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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Foulspawn
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Foulspawn had their 4e debut in the first Monster Manual. If you read the post I wrote about them, you’ll see that MM1 Foulspawn were plagued by some design flaws, but you could speculate from their lore that they were the end state of mortal Far Realm cultists.
The Lore
The lore in this entry is mostly a re-statement of the original foulspawn lore. They’re more actively inimical to the natural world than most other Far Realm denizens, and cross over where the barrier between dimensions is thin to attack mortal settlements. They drag some of their victims back with them, and those unfortunates eventually become foulspawn themselves after having their bodies and minds warped by the Far Realm.
There’s still plenty of room for you to portray foulspawn as the “end state” for a lot of mortal cultists who worship cthulhoid entities - they’re the ones who step into the portal willingly. If all you had to go with were the MM1 entries, this was kind of an ironic fate, as the foulspawn there were kinda weak. Let’s see if this is still true.
The Monsters
Foulspawn are Aberrant Humanoids with a ground speed of 6 and a teleport speed of 3. They mix physical attacks with powers that warp space and damage enemy minds.
Foulspawn Wretch
Most unwilling victims probably turn into these. Wretches are Small Level 7 Minion Skirmishers with low-light vision and the standard traits listed above.
They have a Ceaseless Murmurs passive trait that inflicts a -2 penalty to the Will of any PC adjacent to two or more wretches. Their basic Claw attack deals a bit of damage and allows another wretch within 6 squares to teleport adjacent to the target. And when they die, their Screaming Echo ability teleports a non-minion ally within 6 squares to the position previously occupied by the dead wretch!
Wretches are made to use standard “monster wave” tactics - use a lot of them and have them crowd around the PCs. Try to get them adjacent to the PC’s squishies on the back line, so that when they die they teleport your front-line bruisers there.
Foulspawn Mockery
A spellcaster with a raven skull for a head. Mockeries use mind-bending magic to force the PCs close together and then hit them with area attacks. They’re Medium Level 10 Controllers with 104 HP, low-light vision, and the standard traits outlined above.
Their basic attack is a bite which is actually stronger than almost any attack from a MM1 fouslpawn simply because it uses the correct math. They attack at range with a Mind Harrier spell that deals psychic damage and imposes one of those interesting custom effects. If a target hit by Mind Harrier is not adjacent to any of its allies by the end of its next turn, it takes an extra 10 psychic damage and 10 ongoing psychic damage (save ends).
Once the mockery has used Mind Harrier to push the PCs together, it can hit them all with a Maddening Burst (recharge 5+), which deals psychic damage and dazes (save ends).
Foulspawn Warpcaller
These are like aberrant bards, or those things that keep dancing around Azatoth playing flutes and pipes. They’re Medium Level 12 Controllers (Leaders) with 126 HP, Darkvision, and the standard traits outlined above.
Their Droning Pipes act as an aura (3) that makes enemies inside Vulnerable 5 to Psychic damage. This is important because Psychic is pretty much the signature damage type for foulspawn and other aberrants.
Warpcallers can bite in melee for good damage, but their magic is the star of the show here. Warped Sending is an at-will ranged attack that deals psychic damage and teleports a foulspawn ally within 5 squares of the target to a space adjacent to the target. Twisted Dismissal does the same damage, immobilizes the target (save ends) and teleports it 2 squares.
Finally, Warpmind Field (encounter) is a fireball-sized area attack that deals psychic damage and creates a zone that lasts for a turn and can be sustained with a minor action. Enemies who enter the zone or end their turns there take 10 psychic damage. An enemy inside the zone can’t target anyone further than 5 squares away. And the warpcaller can spend its move action to move the zone up to 4 squares.
Warpmind Field is an excellent fight opener if you drop it on the party’s archers. If they move outside the zone to fire on their turn, Twisted Dismissal can push them back inside and keep them there, possibly combined with a move action spent moving the zone closer. And Warped Sending is another handy way to teleport your brutes past the PC’s defenders.
Friends and Final Impressions
Foulspawn usually only work with other foulspawn, though if you’re using the ones from the MM1 you really, really need to fix their math. Other appropriate company includes gibbering mouthers and other aberrant creatures that deal psychic damage. And according to the book they also sometimes work with cultists of Tharizdun and Demogorgon - the kind of person who wants to wreck the world but doesn’t care how it happens.
The lore remains the same, but the mechanics on these foulspawn are quite a bit better. I’m not just talking raw numbers either - the MM1 foulspawn rarely did more than spam basic melee attacks. These have a lot more variety.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Forsaken
This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Later monster books in a D&D edition are usually where you find those monsters from previous editions who weren’t “iconic” enough to appear earlier, but sometimes they’re also where you can find some truly ambitious entries. After all, the authors have pages to fill and most of the classics have already been done. The Forsaken are one of the most ambitious new monsters presented by the MM3. Or at least they feel new. If a monster by this name existed earlier it was likely completely different.
