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• Nov 6, 2022

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Thri-Kreen

  

  This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.

  Thri-Kreen got famous as one of the playable options for AD&D’s Dark Sun. This is their 4e debut. They would return as fully-supported playable characters in the 4e Dark Sun Campaign Setting, about 3 months after the publication of the MM3.

  The Lore

  Thri-Kreen are mostly-humanoid sapient insects, adapted to live in arid climes. They’re all over the Dark Sun setting, but even in this more generic version their preferred habitats are deserts and arid wastelands.

  Thri-Kreen tradition says they were created by the great primal spirit known to them as Sand Father, and to other species as Old Grandfather. Sand Father looked at the deserts of the world and found them too empty for his taste. So he plucked a species of sand beetle from the world and made them into the first thri-kreen. Realizing that size and strength would not be enough to guarantee their survival, Sand Father also gave them the wisdom of the lizard and the cunning of the desert fox.

  In the distant past, the thri-keen managed to form a large empire that spanned many of the world’s deserts, a nation known as Val-Karri. It lasted for a hundred years before it was subjugated and assimilated by the dragonborn empire of Arkhosia. The thri-kreen recovered their freedom when Arkhosia fell, and returned to a nomadic lifestyle.

  Modern-day thri-kreen regard people who live outside the desert as weak, for only those tested by the sands are worthy of respect. Though they draw no maps or formal borders of their desert territories, they guard those territories fiercely and are quite harsh to interlopers who try to pass through without paying homage to them first.

  As long as these protocols are observed, thri-kreen are content to leave other to their business and to go about their own. They’re very well adapted to their chosen habitat and don’t need to raid neighbors for resources or anything like that. Thri-kreen communities tend to be small and nomadic, and might go for years without meeting other sapients. They display good aptitude for primal magic and psionic powers, and are often good allies to any druids and wardens that also make the desert their home. Thri-kreen villains are usually in service to evil primal spirits, demons, or other groups who corrupt and transform the land to suit their own foul purposes.

  The Numbers

  Thri-kreen are Medium Natural Humanoids with a ground speed of 7 or 8 and low-light vision. Their signature ability is the Mantis Jump, an encounter power which allows it to jump a number of squares equal to its speed without provoking opportunity attacks. Most stat blocks here combine martial training with minor psionic powers.

  Thri-Kreen Ambusher

  These are young adults who spent their childhoods learning about the land and, upon coming of age, are cast out of their tribe to survive alone for a year. They travel widely to hone their skills, and their extended periods of solitude also allow them to develop their latent psionic powers.

  Ambushers are Level 6 Lurkers with 58 HP and a Speed of 8. They fight with two spears in melee and with a Mind Stab power at range. The power deals light psychic damage and dazes for a turn.

  They can also use a Spinning Spears maneuver. This deals about half the damage of a basic attack, but also gives them a +5 bonus to all defenses for a turn and recharges their Psionic Boost ability. This one allows them to add extra psychic damage to a Spear or Mind Stab attack after it hits.

  So yeah, this is a lurker who doesn’t hide. It will alternate boosted Spear/Mind Stab attacks with Spinning Spear. It’s still pretty good at hiding as well, which is why it’s called an Ambusher.

  Thri-Kreen Scout

  Scouts keep watch over their territories and can stand still for hours under the blazing sun while doing so. They warn the rest of the group when they spot an intruder, and are cautious to engage them, preparing traps in advance. If a direct fight starts, they’re frenetic combatants.

  Scouts are Level 7 Skirmishers with 80 HP and Speed 8. They fight with Spears and Shuriken, and can perform Leaping Attacks to move their speed and make a stronger spear attack at any point during the move.

  If hit by an attack, they can use Sudden Recoil to shift 1 square away as a reaction. If the attack bloodies them, they can shift 4 squares instead. They also have a Psionic Boost power similar to that of the Ambusher, though this one recharges automatically on a 5+.

  Scouts will alternate boosted basic attacks with Leaping Attacks, and will probably have traps lying around the battlefield if they were expecting company.

