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• May 23, 2022

  One Post Cyberpunk!

  

  As I mentioned back in my Cyberpunk RED review, I felt the game didn’t quite clear my “Threshold of GURPS”. This particular term is new but the idea itself is almost exactly 5 years old now. I first mentioned it in this post, where I discussed what makes me want to reach for GURPS in an adaptation and what makes me look for other systems.

  CP RED’s native system is fine! The reason I say it didn’t “clear the threshold” is that it’s exactly the sort of system and setting described in the “When to GURPS” section of that 2017 post. It worries about modeling specific concrete actions, and it worries about the details of how they’re executed. In addition to this, the system itself doesn’t have any mechanical novelties that aren’t reproducible in GURPS.

  So yeah, while I’d happily play the native system in a one-shot or something like that, given enough time to prepare I’d prefer to adapt its setting to GURPS. Talking about how I’d do it is an excellent excuse for an Octopus Carnival post. It helps that “Cyberpunk” has been one of the genres GURPS set out to support since its beginnings.

  Part 1: High Concept

  Cyberpunk-the-setting is actually a fairly broad place that supports a large variety of campaigns… but most people seem to be fans of that fairly narrow slice of stylish street mercs pulling heists for money and/or personal reasons. I’m not gonna lie, I’m like most people in that regard and so I’m going to focus on that.

  Though the setting has three distinct “eras” now, they all look and feel mostly the same. The main changes are to the map of Night City and the specific reason why Johnny Silverhand is raiding Arasaka Tower this time. I think we might be able to condense that long timeline down a bit.

  I’m also going to mix in my personal preferences: I believe cyberpunk doesn’t have to be a dystopia. This is something you might have gathered from my previous posts on the subject. I find a lot of cyberpunk settings tend to confuse “things are bad” with “things can never get better”, and I don’t want to do that here. For Cyberpunk Red specifically, this ends up resulting into a game that tells players simple survival is the most they can expect in the same book where it touts the epic exploits of Bartmoss and Silverhand. I want to treat them as “iconic” characters in the modern sense, which means that if those clowns can do all this, so can the PCs.

  So here we are: a game about stylish street mercs in the neon-lit future, living in the fictional Night City. They get into noir-ish situations for money, and see them through for personal reasons. Hostile factions are mostly corporations, crime syndicates, or violent themed gangs with corporate ties.

  Though PCs often fight for personal stakes they can still end up having a big impact in the setting¹. PCs who are smart about it and make use of collective action can make big, lasting, positive change, but even more traditional “band of badasses” actions will still do something. Not every campaign has to be about this, but the play style should be possible and supported.

  Part 2: Time and Place

  As mentioned above, it’s Night City in the neon-lit cyber future. Feel free to use the present date that suits you best. Set it in one of the official dates of the original game. Set it in 2100 just to spite Transhuman Space. Make it 20XX, 21XX, 22XX, whatever. Or be like William Gibson and never even mention calendar years. The backstory follows the same general lines of the original, using relative dates.

  Fifty-something years ago the US government descended further into fascist stupidity than ever before². Over the next few decades its economy and environment crashed big time, the entire West Coast seceded, and the government was either powerless to stop the rise of the megacorps or was actively helping them along.

  Twenty-something years ago Johhny Silverhand performed his one and only raid on Arasaka Tower, which is more or less a combination of the events from the 2013 and 2023 raids in the original chronology. Arasaka’s nuke blows up, and the political and literal fallout from this causes heavy backlash against megacorps in general all over the world. Though many are still around, they can no longer do whatever the fuck they want without fear of consequence.

  Our narrative present is a blend of CP RED and 2077. Night city rebuilt enough to leave “survival mode”, but it’s still something of a crime capital where the corps have lots of influence and habitually pay those themed gangs to do their dirty work. It also has a relatively large “edgerunner” culture with its own honor codes and a surprisingly large propensity to take jobs from people who are neither corp- nor gang- affiliated.

