Posts

• Mar 8, 2022

  Let's Read the 4e Moster Manual 2: Vine, Predatory

  

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

  That’s the actual title of the entry, so we have another case of Old School Titling here. Dangerous plants have been a part of the game since its beginnings, and I bet a lot of the individual monsters collected in this entry appeared before in some form or another.

  Lore-wise, there isn’t much on these other than “they exist”. They don’t have strange magical origins like some of the other plant creatures we saw before, they’re just ambulatory carnivorous plants with enough strength and mobility to hunt people. D&D worlds are already filled with impossibly lethal predators, so it’s not such a stretch to say some of those are plants.

  All of the monsters in this entry are Beasts, which in rules terms means they behave like “animals” rather than like people. They also have the Plant keyword (obviously). Their Int score is 2, so their behaviors are all instinctive. Everything else varies per stat block.

  Ambush Vine

  The apex predator of the plant kingdom, ambush vines can hunt anywhere: on the surface, underground, and even in water. Wherever they are, they’re always hunting, and using the tasty nutrients of their victims to fuel their explosive growth rate. Ambush vines can form blights so vast they threaten civilization, and its rumored that this contributed to the fall of the old eladrin empire of Cendriane.

  As their name implies, ambush vines are a lot more cunning than your average plant. They can burrow just under the surface or blend into the surrounding normal vegetation to wait for victims, and then launch surprise attacks against them.

  Ambush Vines are Large Fey plants, and Level 16 Elite Controllers with 308 HP. They have tremorsense 20, and nothing in their stat block says they’re blind so I guess they can see as well even without eyes. Their speed is 6 in almost any mode of movement other than flight. They can move over the ground with Forest Walk, climb, burrow and swim.

  A vine’s most basic attack is a Reach 2 Poison Lash that targets Reflex, deals physical damage, and inflicts ongoing poison damage. It can also attack with Lashing Vines in a Close Burst 4 pattern, which does more damage than the basic attack. It’s also super-effective against immobilized targets, dealing extra damage and healing the vine for 5 HP. As a minor action, the vine can use a Reach 4 Foot Snare to deal the same damage as the basic attack and knock a target prone.

  Though ambush vines deal extra damage to immobilized foes, they can’t do the immobilizing themselves, so they must be paired with other monsters capable of it. Fortunately, they can make their own!

  When the vine is first bloodied, it undergoes Rapid Growth as an emergency response, producing two Ambush Vine Shoot minions (see below). It can also make a minion voluntarily using Sprout Vine, a minor action which costs 10 of its own HP and produces a single minion.

  Ambush Vine Shoot

  This is the juvenile form of the ambush vine. It’s a Medium Fey plant, and a Level 15 Minion Controller. Their senses are the same as those of an adult specimen, though their only special movement mode is burrowing.

  These minions have a single attack, Wrapping Vines, which deals minion-tier damage and restrains (save ends). “Restrained” is one step worse than “immobilized”: it roots the victim in place and inflicts a -2 penalty to attacks. A restrained target also counts as immobilized, so the shoot’s “parent” vine can deal extra damage against them.

  The shoot also has a passive trait named Enwrap, which affects adjacent enemies and inflicts a -2 penalty to their saves against being immobilized or restrained.

  Bloodthorn Vine

  This is a vine with pale leaves and one single large thorn. It feeds by impaling victims on that thorn, which is hollow and capable of draining blood. As it does so, the vine’s leaves take on a reddish coloration.

  Bloodthorn vines are Medium Natural plants, and Level 2 Soldiers with 41 HP. By the logic I’ve been using, them being low-level means they might occur near the archetypical Starting Village. This means they’re one more threat common civilians must be wary of in their daily lives, along with stirges, anhkegs, and giant ants. Bloodthorns are much less lively than Ambush Vines, having only a ground speed of 5 with Forest Walk and no special movement modes. They have Blindsight 10 but again are not blind themselves.

  Their basic attack is a Striking Vine with no riders on its physical damage. The real danger here is the Impaling Thorn, which does the same damage and grabs the target. The vine can sustain the grab with a standard action to deal heavy automatic damage to the victim and heal 5 HP. It can use Pulling Vines as a minor action to shift 1 square and pull a grabbed victim along with it.