  Thri-Kreen Desert Talker

  This is a primal spellcaster with powers over the desert sands. They tend to act as judges in thri-kreen communities, trying those who break their laws and customs and punishing the guilty. The most severe punishments are execution and exile to the desert, but I imagine there are smaller ones for lesser offenses.

  Sand Talkers fight with their bare claws and throw shurikens, but they also have a couple of sand-bending spells for use in combat. Shifting Dune Rend (area 1 within 10 vs. Reflex) deals no damage, but knocks prone on a hit and slides 2 squares as an effect. Desert Tempest (close blast 5) deals minor physical damage, pushes 2 squares, and blinds (save ends). It recharges when the thri-kreen is bloodied.

  All of this pushing around synergizes with Sand Trap, a minor action that allows it to create three of the things within 10 squares. When an enemy starts their turn in a sand trap square, they are restrained for a turn, and then the sand trap disappears. The power recharges when there are no sand traps left in the field.

  Desert talkers are good for breaking up PC formations and setting things up for their allies, which is exactly what they’ll spend the first few rounds doing. Their special attacks do very little damage, but their basic ones are okay and a good choice once all the PCs are good and restrained.

  Final Impression

  I love thri-kreen! Whether they’re from Athas or not, I find their look extremely interesting, and I also liked that this generic version of their culture does not make them universally hostile.

• Nov 4, 2022

  The Guns of Wolfenstein, Part 01

  I’ve been playing a lot of Wolfenstein games these past few days. There’s something cathartic about unapologetically fighting Nazis. I first did it to de-stress, and then to celebrate the results of our most recent election (go Lula!).

  And since I do occasionally want to post something here that’s not Let’s Read the Monster Manual, I decided to talk a bit about the various guns you use to kill Nazis in all of these games.

  We’re dealing with two separate continuities here: one that starts with Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001) and another that starts with Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014). You could, if you’re so inclined, include both of them in the GURPS Infinite Worlds framework. I’d call then Wolfenstein-1 and Wolfenstein-2 respectively, though I guess Infinity might call the latter Reich-6 at first.

  In this article, we’ll cover the stuff that appears in Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001), AKA the Wolfenstein-1 setting.

  Game Overview

  This is a flashier remake of Wolfenstein 3D, the game that more or less started the FPS genre back in 1992. It’s the first game in the franchise to have a more fleshed out story wrapped around its gameplay, with voiced dialogue and cutscenes elaborating on the simpler “you must escape the castle and kill Nazis” plot of the 1992 game.

  The game takes place in a pulpier version of WWII, where the Nazis are working on a large variety of scary secret projects and the OSA (a joint Allied spy agency) is sending agents to stop them from hitting the field. The player character, as always, is William “B. J.” Blazkowicz. He gets sent along with a British agent to Castle Wolfenstein to find more about these projects, they get captured, and the game starts with Blazko’s escape attempt and moves on to thwarting those projects to the Allies can win the war.

  There are two sinister things going on here: an attempt by the Thule society to resurrect ancient evil undead knights, and a mad science lab working to build cyborg supersoldiers. The final boss is, of course, a bunch of cyborg supersoldiers possessed by the spirits of ancient evil undead knights.

  Historical Weapons

  Wolfenstein-1 is mostly a pulpier version of WWII, so a lot of the weapons we see are historical and present on GURPS High-Tech. Though sometimes you’ll start a level with some Allied weapons issued by the OSA, the vast majority of the time you’ll be using captured German hardware.

  OSA-issue weapons include the Colt M1911A1 pistol (p. HT99), the Thompson M1 submachine gun (p. HT122), and the Enfield Sten Mk IIS submachine gun (p. HT 125). The integral suppressor of the Sten works according to cinematic principles here, making it completely silent to enemies.

  Interestingly enough, one of the “elite guard” units you face in the game also uses Stens, because they’re meant to be sneaky and the Sten is the only suppressed SMG in the game. The other OSA weapons are used exclusively by the player character.

  German weapons include the Luger P08 pistol, (p. HT98), the ERMA MP40 SMG (p. HT 124), the Mauser Kar98K rifle (p. HT111), the Rheinmetall FG42 battle rifle (p. HT 115) and the Panzerfaust (p. HT147). The player also uses these extensively, since every enemy drops ammo for one of them.

