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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Mimic
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Mimics have been in the game since its beginning, and are are one of D&D’s most iconic monsters. They’re also notable for originating within D&D and “breaking out” to become a popular monster in other games and media.
The Lore
The image of a trasure chest growing teeth and eating the hapless adventurer trying to open it is a popular classic even within D&D’s own implied setting. Everyone knows it, and most think it’s a pretty funny joke. Everyone but those who have actually gone through this and survived the experience.
Mimics are highly intelligent creatures originating from the Far Realm. Despite their intelligence they don’t seem to be interested in friendly relations with other sapients, and are mostly interested in using their smarts to fool and eat them.
Fourth edition mimics also take over the “murderous alien shapeshifter” role from doppelgangers, which as we saw before are now mostly just people. You see, the classic chest mimic is actually a juvenile individual. As it matures, it gains the ability to absorb the memories of the people they devour and to take their shapes. These impersonator mimics infiltrate mortal society, moving around and taking different shapes as they feed. They reproduce by budding. Their spawn spend a time joined to the mass of their parent before setting out on their own as object mimics. In an emergency, the parent can reabsorb them for a quick burst of energy.
Mimics rarely seek out alliances, but they often enter a symbiotic relationship with inedible monsters like constructs or incorporeal undead. The mimic will lure victims to the other monster’s lair, and help with the fight so it can eat the bodies later.
The Numbers
Mimics are Medium Aberrant Magical Beasts. They have Resist Acid 5/tier, Darkvision, and Tremorsense 5. Their signature ability, of course, is Shapeshift.
The ability allows a mimic to switch between Ooze and Object forms. In Ooze form, it gains the standard Ooze ability to ignore all penalties for squeezing through small spaces. In object form, it can’t attack but gains Resist 10 to all damage and others must succeed at a Perception check to notice it’s a mimic. The DC varies with the individual.
Object Mimic
As mentioned above, this is a junevile of the species and the one PCs are most likely to meet first. It’s a Level 8 Lurker with 71 HP, Speed 5, and all standard traits listed above.
These mimics have an Ambush trait that gives them 2d6 bonus damage on all attacks against surprised victims. The creature has two attacks beyond its basic Slam. Crushing Tendrils do light physical damage, grab the target (with a -5 penalty to escape) and inflict ongoing 15 acid damage while the grab lasts. Ravening Maw (recharge 5+) does heavy physical damage and slows (save ends).
Either of these special attacks would make a good opener against a surprised victim, benefitting from combat advantage and from bonus Ambush damage. The Perception DC to pierce the mimic’s disguise is 24. They usually take forms that are enticing to their potential prey - a treasure chest is a classic for luring adventurers, but any other Medium object will do. Berry bushes, fancy statues, comfy chairs…
Impersonator Mimic
This is an older specimen that specializes in impersonating its victims and infiltrating mortal society. Unlike the monstrous doppelganger of editions past, impersonator mimics are more interested in food than in political power. Their main goal at any given time alternates between staying hidden and luring their next victim to an isolated spot. They can use psychic powers to help with those goals, in addition to their shapeshifting and mundane deception.
Impersonator Mimics are Level 16 Controllers with 160 HP. The impersonator’s Shapeshift ability allows them to take humanoid form in addition to the two standard ones. This form gives them a +4 bonus to Bluff and allows them to use all languages known by the last person they killed. The DC to pierce any of the impersonator’s disguises is 31.
Its attacks are the usual Slam, and a pair of psychic powers. Forcible Conversion (recharge 5+) is a non-damaging melee power that attacks Will dominates its target (save ends). Call to Harvest (minor action) is a non-damaging ranged power that also attacks Will. On a hit, it slides the target 4 squares and makes it grant combat advantage for a turn. Finally, as a free action, they can Absorb a mimic spawn that’s adjacent to them or occupying their space. This kills the spawn and gives them 1 Action Point. This does make it one of the few regular monsters with access to action points.
Note that only the object form forbids the mimic from attacking - they can use all of these abilities in humanoid form without having to shapeshift, and they can Absorb in any form.
Mimic Spawn
A very young mimic that hasn’t left the “care” of its parent yet. It can already shapeshift into objects, and it can also meld into its parent’s form for protection and increased stealth. This does make it susceptible to being re-absorbed.