  Fortunately, the bloodthorn vine can only impale a single victim at a time… but you can have multiple bloodtorn vines on the same encounter group.

  Greenvise Vine

  

  So named because “Piranha Plant” is already taken. This is a Large Natural plant, and a Level 7 Soldier with 83 HP. Its speed is only 4, so it relies on grabbing targets to prevent them from running away.

  The greenvise’s basic attack is a Striking Vine, and they can also use an Ensnaring Vine vs. Reflex to do the same damage and grab the target. That’s when the big chomper comes into play: Vise Bite targets a grabbed victim’s Fortitude, deals a bit of initial damage, restrains, and inflicts ongoing physical damage. A save ends both the restrained condition and the ongoing damage but does not end the grab. You have to escape from that using the default rules.

  The Greenvise also has the same Pulling Vines trait as the Bloodthorn.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  I actually have an easier time distinguishing between killer plants when I see them all together than when I see them in separate entries over multiple books.

  We have three encounters here:

  • Level 2: 3 bloodthorn vines and 3 stirges. Probably competing to see who can drain the party dry first.

  • Level 9: 2 greenvise vines, 1 spectral panther, 3 quickling runners. The quicklings and the panther can be used to herd the party towards the slow-moving plants.

  • Level 17: 1 ambush vine, 1 lingerer fell incanter, 1 lingerer fell knight. Sinister vestiges of lost Cendriane.

• Feb 18, 2022

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Trolls

  

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

  In a situation that has been common in this reading, we’re in a halfway place when it comes to trolls. The Monster Manual marks their debut in this edition, and the Monster Vault gives us a final selection of updated stat blocks. Here in the Monster Manual 2, published between those two books, we have a selection of trolls that expands the options from the MM, but is not yet updated for the MV’s math.

  Ice Troll

  It’s unclear from the text whether ice trolls are a variant troll species or just a variant culture. They inhabit the Frostfell, one of the world’s coldest regions, but occasionally make their way to slightly warmer climates. Ice trolls have a more complex and technically advanced culture than that of “typical” trolls. They know how to make weapons, and prefer to use them in combat instead of their claws. They also emanate a cold aura.

  If you want to portray your trolls less universally hostile, ice troll communities could make good trading partners in cold regions, trading their weapons and crafts for other products they need. Ice troll mercenaries might also be found among the forces of anyone who sets up shop in the frozen regions of your campaign world.

  The Numbers

  Ice trolls are Large Natural Humanoids and Level 10 Soldiers with 109 HP. Their Emanating Cold aura (1) slows any enemies caught inside for a turn. They have a ground speed of 8.

  Ice troll regeneration works exactly like that of standard trolls: Regeneration 10 plus Troll Healing that allows them to keep regaining HP after hitting 0. Both are shut down for a turn if the troll takes acid or fire damage.

  This troll wears scale armor and fights with a maul. If their maul attack bloodies an enemy, Frenzied Strike allows them to make another free attack. This could lead to a big chain combo if the ice troll manages to hit several near-bloodied PCs, but most likely you’ll be looking at one extra attack when this triggers.

  Weapon use would make ice trolls a lot more dangerous than standard ones in a “realistic” system like GURPS, but here it’s mostly for color since damage is entirely level-based. It does allow you to place magic weapons and armor as treasure by saying the troll was using them.

  Bladerager Troll

  This troll was updated for the Monster Vault, so we already saw its numbers on the MM/MV reading. A new bit of lore in this entry says that some of the weapons and armor implanted on a bladerager are magic, which gives GMs an excuse to place magic items as treasure in bladerager encounters. This makes them the only monster in the game to have literal loot drops.

  Troll Vinespeaker

  Here’s something you don’t see every day: a troll spellcaster with genius-level intellect! You go, vinespeaker! Break those stereotypes! Unfortunately the vinespeaker doesn’t break every troll stereotype, so it’s still Chaotic Evil. You’ll have to break that one yourself if your campaign calls for it.