  The FG42 is the signature weapon of the other “elite guard” unit in the game, and has the scope described in its High-Tech entry. It’s also possible to find a suppressor for the Luger and a variable-power scope for the Mauser, which you can stat up using the generic rules in p. HT 156 and p. HT 158.

  You can occasionally also find a few MG42 machine gun (p. HT 134) emplacements in the game. There is also a flamethrower similar to the M2-2 (p. HT179), though this is probably the German equivalent rather than the American version in the book.

  Grenades also see use, with most of them being the German Stielhandgranate 24, and the rest American AMC Mk II models. Both are on p. HT190-191.

  Fictional Weapons

  There’s a lot of pulpy arms research going on here on both sides, so we also get to see some weapons that don’t exist in reality. We’ll cover these in a bit more detail.

  Snooper Rifle

  This is a prototype sniper rifle issued to Blazkowicz by the OSA early in the second mission of the game. You also find captured rifles later on while breaking into one of the games’ many secret lab facilities.

  The Snooper is the most down-to-earth of the experimental weapons here, being an exaggerated version of the M3 Carbine (p. HT113). Even the fancy infrared sight is real! The biggest changes are the addition of a cinematic integral suppressor that makes the gun completely silent, and making the infrared sight more advanced than it really was. The one in the game has variable magnification and requires no external batteries.

  Venom Machine Gun

  This is the first entirely fictional weapon we encounter in the game, and the second most unrealistic one. It’s a portable, six-barreled, belt-fed minigun. It has relatively short barrels, a shoulder stock and rifle-style grips. There’s an in-game document that describes it as firing 7.92mm saboted armor piercing rounds, but the ammo for it is labeled as “12.7mm” in game. You first find the Venom as a prototype in one of the secret labs that make up the game’s levels, and after that it starts appearing in the hands of some enemy human soldiers. Most of the cyborg supersoldiers you meet towards the end of the game also carry one.

  We’ll need custom stats for this one! Let’s go with the assumption that it fires 7.92mm ammo, to make it minimally plausible for it to be portable. To make it a little easier on the user, we can further say it fires the 7.92x33mm Kurz round, instead of the longer 7.92x57mm Mauser round from the Kar98K.

  The in-game Venom takes up to 500 rounds. These would probably be in a disintegrating belt inside a metal can that can be worn as a backpack. The whole thing weights around 16kg, more than the weapon itself. More reasonable 200 and 100 round belts with their smaller containers might weight in at 8 and 4kg respectively.

  We’ll actually base the stats for it on the Minigun from page 138 of GURPS Ultra-Tech, making the Venom a TL 7+2 weapon. The one on the table fires APDS ammo, which is also TL 7+2 in this caliber, and has a 500-round belt.

  TL	Weapon	Damage	Acc	Range	Weight	RoF	Shots	ST	Bulk	Rcl
  7+2	Venom	6d+2(2) pi-	4	1000/4000	15kg/16kg	25!	500(5)	15M	-7	2

  The Venom requires Guns (LMG) to operate, or Guns (Longarm) with the Burst-Fire technique if using the alternate gun skill rules from Pyramid #3/65.

  Tesla Gun

  The weapon used by the advanced cyborg supersoldiers you meet at the very end of the game. Unlike the Venom this doesn’t bear even the tiniest resemblance to any real gun. Pull the trigger and it fires a stream of lightning until you release it or until it runs out of charge.

  The Tesla Gun draws power from a superscience backpack battery equivalent to a TL 9 D cell, but four times heavier. Its damage follows the same rules as the Lightning spell: metal armor only provides DR 1, and the target must make a HT roll with a penalty of -1 for every 2 points of injury taken from it. Failure means they’re stunned, and must attempt an HT roll every turn in order to recover.

  TL	Weapon	Damage	Acc	Range	Weight	RoF	Shots	ST	Bulk	Rcl
  7+2^	Tesla Gun	4d+2 burn sur	6	600/1900	35kg/10kg	10	50 (5)	18M	-8	1

  The Tesla Gun requires Gunner (Beam) to operate, even when carried.

