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• Oct 1, 2021

  Let's Read the 4e Monster Manual 2: Gray Render

  

  Here we see something of a rarity in this series: a monster whose 4e incarnation I find strictly worse than its previous ones.

  The Lore

  Gray Renders first appeared in 3e, where they were these big, clawed, carnivorous brutes with an oddly endearing trait: they would sometimes imprint on another creature and basically dedicate their lives to protect it and take care of it. This creature could be a sapient, or even a PC if the GM was feeling cute.

  Fourth Edition gray renders lose the imprinting, and replace it with a constant urge to destroy and feed. Some sages theorize they’re somehow tied to the metaphysical concept of entropy despite being natural beasts, since they seem particularly fond of targetting sapient settlements.

  I don’t like this change because, as you might have surmised by now, I’m not fond of always-hostile, attacks-on-sight-and-fights-to-the-death monsters. I literally never saw anyone mention grey renders online without also mentioning and praising the imprinting. Remove that and you’re left with something that’s virtually indistinguishable from, say, a goristro demon.

  The Numbers

  Gray Renders are Large Natural Humanoids with a Chaotic Evil alignment and Int 2. They’re Level 19 Elite Brutes with 452 HP and blindsight, who fight using claws, bites, and sheer brutality. In other words, almost like slightly smaller, slightly dumber goristros with blindsight. They have Speed 8.

  Their basic attack is a Reach 2 Claw that also grabs on a hit. They can make two claw attacks per action, and if both hit the same target they also inflict ongoing damage on account of the rending. They can use a grabbed victim as a club, inflicting more damage than the claw, pushing the target of the attack 4 squares from the impact, and dealing half the rolled damage to the “weapon”. Or they can bite the grabbed victim for massive damage, with a Daze rider.

  While bloodied, their claw attack also knocks a target prone on a hit.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  Gray renders are said to be too destructive to cooperate with anyone, but some predators and scavengers have taken to following them from safe distance to exploit their rampages. So we get these encounter groups:

  • Level 18: 1 gray render, 1 bodak skulk, 2 guulvorgs. Opportunistic followers can be sapient too.

  • Level 20: 1 dire bullette, 1 gray render, 3 nabassu gargoyles. The gargoyles are watching the kaiju battle and waiting to feast on the loser’s remains.

  The stat block is cool, but the lore is “meh” at best. Reskin this into a demon and/or add the imprinting back to make it more interesting.

• Sep 28, 2021

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

  I think Goliaths first appeared in the Races of Stone supplement for 3.5. In Fourth Edition, their first appearance was as a playable option in the PHB 2. They get their corresponding “monster” entry here, with a couple of stat blocks suitable for use as opposition or NPC allies.

  They’re one of the many playable peoples designed to give players a “taste” of being a cool fantasy monster without being unbalanced. Eladrin arguably do it for Sidhe; dragonborn do it for dragons; tieflings for fiends; deva for angels. Goliaths do it for giants.

  The Lore

  

  The typical goliath is stated to be between 7 and 8 feet tall, so whether they’re on the large side of Medium or the small side of Large is a matter of opinion. The book’s opinion is that they’re Medium, since that allows them to be playable. Their skin is gray or brown, and speckled with coin-sized bony growths that look like rocks.

  Goliaths have existed since shortly after the Primordials created the world, which might mean they’re a kind of byproduct of the creation of the Giants in the same way the origin of the Dragonborn is tied to that of dragons. Goliaths don’t care enough about that to make myths about it, though.

  All throughout their history they’ve preferred to keep to a nomadic existence in the more mountainous areas of the world, so there isn’t much about them in other people’s records either. While it’s fairly common for individual goliaths to travel the “lowlands” as adventurers or explorers, they haven’t engaged in any grand diplomacy or empire-building as a people.