  Vinespeakers use a style of primal nature magic that involves wrapping themselves in thorny vines and letting their blood soak the plants to gain control over them. This would be lethal for any other practitioner, but for a troll it’s no trouble at all. With their magic power and high intelligence, vinespeakers tend to become leaders or revered advisors of larger troll communities.

  The Numbers

  Vinespeakers are Level 14 Controllers with 142 HP. They have Regeneration 10, Troll Healing, and the usual vulnerabilities, as well as the usual Speed 8.

  They can use their claws to fight like a typical troll, but their vines give them many more options. They have a ranged attack named Ray of Thorns that deals physical damage, and an area burst attack named Thorny Burst that deals light physical damage and immobilizes (save ends). This also creates a zone of thorny difficult terrain that deals damage to those caught inside, and lasts until the end of the encounter. If any of these attacks bloodies a target, the vinespeaker gets to make a free claw attack. No target is specified, so any PC within reach will do fine.

  Note: Thorny Burst is at-will. Vinespeakers can turn the entire battlefield into a spiky mess in no time at all. A good tactic for the is to spam this attack until there’s no more ground to cover or until the PCs are all immobilized, then target the most vulnerable foes with the single-target Ray.

  Finally, they have an encounter ability named Chant of Power, which gives allies in within 5 squares 10 temporary HP and a +4 damage bonus while the temporary HP lasts. This works wonderfully as either a fight opener or a mid-fight boost.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  I like these MM2 trolls, they do a good job of subverting the troll stereotype.

  We get three encounters:

  • Level 10: 2 ice trolls, 2 worgs, and 1 manticore. Lots of raw melee power in this one, with a maneuverable skirmisher thrown in.

  • Level 12: 3 bladeragers, 1 duergar blasphemer, 1 duergar hellcaller. Duergar diabolists are exactly the sort of person who’d make bladerager trolls.

  • Level 15: 4 war trolls, 1 destrachan far voice, 1 vinespeaker. The war trolls can more or less ignore the thorns. They’ll be slowed by the difficult terrain, but so will everyone else. The destrachan offers some artillery support and can stay far away from the thorn zones.

• Feb 18, 2022

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Troglodyte

  

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

  We already saw troglodytes in our reading of the Monster Manual and Vault, and their basic lore remains the same. We get a few additional entries with their own lore here.

  Like before, these troglodytes are Medium Natural Humanoids with the Reptile keyword, and their signature ability is the Troglodyte Stench, an aura that inflicts a -2 penalty to attacks. They have Darkvision and a speed of 5.

  Troglodyte Thrasher

  We already discussed their lore in the MM/MV post, so I’m not going to repeat that discussion here. However we do get a bit of additional lore. It seems thrashers are actually nonsapient, and their fellow troglodytes keep them in cages when not using them as attack beasts. I wouldn’t use this “charming” bit of lore in my own campaigns.

  Troglodyte Deepscourge

  Deepscourges are spellcasters. Like some poisonscale lizardmen, they follow a tradition based on internal alchemy. The specific variant practiced by deepscourges centers around manipulating and empowering their natural malodorous secretions to turn them into damaging and debilitating spells. Like Curse Chanters from the MM/MV post, deepscourges act as priests and leaders of troglodyte tribes, or as advisors to those leaders.

  Deepscourges are Level 9 Artillery with the Leader keyword and 78 HP. Their slime is turbocharged: it projects the same Troglodyte Stench aura as the others, but it also projects an aura of Dizzying Stench out to 10 squares! Despite the name this is actually a “buffing” effect, increasing the radius of the stench of any troglodytes inside by 1 square. I wonder if the auras of multiple deepscourges stack.

  Their main ranged attacks are an at-will Debilitating Ray that deals physical damage and weakens the target for a turn if it’s inside a stench aura. The stat block doesn’t list an attack roll, but I guess this is an editorial error and it should target AC.

  They can also attack with an area-effect Rancid Cloud (recharge 5+), which only affects “non-reptiles”, targets Fortitude, does more damage than the ray attack, and weakens for a turn.