The Lore
The Dawn War saw the death of many gods. In most such occasions, the dead god’s essence dispersed across the Astral Sea. However, a few gods were slain while physically present in the world, and their essence could not escape. Instead, it deposited itself in some of the mortal sapients that inhabited the world even back then.
Though the gods in question were dead and gone, these new vessels of their power acquired a memory of what it felt like to be immortal. This memory became a source of torment, for their owners were themselves mortal. They remembered and missed something they never had, and could never have. Overwhelmed by these feelings, these people ritually removed their own eyes so they would never have to gaze upon the mortal world again, and vowed to destroy and absorb the essences of the remaining gods so that they could steal their divinity for themselves. They called themselves the Forsaken, and they are still known by that name.
In our narrative present there are several different Forsaken tribes, each with their own approach to their grand design. They travel through all the universe in search of mystical secrets that will increase their power and allow them to become gods. They tangle and skirmish with Vecna worshippers, inflitrate astral dominions, and even journey the Hells. Some set up elaborate networks of followers and co-conspirators in the mortal realms. Some make plans to trap and devour a god.
The Monsters
Forsaken are epic-level threats. They’re Medium Natural Humanoids with the Blind keyword and Blindsight 20. This means they can’t be affected by the “blinded” status and they’re immune to gaze attacks and most vision-based impairments.
Their signature ability is Fragment of Immortality, which triggers when they hit 0 HP. It clears all effects from them, removes them from play and returns them a turn later with about 25% of their HP restored, in a space within 5 squares of their last location. The fragment allows them to cling to life.
All of their other abilities come from training and vary per stat block. They tend to have some vague similarities to PC divine classes, but any divine power would come from the Forsaken themselves rather than from a deity.
Forsaken Fearwrack
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast Fearwracks are spellcasters who delve deep into the mysteries of fear and death, confronting that which most scares the forsaken and inflicting it on others. There’s an enclave of them in the outer shores of Celestia, and though the inhabitants of that dominion very much want to see them gone, they fear meeting their final death at the hands of the Forsaken.
Fearwracks are Level 26 Artillery with 150 HP. They Inspire Fear, which acts as an aura (1) that inflicts a -2 penalty to all enemy defenses against fear attacks. Almost all of their attacks have the Fear keyword, of course.
They wield rods as implements, which I guess makes them a bit similar to PC invokers in look and feel. Their basic melee attack is a Fear Strike that targets Will, deals psychic damage, and forces the target to move its speed away from the invoker. The invoker chooses the path, but each square must be further away than the previous one. Why is this different from a push? Because the victim can provoke opportunity attacks during this movement!
At range they fire Terror Bolts which do the same amount of psychic damage and allow an ally adjacent to the target to make a melee basic attack against it.
Less often they can also employ a Curse of Mortality (recharge 4+), which targets Fortitude and inflicts 20 ongoing damage (save ends). The target has a -2 penalty to save against this, and each failed save increases the ongoing damage by 5 to a maximum of 30. I guess the damage looks like rapid aging, and since there’s no exception in the text it works even on beings who do not normally age.
Aside from Fragment of Immortality, fearwracks have another reaction power in the form of Cleansing Wounds, which clears all enemy effects from them when they first become bloodied.
An all-fearwrack group has a surprising amount of synergy. If the PCs close to melee with one of them, others can target the PC with Terror Bolt to open them up to a free Fear Strike. This causes the PC to run away and potentially get hit with more Fear Strikes. The fearwrack choses the victim’s path and there’s nothing forbidding them from walking them into traps or pits either.
There are occasions where the fearwrack wants the PC to stay close, though - their aura makes the Curse of Mortality even harder to resist with a total -4 save penalty.
Forkaken Infiltrators
Infiltrators have an amazing talent for long-term impersonation. Some believe they inherited it from the deity whose essence initially infused them. They join up with churches and cults of all types of deity, from Pelor to Vecna, with the goal of reaching a high post in their hierarchy. From that lofty perch they gain access to all sorts of restricted divine secrets, and can abuse their authority to sabotage the cult from within.
Infiltrators are Level 27 Skirmishers with 200 HP. They wield a kophesh in one hand and a hand crossbow in the other, and they use the classic strategy of moving around to gain combat advantage while discouraging the PCs from making opportunity attacks.