  There is no shortage of past wars to be a veteran of. The most recent one was the Corp War that finally died down let’s say 5 years ago. It featured lots of big corps going at each other, and lots of governments cracking down on them for it.

  Cyberware is common enough that most people sport at least a bit of “fashionware” from their late teens onwards. Most people won’t cut off healthy limbs in order to replace them, but there are plenty of maimed veterans and victims of disease for whom cybernetic replacements are an appealing prospect. Implanted augmentations are somewhat more common, with the most popular by far being a GitS-style “cyberbrain” implanted computer.

  Guns and armored clothing are common and relatively easy to get in Night City. This is not generally a good thing, and contributes to the city’s still dismal violence statistics.

  Advertisements are nowhere near as aggressive and explicit as they are in CP 2077. The real world is bad enough on that front that you don’t need to further “enhance” it to make a point.

  Rache Bartmoss did not “destroy” the NET, because we don’t need to justify rules changes with an in-setting event. Feral AI gods running on mutated data centers is too good an image to pass up, though, so those are still there.

  Part 3: Characters and Their Stuff

  The core of our rules is going to be GURPS Action, because this is a game about action heroes. The default is that players get to build their PCs using the 250-point archetypes from GURPS Action 1. This makes them experienced edgerunners. Greenhorns would use the lower-point templates from Specialists.

  Our default ruleset is the one from GURPS Action 2, with the main changes to that being due to the science fiction elements we’re introducing.

  Gear and Cyberware

  The base tech level is 9, though TL8 gear is still widely available. We’re either not that far into the future or it’s simply easier to print at home than the more advanced stuff.

  Computers and biotech are at TL10. You can run a mind emulation from a portable system, and miraculous speed-healing drugs are available. Implants are drawn from Ultra-Tech and Bio-Tech and are mostly TL9, though some TL10 things that appear in the CP books would also be available.

  Cyberware does not inherently erode your humanity. Not even if you replace your healthy bits with chrome that’s better than human standard. We use the usual GURPS mechanics of making implants cost character points at character creation and both points and money afterwards.

  Any template can spend its discretionary points on cyberware from Ultra-Tech or implants from Bio-Tech. This means most PCs might have one or two implants to start with, though having none is also a valid choice. Campaigns where the PCs are meant to start out chromed to the gills might give them 25 or 50 extra points to spend on starting cyberware.

  Netrunning

  For hacking, I want a streamlined system. The one from Pyramid #3/21 is a good start, since one of its goals is to prevent the isolation from the classic “dungeon crawl” system of CP 2020. However, I want to rely even less on virtual reality and be more like Ghost in the Shell or CP 2077.

  A prospective hacker needs a Neural Interface Implant of some sort (UT, p. 216). A cyberdeck is either a Computer Implant (Complexity 5, UT p. 215) or a small computer (Complexity 6, UT p. 22) with a cable jack and a tiny radio communicator, but without any built-in terminal. The “default” interface tier is “Augmented Reality”, where the hacker sees the necessary interfaces alongside the physical world. It’s possible to go “Full Immersion”, which is faster but leaves the character effectively unconscious in the real world.

  Characters running AR have a -2 penalty in opposed tests against characters running Full Immersion. This is the only game effect, so it’s only worth giving up your physical senses when you run into an immersed enemy hacker or an enemy AI (which always counts as immersed). Programs and skills are the same as in the Pyramid article.

  The biggest change from the Pyramid article is in level design. Generally speaking, “interesting” hackable servers and networks are not directly connected to the public Internet, and the hacker PC must be on-site to access them. The smallest and most common target is a single device with a basic firewall, usually something like a security camera or an automatic door.

  Sites with better security link their devices into a slightly larger network. This is a bit more similar to the design examples of the Pyramid article, but remember not to make them too large. Such a network might encompass all security devices in a given floor. No connecting through a megacorp’s top-secret research server through the vending machines in the lobby!