Spawn are Level 16 Minion Lurkers, which make them suitable for hanging out with impersonator mimics. Not every impersonator will have spawn, but those who do will be a bit more dangerous.
The One With Master trait represents the spawn’s ability to merge with its parent. A merged spawn occupies the same space as the parent, cannot attack, and cannot be targeted or take damage. Up to four spawn can meld to a single impersonator. Their only attack is a Slam that does average damage for a minion of this level. The DC to pierce their object disguise is 31.
Final Impressions
You just gotta have mimics available in a D&D game. I don’t think I’ve ever used one, but I feel good just knowing that they exist. I guess it took the authors a long time to come up with cool mechanics for their shapeshifting, which is why it took a while for them to asppear appear in 4e.
The level mechanics make it seem that mimics start their lives pretty good at shapeshifting and get worse at it for a while before reaching their former level of skill, but that’s just a mechanical artifact. Levels can be adjusted freely - you could easily have lower-level spawn and higher level object mimics.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Meenlock
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Another one from the 1e Fiend Folio, though its lore is new for this edition.
The Lore
A monster is considered “aberrant” in 4e when their origins or workings are heavily tied to the Far Realm. Usually this means they come from the Far Realm, but that’s not the case with meenlocks. Meenlocks are the victims of an alien disease, and it’s this disease that comes from that horrible place.
Known as Meenlock Corruption, it eventually changes its victims into naked mole rat/crab hybrids like those in the illustration. Meenlocks gather together in subterranean lairs built in caves, ruins, or in the shallow Underdark.
These lairs usually have relatively easy access to the surface, with at most an easily-rolled boulder blocking their main entrance. The creatures themselves scatter and hide when their lairs are invaded, fighting only when cornered. All of this is because their main defense is Meenlock Corruption itself. Anyone who enters their lairs is exposed to the disease.
As the corruption progresses, it dominates the victim’s mind and compels them to return to the lair where they were infected. If such a victim spends more than two days in there, they turn into a new meenlock.
Meenlocks are driven to seek new victims as well - that’s how they increase their numbers. To that end they can ally with other creatures who are themselves resistant to their infection, in exchange for victims who are not. Potential allies include foulspawn, or powerful evil wizards and psions.
The text of the book is a bit confusing but it looks like it’s possible to restore someone who was turned into a meenlock. You need to kill the creature, burn its body, and then apply the Remove Affliction and Raise Dead rituals to the remains. How’s that for an extreme treatment?
The Numbers
Let’s start by detailing the Meenlock Corruption disease. It’s a Level 9 Disease, with an improve DC of 20, and a Maintain DC of 15. Unlike most other diseases, its resistance rolls use Insight instead of Endurance. Stage One inflicts a -4 Will penalty. Stage Two makes the victim grant combat advantage. Stage Three makes the victim become dominated by the meenlocks who infected it, and driven to return to their lair.
As usual for 4e diseases, when you reach Stage Three you stop making resistance rolls to improve. A Remove Affiction ritual might be able to save the victim if performed before the transformation is complete. Otherwise you need the more drastic procedure described above (kill them, burn the body, Remove Affliction, Raise Dead).
Meenlocks themselves are Small Aberrant Humanoids with Speed 5 and Darkvision. Their signature ability is Dimension Step (recharge 4+), a move action that allows them to teleport 8 squares. All of them fight with their claws and with a suite of mental powers blending fey magic and aberrant psionics. The specifics vary per individual stat block.
Meenlock Stalker
Stalkers possess powers that make them particularly suitable for the gathering of new victims. They’re Level 9 Controllers with 97 HP.
In combat, a Stalker will first and foremost try to forge a Horrid Link (minor action, recharge 4+) with a victim. It has a range of 10 squares and happens automatically. Whenever the stalker takes damage, the linked victim takes 1d10+5 damage. The link lasts for a turn or until the stalker uses the power again.
The Stalker can then use two powers against the linked victim. Both are ranged attacks targetting Will and inflicting light psychic damage, with different rider effects. Maddening Whispers dazes (save ends). And Twisting Whispers force the victim to make a basic attack against a creature of the stalker’s choice. It also exposes the victim to Meenlock Corruption.
