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Let's Read the 4e Creature Catalog: Zombie
This is similar to a zombie, but it seems to be a repurposed picture of another creature. The Lore
Zombies in Athas have the same origin as zombies in every other D&D world: they’re created either intentionally by necromancy, or accidentally from dead bodies left for long enough in areas exposed to strong necrotic energies.
In Athas that means areas touched by the Gray, the Darker and Sunnier version of the Shadowfell. Any bodies left in these places have a high chance of rising as zombies. As the natural environment in these areas tends to be particularly harsh as well, they can do interesting things to these bodies before they rise.
The most common of those is that by the time the body rises its flesh is long gone due to the actions of predators and scouring winds, so you get a skeleton instead. But some places like the ones named below can preserve the flesh of a corpse, giving enough time to rise as a Darker and Sunnier Zombie with extra powers.
The Numbers
The zombies described in this entry are Natural Humanoids, which I think is an error because every other zombie is a Natural Animate. In any case, they have the Undead tag and the usual immunity to poison and disease and resistance to necrotic damage. They also tend to be faster than standard zombie varieties (which still exist in Athas!).
Salt Zombie
These are created from the big necrotic zone in the Salt Meres. They tend to lie beneath the salt flats, erupting out of the ground when they sense living beings walking the surface. They probably look dried out and mummified.
Salt Zombies are Level 1 Soldiers with 28 HP and a ground speed of 6. Their necrotic resistance is 5 and they have Vulnerable 5 to Radiant damage. Their basic claws damage and grab on a hit, but their Salt Feast attack is usually more effective: it does the same damage and also grabs, but the target has a -4 penalty to escape the grab and takes another 5 damage every time they fail. And of course, the zombie can also keep attacking the grabbed target either way.
They also suffer from the Zombie Weakness that afflicts a lot of standard zombies, and so are instantly destroyed when someone scores a critical hit on them.
Black Reaver Zombies
There originate from the Black Sands region. Legend has it that an ancient act of defiling magic summoned these sands into the region, and that they drained the souls of everyone they touched. There’s a creepy deserted city at its center, which was presumably the target of this magical WMD. Modern Athasians tend to give it a wide berth, and anyone who dies here will probably rise as one of these zombies.
Black Reavers are Level 5 Lurkers with 51 HP and a zippy ground speed of 7. They’re blind, and so have the corresponding tag and are immune to blinding and gaze attacks, perceiving the world through their Blindsight 10. Their necrotic resistant is 10, and while they don’t take extra damage from radiant damage it does prevent them from using their Shadow Burst power for a turn, basically defanging them for that time.
You see, their basic bite does a relatively weak mix of physical and necrotic damage, so they really need the extra necrotic damage from attacking a target that couldn’t see them at the start of their turn in order to be a threat to equivalent-level PCs. And the most likely way for them to get that bonus is Shadow Burst (recharge 4+), a move action that lets them teleport 5 squares and create a Burst 1 zone that blinds everyone inside around their arrival point. This zone lasts for a turn.
When using these in an encounter, you might want to add plenty of vision-blocking terrain to the battle map, like ruined buildings or big rocks. A zombie without Shadow Burst could still get that damage bonus if it was behind such terrain before charging out and attacking, something its high Speed would help with. Darkness also helps, but not as much since PCs are likely to have many options for lighting up the place.
Feasting Zombie
This one appears in the Forest Ridge where halflings live. Halflings who catch terminal diseases are not eaten when they die, for obvious reasons. Instead, they’re buried, which is believed to return them to nature’s embrace. This alternate funerary practice is less effective at preventing them from rising as zombies when conditions are right.
Feasting zombies are Small, since they originate from halflings, and they’re Level 6 Minion Brutes with Speed 5. They bite, and when they die they perform a Clamping Bite Death Chomp, which does the same damage as the bite attack and also slows (save ends) because the dead zombie doesn’t let go until you pry it off.
Cinder Zombies
These were killed and preserved by fire. This could be because they lived in some of the volcanic islands in the Sea of Silt, of because their village was torched by raiders. They’re charred instead of rotten, and therefore smell of burned meat. They’re also quite strong.