  People might also be a valid target for hacking, if they have those nearly-ubiquitous computer implants. The implant can have any defenses that could be installed in a computer of the same Complexity and usually contains at least a basic firewall. Overcoming those defenses might allow netrunners to “jam” the target’s senses with spurious sensory data or even run the Damage program. Savvier opposition might link their internal computers into a more secure network overseen by a friendly hacker, or just turn the their wi-fi off entirely if it doesn’t confer any combat benefit to them.

  Conclusion

  And there you have it. That’s enough to play your classic edgerunners in the Cyberpunk 2020/RED/2077 setting. Any of the Screamsheets from 2020 or RED should be readily adaptable, since they have little in the way of stats to begin with. The gigs and side jobs from 2077 also provide plentiful inspiration and material for tabletop adventures, and that game’s main plot gives you an idea of what the sort of “high impact” adventure that leaves a crater looks like. You might need a bit more thought to devise adventures about organizing collective action, but they’re also quite possible.

  1. Possibly leaving a big crater. ↩

  2. If you’re using a 2077 date, that’s Trump’s thankfully fictional second mandate starting in 2020. ↩

• May 22, 2022

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

  

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

  I first saw the Catoblepas in the AD&D 2nd Edition Monster Manual, and I was very surprised to learn it’s not a “lolrandom” original monster. It’s a legendary creature from Ethiopia, described by Roman historians Pliny the Elder and Claudius Aelianus. I can’t tell whether that makes it part of Ethiopian or Roman folklore - I’m sure someone more qualified than me can make that distinction. Their name is derived from a Greek word meaning “to look downwards”. The plural of catoblepas is catoblepones.

  The Lore

  Wikipedia speculates that the original descriptions of the catoblepas might be referring to a wildebeest or gnu, and you need only look at Wayne England’s illustration above to know he’s really done his homework. A D&D catoblepas looks like a wildebeest with a horrible nightmare where its neck and head should be. Their long necks are always bent down due to the great weight of their heads, which is where their name comes from.

  D&D catoblepones are creatures of shadow and death. They are native to the Shadowfell but have a natural ability to wander between worlds. People believe they appear in places that are about to be stuck by tragedy, which is kinda true since the beast’s breath and gaze are deadly. They’re associated with the Raven Queen and sometimes show up as part of her entourage.

  Despite their reputation as beasts of ill omen, catoblepones are often the targets of hunting expeditions. Knights hunt them because defeating such a dangerous beast brings great glory; others perform ritual hunts in honor of the Raven Queen. Success in these ritual hunts might please the goddess enough that she grants a blessing to the hunters. A catoblepas can be tracked by the trail of destruction it leaves, and the Raven Queen is particularly pleased by hunters who make an effort to mend this damage as they pursue their quarry. To them, she might grand a mighty boon such as returning someone to life or giving a living person the ability to foresse their own death and avoid it.

  A slain catoblepas reforms in the Shadowfell after a while, and begins wandering again. Their arrival in a region is often preceded by supernatural phenomena such as hauntings.

  The Monsters

  We get two varieties of catoblepas here.

  Catoblepas Harbinger

  A classic beast of ill omen, the catoblepas harbinger appears in places full of hubris to announce they’re about to be hit by famine, war, or other tragedies. It feeds on pride, anger, despair and other negative emotions, growing ever larger over time. The poisonous gases it exhales are a byproduct of this vitriolic diet. I wonder if one of these showed up in the throne room of the Nerathi emperor before the empire fell.

  The Harbinger is a Large Shadow Beast, and a Level 10 Elite Controller with 220 HP. It lumbers along at speed 6 and has Resist Necrotic 5 and Blindsight 5.

  Like all catoblepones, the Harbinger emanates the Raven Queen’s presence, an aura (5) that causes anyone inside who fails a death saving throw to lose HP equal to half their bloodied value. By the standard rules, any creature who hits their bloodied value in negative HP dies automatically, so this aura makes PCs die after at most two failed saves instead of the usual three.