  How much for these fancy guns?

  You’ll notice that I ommitted any price information for the Venom and the Tesla Gun above. That’s because in Wolfenstein-1 they’re secret prototypes with very limited production runs. You don’t buy them, you pry them from the hands of dead Nazi assholes.

  If you want to use them on a different setting where they are available for purchase, use the following costs:

  Name	Cost
  Venom MG	$12.500
  Venom Ammo (100-round belt, APDS)	$180
  Venom Ammo (100-round belt, solid)	$60
  Tesla Gun	$60.000
  Tesla Battery	$400

  These are for a setting with a tech level of 7+2. If you’re in a “plain” TL9 setting you might want to use the Minigun and Semi-Portable Electrolaser from Ultra-tech, which have slightly better stats.

  If your setting is like Wolfenstein-1, where the overall TL is a plain 7 and these are secret superscience prototypes, multiply all prices by 4.

• Nov 3, 2022

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Tannarukk

  

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

  This one feels like an AD&D 2nd Edition creation, as that’s when they renamed demons as “ta’nari”.

  The Lore

  Tannarukk are engineered hybrids of orc and demon DNA, the product of rituals performed by demon lords or ambitious mortal spellcasters. These rituals are effectively a mass-production process, as they involve pulsing vats and can create dozens of the creatures at once. In most cases they’re immediately put to work as soldiers and weapons of war, though they’re extremely difficult to keep under control unless they get “enough” opportunity to commit violence. As you might expect, that’s a tall order.

  The few free tannarukk bands that exist tend to seek work as mercenaries. Free or not, they can most often be found in the Astral Sea or Elemental Chaos, usually fighting something. They do sometimes show up in the middle world, and they love it because few warriors there can match their skill and resilience in combat.

  The Numbers

  Tannarukks are Medium Elemental Humanoids with the Demon and Orc keywords. They have Darkvision and Speed 6, along with Resist Fire 5. Their signature trait is Indomitable Fury, which kicks in when they drop to 0 HP for the first time in the fight. It makes them stay at 1 HP instead and gives them +2 to attacks and +4 to damage until the end of the encounter.

  This means the PCs should make sure each Tannarukk in the encounter stays down by hitting it again before it can get a chance to take more actions. If they don’t, they’re going to take more damage; if they do, that’s one attack that didn’t go to a healthier monster.

  Tannarukk Marauder

  Most tannarukks conform to this stat block, which is your basic enthusiastic axe murderer. Marauders wear hide and wield a greataxe, and can also thrown handaxes at those they can’t quite reach.

  Their Nimble Reaction trait gives them +4 AC against opportunity attacks, which is good because their signature move relies on fishing for them: Brutal Rampage allows them to move their speed and make a greataxe attack at any point during the move. This attack gains a +5 damage bonus for each opportunity attack made against the marauder during the move (but before the attack). The opportunity attacks don’t need to hit, they just need to happen.

  Tannarukk Steel Warrior

  This is a bigger tannarukk that received better training and had armor riveted to its hide. It’s a Level 18 Soldier with 177 HP. Its armor counts as plate, and it wields a shield and a Longsword, plus a Crossbow for ranged attacks.

  The sword marks for a turn, and the warrior can make free attacks against enemies that ignore the mark. It can also be used in a special attack named Burning Cage (recharge 5+). This melee attack targets Reflex and does heavy fire damage. The target takes a further 5 fire damage every time it enters a square during its turn (save ends).

  Tannarukk Flame Speaker

  This is a tannarukk spellcaster whose power relies on a connection to the abyssal flames that go into their production ritual. It’s level 17 Artillery with 129 HP and resist 10 fire, a bit higher than usual for them.

  The flame speaker fights with a Staff in melee, and with fire bolts at range. It can also shoot a fire barrage (recharge 5+) that targets up to three creatures but does a bit less damage than the basic bolt.