If they have Combat Advantage against a target, any attack they hit also immobilized the target and allows the infiltrator to shift 2 squares. Punishing Response is a mighty discouragement indeed: when an enemy hits the infiltrator with an opportunity attack, the enemy takes the same damage dealt to the infiltrator plus 5!
The Khopesh and Hand Crossbow are accurate and do solid damage, but have no built-in riders. They can also make a Careful Attack with the sword that deals about 25% less damage but gives the infiltrator a +2 bonus to defenses for a turn.
No combat-time shapeshifting powers here, so I guess any transformations either take more time, or are just the fruit of epic-level tradecraft rather than shape-shifting magic. Infiltrators do get training in all the social skills plus Stealth, and their high level means they’re better at those than most mortals.
Forsaken Loreseeker
Loreseekers are the rank and file of the Forsaken spying operation, tasked with actively breaking into libraries, vaults, and minds to steal the knowledge contained within. I guess a big part of the big-I Infiltrator’s mission is to open the way for loreseekers. Some believe they can steal all the memories of a creature they kill.
Loreseekers are Level 27 Minion Soldiers, which tells me they’re not really meant to engage in combat most of the time and/or that they work in large teams. When forced to fight, they use weapons similar to those of the Infiltrator.
Their Hand Crossbow attack marks for a turn, and their melee attack also performs a Theft of Memory. During the target next turn, all enemies except the attacking Loreseeker are invisible to the victim. Memory erasure in real time! The loreseeker loses this ability after it uses Fragment of Immortality. Yes, despite being a minion they also have this ability, so you need to hit them twice to defeat them for good.
Forsaken Slaughterer
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast Some Forsaken find the memory of immortality a weight too great to bear. It eats at their sanity until their mind snaps, and they’re consumed by rage and grief. The other forsaken keep these unfortunate individuals in reserve for use as living weapons. They’re more sensitive to divine power, you see, and tend to fly into a murderous frenzy when they sense some. It wouldn’t do to waste that kind of god-killing potential.
Slaugheterers are Level 28 Brutes, which means they can indeed challenge demigods and other things of that nature when backed up by a team of similar level. They have 253 HP, and the other standard Forsaken traits.
Slaughterers have a couple of interesting passive traits: Relentless Slaughter is an aura (1) that halves the benefits of healing for any enemy inside; and Proximal Resistance gives them Resist 10 against all ranged and area attacks if no enemies are adjacent to them. This makes them very capable of charging through an open field to engage PCs in melee.
They fight with paired khopesh swords, and their basic Khopesh attack does a nice chunk of damage - almost as much as a Balor’s sword, with the main difference being the lack of the High-Crit property. They can also use an Unstoppable Cut that splits that damage between two adjacent targets. This isn’t a multi-attack - if the first target gets hit, the second takes damage automatically.
Like all Forsaken, slaughterers have Fragment of Immortality as a triggered action. They also have another very interesting one called Blood for Blood. It triggers when they’re first bloodied, and consists of a Close Burst 1 attack against all enemies that does damage equal to each target’s healing surge value. That’s 25% of their HP, and it’s likely to bloody them since it will go off a ways into the fight.
Slaughterers are offensive brutes - you want them to charge past the defenders and attack your squishies. They’ll be particularly eager to target divine characters like clerics and invokers, so having a paladin with you is probably the best way to make them stop and fight your defenders. Otherwise they’ll definitely risk opportunity attacks and mark punishments to break through, with Blood for Blood working as a nasty surprise for those PCs who prove adept at hurting them.
Forsaken Mastermind
Forsaken Masterminds are strategists. They run operations whose scope encompasses an entire region, sitting at the center of a web of different cells and agents that include several other Forsaken as well as their mortal pawns. Their goals tend to involve heavy stuff like interfering with the designs of the gods themselves, or those of their direct servants. A mastermind should only enter combat directly if all of their other plans have been thwarted by meddlesome adventurers, but they’re far from defenseless if it comes to that.
Masterminds are Level 29 Controllers with 213 HP and the Leader keyword. They’re masterful warriors, and also employ some magic focused on disrupting divine powers. They’re surrounded by an Inspire Resilience aura (5), which grants an extra 40 temporary HP to any forsaken ally who uses Fragment of Immortality within it.
Their basic khopesh attack makes the target marked by one of the mastermind’s allies within 5 squares! So it forces the PC to target that ally instead of the mastermind itself, and allows the ally to use any mark-related abilities it may have.
They also use a hand crossbow that can make a solid ranged basic attack.
Their main spell is Tainted Wave, an at-will Close Blast 3 attack that targets enemies, deals untyped damage, and makes those it hits lose all temporary HP and become unable to regain HP for a turn. It targets Fortitude, so most defenders might have a good shot at resisting it, but if it hits they’re in trouble.