  When drawn into a fight the harbinger gores with its horns and uses its poison breath (close blast 5, recharge 5+), which obviously does poison damage and inflicts ongoing poison damage.

  If someone within 5 squares of the harbinger willingly tries to move away from it, they’re subject to the beast’s Final Glance, an opportunity action that targets Will. A victim hit by the glance takes 5 necrotic damage and becomes Vulnerable 5 to all damage (save ends). When they pass that save, they take another 10 necrotic damage.

  Catoblepas Tragedian

  This is an older specimen that usually hangs out in places where dead souls cross over into the Shadowfell, absorbing all the negative emotions that accompany them. This steady diet has made it grow much larger, and reshaped its face so it looks like a tragedy mask.

  Tragedians are Huge Shadow Beasts, and Level 18 Elite Controllers with 360 HP. They’re mostly identical to harbingers, with larger numbers. They also have a couple of new abilities.

  The first is a Withering Gaze used as an active attack against a bloodied enemy. It targets Will, does a tiny bit of necrotic damage, and weakens (save ends). After the first failed save, the target is also blinded. After the second, the target’s hit points drop to -1. And yeah, this does mean they need to make death saves and it does subject them to the Raven Queen’s Presence aura. This power recharges whenever no enemy is affected by it.

  The second new ability is Inevitable Call, a minor action that automatically hits an enemy within 20 squares and pulls them 3 squares closer to the Tragedian.

  Final Impressions

  Catoblepones are sticky melee controllers. The basic Harbinger has good powers to prevent PCs from getting away from them, opening them up from attack from the other monsters in the fight. It pairs really well with monsters that can do heavy damage, like brutes and some artillery, because you want to force the PCs to roll death saves as soon as possible. The Tragedian is all that and more. It has powers to draw PCs closer to itself and perhaps even force them into negative HP early.

  I used to dismiss these monsters outright because I found the name “catoblepas” ridiculous, but their 4e incarnation has really evocative lore! I’m a fan now.

• May 22, 2022

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

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

  Cambions made their 4e debut in the Monster Manual and were covered here. This MM3 entry brings us a few more cambion stat blocks, and an extra helping of lore.

  The Lore

  The basic lore hasn’t changed: cambions are the direct offspring of a mortal and a devil. The first Monster Manual just described the mortal parent as “depraved or foolish”, but MM3 gets into a little bit more detail on how that happens. It’s about as horrific as you’d imagine.

  The “foolish” mortals are the ones who sign infernal contracts. Many of them include “make a baby” as part of the price. The “depraved” ones are cultists, but that doesn’t mean the process is enjoyable for them either. The highly hierarchical nature of Hell means mortal cultists and lesser devils must conceive cambions as commanded by their superiors.

  Whatever their origin story, cambions mature quickly and are soon put to work furthering the schemes of their masters. Most of them swear loyalty to Asmodeus directly and are set loose upon the world to enact various schemes. Fierna and Belial also walk around with a cambion honor guard.

  Cambions associate with lesser devils and mortal diabolists. Those who style themselves as leaders might have a retinue of guards and advisors. The advisors are sometimes oni or rakshasa, and in that case they’ll be the true power behind the throne.

  The Monsters

  Cambions are Medium Immortal Humanoids with the Devil keyword. They have darkvision and fire resistance (which is 10 in all stat blocks in this entry). Their wings give them a flight speed of 8 (clumsy), which means they fight with their feet on the ground.

  Cambion Wrathborn

  Despite the name, wrathborn are fairly subtle. They can use magic to appear as a mortal version of their natural appearance, and they use this ability to infiltrate mortal societies and attain positions of power through intrigue and violence. They do have a short temper, though, and tend to interpret even the smallest slight as a grave insult.