Their Claws are simple basic attacks with average damage, so stalkers have an incentive to stay away from the PCs and work solely through the Horrid Link. Their default goal in a fight is to infect as many PCs as possible with Meenlock Corruption, though they might have others depending on who they’re allied with.
Meenlock Corruptor
This one trades damage potential for increased control. It’s devastating to party cohesion in both defensive and offensive ambushes. It’s a Level 11 Lurker with 89 HP.
Once again, its claws are simple basic attacks. The star of the show here is Corrupting Mind, a very complex at-will ranged attack. It deals no damage itself, but does a lot of other things. First, it exposes the target to meenlock corruption. Then, it inflicts a custom condition named Mental Disarray (save ends). A target affected by this is considered dominated, gains 2d6 bonus damage to all attacks, and is unable to see the corruptor.
Failing the first save against mental disarray makes the condition last until the end of the encounter! Whenever a victim in this state takes more than 10 damage, the meenlock corruptor takes the same amount, and the victim can make a saving throw.
Once per encounter the corruptor can also use a Psychic Shriek to hit a close blast 5, dealing psychic damage and knocking targets prone.
So yeah, another dominator that’s worse than a succubus. Since Corrupting Mind is at-will, it’s possible that the whole party would get dominated at once when fighting a corruptor. The more of them you add to a single encounter, the bigger the chance of this happening. Once a target is dominated for the encounter, Team Monster should avoid attacking them. It’s up to the PCs to do those 10+ damage to their mind-controlled friends.
Final Impressions
Another disease-themed monster that tackles its theme in a creative manner. Not many diseases use Insight instead of Endurance. Your beefy Endurance-trained defenders will get a nasty shock if the party doesn’t figure this out before exposure.
Mechanically, both of them are quite dangerous. PCs fighting an all-meenlock encounter group will spend as much time attacking each other as they will fighting the monsters. The corruptor is particularly terrifying in this regard. If possible, avoid using more than one of those in an encounter group unless you want your PCs to really suffer.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Meazels
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
This is the first time I’m seeing this monster, but it’s been around since the 1e Fiend Folio. Most iterations kept the same haircut.
The Lore
A long time ago, a certain city was ravaged by a plague. Many died from both the disease itself and from the violence that erupted as starvation, terror and rage gripped the citizens. When everything seemed to be lost, those that were still alive heard a soothing voice in their ears. It said:
“Your gods have fled this place. The spirits of the world no longer walk with you. Your mages’ spells have failed you. In your hour of need, I alone hear your pleas.” This entity proposed a simple bargain. The people of this city would swear fealty to it, and in exchange the plague would cause no more deaths and they would enjoy limitless food forever more. Out of carelessness or desperation, the people accepted.
Turns out the soothing voice belonged to Baalzebul, the archdevil ruler of the seventh hell. And as in any devil’s bargain, he fulfilled his promises to the letter. His new servants no longer died from the plague, but they still caught it and suffered from the weeping sores and endless hunger that were its hallmark symptoms. The only thing that could nourish them and quell this hunger was the flesh of other sapient beings, which technically counts as a “limitless” source of food if you tally the world’s population.
These wretched creatures soon left their original city and spread through the world, to fulfill the will of their new master and to look for new food sources. They became known as Meazels.
Meazels rarely work with other sapients, because they can’t resist their hunger for long. They prefer to work with trained or magically controlled beasts, and their spellcasters can also summon and bind elementals. Some groups of Meazels leave Baalzebul’s service and pledge allegiance to others who promise to rid them of their curse. Most of these end up being Baalzebul’s rival devils.
The Numbers
Meazels are Medium Natural Humanoids, usually former humans. They have a ground speed of 6 and Darkvision. They’re immune to disease, but suffer from an infernal curse that mimics the symptoms of that original plague. This manifests as the Wretched Curse of Baalzebul, their signature ability. It’s an aura (1) that inflicts the same symptoms on any enemy inside.
Afflicted enemies take a -2 penalty to all defenses and become vulnerable 5 to all damage while inside the aura. They also inflict the same effects on any of their allies who are adjacent to them but outside the aura. Auras from multiple meazels don’t stack.