Less often (recharge 5+), they can use Delayed Retribution, an area spell that targets enemies’ Reflex. Those it hits take some damage and, more importantly, will become stunned for a turn if they attack the mastermind during their next action.
If someone uses a divine power within 10 squares of the mastermind, it can use Wrath of the Forsaken as a reaction. This ends all negative effects on an ally within 10 squares, and allows them to make an immediate recharge roll to recover an expended power.
Final Impressions
I quite like these guys. Their lore feels epic and horrific at the same time, and their mechanics are cool.
I do wonder how the Forsaken perpetuate themselves, as they’ve been around since the Dawn War and are very explicitly not immortal. Perhaps they’re still unaging, or maybe there is a procedure for exposing a mortal victim to the fragment of immortality that belonged to a deceased Forsaken, bringing them back in a new form Go’auld style.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Elemental
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Elementals are a pretty iconic part of D&D, since they’ve shown up on every book we’ve covered so far. The MM1 and MM2 elementals were built to showcase the mixed nature of the Elemental Chaos, so they were always a different combination of two or more elements.
This was pretty cool, but it also caused some edition warriors complain that they missed the traditional single-element quartet from editions past.
The Monster Manual 3 brings the “singlementals” back, with heroic, paragon and epic variants of all four classic types. The Lesser (heroic) variants would be reprinted in the Monster Vault, and we already covered them here. We’ll look at the standards and greaters now.
Air Elemental
Air Elementals are Lurkers. They have a ground speed of 0, but very high air speeds with Hover. They also have some degree of vulnerability to Fire.
The Lesser Air Elemental is Level 1 and covered here.
Air Elemental
This Level 10 Lurker has 81 HP and a flight speed of 8. It has the same Phantom on the Wind trait as the lesser version, which makes it become invisible when it starts the turn not adjacent to any enemies. This lasts until the end of its next turn or until it attacks, so it will remain invisible until it does close in to attack.
Its basic attack is a slam with no riders, and it can use a Rampant Storm that does more damage over a Close Burst 3 area and dazes targets that couldn’t see the elemental before it attacked.
Classic lurker tactics: start invisible, Rampant Storm, move away to become invisible again.
Greater Air Elemental
This one is Large and Level 20 with 143 HP and a speed of 10. It has most of the same traits of the standard air elemental with bigger numbers, and it replaces Rampant Storm with Engulfing Winds. This melee attack pulls and grabs the target. The elemental can move freely with a grabbed victim, which takes 20 ongoing damage until they escape.
This one wants to grab someone and play keep-away.
Earth Elementals
Earth Elementals are Soldiers. They have a burrow speed equal to their walking speed. Earth Glide allows them to pass through earth and stone as if it had phasing, and their Brittle Skin means they take a -2 penalty to all defenses for a turn when hit with thunder damage. They attack with slams.
As usual, the Lesser Air Elemental is covered in the MM/MV article.
The standard Earth Elemental is level 11 with 119 HP and Speed 7. It gains a Quake Stomp attack that covers a selective Close Burst 2 and targets Fortitude, damaging those it hits, sliding them 2 squares, and knocking them prone.
The Greater Earth Elemental is Large, Level 22 with 212 HP, and replaces Quake Stomp with Flattening Stomp, which targets a single creature for heavy physical damage and automatically knocks all enemies within 2 squares of the target prone.
Fire Elementals
Fire Elementals are skirmishers. They run very fast and can fly, though not as well as an air elemental. Their slams deal only ongoing fire damage, and Flickering Flame allows them to shift a number of squares as a minor action. If they’re hit with cold damage, though, they’re Frozen in Place and can’t shift for a turn.
All elementals have a reaction ability that deals some sort of fire damage around them when they’re hit by an attack. This gets more powerful as the elemental gets bigger. Lessers are level 1, standards Level 11, and Greaters level 21.
Water Elementals
Water elementals are controllers. They have a swim speed equal to their ground speed, and are Aquatic. This gives them attack bonuses against non-aquatic enemies when fighting underwater. They’re Sensitive to Cold, and after taking cold damage they gain Vulnerable 5 against the next attack to hit them before the end of their next turn.
Their slams do some physical damage and inflict ongoing physical damage from the water that gets into people’s lungs. Drowning Essence allows them to slide victims taking this ongoing damage as a minor action.
Their special attack seems to be surging like a wave, dealing damage and pushing or sliding people around. It gets more damaging, more frequent, and pushier the bigger the elemental gets. It has different names for each elemental: Whelm for Lessers, Whirlpool for standards, and Surging Waves for Greaters.