  Wrathborn are Level 9 Skirmishers with 100 HP. Their disguise ability is named Wicked Guise, and it remains on while the wrathborn is unbloodied. When that happens, they assume their true form and project an aura (1) of Burning Anger, which deals 5 fire damage to those caught inside.

  They fight a bit like extra-mobile infernal warlocks, using a shortsword and a wand. The basic sword attack is Pain Blade, which damages and makes the target grant combat advantage for a turn on a hit. They can use a maneuver named Path of Pain to shift 4 squares and make a Pain Blade attack at any point during the shift. The wand shoots fire bolts that target Reflex and do fire damage.

  Once per encounter, while bloodied, the wrathborn can also use Burst Skyward to deal fire damage around themselves (Close burst 2 vs. Reflex) and fly 8 squares without provoking opportunity attacks. This is good to avoid getting surrounded.

  Chained Cambion

  

  Chained cambions are exactly what it says on the tin: cambions bound up in chains, with iron masks affixed to their faces. I’m guessing this is what happens when someone tries to imprison a cambion and it kinda-sorta breaks free. Their bodies are completely bound, but they can move and fight by controllng the chains that bind them. Their chief emotion is hate. The only sound from behind the mask is a hoarse scream of rage. Zero subtlety. Zero chill.

  Chained cambions are Level 10 Controllers with 110 HP. Since they walk around by moving their chains like spider legs, they lack a flight speed. They’re surrounded by a Blinding Field (aura 3) that makes its covered squares count as difficult terrain for enemies. Their Child of Chains trait makes them get a +2 attack bonus when immobilized or restrained, as well as a +2 bonus on saves to end those conditions.

  These monsters attack by hitting people with their enchanted chains and screaming into their minds. Their basic Chain Lash attack has a reach of 3, and if it hits a dazed enemy it also immobilizes them.

  The psychic screaming is expressed as two different attacks. Vile Fetters is a reach 5 melee attack that targets Will and does psychic damage. If the target ends it next turn closer to the cambion than it started, it becomes dazed (save ends). Unfettered Scream (recharge 5+) is a close blast 3 that targets Fortitude, does psychic damage, pushes 2 squares, and dazes (save ends).

  As a minor action the chained cambion can use a Mind Shackles spell. It automatically hits 2 enemies within 5 squares of the cambion. Shackled enemies take 10 psychic damage at the start and at the end of their turns if they’re not adjacent to the other shackled enemy at that moment. Each enemy saves independently from the other, so it’s possible for one of them to be free and the other still shackled. The first successful save reduces the damage to 5, the second eliminates it. This power recharges when the cambion is bloodied.

  Looks like a chained cambion will want to shackle a pair of enemies and then keep them apart by interposing himself between then and using Unfettered Scream to push them away, or Vile Fetters to prevent them from going around.

  Cambion Infernal Scion

  Sometimes the unfortunate mortal forced to be a cambion parent is a noble or even a monarch. Infernal scions are an object lesson on why hereditary government is a bad idea. This one covets Asmodeus’ positition as the ruler of Hell and is working to supplant him. I guess he’s still a ways away from doing that.

  He’s a Level 12 Elite Soldier with 250 HP, wearing mail and wielding a magic sword. This Burning Longsword does fire damage and marks for a turn. If a marked enemy tries to ignore the mark, the scion can use Majestic Stride to teleport adjacent to them and hit them with the sword.

  In addition to using the sword to mark people, the scion can use Oath of the Nine (minor action, 1/round) to do so. This automatically marks an enemy within 3 squares and gives them Vulnerable 10 Fire for a turn.

  When not bloodied, the scion can use Dread Command (Ranged 5 vs. Will, minor action, 1/round) to dominate an enemy for a turn. Once bloodied he flips out, losing this ability and replacing it with Fiend Razor, which allows it to make 2 sword attacks with an action. This is an interesting way to implement an elite’s multi-attack ability.