Their other abilities all come from training, and vary per stat block.
Meazel Bravo
These are rank-and-file frontline fighters. Their tactics are straightforward - charge in and hit the enemy until it stops moving. Their curse aura makes them extra-effective in close quarters, and they love narrow terrain that leaves their enemies little room to maneuver.
Bravos are Level 11 Brutes with 136 HP. Their basic attack is a Morningstar. They can also use a Gut Shot maneuver (recharge 5+), which does slightly less damage but weakens the enemy for a turn.
Note that neither attack takes the aura into account in their damage formulas, which means they hit even harder than standard Brute of their level. Anyone in reach of either attack is also inside the aura!
Meazel Hunter
Hunters are archers that like to coat their arrows in their own cursed blood. Their preferred tactic is to snipe at their targets from behind a wall of bravos.
Hunters are Level 12 Artillery with 88 HP. They fight in melee with Spears that benefit from their aura, but prefer to stay back and use their Longbows. Their basic ranged attack damages and slows for a turn on a hit. They can use a Distracting Shot instead, doing the same amount of damage and forcing the target to grant combat advantage for a turn. Once per encounter they can do the blood-dipping thing and fire a Plague-Tainted Shot that does the same damage and inflicts 10 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends). While this effect remains, any of the target’s allies that starts their turn adjacent to them takes 10 necrotic damage as well.
The plague shot is an interesting way to disrupt PC formations, since anyone adjacent to a stricken victim will have an incentive to move away.
Meazel Strangler
While bravos and hunters do the obvious battling, stranglers sneak around the edges of the fight looking for isolated enemies they can drag away. They’re Level 13 Controllers with 125 HP.
All of their attacks are Reach 1, so they all benefit from the aura. The basic attack is a short sword, but the real star of the show is the Garrote. Its intiial attack is weaker, but it grabs the target on a hit. (Athletics DC 24 or Acrobatics DC 26 to escape). In subsequent rounds the Strangler can spend a standard action to sustain the grab and deal a heavy chunk of physical damage to the target.
Once per encounter they can use a Plage Touch that targets Fortitude, does immediate and ongoing necrotic damage, and blinds (save ends both). It’s a good opener to make that wizard easier to strangle.
As a move action, the strangler can use Drag to the Feast, which allows it to move its speed and pull the grabbed victim along without provoking opportunity attacks from them. Other PCs can still make OAs against the meazel, but any that miss damage the grabbed victim instead.
Final Impressions
The history of the meazels is the story of a bunch of people who, when faced with the spread of a dangerous disease, chose to abandon science and put their faith in an instant cure sold by a charlatan. They suffered the consequences and still decided to double down.
I will note that this entry was written way back in 2010. Any similarity between meazels and anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, and chloroquine/ivermectin enthusiasts is mere coincidence. Mechanically, they’re okay. The aura makes for some nice synergies with their other abilities.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Lolth
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Lolth is likely to be among the very first Big Bads of D&D. I think her first officially published mention was in The Village of Hommlet, an adventure published in 1979 featuring one of her priests as the final antagonist. Since that adventure and the Temple of Elemental Evil that follows it were all based on Gary Gygax’s original campaign, there’s a chance Lolth was was a thing for a few years before that even though she doesn’t appear in the first Monster Manual.
She would make a personal appearance in 1980’s Queen of the Demonweb Pits, where she officially became the patron goddess of the drow and started getting a lot more publicity. The drow and their goddess would get plenty of spotlight time in that edition and all subsequent ones, for good and ill.
By the time we get to this entry in the MM3, we’ve already seen most Lolth-associated monster make their appearances, populating the entire range from heroic to epic tier. We also heard a lot about Lolth herself as a goddess in other supplements. This is where we finally get her stats. She is the second “epic end boss” to make an appearance in this book, but not the last.
The Lore
Lolth is described by the DMG as the goddess of shadows, lies, and spiders. As we saw in the various Drow entries, back in mythic times she led a major uprising against the other elven gods. Her defeat in that civil war saw her and her proto-elf fey followers banished from the Feywild. Her followers moved to the Underdark, where over time they evolved into the drow. Lolth herself took up residence in the Abyss, crafting a whole layer of it into her personal domain.