  Once per encounter, the flame speaker can summon Winds of Fire, an area burst attack that deals fire damage and creates a zone that lasts for the rest of the encounter. Anyone starting their turn inside takes 10 fire damage and is pulled 1 square towards the zone’s origin square.

  In addition to Indomitable Fury, the flame speaker also has Avenging Fire, which triggers when it hits 0 HP for the second time. It deals some automatic fire damage to the triggering enemy.

  Final Impressions

  These stat blocks take up a lot of space on the book, but they’re simpler than they look. Each one has a solid gimmick and appropriate base stats. I guess tannarukks are meant to be regular enemies for upper paragon PCs - stronger than minions, but you’ll still meet a lot of them.

  Lore-wise, I’m not sure I like them. They’re more or less D&D’s take on the Uruk-Hai, I guess, but there are a lot more opponents at this level range that feel cooler and less potentially problematic.

• Nov 1, 2022

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Su Monster

  

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

  Su Monsters have been around at least since the AD&D Monster Manual. This is their 4e debut. It’s likely their lore is new to this edition. They didn’t seem to have any in the AD&D book.

  The Lore

  Su Monsters are an artificial species created by the wizard Halkith to guard his tower in the legendary Isle of Dread. In Fourth Edition, the Isle is a wandering island in the Feywild, and as usual it’s full of very dangerous creatures. Halkith created the first Su Monsters to guard his tower against the place’s other inhabitants.

  Some time after that, a mysterious event caused a worldwide surge of psionic energy. This affected Halkith’s su monsters deeply and caused them to break from the wizard’s control. Halkith disappears from history after this - his most likely fate is that he was eaten by his creations.

  The wizard combined traits from both great apes and fey panthers to make these creatures. In our narrative present they managed to spread beyond the Isle of Dread. Their preferred habitat are tropical jungles, particularly those that contain sources of psionic power.

  Su Monsters are nonsapient but cunning, and complement their natural weapons with residual psychic powers received from the Event. Like cats, they hunt as much for fun as for food, and kill much more prey than they can eat at once. They bury the excess meat for later consumption, and mark these stashes with the prey’s inedible bits (such as its carried treasure). If you find shinies hanging off tree branches in the jungle, take care!

  Spellcasters and psionicists often use their power to control these creatures, putting them to work as guard and attack animals. When free, they protect and hunt in their chosen territories with surprisingly sophisticated tactics.

  The Numbers

  Su Monsters are Medium Fey Beasts with ground and climb speeds of 7, as well as the Forest Walk special ability. They have darkvision, and one of both of the following signature abilities:

  • Psychic Boost works like the Star Spawn ability we saw: when a su monster hits with one of its physical attacks, it can deal bonus psychic damage as a free action. This recharges when the creature takes psychic damage.

  • Tribal Fury has a very unfortunate name and allows the monster to make a free claw attack when an ally within 3 squares is first bloodied.

  Su Sentinel

  Many members of a su monster group use this stat block. Each one keeps watch over a portion of the group’s territory, and calls the others if they spot any prey.

  Su Sentinels are Level 10 Skirmishers with 107 HP. They have a Skirmish trait that allows them to deal 5 extra damage with their attacks if they moved 4 or more spaces this turn.

  In addition to basic Claw strikes, they can make a Flashing Talons maneuver that deals a bit less damage and, as an effect, allows them to shift 2 squares. If the targeted enemy moves to a space adjacent to the monster during their next turn, the creature gets to make this attack against them once more for free.

  They can also use a Mind-Rending Bite (recharge 4+), which deals even less basic damage but inflicts ongoing 10 psychic damage (save ends).

  Sentinels have both Su Monster signature abilities.

  Su Ambusher

  Su Ambushers are less physicall imposing but they hunt together, hanging out near places that see frequent creature traffic and jumping out all at once to carry prey away. They’re Level 11 Minion Soldiers.

  They have a basic Claw attack that does minion-tier damage, but instead of using that they’re going to rely on Seize Prey. This lets them move their speed and make a claw attack at any point along the move. If they hit, they pull the target alongside them the rest of the move, and do not provoke opportunity attacks from it. This is excellent for getting defenders out of the way or briging squishies closer to danger.