  Final Impressions

  Cambions are… okay I guess? The mechanics in this entry are interesting, but the lore doesn’t quite get me going. I feel I can make some use of the infernal scion, but the others don’t make stories jump to my mind just from reading them.

• May 20, 2022

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

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

  Beholders appear in every 4e Monster Manual and also in the Monster Vault. They’re apparently too iconic to leave out! In this entry, we get spooky.

  There’s no new “general” lore in this entry. Everything it introduces would be packaged into the Monster Vault as well and we already looked at that lore here.

  Beholder Spawn

  D&D 5th Edition would introduce that cool bit where beholders reproduce asexually through nightmares. The MM3 just says that the means of beholder reproduction are best left unknown. In either case, the result of that process could be represented by this Beholder Spawn stat block.

  These are beholders at the start of their life-cycle, very young and comparatively weak but already quite smart and evil. You might find them alongside their parents. Or perhaps they’re banding together for survival, hoping to last long enough to be the first to reach full size and devour the rest of their siblings.

  In either case they’d be very aware of their fragility and would try to stay mobile, spread out, and away from the reach of the PCs.

  The Numbers

  Beholder spawn are Medium Aberrant Magical Beasts, and Level 15 Minion Artillery. They have a flight speed of 6, darkvision, and all-around vision (which means they can’t be flanked).

  Like all beholders, they bite in melee and fire eye rays with a maximum range of 10. Their rays are a lot simpler than that of a “full” beholder, and do elemental damage of the same type as one of the types used by their parent.

  If a spawn is hit or missed by a close or area attack, they can use Desperate Flight as an interrupt to shift 2 squares. This means they can try to get out of the area of effect before they suffer damage.

  Beholder Eye of Shadow

  In past articles we already established that beholders mutate when they cross over from the Far Realm, taking characteristics that match their new environment. Eyes of Shadow are beholders that hung out in the Shadowfell too long, acquiring powers compatible with that bleak place.

  The Numbers

  We’re back in familiar territory here: this beholder is Large and a Level 12 Elite Lurker with 194 HP. It has the same speed and senses as the spawn above, deals extra damage when it has combat advantage, and heals 20 HP at the end of a turn if it has remained invisible since the start of that turn.

  It capitalizes on those passive traits through a couple of auxiliary abilities: its Central Eye (minor action 1/round) projects a fear attack that targets Will and makes the target grant combat advantage; and it can Vanish Into Shadow (recharge 5+) as a move action, teleporting up to 20 squares and becoming invisible until it attacks or until the end of its next turn.

  As for its actual attacks, there’s the usual bite and a set of 3 eye rays. These are ranged attacks but don’t provoke opportunity attacks. The beholder can fire two of them in the same action but must aim each at a different target. They are:

  • a Blinding Ray (vs. Reflex) that deals radiant damage and blinds for a turn.

  • a Thundering Ray (vs. Fortitude) which deals heavy thunder damage and deafens for a turn.

  • a Shadowbond Ray (vs. Will) that deals necrotic damage and immobilizes (save ends). While this condition lasts, the beholder and any shadow creatures in play have concealment while within 5 squares of the target.

  This beholder wants to attack from ambush and use its central eye and blinding ray to make the PCs grant it combat advantage from a distance. Then it’s going to hit them with thundering rays and bites while enjoying the extra damage. Shadowbond is for melee defenders, and Vanish Into Shadow is a good escape hatch. The teleport range on that is so large it could allow the beholder to escape combat entirely, though an overconfident or angry individual might still return to the fight as soon as it finishes healing those 20 HP.

  Its ability to target any defense makes it quite versatile, even if it only has three rays.

  Ghost Beholder

  

  While the Eye of Shadow is merely goth, this one is actually undead. Beholders are stubborn and hateful creatures at the best of times, so it’s natural that some of them will linger on as ghosts after they die or are killed. This usually suits them just fine, but it also makes the more cautious since they know they won’t get a third chance at existence.