  When hit by an attack the deepscourge can project a Blinding Stench in a burst around itself, targeting Fortitude and blinding (save ends) with no damage. If that doesn’t give it space to move away, it will be forced to use its weak claws in melee.

  Troglodyte Temple Champion

  As the name implies, these are troglodyte holy warriors, usually tasked with guarding their temples. These temples usually honor Torog, but some are dedicated to even worse entities like Demogorgon or other demons.

  The blessings they receive tend to be subtle, of the type that makes them smarter and more disciplined. They use a highly technical fighting style and carry much better equipment than the rank and file. Though champions can be most often found guarding a temple, they’re also sometimes sent on divine missions at the head of troglodyte expeditionary forces.

  The Troglodyte Temple Champion is a Level 9 Soldier with 101 HP. It wears scale, wields a flail, and also carries 2 javelins into battle. The flail and javelins make up their basic attacks, and they also have a couple of special techniques. Sweeping Trip is an at-will maneuver that does a bit less damage than an attack and knocks prone. Whirlwind Attack is an encounter power that does basic attack damage in a Close Burst 1.

  No marking mechanic here - the champion’s stickiness comes from their liberal use of Sweeping Trips to keep opponents prone at their feet.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  I find the Deepscourge notable for being the first troglodytew stat block that can’t be easily re-skinned into another humanoid opponent. Its abilities are all about the stench, both its own and that of its allies. It’s a uniquely troglodytic monster.

  Other than that, my opinion on troglodytes hasn’t changed much.

  There’s four sample encounters between levels 7 and 12, and they’re all assorted bands of troglodytes. Sometimes they’re accompanied by drakes, and one of them has a balhannoth that likely appears as an opportunistic predator during the fight.

• Feb 18, 2022

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Tiger

  

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

  Tigers are real animals and have been part of the game since its beginnings. They’re some of the only animals whose “mundane” version was considered worthy of a monster stat block at this point in the edition.

  The Lore

  The book describes tigers as powerful and cunning predators that can be found in “rugged natural environments”. Let’s elaborate on that a bit, shall we?

  According to Wikipedia “rugged natural environments” means mostly flat or hilly forests, but those can range from cold Siberian taigas to temperate forests to tropical jungles. A tiger requires a large amount of territory, which allows it to range far and hunt its prey (usually large herbivores). Tigers are “solitary but social”: they hunt alone but might nest together, with their range areas overlapping.

  The Monster Manual 2 does add a bit of interesting fantastic lore by saying tigers are sometimes domesticated by ogres of all people to serve as guard and hunting animals.

  A wild D&D tiger is not shy about including adventurers in its menu. If they run across a battle while hunting, they might stalk its edges and pounce on any combatant that gets separated from the rest.

  Dire tigers are as usual larger, stronger and spikier. They’re bolder and less opportunistic, directly stalking prey that seems to be alone and weaker than them. Their behavior is a lot closer to that of the tiger in The Jungle Book than that of a real-world animal.

  The Numbers

  Both mundane and dire tigers are Large Natural Beasts with low-light vision, a ground speed of 8, and a climb speed of 4. Their signature ability is Feral Surge, an encounter power that allows them to take a move action as a minor action.

  Tiger

  “Mundane” tigers are Level 6 Skirmishers with 73 HP. Their basic attack is a bite that does immediate and ongoing damage.

  During a fight, the tiger always wants to be moving and charging, as being on the move makes it much more dangerous. If forced to choose between a static fight and running away, it will likely take the second option every time.

  The traits that make it want to move are Blur of Fur, which gives it +4 AC against opportunity attacks in any turn where it moves 2 or more squares; and Charging Pounce, which gives it bonus damage on charge attacks and makes it so charging doesn’t end its turn. So it could use its standard action to charge, and then either a move action or Feral Surge to move away immediately.

  Dire Tiger

  Dire Tigers are Level 8 Soldiers with 89 HP. Their bites are stronger, and they’re much more likely to accept the challenge of a stand-up fight. Even then they’ll try to single out the weakest available target and kill it first.