  Ambushers have Fury, but they replace Psychic Boost with Grasping Claws, which allow them to make one last claw attack when they hit 0 HP.

  Su Alpha

  Su Alphas are larger and more powerful specimens who gained some status within their group by repeatedly proving they can beat up their puny relatives. Smaller groups have only one alpha, but larger ones might have several. They are Level 12 Brutes with 149 HP.

  Alphas fight with Claws and Backhand Slams, the latter of which do less damage but target Fortitude and push the target 1 square. They can also emit a Su Howl (close burst 3 vs. Will) which deals psychic damage and renders its targets vulnerable 5 to all damage (save ends). On a miss, the target takes half damage and is vulnerable for a turn. This recharges wherever the alpha takes psychic damage. They possess both signature abilities.

  Final Impressions

  It’s another carnivorous ape monster in a book that already has too many of them. The lore and mechanics seem to disagree with each other on whether su monsters are sapient. The stats say they are Int 2 beasts, but the lore keeps saying they organize in “tribes”, a term I’ve avoided using here.

  The mechanics themselves are mildly interesting, but I don’t like them enough to use them paired with this lore.

• Oct 28, 2022

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Star Spawn

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

  Star Spawn made their debut in the Monster Manual 2 along with a pretty awesome chunk of lore that’s also tied to star pact warlocks and the Far Realm. You can see it all on the link. This entry adds a bit more lore, new star spawn, and a surprise epic boss!

  The Lore

  The lore in this entry confirms some of the most terrible questions we had in the MM2. Yes, if you travel far enough in space you do end up in the Far Realm. Yes, there are things watching across this divide, and some of them are perceived by the people of the middle world as stars. And yes, some of them have hostile designs upon the world.

  Allabar, the Opener of the Way, is one of these, and it travels across the universe inciting its fellow stars to send their spawn into the world. Its wanderings are not random, but filled with terrible purpose. Some warlocks claim Allabar and its allies are at war with the world itself, and they call this the Forgotten War because it’s much less noticeable than the Dawn War was but no less significant.

  The Numbers

  The star spawn presented here are all mid-to-high epic tier threats, making them a lot stronger than the paragon-tier spawn from the MM2. All of them have the aberrant origin and possess darkvision, but the specifics vary a lot between individual stat blocks.

  Spawn of Ulban

  

  Ulban is a blue-white star whose intense glow affects mortal minds, disrupting their cognition and robbing them of the ability to recognize danger. Ulban’s influence starts ill-thought rebellions and prevents divinations of any sort from working. Its spawn fall to the earth as meteors, and their presence makes mortals unable to distinguish friend from foe. They also break the “no tentacles” streak for this type of monster, as you can see in the illustration.

  Spawn of Ulban are Medium Aberrant Humanoids, and Level 26 Controllers with 241 HP. They have a speed of 8. They’re immune to domination, and every time they’re iht by a power that would dominate them, they dominate the attacker instead! And this is a (save ends) condition even if the one from the attack wasn’t.

  The spawn’s basic attack is the Bluefire Strike (vs. Reflex), which causes both cold and fire damage, and dazes for a turn. It can also use a Touch of Strife (vs. Will) instead, dealing psychic damage and forcing the target to make a melee or ranged basic attack against a creature of the spawn’s choice. When it hits with either of these attacks, it can apply a Psychic Boost as a free action, dealing an extra chunk of psychic damage. This recharges every time the spawn takes psychic damage, so while it’s not resistant to this damage type you still don’t want to use it against the spawn.

  Less often, the spawn can produce a Ripple of Betrayal (close burst 1 vs. Will, recharge 5+) which deals psychic damage and dominates those it hits (save ends).

  As a minor action, the spawn can use Far Realm Reflection to form an eldritch bond with a creature it can see. Whenever that creature shifts, the spawn can immediately shift an equal number of squares. This lasts until the end of the encounter, or until the spawn switches targets by using the power again. An excellent power to use on an ally that can shift long distances, or even on a PC that can do the same.

