elemental Chaos below. We’re focusing on that last one here.

  The concept of the Elemental Chaos is that you take all the elemental planes which used to be separate and make them the same place. It’s the natural home of both traditional elementals and what used to be called “quasi-“ and “para-“ elementals back in the AD&D days. It’s also the home of the Primordials, titanic elemental beings who came into existence at the dawn of time and decided to create the world just for kicks. They would eventually get a bit tired of it, and begin thinking of destroying the whole thing and building something else.

  The gods came into existence in a similar way up there in the Astral Sea, and when they saw the world they quite liked it. They went to war with the Primordials to stop them from unmaking the world - angels and archons, which we already saw, were the rank-and-file soldiers in this Dawn War.

  Now, legend has it that long before even the Dawn War, there was this god named Tharizdun. He saw the other gods and thought it would be swell if he was lord over them all. He roamed to the ends of the universe looking for a way to do that, and somewhere out there he found a tiny shard of ultimate evil. Tharizdun wasn’t a nice fellow even before touching the shard, but after he did that he was completely corrupted.

  So he took the shard to the deepest part of the Elemental Chaos and planted it there like a seed. This seed sprouted and swallowed everything around it like an expanding black hole. Everything and everyone in there was completely corrupted. Tharizdun tried to lead an army of corrupted elementals out of that cyst of evil to conquer, well, everything, but the other gods banded together to stop him and seal him up in a place only they knew. They couldn’t destroy the cyst, though, so it remained.

  This cyst is the Abyss. The corrupted elementals are Demons. Demons don’t belong in the cosmology the way elementals or even Primordials do. Demons are wrong.

  Demons don’t want wealth or power. They have no use for the souls of mortals and don’t care about corrupting them. Demons only want to destroy as much as possible before they themselves are destroyed and reborn in the Abyss to do it again. They only organize through intimidation and brute force, with stronger demons bullying weaker ones into servitude. Visually, they’re all terrifying monsters. The one whose looks are closest to those of a person has six arms and and the lower body of a snake.

  The strongest demons are the Demon Princes, primordials who were caught in the Abyss when it formed and were corrupted. They include a lot of the classic “usual suspects” of D&D: Orcus, Demogorgon, Baphomet… There’s also Lolth, a goddess who became kind of an honorary archdemon after she moved into a region of the Abyss called the Demonweb Pits. It’s quite likely the influence of the Seed of Evil has corrupted her as much as it did Tharizdun.

  Demon Prince-level baddies get their own separate entries: the Demon entry is for the non-unique monsters beneath them, which can still be quite badass themselves. The next posts will cover these.

  The Monster Vault has several demons that don’t show up in the Monster Manual. That’s because these particular demons show up in the Monster Manual 2 and 3! They are: the abyssal eviscerator, the babau and the dretch. Since they do show up on the Monster Vault, I’ll talk about them using information from those later Manuals after I’m done with the MM demons.

• Sep 20, 2019

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

  

  At last we come to another iconic D&D monster! If you’re following VoidDrifter’s RPG.net thread on the Dragon Magazine monster articles, you can read about the history of Death Knights in the game here. The article was published before the Monster Manual came out, so here we finally get to see what 4e Death Knights look like.

  They exist in both the Monster Manual and the Monster Vault.

  The Lore

  Death Knights share some similarities with liches, in that they’re people who became undead through a profane ritual so they could live forever. The main difference here is that they were great warriors instead of potent spellcasters. The ritual is also a bit different: instead of binding their soul to a phylactery, it binds it to their favored weapon, which becomes known as their Soul Weapon.

  Death Knights retain the memories and abilities they had in life, but the ritual distorts their personality into something much nastier than it used to be. Not that they were all that nice to begin with, of course - becoming a Death Knight is a choice and the ritual itself is an extremely evil act. Still, it’s common for their to retain a twisted version of whatever code of honor they followed before. Maybe a Death Knight will wax poetic about how it fell from grace while it guts you.

  You can expect them to always be superlative combatants and have great skill at leading troops. Even nonsapient skeletons become more dangerous under the command of a Death Knight.

  If you manage to disarm them of their soul weapon, they become dazed and weakened, though anyone else who holds the weapon suffers the same effects. Destroying the weapon is useless - the knight can restore it with a touch. There’s no shortcut to destroying a Death Knight: you have to defeat them in combat. When they fall their soul weapons lose their special properties.

  The ritual for turning someone into a death knight comes from Orcus himself. The agents of Orcus seek out legendary warriors who are reaching the end of their lives and tempt them with immortality. Others seek the ritual of their own volition.