  The Numbers

  Ghost beholders are Large Level 18 Elite Controllers with 254 HP. It combines common beholder traits (as seen on the two previous monsters) with undead ones. It’s immune to disease and poison, and Vulnerable 10 to radiant damage. As a ghost, it’s insubstantial and has phasing.

  Its bite is a ghostly attack that targets Reflex and does necrotic damage. Its Central Eye has a minor-action poltergeist effect that targets Will, slides the target 5 squares, and gives if 5 vulnerability to necrotic and psychic damage for a turn. All of its eye rays deal one of these damage types.

  The ghost beholder has three eye rays to choose from. It can only fire one on its own turn, but it also has the Eyes of the Beholder trait that gives it a free random ray attack against enemies that start their turn within 5 squares of it.

  The rays are:

  • Chill of the Grave (vs. Fortitude) does cold and necrotic damage, and slows (save ends).

  • Ghostly Possession (vs. Will) inflicts 15 ongoing psychic damage (save ends)e. The first failed save also dazes the target; the second one completes the possession. Possessed targets are dominated, and the beholder disappears from play until the effect ends. This happens on a sucessful save, or the beholder can end it voluntarily.

  • Killing Thought (vs. Will) does psychic damage and forces the target to make a melee basic attack against themselves! Targets who are not holding a weapon will drop what they’re holding, draw a weapon, and make that attack anyway, all as part of the same free action. Creepy.

  Ghost beholders are fond of phasing into the floor or walls to protect themselves from attack, emerging from unexpected angles to shoot against the characters. Fighting them without access to force and/or radiant damage is an exercise in suffering.

  Final Impressions

  More Beholders! Even though the Eye of Shadow follows the same naming convention as the Eyes of Flame and Frost, I think it has a better stat block. It does a variety of unexpected damage types and can target any defense!

  The Ghost Beholder also has interesting abilities, but its defenses make it a nightmare to fight for an unprepared party. Even well-prepared undead hunters might boggle a bit when they find one of those instead of more standard monster like a vampire or banshee.

  As for the spawn, I’d probably reskin them into something else. The idea of mobile flying artillery minions is sound, but the thought of fighting beholder “children” is a bit disturbing and I’m partial to the idea that beholders spawn as fully-grown nightmares given form.

• May 20, 2022

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

  

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

  Behemoths were introduced in the first Monster Manual. As you can see there, they’re basically fantasy dinosaurs. Most of them resemble the dinosaurs we learned about as kids, but the “official” association is tenuous enough that behemoths don’t have to change to conform to newer scientific developments.

  The Lore

  The book gives us a couple of poetic paragraphs about how behemoth steps thunder through the landscape and so on. They’re nice.

  The new information here is that behemoths are always in demand for use as war beasts, so specimens young enough to train are a hot commodity. Capturing one is not easy though, because mommy behemoths fight their hardest when protecting their nests and their young. Some of them also live in really hard to reach places.

  Even “tame” behemoths aren’t 100% safe. There’s always a chance they’ll flip out and turn on their handlers, and then escape to the wild after killing them. This could happen in the middle of a battle, in which case the behemoth will attack enemy and former ally alike until it can run off.

  The Monsters

  We get three new behemoth species here. They’re Natural Beasts as usual, and since we have a focus on behemoths that can be used as weapons they all have the Mount keyword in addition to the usual Reptile keyword. Their other traits vary per stat block, and their levels range from mid- to late- Heroic.

  Bone Crown Behemoths

  This is an old-school triceratops. I understand the science on those has moved on by now, but this is one of the advantages of behemoths over realistic dinosaurs. Their size is Large.

  Bone crowns are herbivorous but extremely aggressive and ill-tempered. They’re a favorite of hobgoblins and troglodytes, who train them for use as unstoppable, tank-like cavalry. The “poetic” imagery in the text describes these things charging through infantry formations and coming out the other side adorned in soldier guts hanging from their crowns as if they were pennants. As you might have guessed, they have a relatively high chance to flip out and turn on their riders in the heat of battle.