  Hunter’s Instinct is an ability that helps then with that. It works exactly like the Hunter’s Quarry ability of a PC ranger. The tiger spends a minor action to make the nearest enemy its quarry, which lasts until the end of the encounter or until it uses this ability again. The quarry takes extra damage from all of the tiger’s attacks.

  The dire tiger can also use a Leaping Pounce as a reaction whenever its quarry is within 5 squares. It allows the creature to shift to a space adjacent to the quarry and bite it. Since this is a leap, the tiger can cross enemy spaces during the shift.

  Marking the right quarry requires some clever positioning, but once that happens it will be hard for the other players to protect the victim from the tiger’s leaps.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  These tigers have some cool mechanics to them, which is better than the generic bags of HP I remember them being in previous editions. They also feel pretty different from each other! I still would hesitate a bit before placing wild tigers as opposition to my PCs, what with them being endangered in reality and all.

  We have two sample encounters here:

  • Level 7: A couple of ogre savages taking their two pet tigers and their pet macetail behemoth out for a stroll. Shrek and Fiona?

  • A weretiger running with a pack/harem of three dire tigers. The fact that you have tigers running in packs should be a hint that there’s something unnatural going on.

• Feb 9, 2022

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Steel Predator

  

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

  I think I first saw this monster in one of the “late” Monster Manuals for 3.x, which makes it fairly recent.

  The Lore

  Designed by Bane himself (“Original Design: Do Not Steal”), these living constructs are designed as long-ranging assassination engines. They seem to be his take on the “Retriever” concept pioneered by the primordials, with the main difference being that the god of war is not interested in taking prisoners.

  Steel Predators are a little weaker individually, but unlike the retrievers they’re still in production. They can travel the planes in search of their target, though their means of travel is not quick enough to be a combat ability. These things just love eating magic items: the more loaded the victim, the more vigorous the pursuit. Once a steel predator kills its target it will usually devour them, items and all. They also have a bit of golem-like magical resistance that means they get stronger when they take thunder or lightning damage.

  As a side effect of this refined palate, steel predator bodies are rich in residuum, which can ironically make them a target for powerful, brave or foolhardy hunters looking for a big score. When not on a mission, most steel predators hang out in Bane’s native plane of Chernoggar, patrolling it alongside platoons of bladelings.

  The Numbers

  Steel Predators are Large Immortal Animates with the Living Construct keyword. They’re Level 20 Elite Soldiers with 388 HP, darkvision, and a ground speed of 8. As mentioned above, they can cross planar boundaries but this ability doesn’t make it into their combat stat block. They have a +2 bonus to saves against ongoing damage (for a total of +4 when combined with their elite save bonus).

  These creatures have the body structure of a big cat, and they fight accordingly, pouncing and biting with their metal jaws. Their basic bite attack marks for a turn on a hit. They can also make a Vicious Pounce that works as a charge against Fortitude, does the same damage as a bite, and knocks prone. Their multiattack ability is a bit weaker than a standard double attack, but it’s still flavorful: Snap Jaw allows the steel predator to make a bite attack. If that hits it also knocks the target prone, and the creature can make another bite attack against a different target.

  Their most overtly supernatural attack is a Resonating Roar, a Close Burst 3 attack that deals heavy thunder damage, dazes, and deafens (save ends both). This is a “recharge 5+” attack, but it also recharges automatically when the predator takes thunder or lightning damage.

  Finally, when an adjacent creature shifts, they can use Shifting Steel as a reaction to shift into the vacated square.

  Tactics are fairly simple: pounce, roar, then keep biting with Snap Jaw until the roar recharges. This should keep the PCs quite busy while the other monsters attack them.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  These things look enough like xenomorphs from Aliens that I’m surprised they don’t have acid blood. Maybe that would be too on the nose.

  As mentioned above, Bane often sends steel predators on remote missions. They end up working alongisde other servants of the god, or with other creatures that share the same immediate goals. In that latter case, they’re known for turning on their allies of convenience if those allies behave in a way that displeases Bane.

  The example encounter is Level 21, and has 2 steel predators accompanying 2 marut castigators. The maruts are likely mercenaries hired by an agent of Bane.

subscribe via RSS