  The Spawn of Ulban wants to get in close and stay there, since its attacks are all melee or close bursts. It’s extremely effective against parties with lots of psionic PCs, or against those that have lots of Essentials martial characters. The best way to fight it is to keep your distance and hit it with non-psychic, non-dominating attacks.

  Emissary of Caiphon

  

  Caiphon is a purple star that can always be found near the horizon, sometimes even during the day. It presents itself as a helpful guide star, but will sometimes betray those who rely on it, leading them down tragic paths.

  The Emissary of Caiphon is often employed in these betrayals. It’s the most human-looking of all star spawn, and it mimics the tactics of its patrons by posing as a guide or a prophet. Its “wise and helpful” advice usually leads to a lot suffering and death.

  The Emissary is a Medium Aberrant Humanoid, and a Level 28 Controller with the Leader tag and 257 HP. It projects an Aura of Ruin (2) that inflicts a -2 penalty to saves, and whenever it’s hit by an attack that would blind it, it blinds the attacker instead (save ends).

  Nearly all of the Emissary’s powers mess with the saving throw mechanic, but it lacks the ability to inflict (save ends) conditions by itself. Be sure to pair it with plenty of monsters who can do that!

  Its basic attack is a Touch of Despair that deals light physical damage and inflicts an extra 20 damage the first time the target fails a save before the start of the emissary next turn. It’s nifty, but it’s for emercencies only. The creature prefers to stay far away and use its ranged attacks.

  Blinded By Greed (ranged 10 vs. Will) deals light psychic damage, slides the target 2 squares, and forces them to make a melee basic attack against a target of the emissary’s choice (“Give me that! It’s mine!”).

  Blinded By Need (ranged 10 vs. Will) deals standard psychic damage, and allows the emissary to choose one of the target’s allies. For the next turn, the target is marked by that ally, and everyone except the chosen ally is invisible to the target. This doesn’t force the target and the ally to fight each other, but it makes it hard for either of them to do anything else.

  As minor actions, the emissary can use Deceptive Veil to disguise itself as a Medium or Small humanoid, with a DC 40 for people to see through the illusion. It can also target someone with an Invocation of Calamity (ranged 5 vs. Will), which on a hit makes the target fail all of their saves during the next turn.

  For triggered actions, it has the same Psionic Boost as the Spawn of Ulban, this time applying to tis Blinded By Need/Greed powers. And when it dies, Foretelling the Doom targets an enemy suffering from a (save ends) condition and inflicts a -5 penalty on all saves against it until one succeeds.

  Serpent of Nihal

  

  Nihal, the Serpent Star, is a reddish celestial body that can’t stay still. It travels a random snaking route around the point it was supposed to occupy in the sky according to all standard calculations. That’s why it received this epithet.

  The Serpents of Nihal first came through the world shortly before the fall of the ancient empire of Az-Kiral, which dedicated itself to the worship of Zehir. Its leaders grew ever more ambitious and soon they craved more power than the snake god was willing to offer. So they sought out a new source of Snek Power, and found it in Nihal. They opened a portal to the star thinking they would be able to access this power. What happened instead was that countless Serpents of Nihal poured through, and destroyed the empire in a matter of days. They still wander the known cosmos today, and I guess sometimes Allabar opens new rifts to let more through.

  Serpents are Medium Aberrant Beasts, and Level 29 Minion Lurkers with a ground speed of 7. They’re only partially present in reality, and keep blinking in and out.

  This means that, despite being minions, they have Resist 20 to all damage. Yes, even untyped. You need to deal 21 or more damage with one strike to take them out. It’s not that hard for late epic PCs, but it’s also not 100% guaranteed, so they have more staying power than your typical minion.

  Serpents attack with mindbites, which deal psychic damage and can interfere with concentration and psionic power usage: if 2 or more of the serpent’s allies are adjacent to the target, the bite deals extra damage and prevents the target from spending action points or power points (save ends).

  If an enemy misses the serpent, it can Depart Reality, removing itself from play for a turn an re-appearing in adjacent to an enemy within 20 squares of its original location. It can also do this exact same thing when it rolls initiative with the Sudden Reality Warp ability.