Final Impressions
I guess you can notice me getting gradually more bored with classic elementals as I wrote the above post. These ones are better than they used to be in earlier editions, but I can understand why the Monster Vault only reprinted the lessers. The more powerful versions are pretty much the kind of thing you can write yourself using the standard monster leveling rules.
Like all other elementals, they fit easily into any adventure or encounter that also features someone who could conceivably summon and bind them. They also work well as “widlife” in the Elemental Chaos.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Drow
This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
We first looked at Drow during our Let’s Read of the Monster Manual and Vault, and you can read that post by clicking the link. The basic lore of the drow remains the same, and this entry adds a bit more alongside some epic-tier drow enemies.
The Lore
Mainstream Lolth-worshipping drow society is a nightmare of intrigue and backstabbing, as we have already seen. Every drow is plotting to backstab their superiors while keeping an eye out for similar plots coming from their subordinates and peers. The higher they rise, the more favor they have in the eyes of Lolth. Where does it end, though? What reward awaits those followers who become such tracherous vermin they become one of Lolth’s favorite children?
Why, they get to go live in the Demonweb and do it all over again!
Abyssal drow make up the bulk of the non-demon population of the Demonweb. The broad outlines of their society are largely the same as those in the world - they organize themselves into a number of factions that struggle for dominance and Lolth’s personal favor. There are three important differences, however.
The first is that these abyssal factions are centered around powerful and charismatic individuals rather than around a city-state or noble house. The second is that they’re made up of a mix of abyssal drows and demons of various kinds. The third and most surprising difference is that there is almost no internal intrigue within these factions. The stakes in the Abyss are too high - Abyssal drow form stable alliances because they can’t afford to backstab their allies down here.
The leaders of these factions are usually Lolth’s Exarchs, and they occupy the highest position any mortal worshiper of Lolth can aspire to. When in the Abyss, they spend their time managing their faction and its intrigues against the others. When outside the Demonweb, they tend to infiltrate other sapient cultures or even act as overt ambassadors of Lolth within them. Examples of such culture includes the giants and efreets of the Elemental Chaos or the devils of Hell.
The Monsters
Abyssal drow are still drow: Medium Fey Humanoids with a Speed of 7 and Darkvision. Everything else about them is a function of training and varies per stat block. Not even the classic Darkfire power is a constant, though it still shows up in some individuals.
Drow Zealot
Zealots are terrifying epic level warriors, but among the drow of the Abyss they’re considered the rank and file, the lowest of the low. Most arrived from the world not too long ago, their minds filled with dreams of glorious purpose. Some are instead long-term residents of the Abyss who have been busted down to zealot from some loftier rank due to some mistake or act of disobedience.
In either case, the first thing Lolth does to a drow who attains this rank is to curse them with a demonic spider infestation. The constant pain and suffering this causes serves as a powerful incentive for zealots to strive for promotion. The spiders that crawl out of their orifices and wounds also provide some occasional help in combat, as they attack the drow’s enemies.
Zealots are Level 23 Brutes with 265 HP. They have Resist 10 poison and the usual drow traits. They fight with a Fullblade, a huge two-handed sword that appeared in one of the Adventurer’s Vault supplements.
While bloodied they project a Spider Host aura (1), which causes any enemy in the aura that becomes bloodied to take 20 ongoing poison damage (save ends) as the demon spiders crawl from the zealot’s bloodstream to the enemy’s.
Their fullblades do the heavy damage you’d expect from an epic brute, and if the zealot misses with the attack it gains a +2 to attacks and a +5 to damage against the same target until the end of its next turn.
Zealots have the traditional Darkfire ability, a minor-action encounter power that targets Reflex. It makes the target grant combat advantage and nullifies any invisibility or concealment for a turn.
When the zealot reaches 0 HP, it explodes in a Spider Burst, creating a Close Burst 1 zone that lasts until the end of the encounter and causes 10 poison damage to anyone that starts their turn inside.
Other zealots are immune to the zone’s damage due to their poison resistance, so they have no trouble stepping over the ruptured corpses of their allies. They’ll charge the PCs and hack away without much care for their own wounds, since their auras kick in when they’re bloodied. They pair well with Leader enemies that grant extra attacks, since those could allow them to benefit from the damage bonus given by a missed attack more than once.
Draegloth Abomination
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast Abyssal drow often summon, bind, and otherwise ally with demons, but some priestesses go further and make their own. Draegloths are created by abyssal magic from a mix of demon and drider DNA.