If I remember correctly, some of the divine-oriented supplements hint that Corellon wasn’t entirely innocent in all of this, and that the reason Lolth rose up against him is that he committed a great injustice against her. It wouldn’t be too far off the mark to say that she wasn’t evil back then, and that it was either the trauma of this first betrayal or a few aeons of living in the Abyss that made her so.
Regardless of her past history, the Lolth of today is certainly Chaotic Evil. Her followers organize themselves into strict hierarchies whose goal is to enable an endless cycle of bloody betrayal: the powerful are free to abuse the weak, and the weak are encouraged to rise in power by murdering their rivals and superiors. Lolth herself doesn’t much trust her followers as we’ve seen in past entries: she created at least two monsters whose main purpose is to infiltrate those hierarchies and keep an eye on their members.
So, in a way, you could say Lolth is the goddess of the cycle of abuse. She inflicts on her followers the same suffering she went through long ago, and encourages them to do the same to their subordinates.
Her dominion is the sixty-sixth layer of the Abyss, a place known as the Demonweb. As the name implies it’s a gigantic web strung across a series of titanic pillars. On its strands rest many relics stolen from other worlds, ranging from standard magic items all the way up to entire ruined cities. Beneath the Web is a black void, and at the bottom of this void are the Demonweb Pits, Lolth’s true headquarters. Here is where she holds court.
The Pits contain a multitude of portals to other layers of the Abyss and to other planes entirely, and they’re one of the reasons why Lolth’s machinations have such a large reach.
The Monsters
This entry contains stats not only for Lolth, but also for her Aspect and her Exarch. We’ll describe them in order of level, like we’ve been doing for the other big shots in this series.
There are no entries for Lolth’s cultists. Most of them are the drow described in the other monster books, as well as the Abyssal Drow and the Chitine from this one. Like the other big bads, Lolth can certainly have cultists from other species as well, using “generic” stat blocks.
Aspect of Lolth
Aspects are fragments of a deity’s power and mind. They share the original deity’s personality and goals, but their existence is independent. Though they’re never as powerful as the original deity, they’re still epic-tier. These used to be called “avatars” in previous editions.
Most gods send their aspects to aid their most favored mortal servants, usually in response to a ritual requesting this aid. Lolth is an exception. Anyone who would have the power to call an aspect of Lolth is sufficiently initiated into her mysteries to know that this is a very bad idea. Instead, they spend their effort making sure she never has cause to send one.
The reason for this is what Lolth sends her aspects as infiltrators whose goal is to influence drow society in ways that align with her goals. The aspect’s natural form is that of a giant demonic spider, but it can assume the form of a drow. It’s usual MO is to kill and replace an authority figure, and use the victim’s power and influence to fulfill its mission. When forced to fight, it reverts to its true form and “generously” spends the lives of its underlings to buy victory, or at least survival.
Aspects of Lolth are Level 25 Elite Lurkers with 368 HP. They’re Large Immortal Magical Beasts in their natural forms, but shrink to Medium size when disguised as drow. They have ground and Spider Climb speeds of 6, Darkvision, and Blindsight 5. They have Resist 30 Poison.
When an aspect hits a creature granting Combat Advantage to it, that creature is weakened and takes 20 ongoing poison damage (save ends both) in addition to suffering all the standard effects of the attack.
Its basic attack is a bite. It can also shoot Acid Webs (recharge 5+) in a Clost Blast 5. This deals acid damage and slows (save ends). On the first failed save, the target also begins taking 20 ongoing acid damage until they pass a save.
They also have a nasty power named Worthy Sacrifice, an area burst attack centered on a non-minion drow, spider, or demon ally. This causes the ally to explode into gory webs, reducing it to 0 HP, and attacks the Reflex of every enemy in the blast area. This attack doesn’t damage enemies, but immobilizes all those it hits (save ends). It also creates a zone of webbed gore that lasts until the end of the encounter and immobilizes any non-spider who ends their move inside (save ends). This recharges when the Aspect is first bloodied.