  Bone crowns are Level 6 Soldiers with 71 HP and Speed 7. Their basic (and only) attack action is a Head Butt that damages and marks for a turn. When used in a charge it also pushes 1 square, and when used in an opportunity attack it knocks prone.

  They also have a couple of triggered actions: Threatening Bash allows them to attack a marked enemy that shifts as an interrupt. Insult to Injury is their mount power, and adds their “push 1 square” effect to their rider’s charge attacks.

  Use pseudo-cavalry tactics for these: charge in from a distance, crash into the PCs, and then stay around to step on them and pin them down while your skirmishers and atrillery have fun. It’s better if the charge comes in from a flank and hits the squishies, but since the PCs aren’t an army that’s difficult to arrange.

  Skinwing Behemoth

  One of those giant pterodactyls. They nest in craggy mountains, and thieves often try to steal their eggs to sell to kingdoms looking to start or maintain an air force. A lot of these thieves get killed by enraged skinwing parents.

  These Large behemoths are Level 7 Skirmishers with 79 HP. Their ground speed is a pitiful 2 (clumsy), but they fly at speed 8 (hover). That clumsiness means a downed skinwing will do everything in its power to take flight again as soon as possible… even abandon its rider.

  Their basic attack is a bite with no special effects, but they have the famous Flyby Attack power that allows them to fly their speed, make an attack at any point, and not provoke opportunity attacks from their target. The Strafe trait allows the rider to make a basic attack in place of their mount’s bite during this maneuver.

  The skinwing can also enhance a flyby attack with its Grasping Talons (recharge 5+), which allow it to grab the target if the main attack hits. They can then Drag Off the victim, carrying it with them while the grab lasts.

  Skinwings fight by doing constant flyby attacks, and carrying victims off to be dropped from a great height when they can. Skinwing cavalry will coordinate with ground forces to do the same thing in a maximally inconvenient way. PCs would do well to knock them off the air as soon as possible and prevent them from taking off again.

  Spirehorn Behemoth

  I don’t think this Huge creature has an analog in the real world. At size Huge, they’re so big they can mount platforms transporting up to a dozen people, and they have big horns. They are the perfect vanity ride for your typical barbarian chieftain or hobgoblin general, so there is high demand for eggs and even for healthy adults. Lots of people die trying to get those.

  Their actual battlefield use depends on the personality of their owners. Some are used like thrones and sit in a palace somewhere. Others are mobile fortified command centers that hang at the back of a fighting army. And others are siege engines at the front lines, transporting troops instead of a single big ego or command staff.

  Spirehorns are Level 9 Elite Brutes with 234 HP. They confer the Beastmaster trait to their rider, giving them a +1 to AC and Reflex. I guess only the person actually directing the spirehorn gets the bonus. Their speed is 6.

  A spirehorn’s basic attack is a gore with no special effects, and it can make Double Attacks. Once per encounter it can build up some speed and Trample, moving twice its speed. It can enter enemy spaces during this move and makes a free attack on each enemy whose space it enters.

  You’re likely to see these used in battle as living siege towers, or as carriers for enemy leaders. In either case they’re going to be priority targets.

  Final Impressions

  Dinosaurs are awesome even when they’re called Behemoths, and with the ones in this entry plus the others we’ve seen before you have enough assemble a full force organization table for a fantasy army that uses most of them in different roles.

  I think we even have enough “war beasts” at this point to make themed armies. Here’s an example:

  • Dragonborn use behemoths!

  • Hobgoblins use mammalian megafauna, dire wolves, and giant bats!

  • Elves use fey panthers and griffons!

  • Dwarves ride dire boars!

  • Kobolds use giant bugs!

  • Humans use horses and hippogriffs!

  And everyone uses drakes because most of them are so common and easily tamed.

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