Draegloths are pretty much impossible to control, which isn’t usually a very desired trait in lab-bred monsters. Because of this their creation is usually done as an act of devotion to Lolth, and they’re gifted directly to the goddess, to whom they are quite loyal. They can be found patrolling the Demonweb alongside other Lolth-favored demons.
Draegloth Abominations are Huge Elemental Magical Beasts with the Demon tag. They look like elephant-sized driders, or like the dapper fellow here in the illustration. They’re Level 24 Lurkers with 174 HP, ground and climb speeds of 8, Darkvision, and Tremorsense 10.
Their basic attack is a Claw that does double damage against a dazed creature. The Slashing Claws ability allows them to make two claw attacks with the same action. Their other attack is a Tethering Web (ranged 5 vs. Reflex). A hit does a small bit of poison damage and tethers the target (save ends). Tethered targets are dazed, and the demon can pull them adjacent to itself with a free action.
Once per encounter they can use a power named Maddening Darkness. This attacks the Will of all enemies in a Close Burst 2. On a hit, it slows and dazes for a turn. This power also creates a zone of darkness that blocks line of sight and blinds those within (with the exception of the demon in both cases). The zone also lasts for a turn.
When damaged, the draegloth can use a Dark Leap as a reaction. This is another encounter power, and it recharges when it’s first bloodied. It allows the creature to immediately recharge and use Maddening Darkness, and then teleport 8 squares.
Finally, it has top-tier Variable Resistance (Resistance 20 switchable 3/encounter).
Draegloths want to strike from ambush and open up with Maddening Darkness. They’ll claw as many dazed PCs as they can, and use Dark Leap with the PCs begin counter-attacking. From what point on they’ll try to stay away and tether the squishies.
Drow Shadowblade
Lolth delights in treachery, even between her own followers. So when a drow assassin is skilled and resourceful enough to murder one of the priestesses that rule the drow city-states, that assassin gets invited to the Abyss and becomes a Shadowblade. These epic assassins have access to the best gear, the deadliest poisons, and to a special technique that lets them animate and control their own shadow.
Shadowblades are Level 24 Lurkers with 171 HP and the usual drow Darkvision. Their ground speed is 7 and they have phasing, which means they can walk through walls.
Their basic attack is a Short Sword. Instead of attacking, they can spend their action to cast Animated Shadow, creating an allied animated shadow within 10 squares. The shadow lasts until the end of the shadowblade’s next turn and counts as an ally for flanking purposes, but is immune to attacks. When the shadowblade moves on its turn, the shadow slides an equal number of squares.
When a target is flanked by both the shadowblade and its shadow, the assassin can use a Shadow Strike that deals the same damage as a basic attack plus 10 necrotic damage. This causes the shadow to burst into a zone of blinding darkness to which the drow itself is immune. It lasts for a turn.
As a minor action, the shadowblade can poison its weapon with Soulrot Venom, which adds a complicated rider to the next attack it hits before the end of the encounter. That hit will weaken the target (save ends). The first failed save also makes the target take 15 ongoing necrotic damage; the second strips it of all resistances and immunities! A successful save ends all those effects. The venom recharges once the shadowblade is first bloodied.
Finally, its mastery of the sword manifests as the Persistent Blade power (recharge 4+). This is a free action that triggers when the shadowblade misses with its sword, and it allows it to make a basic attack against a different enemy.
A shadowblade alpha strike is kinda scary. It summons the shadow and envenoms its weapon “off-screen”, and then flanks and stabs a PC through a wall. If this hits, the PC will take damage from the sword, bonus necrotic damage from the shadow, and will be subject to soulrot venom. If this misses, the shadowblade can still stab someone else and poison them as a consolation prize. As soon as it can move again, it will fade into the wall and get ready for another shadow strike.
Drow Archmage
A drow wizard powerful enough to be invited to live in the Demonweb, where they give themselves over to the Abyss and become rather warlock-like. Despite their demonic power, these spellcasters fear for their souls, which become fair game to their demon buddies if they die. They are quick to run away from a fight if it seems like they’re losing, abandoning their thralls and allies to their fate.
Archmages are Level 25 Artillery with 178 HP and the standard drow traits. They fight in melee with Daggers that do physical damage and inflict a -4 attack penalty for a turn; and at range with Abyssal Bolts (ranged 20 vs. Reflex) that do acid and poison damage. They can also use two encounter spells that target Fortitude.
Cruel Banishing (melee 1) does no damage, but teleports the target 7 squares and dazes them (save ends). This is a lot deadlier if there are draegloths on Team Monster!
Demonic Grasp (ranged 10) immobilizes the target and suspends them 1 square up. Immobilized targets can still fight, they just can’t move. However, while the target is affected by this spell, they take 10 poison damage every time they or their allies damage a demon, drow, or spider.