As minor actions, the aspect can create a Cloud of Darkness that blinds and blocks line of sight for anyone but itself; and Change Shape to appear as a Medium drow. The Insight DC to pierce the disguise is 43, hard even for someone who min-maxed their Insight.
If anyone moves adjacent to the aspect, it can use its Impaling Legs as an interrupt. This is an attack that deals physical damage and grabs the target. Grabbed targets take 10 ongoing poison damage until they escape.
Being immobilized doesn’t actually make you grant combat advantage, but being blinded does. The Aspect should fight alongside allies who can flank the immobilized PCs. Worthy Sacrifice should be reserved to use on an ally who’s about to die anyway.
Eclavdra, Exarch of Lolth
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. Eclavdra has an interesting publication history. Turns out she is the actual final boss of the GDQ series, the one who used to be behind the giant attacks and everything. And she’s not even a Lolth worshipper there! Facing Lolth in those modules is more of a weird detour than the actual thing that solves the problem. A reference to this makes it into her description here.
Eclavdra is described by the book as the “quintessential drow”. Another way of putting it might be that no one in the universe has a deeper understanding of Lolth’s mysteries aside from the goddess herself. This means Eclavdra is both Lolth’s greatest ally and her most dangerous enemy.
Eclavdra has tried to betray Lolth not once, but twice. The first time she worked with the Elder Elemental Eye (that’s the GDQ adventures), and the second she worked with Graz’zt. She still carries a relic of the Eye, the Tentacle Rod, and uses it as her main weapon and implement.
Despite these previous betrayals, Eclavdra has not only remained in Lolth’s good graces, but her standing seems to have improved. Maybe the Lady of Spiders admires her audacity. When roleplaying Eclavdra, it would not be out of place to take your cues from Vriska and Starscream.
Eclavdra is a drow, and thus a Medium Fey Humanoid. She’s also a Level 28 Elite Soldier with the Leader keyword. She has the drow’s Speed 7 and Darkvision. She has no special resistances, even to poison, because Lolth is not stupid.
As she is the Spider Queen’s Emissary, any demon, drow, and spider allies within 5 squares of Eclavdra have a +2 bonus to attack and can shift 1 square as a minor action. Her Tentacle Rod is stretchy and has Reach 3. It can be used in a few special maneuvers in addition to giving her a basic attack.
Tentacle Lash has the same reach and damage as a basic attack, but on a hit it also strips all poison resistance or immunity from the target for the rest of the encounter. The target is also slowed (save ends). This is an at-will power!
Insidious Offer is a ranged spell that deals very weak psychic damage for its level… but on a hit it forces one of those interesting choices I like so much. The target must choose between taking an extra 30 psychic damage from the attack, or becoming dominated (save ends). That’s very in theme - it’s not “real” betrayal if it’s not a choice.
Eclavdra’s minor-action attacks are an unfortunate throwback to the “sexy dominatrix drow” days. Entrancing Beauty is a Close Burst 5 that targets all enemies, deals light psychic damage, and pulls then 2 squares on a hit. On Your Knees is a non-damaging attack with the tentacle rod that makes the target fall prone and prevents them from standing up (save ends).
Finally, Blinking Escape allows Eclavdra to teleport 6 squares and gain concealment as a reaction when she’s hit by a close or area attack.
Eclavdra is loathe to risk her own life. She will make use of guile and manipulation to prevent hostilities from initiating, and when they do she will use her underlings as shields. When the tide of battle turns against her, she will attempt to run away.
Lolth, The Demon Queen of Spiders
There’s no need to repeat the lore of Lolth here - it’s all up at the start of the article. Mechanically, she is notable for being the first official two-stage boss I’ve seen. I believe she’s also the first actual god to get stats in this edition, and the most powerful endgame boss so far.
This means she has two stat blocks! The first is her drow form, in which she is a Level 35 Solo Lurker with 634 HP. When she hits 0 HP in this form, she becomes a Huge demonic spider who is a Level 35 Solo Brute with another 634 HP.
In both forms Lolth has ground, climb, and teleport speeds of 8. She also has Darkvision, Blindsight 20, and is immune to poison. Her remaining abilities are entirely different in both forms.