  The Numbers

  “Death Knight” is actually a monster template, the first we’ve ran into here. The way 4e templates work is that they make a regular monster Elite and add a suite of thematic powers. You can technically add two templates together to make a Solo as well, with a few modifications to the process.

  The detailed rules for adding HP and defenses from the template to a monster are a bit awkward. In practice, you’re better off making an Elite or Solo monster from scratch with the traits from the templates you want. We get two example Death Knights here, both of which have MM and MV versions.

  Death Knight (Human Fighter)

  Called just a “Death Knight” by the Monster Vault, this dapper fellow is a Level 17 Elite Soldier. The MM version has 264 HP, but the MV one has 324. In both cases it has darkvision, Resist 10 necrotic, and Vulnerable 10 Radiant, and moves with Speed 5 due to its heavy armor.

  Power-wise, there’s quite a bit of ground to cover, so we’ll list things in the MV order, by action type.

  The Death Knight has a passive trait called Marshal Undead, which gives any undead allies of level 17 or less within 10 squares of the knight a +2 to all attacks.

  It attacks with its Soulsword, which in the MM does a mix of physical and necrotic damage plus extra necrotic damage on a hit. In the MV, it does a whole bunch of necrotic damage and marks the target for a turn even on a miss.

  It can also use the sword to perform a Containing Strike, which is like the basic attack above but allows the knight to make a free attack against the target if they try to shift until the end of the next turn. The MM version is single-target, the MV version can target 1 or 2 creatures, making this the monster’s basic Elite multiattack ability.

  Oncer per encounter it can use Warrior’s Challenge, which I believe is a Fighter power. It does encounter-power-level damage, pushes the target 2 squares, and marks every enemy within 2 squares of the target at the end of the push.

  Finally, on a recharge 5-6, it can unleash Unholy Flames in a Close Burst 2, which does a heap of necrotic damage to enemies and gives 2d6 extra fire damage to the attacks of any undead allies for a turn.

  The MM Death Knight also has a Second Wind it can use once per encounter to recover 66 HP. So that’s why tie MM version has less HP!

  The Death Knight can punish marked targets like a fighter.

  The MV version has one other triggered action: Implacable, which lets it make an immediate save against being marked, slowed, dazed, immobilized, or stunned. This means all of those effects have only a 40% chance of actually landing unless the party can try to apply them multiple times in a turn.

  This monster works really well as the commander of an undead unit, and the suggested encounter features just that: Level 16, a death knight, 2 abyssal ghouls, and 2 sword wraiths. Perhaps these were the knight’s old subordinates, made into undead servitors as part of the ritual that transformed it.

  Death Knight Blackguard

  This MV-only variant is a Level 18 Elite Skirmisher with 338 HP. It mainly shows the advantage of dropping the somewhat rigid structure of templates and making your own monsters from scratch using them as guidelines.

  It has the same darkvision and resistances as the classic Death Knight above, and exchanges Marshal Undead with Slayer of the Living, an Aura 3 that slides any enemy who ends its turn in the aura 3 squares. A handy tool for drawing in the squishies while keeping the defenders away.

  Its basic attack is still the Soulsword, which here allows the knight to shift 2 squares before or after the attack instead of marking. It can use this attack twice in a turn, against different enemies.

  It can also choose to do an at-will Overpowering Attack against 1 or 2 enemies, which slides them instead of shifting the knight.

  The Blackguard possesses an Abyssal Blast encounter power that targets Reflex and does a heap of fire and necrotic damage to enemies in a Close Burst 5, or half damage on a miss.

  As a minor action, it can use Chilling Glare to make one enemy within 5 squares automatically grant combat advantage for a turn.

  And finally, the Blackguard is just as Implacable as the MV Death Knight.

  Yeah, keeping any sort of formation while one of these is on the field is a hopeless endeavor. It becomes even more dangerous when paired with a classic death knight and a few other lesser undead, preferably ones that do nasty things if they get combat advantage, which it can give out freely.

  Death Knight (Dragonborn Paladin)

  This MM-only variant is a Level 25 Elite Soldier with 373 HP (466 if you add the Second Wind). It has darkvision, Resist 15 necrotic, and Vulnerable 15 radiant.

  This Death Knight combines many of the powers of the classic model (which come from the template) with a few paladin-like attacks. This means it has the same Marhsal Undead aura and Unholy Flames burst. Being an MM-only monster it lacks Implacable.