  Culturally, goliaths place a lot of value in individual skill and prowess, and this makes them very competitive. Their communities probably have all sorts of tournaments and contests in their calendars. Individual goliaths tend to turn everything into a contest, even if only in the privacy of their own minds - they keep score and constantly compare themselves both to their companions and to their own past performance. That battle where Legolas and Gimli compare their kill counts? That’s every fight where a goliath is involved. This does have the downside of making them get a bit depressive when they fail to measure up to their own standards.

  I suspect Kord is a very popular deity among goliaths, and they also often worship the primal spirits.

  The Numbers

  As far as the rules are concerned, Goliaths are Medium Natural Humanoids. They have a natural speed of 6, and human-equivalent senses. Their signature ability is Stone’s Endurance, a minor-action encounter power which gives them some resistance to all damage for a turn. The value of this resistance is 5/tier (5 at heroic, 10 at paragon, 15 at epic).

  Goliath Sunspeaker

  This is more of a primal priest of the sun spirits than a cleric of Pelor, focused on burning people with sun-powered lasers. Sunspeakers are Level 7 Artillery with 64 HP, wearing light armor and using an orb as an implement.

  Their melee basic attack is the Sunspeaker’s Hand, which targets Reflex and deals light radiant damage. Solar Sphere does the same at Range 20 with better damage.

  Less often, the sunspeaker can use Solar Rays (recharge 4+) against up to 2 targets within Range 10. This deals light radiant or fire damage, as well as ongoing damage of the type chosen (save ends). This allows them to potentially stack two sources of ongoing damage on someone with the same power.

  If cornered, the sunspeaker can use Flaring Leap (move action; encounter) to jump 3 squares and then move its remaining speed. This jet-powered jump causes a fire in the sunspeaker’s starting space, which deals damage to adjacent enemies or to those foolish enough to enter the flaming square. The fire lasts for a turn and can be sustained with minor actions.

  Finally, it can use a big area attack named Call Down The Sun once per encounter, which is a bit weaker than Solar Sphere but targets a lot of people and does half damage on a miss.

  Goliath Guardian

  A more straightforward but no less powerful martial type. The guardian is a Level 9 Soldier with 96 HP. It’s heavily armored by still has speed 6, wielding a bastard sword and a light shield.

  Its basic sword attack marks for a turn, and if the target is prone it’s also prevented from getting up for the same amount of time. The guardian knocks people prone with Ram’s Charge (recharge 5+), a maneuver that deals light physical damage and has a long list of riders: it pushes the target 2 squares, knocks it prone, and allows the goliath to make a free sword attack against the target. As the name says, it can be used as part of a charge.

  Finally, Warrior’s Leap is a passive that allows the guardian to jump without provoking opportunity attacks. It still uses the standard jump rules (and it’s high Athletics score) for that.

  Guardians are awesome in moutainous terrain that’s full of cliffs. Even if their targets aren’t thrown overboard, they’ll still stay on the ground for quite a while, granting advantage to the guardian and any sneak-attacking skirmisher buddies.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  Goliaths often team up with similarly-inclined mountain-dwellers, which can include dwarves, galeb duhrs, or goblins. I suppose that might include stone giants as well, if you level your goliaths up a bit. The sample encounter is level 9, and includes a galeb duhr rock-caller, 3 goliath guardians, and 1 sunspeaker.

  I like goliaths, they fill a very specific “huge person” niche. These two stat blocks are interesting from a mechanics standpoint as well.

• Sep 16, 2021

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

  Golems showed up in the first MM and were iconic enough to later make it to the Monster Vault. I covered those here, and you can check that same post to see their basic lore. The Monster Manual 2 brings us yet more golems, which share the same basic lore.

  As before, golems are Natural Animates with the Construct keyword. They’re immune to disease, poison, and sleep. They have darkvision, and though their ground speed tends to be high they cannot shift. Most are Large, but one of the examples here is Huge.

  Bone Golem

  

  Bone golems are made from the skeletons of several creatures, whose bones are sharpened and fitted together to form the construct’s body. Despite being made of bones and beloved of necromancers, it’s a construct animated through elemental magic and not an undead monster. Throw this one into an encounter that does have undead skeletons in it, and it should be good to surprise your PCs a bit.