In her drow form, Lolth fights with a Scourge, a multi-tailed whip. Its attacks are Reach 3, do some light physical damage, and slide the target 3 squares. They also inflict ongoing 20 poison damage (save ends).
She can use the Insidious Poison ability (recharge 4+) to automatically force an enemy that’s taking ongoing poison damage to attack an ally. That attack deals a lot of extra poison damage as well.
She has three minor-action attacks. Lolth’s Kiss is a Reach 1 melee attack that deals a bit less damage than the scourge, but inflicts the same amount of ongoing poison damage. Poison Strands is a ranged attack that deals no immediate damage but immobilizes (save ends). After the first saved throw, this worsens to Restrained. After the second the target begins taking 50 ongoing poison damage until they pass a save to end all of this at once. That’s the deadliest poison in existence! And yeah, both of these are at will.
The third is an encounter power: Impenetrable Darkfire is a Close Burst 5 that targets enemies. It blinds, inflicts 20 ongoing fire damage, and makes it impossible for them to benefit from cover or concealment (save ends all). It also creates a zone that lasts for a turn, blocks line of sight for everyone but Lolth, and blinds anyone inside who is not Lolth.
When an enemy hits Lolth, she can use a Dominating Rebuke as a reaction to automatically dominate them for a turn. And as a deity, her Immortal Resilience allows her to immediately roll a save when she is inflicted by any effect a save can end. This is a “No Action” effect, meaning it always happens, giving her a 75% chance of ignoring all save ends effects outright.
The transformation that happens when Drow Lolth hits 0 HP is also an attack. It targets all enemies in a Close Burst 10. On a hit they become vulnerable 20 to all damage, and are stunned (save ends both). As an aftereffect after passing the save, they’re pushed their speed away from her and are dazed for a turn. After this resolves, Lolth assumes her spider shape, and uses that stat block going forward.
Lolth the Spider Queen is, as mentioned, a Huge spider and a Level 35 Brute. Her basic attack is now a Bite that deals much stronger base damage and still inflicts 20 ongoing poison damage. Insidious Poison is still here and work the same, but the damage bonus is bigger.
As a minor action she can spray Burning Webs in a Close Burst 5 that deal acid damage and immobilize (save ends). After failing the first saving throw, victims are restrained instead and take 30 ongoing acid damage.
Immortal Resilience is still here and works the same. She also has Impaling Legs like those of her Aspect, but they’re Reach 3 and trigger when an enemy moves into reach. A target hit by the attack is restrained and begins taking ongoing 20 poison damage (save ends both).
Finally, when Spider Lolth is first bloodied, she uses Divine Discorporation to escape. This works automatically, and causes her mind to leave her body and be unable to assume physical shape for a while. This period can last several years, and while Lolth’s power will be greatly diminished during this time she’s still alive and can direct her forces. A bit like Sauron in Lord of the Rings.
To truly kill Lolth, the PCs must fulfill a condition or complete a quest that’s specific to her. If this happens, then she’s prevented from discorporating and can be fought until truly killed. The book presents three example quests, and the GM is encouraged to come up with something that fits their specific world and campaign.
The example quests are:
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The Loom of Fate, an artifact hidden deep within Corellon’s palace in Arvandor. It was once used by Lolth, and it can be used by the PCs to rearrange the threads of her fate and make her defeatable. Corellon knows this but fears to use it. What doesn’t he want you to know?
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The Egg of Lolth, a mysterious artifact that can be destroyed to seal the gates going out of the Demonweb Pits and thus prevent Lolth’s escape. But then how do you get out?
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Lolth’s Prison, a demiplane beyond even the Demonweb Pits, where a dread Bone Colossus guards the Pendant of Truth. Brandishing the Pendant before the goddess of lies prevents her from discorporating. How will you get there, and what truths will you find within?
Final Impressions
All of these enemies are quite interesting mechanically. I particularly like Lolth’s two-stage-boss design. Her drow form is all about the insidious poisoning of mind and body. Her attacks deal little immediate damage, and the riders are what kills you. The spider form is a lot more direct.