  Aside from the basic soulsword attack, it can use the Valiant Strike at-will power that gives it an extra +1 to the attack roll per adjacent enemy. It also has a Terrifying Smite encounter power that does extra damage, pushes the target 5 squares and prevents it from moving closer to the knight for a turn.

  Its mark power is the paladin’s Divine Challenge, which lasts until the knight marks someone else and does a bit of automatic necrotic damage to targets that flout the mark.

  This death knight features in the second suggested encounter of the Monster Manual entry, which is level 24 and has it accompanied by a fell wyvern, a great flameskull and a bunch of abyssal ghoul minions. It’s something you can expect when raiding Orcus’s neighborhood in the Abyss.

  I can see why they fixed the paladin’s mark in Divine Power, and why they dropped much of the fiddly bits for adding templates. Not having any multiattack ability makes it a little less effective than an elite monster of its level should be. The lack of Implacable is also keenly felt. This is a bit disappointing since we’re probably looking at someone who had a direct hand in the fall of Arkhosia.

• Sep 16, 2019

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

  

  Dark Ones are small humanoids from the Shadowfell, echoing the world’s halflings in the same way Shadar-Kai (which we’ll eventually get to) echo its humans. They’re halfling-sized with purplish skin, pronounced noses, pupiless eyes and sharp teeth. I think the one pictured in the book also has hooves and is wearing boots over them, which is somewhere between cute and funny. Overall, though, the Shadowfell aesthetic is definitely there.

  Since they’re Unaligned, I imagine there are entire communities of Dark One civilians out there leading peaceful existences alongside Shadar-Kai villagers and the like. Their culture probably bears a vague resemblance to that of halflings but is much gloomier. This all speculation on my part, though, as the book deals with the sort of Dark One PCs are likely to fight.

  Dark Ones have at least as much talent for skulduggery as haflings, so the ones PCs meet as antagonists will likely be up to something shady - espionage, theft, assassination, and so on. They often work for shadar-kai, intelligent undead, and Underdark dwellers. Even then you could still make them enigmatic spy types that might ally with the PCs if their goals happen to match.

  We have two varieties here, both Unaligned Small Shadow Humanoids with Speed 6 and darkvision. They’re trained in Stealth and Thievery.

  The Dark Creeper is a Level 4 Skirmisher with 54 HP. It carries 5 daggers hidden in its black garments, and uses them to attack both in melee and at range. It deals extra damage against targets that grant it combat advantage, and has a Dark Step at-will movement power that allows it to move up to 4 squares while gaining a +4 bonus to AC against opportunity attacks, and to gain combat advantage against anyone it ends up adjacent to.

  It clearly fights by zipping around the battlefield as a cloud of shadowy smoke and stabbing fools. It won’t avoid OAs every time, but will still avoid enough to be a nuisance. When the Dark Creeper dies, it “explodes in a spout of darkness”, automatically blinding anyone (save ends) in a close burst 1.

  The Dark Stalker is a Level 10 Lurker with 81 HP. It wears the same black garments and also carries a bunch of daggers, but prefers a scimitar for close-in work. It has the same abilities as the Dark Creeper, plus a few extras:

  Dark Fog is an encounter power that creates a zone of darkens in an Area Burst 4 within 10 squares of the stalker. This zone lasts a turn but can be sustained with a minor action. It blocks line of sight for anyone who doesn’t have darkvision.

  Finally, the dark stalker can become invisible for a turn with a minor action, a power which recharges on a 3-6.

  While the Dark Stalker can use Dark Fog and Invisibility to hide a better than the Dark Creeper, the fact that it has stronger versions of all the creeper’s powers strongly indicates to me it should be a skirmisher, and not a lurker. This would make it a better able to survive the thick of the action.

  The sample encounter is level 4: 3 dark creepers, 2 shadowunter bats, and 1 deathlock wight. I would strongly suggesting giving the creeper trio the ability to drop a single zone of darkness like the stalker’s as a joint stunt. That would give both the bats and the creepers some extra kick.

  I like these! Their lore is kinda sparse but suggests several interesting plot hooks. The signature traits for making custom dark ones are their Small size, the Killing Dark power that makes them explode into ink, and Dark Step. It’s easy to make either these existing dark ones or your custom models of a leve that makes them likely to hang out with shadar-kai.

• Sep 10, 2019

  Dungeon Fantasy Character: Argle, Half-Ogre Scout

  

  Argle wants no trouble. Even when town people try to give him trouble. Lives deep in the forest. Hunts his food. Sells pelts in town, once in a while. Is friend to small children. Small children have not learned to fear Argle yet.

  One day, strangers disturb Argle’s peace. Think he’s an evil wizard. Much explaining happens before they realize Argle only have similar name to evil wizard.