Cinder Zombies are Level 12 Soldiers with 121 HP and Speed 5. They have Resist Necrotic 15, Resist Fire 10, and Vulnerable Radiant 5. They project an aura of Burning Embers that deal 10 fire damage to any enemy who leaves the aura, giving them an incentive to remain close. They pummel enemies with their Fists of Cinder that do a mix of physical and fire damage. If an enemy within their aura makes an attack that doesn’t target them, the zombie uses Punishing Sparks on them to deal a bit of fire damage on a hit. When the creature is first bloodied, it releases a Choking Cloud that attacks the Fortitude of enemies in a Close Burst 3. On a hit it deals poison damage and prevents them from spending healing surges (save ends). On a miss it deals half damage and prevents surge expenditure for a turn.
Encounters and Final Impressions
While the four zombie types presented here are new, they’re still zombies. You use them in the same way you use standard zombies which, again, exist on Athas. I think I like the cinder zombies the most, as they have an interesting Defender Aura-like setup and fire zombies make sense in non-Athas settings too.
While three of the four zombies presented here are strongly associated with their specific home regions, there’s nothing preventing an enterprising villain from importing them to wherever their lair is, or from somehow replicating the process of their creation in a lab.
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Let's Read the 4e Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Wight
A wight posing in a threatening manner. The Lore
Athasian wights are, at their root, pretty much the same as standard ones: undead whose soulless bodies are animated by a scrap of animus (or will) the dead person left behind. However, their description here goes on to say that wights were driven to complete some kind of mission or achieve an important goal when they died, and the “will” that animates them is an obsession with fulfilling that task. It also gives them an eternal hunger for life force, and robs them of the capacity to feel anything but hatred, grief, and frustration.
You can technically exorcize a wight by fulfilling its task. This is extremely difficult at best, and it’s often impossible. Wights are not exactly willing to give detailed interviews about the circumstances of their death. Even if the PCs can discover those many of the creatures have been dead for so long that all people and places involved are simply gone. This will probably force the PCs to resort to the second most effective anti-wight strategy: extreme violence.
For a wight to be truly destroyed, its body must be obliterated. A popular tactic is to dismember and then burn their corpses. Not doing this means the creature will restore itself and return eventually.
The Numbers
The Wights presented here are Medium Natural Humanoids with the Undead keyword, and a bunch of traditional undead traits: Darkvision, immunity to disease and poison, 10 resistance to necrotic damage, and and 5 or 10 vulnerability to Radiant.
These wights tend to lack the default ability to eat your healing surges, but they gain other individualized tricks in its place.
Wight Thrall
These are the exception to the wight lore I described above because they’re already living their best unlife. Their obsession was to serve their beloved master for all eternity, and that’s exactly what they’re doing.
Wight thralls have about as much initiative as your typical zombie, but they’re much better at following their master’s commands. If you find these, their master is likely nearby, either as a more powerful wight or as some other monster.
These creatures are Level 12 Minion Brutes with a speed of 7 and the standard traits mentioned above (except radiant vulnerability). Their Claws damage and have a life drain effect that’s modeled slightly differently: targets hit by the attack cannot gain temporary HP at all and recover 5 less HP from healing effects (save ends).
When destroyed by non-radiant damage, their Dark Passing ability restores 5 HP to a nearby undead ally.
Dune Runner Wight
This was an elf who died trying to deliver an important message or warning to their community. Every night they arise and try to complete the impossible run, only to appear back at the starting point when the sun rises. During the day, they terrorize nearby creatures to vent their frustration and slake their thirst.
Dune Runner Wights are level 12 Minion Skirmishers with 124 HP and the common traits mentioned above. Their claws have no effect beyond their decent damage, but they deal extra damage if the runner moved at least 4 squares before attacking, and can be used as part of a Mobile Melee Attack maneuver that lets the runner move its speed without and attack at any point during the move without provoking an opportunity attack from the target.
As a 1/round minor action, they can try to afflict someone with a Running Curse (ranged 5 vs. Will), which forces at target to move at least 4 squares on their turn or take a bit of psychic damage (save ends).
Oath Wight
These used to be inhabitants of one of Athas’ many ancient ruins, who were on the verge of completing an important task when their entire city was leveled by a sorcerous WMD of some kind. Maybe they were scholars nearing a research breakthrough, maybe they were thieves about to pull that big score… or maybe they were mothers undergoing childbirth. So there’s some nightmare fuel for ya. They’re Level 14 Elite Controllers with 140 HP and a speed of 6.
Their frustration with the futility of their task is so potent it leaks out, and can be used as a weapon. This aura of Inevitable Failure inflicts a -2 penalty to attacks, skill checks, and defenses to any non-dominated enemies inside.