As a Level 35 monster, a max-level party is going to have some trouble hitting Lolth and avoiding her strikes. This fortunately doesn’t affect saves, but even so the PC’s leaders should have plenty of save-granting abilities and items on hand, because failing those saves has dreadful consequences. Conversely, offense should focus on abilities that deal direct non-poison damage and whose riders are either immediate or last a turn, because she’s almost immune to anything that requires a save.
I also love Eclavdra’s description as a Starscream figure. That even works as a proper elven surname if you want it to be really on the nose.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Kuo-Toa
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Kuo-toa made their 4e debut in the Monster Manual, and would get a MV style upgrade in Dungeon 193. This entry gives us extra stat blocks that don’t overlap with either, even though it came out months before the Dungeon update.
The Lore
Kuo-Toa basic lore remains the same. They’re the spear-wielding fish people that live in the Underdark and worship aboleths and other aberrant entities. Their priests, known as whips, are their absolute rulers, and discipline is enforced by individuals known as monitors.
This entry adds that whips and monitors are able to force their underlings to follow a coherent combat strategy even though those underlings tend to be very mentally unstable. If these leaders fall before their underlings, the group’s tactics will become a lot more erratic. Some will run, some will go berserk, and so on.
The Monsters
All kuo-toa in this entry have ground and swim speeds of 6. They are Aquatic and have Darkvision. Their signature ability is Slick Maneuver, a move action that can be used when they’re adjacent to an enemy and allows them to shift 3 squares, though they must end the move still adjacent to the enemy.
Kuo-Toa Mad One
As you can guess from the name, Mad Ones are unstable even by the standards of other kuo-toa. They’re afflicted by a form of supernatural insanity that originates in the Far Realm and is contagious. They hang around old ruins and temples, worshipping and guarding ancient artifacts far away from the rest of their society. If one of these is stolen, they’ll give chase to punish the thieves and recover the relic.
Mad Ones are Level 12 Minion Skirmishers, and notably lack Slick Maneuver. Instead, they have an aura (1) of Spreading Madness that gives all enemies inside 5 Vulnerability to psychic damage. Their Claw attacks damage and allow them to shift 1 square on a hit. They can also release a Psychic Scream in a Close Blast 3. It deals a small amount of psychic damage, though that gets a boost from Spreading Madness.
Kuo-Toa Drowner
Drowners specialize on raiding ships and dragging their crews to a watery doom. They wield hooks and barbed nets in combat.
Drowners are Level 14 Soldiers with 137 HP. Their hooks can be used for basic attacks and for a Dredging Hook maneuver that does the same damage as a basic attack and slides the target 3 squares to another square adjacent to the kuo-toa. Combined with Slick Maneuver, this makes the process of dragging a victim overboard into a sort of spiral dance.
The Barbed Net can be thrown as a ranged attack vs. Reflex. It deals a bit less damage than the hook, and if the target willingly moves in their next turn they take extra damage. Drowners carry 4 of these nets each.
Kuo-Toa Lash
Lashes are a caste of lesser priests, subservient to the whips and responsible for overseeing sacrifices. This includes leading raids to acquire victims. They fight with tridents and a combination of lightning and water-based magic.
Lashes are Level 15 Artillery with 115 HP. They can use their tridents in melee or throw them in a Lightning Trident attack that’s stronger, deals lightning damage, and causes the weapon to return to the lash. Its main disadvantage is that the range on this attack is only 3/6.
Their Fill Lungs spell reaches a lot farther. It targets Fortitude, does physical damage, and inflicts ongoing 5 damage. It’s also very scary.
They can also use a Forked Lightning spell that works as a lightning-based fireball that also blinds on a hit. This recharges whey they’re first bloodied, or when they reduce an enemy to 0 HP.
Kuo-Toa Cutter
Cutters are classic skirmishers, trained to slip through enemy frontlines and stab their squishies with serrated daggers. They’re Level 16 Skirmishers with 151 HP.
The barbed dagger does standard damage for their level, and they can also use it in a Crippling Strike that does less damage but inflicts slowness and ongoing 10 damage (save ends). If someone misses them with a melee attack, the cutter can shift 4 squares and use Barbed Dagger as a reaction.
Final Impressions
These go well with the Dungeon 193 updated kuo-toa, and if you’re already using those then you’ll like these ones. No big lore changes here, but the stat blocks are cool enough.
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