As a minor action, the archmage can perform an Unwholesome Sacrifice (recharge 5+), dealing 20 damage to an adjacent ally in order to either recharge an encounter power or get a +10 damage bonus to a ranged attack made before the end of its next turn. Finally, it also has the same Darkfire power as the zealot.
Drow Exalted Consort
Drow society is matriarchal, and though plenty of career paths are open to drow men the loftiest heights of power are usually denied to them. The only way for a male drow to be part of the real elite is to become consort to a powerful priestess.
Being a consort is about more than looking pretty - they’re also expected to serve their ladies as bodyguards and knights. This practice continues in the Abyss, where Exalted Consorts are hand-picked by Lolth herself for their beauty and martial skill. She imbues them with divine power, and places them under the service of her priestesses in the Demonweb. This means Exalted Consorts are kinda like epic paladins or avengers of Lolth. I guess a gift of new consorts is a sign that Lolth particularly favors that priestess today.
Exalted Consorts are Level 25 Skirmishers with 224 HP. They wield paired longswords in combat with a graceful, mobile fighting style. Aside from basic attacks, they can use an at-will technique named Warding Blades that does nearly double the damage of a basic attack and gives them a +6 AC bonus against opportunity attacks for a turn. This allows them to move around the battlefield much more freely than most enemies.
They have another technique named Blurred Steel that allows them to make three basic attacks in the same action. Up to two of which can target the same creature, and the power recharges when the consort moves more than 3 squares in its turn. This is a good move to alternate with Warding Blades in order to spread damage around.
Lolth’s power turns the standard drow Darkfire into an attack named Darkfire Revelation, a minor action which targets Reflex and deals fire damage. A hit nullifies invisibility and concealment for a (save ends) duration, longer than the single turn of basic Darkfire. This is an encounter power.
Their last encounter power is Lolth’s Favor, which triggers when the consort becomes bloodied. As a reaction, they teleport 7 squares, and cause all enemies adjacent to them at the destination to grant combat advantage for a turn. This is not an escape power, but something used to press the attack.
Warding Blades should be the consort’s attack of choice even when it doesn’t plan on moving much, the extra damage is too good to pass up. Blurring Steel is a good alternative for when the consort manages to run or teleport past the PC front line and close in on the poorly-armored squishies at the back, followed by more Warding Blades in subsequent turns.
Drow Lady of Spiders
“Lady of Spiders” is the second-highest rank in Lolth’s priesthood. There are only sixty-six of these in all of existence, and the only way to ascend to their ranks is to kill one of the incumbents. The only drow who outranks them is Eclavdra, Lolth’s main exarch.
A Lady of Spiders will always be found commanding a sizable force of drow, demons and spiders of similar level. Her commands and her magic act as a big force multiplier for her lackeys. Her powers include a lot of poison- and mind-based magic, as well as the ability to heal allies and to summon demonic spiders.
Such a Lady is a Level 27 Elite Controller with 494 HP. She projects Lolth’s Blessing as an aura (2) that heals bloodied allies inside for 10 HP at the start of their turns. However, she’s Sensitive to Light, which causes the aura to shut down for a turn if the Lady takes radiant damage.
Her basic melee attack is a scourge that damages and slides enemies 2 squares on a hit, and her basic ranged attack Conjures Venom straight into a victim’s bloodstream to deal poison damage.
She can also cast an at-will spell to summon Coccooning Webs around a target, restraining them and dealing ongoing 25 poison damage (save ends both). I think we just broke the record for most ongoing poison damage in an MM so far, unless someone else reached 30 and I forgot. A target who makes the save is still slowed until they pass a second one.
The Lady’s mind magic is represented by Irrefutable Command (recharge 5+), a Close Burst 3 that targets up to 2 creatures in the burst. Targets must choose between charging another creature of the Lady’s choice or taking 50 psychic damage.
I’d say her signature ability is Bring Forth the Widows, though. It takes a standard action and summons a Medium demonic shadow spider to a space within 10 squares of the priestess. The Widow has 100 HP and the Lady’s defenses. It also has speed 8 (spider climb 8), and moves whenever the Lady takes a move action. It stays in the field for the rest of the fight or until destroyed, and if it’s destroyed this power recharges.
The Lady can order the Widow to attack with a minor action, and this deals physical and ongoing poison damage. The spider can also make opportunity attacks using the Lady’s opportunity action.
When the lady is hit in melee, her Fearsome Wrath attacks the Will of all enemies in a close burst 5. On a hit they’re pushed 5 squares and stunned for a turn. This fear effect recharges once the Lady is first bloodied.