  Strangers depart. Days later, Argle departs too. Finds some friends, which is good. Goes questing with friends. Maybe someday he find evil wizard and kill him to stop people from confusing Argle with him. Also demons and stranger stuff.

  Argle used 2 character points to buy extra gear. Likes to shoot enemies with his bow. Will grapple and stab if can’t shoot. Will spend earned points on being more shooty; might spend them on being better wrestler too.

  Argle, 248-Point Half-Ogre Scout

  ST 15 {50}; DX 14 {80}; IQ 10 {0}; HT 13 {30}

  Damage 1d+1/2d+1; BL 22.5kg; HP 15; Will 10; Per 13 {15}; FP 13; Basic Speed 7.00 {5}; Basic Move 7.

  Advantages

  • Absolute Direction {5}
  • Combat Reflexes {15}
  • Fearlessness 1 {2}
  • Heroic Archer {20}
  • Night Vision 7 {7}
  • Outdoorsman 2 {20}
  • Strongbow {1}
  • Tough Skin 1 {3}

  Disadvantages

  • Appearance (Ugly) {-8}
  • Honesty (12) {-10}
  • No Sense of Humor {-10}
  • Obsession (Kill Bargle) (12) {-5}
  • Odious Personal Habit (Unwashed Bushwhacker) {-5}
  • Sense of Duty (Adventuring Companions) {-5}
  • Social Stigma (Savage) {-10}
  • Weirdness Magnet {-15}

  Skills

  • Armory (Missile Weapons) (A) IQ-1 {1} - 9
  • Bow (A) DX+4 {16} - 18
  • Brawling (E) DX {2} - 15
  • Camouflage (E) IQ+3 {2}¹ - 13
  • Cartography (A) IQ+1 {4} - 11
  • Climbing (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
  • Fast-Draw (Arrow) (E) DX+1 {1}² - 15
  • Fast-Draw (Knife) (E) DX+1 {1}² - 15
  • Gesture (E) IQ+1 {2} - 11
  • Hiking (A) HT {2} - 13
  • Jumping (E) DX {1} - 14
  • Knife (E) DX+4 {12} - 18
  • Mimicry (Bird Calls) (H) IQ+1 {2}¹ - 11
  • Navigation (A) IQ+4 {1}¹³ - 14
  • Observation (A) Per {2} - 13
  • Running (A) HT-1 {1} - 12
  • Search (A) Per-1 {1} - 12
  • Shadowing (A) IQ+1 {4} - 11
  • Stealth (A) DX-1 {1} - 13
  • Survival (Woodland) (A) Per+1 {1}¹ - 14
  • Tracking (A) Per+2 {2}¹ - 15
  • Traps (A) IQ+1 {4} - 11
  • Wrestling (A) DX+1 {4} - 15

  Quirks

  • Loves being around children {-1}
  • Speaks in as few words as possible… {-1}
  • …and sometimes refers to himself in the third person… {-1}
  • …but secretly has an excellent vocabulary {-1}
  • Loves having friends but would never admit it {-1}

  Loadout

  • Long Knife: Damage sw-1 cut or thr imp. Reach C,1. $120, 0.75kg.
  • Composite Bow: ST 17. Damage thr+3 imp; Range x20/x25; $900, 2kg.
  • Hip Quiver, Large: Holds up to 50 arrows, divided in two compartments. $30, 1kg.
    • Fine Arrows x25: $150, 1.25kg.
    • Fine Cutting Arrows x25: $150, 1.25kg.
  • Light Leather Armor Suit: DR 1, $150, 9kg.
  • Quick-Release Backpack: Holds 20kg of gear. Dropping it is a free action. $300, 1.5kg.
    • Blanket: $20, 2kg.
    • Canteen: $10, 1.5kg.
    • Personal Basics: $5, 0.5kg.
    • Rope, 1cm, 10m: Supports 150kg; $5, 0.75kg.
    • $160 in coin.

  Combat

  No Encumbrance!

  • Defenses

    • Dodge 11
    • Parry 12 (Knife)
    • DR 2

  • Attacks

    • Bow (18): 1d+6 imp or cut, Acc 3; Range 340/425.
    • Knife (18): 2d cut or 1d+1 imp; Reach C,1.
    • Brawling Punch (15): 1d cr; Reach C.
    • Wrestling Grapple (15): 1d+1 control; Reach C.

  1. +2 from Outdoorsman ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

  2. +1 from Combat Reflexes ↩ ↩²

  3. +3 from Absolute Direction ↩

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