The wight can dominate enemies with its Accursed Gaze (minor action, ranged 5 vs. Will), which dominates for a turn on a hit. It can also use the Frustration’s Fury encounter power, which attacks the Will of 2 nearby targets. On a hit, it reals psychic damage and forces the target to make a free melee basic attack (or a charge!) against another target of the wight’s choice. If this secondary attack misses, the target is dominated (save ends). A miss with the power deals half damage and dazes for a turn.
When Frustration’s Fury is unavailable, the wight uses its basic Rotting Touch, which does necrotic damage and prevents HP recovery for a turn.
If you were wondering why the wight has so little HP for an elite, it’s because reaching 0 HP triggers its Promised Return power, causing it to reappear with full HP near its last position at the start of its next turn.
Encounters and Final Impressions
The description of wights as the products of obsession that lingers beyond death is so cool that I’m tempted to make this the default description of wights in any game I run. The mechanics of the ones presented here are interesting and help bring them into the paragon tier.
Wights might very rarely work with the living if they can convince the creature they have similar goals, but they mostly hang out with other undead or with predatory beasts who don’t see them as food.
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Let's Read the 4e Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Thri-Kreen
A thri-kreen mantis warrior with a green carapace. The Lore
Thri-kreen are the famous mantis-people of Athas. A slightly more generic version of them appeared in the Monster Manual 3, and now we get more NPC stat blocks here and a playable version in the Campaign Guide. Unlike what happened to muls a few pages back, thri-kreen in the Creature Catalog are given a description that’s about as positive as the one for the playable version.
Thri-kreen have deep instinctual bonds of loyalty to their “clutch” and their “pack”. As the Campaign Guide explains, a clutch is a small group of at most six individuals to whom the thri-kreen feels closest, and a pack is an extended family composed of multiple clutches.
Traditionally a clutch is formed by individuals who hatched from their eggs at around the same time, but kreen can “adopt” other clutches over time if circumstances demand. For PCs, this means their adventuring party is their clutch. NPC kreen away from their homes will have similar arrangements with their ally groups.
Those ubiquitous asshole slavers like to steal Thri-kreen eggs so that their can exploit their bonding instinct, making them extremely loyal to their new masters.
Thri-kreen packs prefer to hunt non-sapient creatures for food, but they will make exceptions in truly desperate times. They will fight with all their strenght to protect themselves from attacks by other people, but will almost never be the aggressors in such fights. Their spiritual leaders are known as desert talkers, and are responsible for maintaining their connection to the primal spirits of the desert and those of their ancestors. This gives them a very long genetic memory, stretching back to an ancient age where they had their own great empire.
The Numbers
These NPC thri-kreen are Medium Natural Humanoids with Low-Light Vision. The ones here have ground speeds between 6 and 7, slightly slower than the MM3 ones. Their signature ability remains Mantis Jump, an move-action encounter power that lets them jump their speed without provoking opportunity attacks. This is indeed different from the power PCs get.
We get three new stat blocks here, which can be mixed in with the ones from the MM3 without any extra work.
Thri-Kreen Bounder
These are less experienced hunters who are still learning the tricks of the trade by observing the pack’s veterans at work. They tend to be a little more skittish than those veterans. They’re Level 6 Minion Skirmishers with a ground speed of 6.
The Deft Dodger trait gives them +2 to defenses against ranged attacks, which helps them survive longer in a fight. They attack in melee with claws and at range with thrown Chatkchas, which are three-pointed throwing blades with Range 6/12.
Instead of Mantis Jump they have Mantis Bound, which lets them jump 3 squares without provoking opportunity attacks as a reaction to being missed by an attack.
Thri-Kreen Mauler
These are the veteran hunters, big and beefy thri-kreen who single out a quarry, jump on top of it, and tear it apart. They’re Level 8 Brutes with 105 HP and a speed of 6.
Their basic Claw attack is way too weak for a level 8 brute (average damage 9), but Mauler Frenzy (recharge 4+) lets them make two of those, three when bloodied. Mauler Leap lets them jump 6 squares and make two claw attacks with a +1 to attack and a +4 to damage, which definitely matches the formula. This recharges when they’re first bloodied.
If the mauler hits a bloodied target with their claws, they can use Pain Amplification against that rarget with a minor action, attacking their Fortitude. A hit causes the target to take ongoing 5 psychic damage (save ends).
If multiple claw attacks aren’t on the cards this turn, the mauler can use its Chatkchas at range, which do level-appropriate physical damage. Mantis Jump rounds out their arsenal.