Final Impression
With this and the Lolth entry that we’ll find a further into the book (spoilers!), you have everything you need to run a 4e rendition of the GDQ module series. Abyssal drow are the sort of enemy you’ll find in the Demonweb itself, and their unique abilities give you a spicier result than what you’d get if you just used leveled-up MV drow.
You don’t have to change much of their lore even if non-evil drow are common in your setting. These are the people who chose to dedicate themselves to Lolth, goddess of betrayal, mistress of the cycle of abuse, etc. etc.
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Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 3: Dread Warrior
Copyright 2010 Wizards of the Coast This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Common zombies are mindless beasts who fight in a clumsy, instinctual way. Dread warriors are… still mindless, but the ritual that creates them also imbues them with more refined combat skills.
The main purpose of a dread warrior is to act as a guard and protector. Their creation binds them to their master, whom they are compelled to protect and obey. When a dread warrior’s master dies, their reaction is a bit unpredictable. Some lose their animating force and drop lifelessly to the ground, others go berserk.
Instead of being bound to a person, they can be bound to an item instead, protecting it from theft and damage even after their creator passes away. Liches might use this to bind a troop of dread warriors to their soul receptacle, for example.
The Numbers
Dread Warriors are Medium Natural Animates with the Undead keyword. They have low-light vision and a natural speed of 6, modified by armor. They have a signature traits: Eyes of Undeath allows the warrior’s master to see and hear anything the creature sees and hears. It also allows the master to speak through it. There’s no range limit! This makes them excellent emissaries, decoys, or security “cameras”.
Individual warriors have additional traits related to their training and intended function.
Dread Protector
Your basic security model. Some necromancers like to fill their lairs with these things so that they always have the reassuring presence of a bodyguard no matter which room they are in. One does get used to the smell eventually.
Dread Protectors are Level 3 Soldiers with 47 HP. They wear heavy armor and wield greataxes. Their speed is 5.
Aside from Eyes Undeath, they also have a Shield of Undeath aura (1). If their master is inside this aura, they only take half damage from melee and ranged attacks. The protector does not take the other half of this damage, making this a very good power.
The greataxe marks on a hit, and though the protector doesn’t have any other abilities that make use of the mark it does make it harder to attack the master. Instead of moving normally they can use Protector’s Call to teleport their speed to square adjacent to the master. This makes it very hard for PCs to isolate them.
Dread Protectors will seek to always stay adjacent to their master and keep the most dangerous melee opponent marked. The best tactic for dealing with them is to hit them with close or area attacks. These will target both them and their master, ignoring both the mark penalty and Shield of Undeath.
Dread Marauder
This lightly armored warrior wields a short sword and a bow. It’s not any smarter than the other dread warriors, but Eyes of Undeath still makes it a superb scout since the master can see what it sees and order it from afar. If they die out there, it’s no great loss - the master knows what they need to know by that point.
Dread Marauders are Level 5 Skirmishers with 53 HP and speed 6. They deal extra damage when they have Combat Advantage, and In the Master’s Defense gives them combat advantage against anyone adjacent to their master.
The sword and bow give them both melee and ranged basic attacks, and Skirmish Strike allows them to shift 3 squares before making either one.
So aside from being good scouts, dread marauders also serve as good deterrents against melee PCs, since those PCs will be exposed to stronger attacks from the marauder as long as they remain adjacent to the master.
Dread Archers
These warriors are meant to act as sniper platforms and fire support for the master, and to man the ramparts of the master’s fortress. They’re Level 6 Artillery with 57 HP and speed 6. Their gear is similar to the marauder’s.
As artillery monsters, their bow attack is more accurate than the sword. Once per encounter they can make an arcing volley area attack.
Their greatest powers are their custom passive trait and reaction, however! Channel of Undeath allows the master to make implement attacks as if they occupied the archer’s square, as long as they can see the archer. And when the master hits with an attack, the archer can use the Sustained Attack reaction to make an immediate bow attack.
I am unsure whether I’d allow the master to “see” the archer through Eyes of Undeath, but I’d definitely allow them so see the archer through a telescope!
Dread Guardian
This is a more powerful version of the dread protector, a Level 7 Soldier with 79 HP. It’s equipped with heavy armor, a shield, a sword, and a bow.
Both the bow and sword attacks mark on a hit, and this time the protector can make a sword attack as an opportunity action when a marked enemy attacks the master.
Final Impressions
“Zombie warriors” are almost as classic as “skeleton warriors” in the dungeon fantasy genre, so I think these are pretty nifty. They’re also awesome mechanically, because Eyes of Undeath and the other passives allow for a lot if interesting underhanded tricks.
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