  Allabar, Opener of the Way

  

  Yup, you read that right. This is not a star spawn, it’s a star. Allabar is here to serve as the end boss for a campaign focused on the Forgotten War, which would likely feature the PCs facing and unraveling the plans of increasingly powerful aberrant creatures and star spawn until Allabar itself decides to personally kill them. As the lore implies, Allabar is not the only eldritch star who wants to mess with the world, but it’s the most consciously malicious one and it acts as instigator and enabler to the others. Eliminating Allabar would effectively end the threat posed by its fellows and their respective star spawn.

  Putting the lore in astronomical terms would make Allabar similar to a rogue planet, a planet without a star that moves across the universe. The similarity is only superficial, of course, because pretty much nothing else about the Opener of the Way is in any way scientific.

  Allabar is presented here as a Gargantuan Aberrant Animate. Those who feel even Gargantuan is too small for a planetary entity might instead say this is an avatar of Allabar, the thing it sends through a portal to personally fight the PCs. When it dies, the star winks out from the sky. Or you can take a page from Atropus in Elder Evils, and have the actual body of Allabar be the dungeon/battlefield on which you fight its avatar.

  Anyway, Allabar is a Level 30 Solo Soldier with 1100 HP. It has ground and flight speeds of 6, with Hover. As a planet, it projects a Gravity Well that acts as a 20-square wide aura. This plus its Gargantuan size pretty much mean it covers the entire battle map. Anyone who starts their turn inside the field gets pulled a variable number of squares depending on how much HP Allabar currently has. It starts at 1 square, and doubles for every 25% of its HP that are missing (at 25% or less total HP, it’s 8 squares).

  Being covered with eyes, Allabar has All-Around Vision, and can’t be flanked. Its Bloodied Fury also gives it an extra standard action per turn while it’s bloodied, even when it’s dazed.

  In combat, the Opener of the Way projects Reach 4 Tentacles to attack, which deal light physical damage and restrain for a turn on a hit. It can use them in a Triple Attack to strike three times in a standard action, and it can enhance a tentacle attack with a Psionic Boost similar to that of the star spawn in this entry. Aside from the boost recharging when Allabar takes psychic damage, it also recharges when the star succeeds with its Devour Body attack. This Close Burst 1 vs. Fortitude targets creatures who are at 0 HP or lower. On a hit, it kills the target and pulls it inside Allabar. It can target dead allies, but it’s also excellent for making PCs exercise those “when you die” abilities they surely have by now.

  Another very interesting attack is Wrath of the Forsaken World (close blast 5 vs. Fortitude, recharge 5+), which deals psychic damage and causes each target to sprout a hostile tentacle (save ends). While the tentacle is there, it deals an automatic 20 damage to any target that ends their turn within 2 squares of the victim.

  As a minor action, you know, no big deal, the Opener can use Unravel Essence (melee 4 vs. Fortitude), which inflicts 20 ongoing damage on a hit (save ends). On the first failed save, this increases to 25. On the second, the target also becomes weakened and insubstantial. On the third, the target drops to 0 HP if its HP was still positive. A successful save at any point halts the process and clears all related conditions. This recharges whenever there are no creatures affected by it.

  And finally, when someone hits Allabar with an attack, it can cause Psychic Feedback as a reaction, automatically dazing the attacker (save ends).

  Allabar is very intelligent and will work to maximize its advantages, abusing its flight and superior reach, and focusing fire make them drop to 0 HP quickly so they can be devoured. And if your level 30 PCs are cocky because this end boss is “only” level 30, add a few Emissaries of Caiphon to make it impossible for them to pass the many saves imposed by the Opener of the Way.

  Final Impressions

  The awesome continues! This entry does return to the old standby of “tentacles”, but the monsters are still pretty evocative and their mechanics interesting. Allabar reminds me of Atropus, from Elder Evils, but it’s has more of an aberrant/psychic theme instead of Atropus’ undead/necrotic leanings.

  The Opener of the Way is the fourth and last epic boss to be found in this book. The previous ones were Imix, Lolth, and Ogrémoch.

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