While Maulers will try to avoid getting killed like any opponent, they don’t mind getting bloodied since it makes them stronger. They probably should try to open the fight with a Leap, get stuck in for a Frenzy or two, and then jump away for that second use of Mauler Leap once bloodied.
Thri-Kreen Mantis Warrior
Mantis Warriors are hunt leaders, highly skilled with both weapons and psychic powers. They’re Level 10 Elite Soldiers with 208 HP and a ground speed of 7.
They still have their Claws, and also carry a Gythka, a light polearm with a trident-like head on either end. Both do equivalent damage, but the gythka marks for a turn on a hit and does a blend of physical and psychic damage instead of just physical. They can also throw Chatkchas, though these are a bit weaker.
The Mantis Flurry ability allows the warrior to make a claw and a gythka attack, or to throw two chatkchas, with a single action.
Occasionally they can pull off a Springing Assault (recharge 5+): this lets them jump 4 squares, make a gythka attack, then jump another 3 and make another gythka attack. None of this movement provokes opportunity attacks.
Once per encounter they can perform a Mind Wrench, attacking the Will of all enemies in a Close Burst 2. On a hit this deals psychic damage and marks for a turn.
When an adjacent marked enemy moves, shifts, or makes an attack that doesn’t target the warrior, it can cause a Spasm as an interrupt. This is an attack against Will that does psychic damage on a hit, knocks the target prone, and slows them until the end of the warrior’s next turn.
Encounters and Final Impressions
These three stat blocks combined with the Ambusher, Scout, and Sand Talker from the MM3 will let you build a large variety of thri-kreen encounters. They can also be part of “found clutches”, AKA Mixed Groups of Humanoids, voluntarily or not.
I note that the MM3 Thri-Kreen are described as using “spears” and “shuriken”, which clearly correspond to the gythkas and chatkchas used by these ones. A simple find-and-replace of the names should work, as there is no mechanical difference between them in the stat blocks themselves.
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Let's Read the 4e Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Thrax
A thrax holding what remains of his latest victim. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the rest.
The Lore
Once upon a time there was a town named Gerot at the foot of a mountain near the city-state of Raam. Its people were great warriors, but also haugthy. When the Sorcerer Queen Abalach-Re sent them an offer of alliance in exchange for them joining Raam’s legions, they signaled their refusal by killing the envoys.
Abalach-Re was obviously very angry at this, so she double-cursed the people of Gerot: they would be afflicted with an unquenchable thirst and pure water would become like a poison to them. In short order, the entire town was dead. The bit the queen hadn’t predicted was that the dead of Gerot would rise again, as the first thraxes.
A thrax is a water vampire. Still afflicted by the sorcerous curse, it suffers from constant, unquenchable thirst, which it tries to satisfy by draining the fluids from the flesh of the living. Thrax victims become desiccated husks, and it’s said to be an agonizing death.
Unlike a standard D&D vampire, a thrax seems to retain the mind and personality it had in life. This means they’re even more miserable, tormented not just by their cursed thirst but also by their regret at having to feed. Prime personal horror material there.
Unless, of course, we’re talking about the thraxes that seek revenge on Abalach-Re by haunting Raam and drinking her supporters dry. I imagine those are a fair bit less conflicted than the others.
Thraxes can drain fluids through skin contact, and they also have this trick where they can cause a victim’s fluids to all move close to the skin, making the victim bloated and easier to drain.
The Numbers
We only get a single stat block here, so let’s get right to it.
Thrax
The thrax shown here is Medium Natural Humanoid (undead) and a Level 11 Lurker with 88 HP, putting it about on par with the traditional vampires from the Monster Vault. It has darkvision, Resist 10 Necrotic, and Vulnerable 5 Radiant. Unlike a lot of other undead, it has no special resistance against poison and disease. And unlike a traditional vampire, it is not vulnerable to natural sunlight.
Thraxes are surrounded by Roiling Shadows which give them +2 to defenses against ranged attacks, and their Clinging Grasp makes them insubstantial and immune to forced movement while they have a creature grabbed. This takes away the PC’s easiest tactic for making them let go.
Their basic attack is the Grasp of the Dead, which deals necrotic damage. If the thrax has combat advantage, a hit also grabs the victim, which has a -5 penalty to escape rolls.
Once it has a creature grabbed, the thrax can proceed to Drain Fluids, which deals heavy necrotic damage, heals the thrax for 10 HP, and ends the grab. If the attack bloodies the target, they also fall unconscious (save ends).
The thrax can also attack with Flesh Bloat, the “trick” mentioned above. This is an at-will melee attack that deals a bit more necrotic damage than the Grasp, and also dazes and slows the target (save ends both).
Standard tactics for a thrax will likely be to bloat their intended victim, grab them with Grasp of the Dead, and then Drain Fluids, repeating as necessary.
Encounters and Final Impressions
Water vampires feel much more appropriate for Dark Sun than the traditional blood kind. I’m guessing all the traditional vampires in Athas must have melted in the heat from all those layers they tend to wear.
Thraxes will probably only join up with other thraxes, and a fight against five of them will be nightmarish for the party. You could also mix it up with other relatively “dry” undead types. Maybe angry ghosts, or the animated corpses of their dried-out victims.
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Let's Read the 4e Dark Sun Creature Catalog: Tembo
A tembo, who looks like a giant scaled rat with sabertooth fangs. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the rest.
The Lore
If our previous entry was kind of vague about whether tareks were a product of the genocidal “Cleansing Wars” in Athas’ distant past, this one is pretty categorical. Tembos are bioengineered terror weapons, created using magic most foul for the purposes of facilitating genocide.
The “Champions” of that time (which unknown to most are the sorcerer-kings of today) created them to sneak upon the homes of their opponents, and take from them those they loved most. In addition to their stealthy forms and sharp fangs, they received a limited ability to blend with shadows, the power to bite someone in the soul, and a sophisticated intellect that is entirely devoted to finding new ways of fulfilling their purpose in crueler ways.
They have survived as a species to this day, roaming mainly through the western wastelands of the Tyr region, but they have been sighted elsewhere too. There’s no one to give them specific targets any more, so they choose their victims themselves, for food and fun.
Confirmation that a tembo is targetting a settlement is one of the only things that will immediately end any infighting and other disagreements and make its whole population unite against the threat. Everyone hates these things more than they hate each other, which is saying something in Athas.
How exactly these attacks happen vary with the creature’s whims, as well as with what it judges to be the most effective tactic for a given situation. Sometimes they stay hidden and let their deadly magical aura slowly kill the population, and sometimes they tear people apart in broad daylight.
The Numbers
Tembos are Medium Aberrant Magical Beasts and Level 6 Solo Skirmishers with 280 HP. Their Killing Presence acts as an aura (2) that deals 5 necrotic damage to anyone who starts their turn inside. When the tembo is bloodied, its second aura kicks in. Tainted Wounds (aura 5) halves any HP recovery from healing effects for those inside.
As a solo, the tembo has Double Actions, meaning it rolls initiative twice and takes full turns in both counts. And finally, it’s Immovable, being completely immune to any kind of forced movement, and getting a free save against being knocked prone.
The monster’s main attack is a Bite that damages, inflicts a -2 attack penalty for a turn, and serves as a carrier for the Unspeakable Violation secondary attack. This targets Fortitude, and on a hit eats a healing surge and doubles the damage from Killing Presence against that target for a turn. Fortunately, it has Recharge 6+, so it doesn’t happen with every bite.
Its attack it’s likely to use the most is a Raking Assault, which deals the same damage as the bite then lets the Tembo shift 4 squares and use the bite. So that’s two or three attacks for the price of one, with the creature being able to do this two times per round.
Its camouflage powers take two forms: Blending (encounter) is a move action that makes the tembo invisible for a turn or until its next attack. And Shadow Evasion (recharge when first bloodied) is a reaction that triggers when it’s hit by a melee or ranged attack, letting it shift 4 squares and become insubstantial for a turn.
Having two full turns per round can actually make Blending last even less, so it’s not something a tembo will use to lie in wait for a long time. It will instead rely on mundane stealth for this. Then it will charge in, use as many Raking Assault flurries as it can, and combine Shadow Evasion with Blending to escape from sight, only coming back to attack when its enemies’ guards are down. Its ability to delete healing surges makes such long-term harassment tactics even more effective, since it will obviously attack you in your sleep and stop you from taking a long rest. Fighting the creature to the finish in a single encounter will require preventing its escape somehow.
Encounters and Final Impressions
What a horrible, horrible monster.
Tembos are almost always found alone. As mentioned above, everyone hates these things. They will sometimes join together in small packs, but these end up breaking apart pretty soon because they suck at organizing themselves.
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