  Bone Golems are Level 12 Elite Brutes with 302 HP. It’s so spiky the pointy bits count as a Bone Spikes aura (1) that deals 5 damage to any enemy that enters it. The pointy bits also justify the Osseous Retaliation trait, which deals a bit of automatic damage to anyone who hits the golem with an opportunity attack.

  This construct fights with Reach 2 Bone Spurs, and can attack twice per action with them. It can also fire a Bone Volley (burst 3 vs. Reflex, recharge 6+) that deals heavy physical damage and dazes (save ends).

  When the golem is destroyed Bone Death allows it to make one last attack. If Bone Spurs is charged then it uses that, otherwise it makes a basic bone spur attack.

  Chain Golem

  

  These Huge golems are modeled after chain devils, and are often tasked to guard prisons and Actual Dungeons instead of the usual tombs or treasure vaults. As you might have guessed, their fighting style is very grapple-intensive.

  Chain Golems are Level 22 Elite Soldiers with 418 HP, a speed of 8, and all standard golem traits. Their Entangling Chains act as an aura (3) that slows everyone caught inside.

  Their basic attack is a Reach 3 Chain that does physical damage and pulls the target 2 squares. Chain Smash is their double attack power, allowing it to attack two different targets in one action. While they’re bloodied, Berserk Attack allows them to make a chain strike against anyone who damages them as a reaction.

  All that and we didn’t even use the grappling rules yet! We have to do that for Chain Grab, though. This at-will attack is a Close Burst 2 that does the same damage as the basic strike, pulls targets 1 square, and grabs them. The escape DC is 32 or 35 depending on the skill you use. The golem can move away from the grabbed victims without ending the grab because chains. Once it finishes moving it can either slide the victims next to itself or let them go.

  So your typical chain golem will try to keep the whole party grabbed while it smacks them around with its chains. PCs who aren’t grabbed will still be slowed, and the golem’s strikes will pull them back if they try to run away. Staying far away and using ranged attacks is a good tactic against them, but that speed of 8 will make keeping away a real chore.

  Clay Golem

  

  Clay Golems were one of the original golem types described in the first entries back in AD&D or in the nebulous times before it. They were originally inspired by the legend of the golem of Prague, and so were the only golem that required divine magic to make (all the others were arcane).

  In Fourth Edition, eidolons are used to represent divine constructs, so clay golems have the same arcane/elemental origin as the other types. They have a somewhat “runny” appearance, but are surprisingly fast and retain a slightly less harsh version of the ability to inflict unhealing wounds that they had in previous incarnations.

  Stat-wise, they’re Level 15 Elite Brutes with 368 HP, Large size, a speed of 6, and all common golem traits. Their basic attack is a Reach 2 Slam that does heavy physical damage and curses the target, making it unable to regain HP. This is a (save ends) condition, but it’s still quite dangerous, since it makes wounds inflicted by all enemies unhealing, not just the golem’s. Clay Smash allows it to slam two different targets in one action, and they have the same Berserk Attack reaction as the chain golem above.

  Their Hasty Reaction passive trait allows them to roll initiative twice and take the highest result, and Unstoppable is a move-action encounter power that allows them to move 8 squares and pass through enemy spaces. They draw opportunity attacks when doing this, but reduce their damage by 10. This isn’t worded like a resistance, so I guess powers that bypass or reduce resistances don’t work against it.

  Iron Golem

  These made it into the MV, so we already covered them. The MM2 has two versions, the Level 20 one that we saw, and a Level 26 “Iron Golem Juggernaut” that’s basically the same aside from being size Huge and having bigger numbers.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  Each kind of golem presented here gets a sample encounter. I guess there was something of an editing snafu here, because most golems have their encounter listed right after their stats, but the one for chain golems is all by its lonesome in an “Encounter Groups” section at the end of the overall entry. I guess it must be there because it has two golem types in it.

  • Level 13: 1 bone golem, 4 horde ghouls (minions), 1 human wizard lich. So that’s the kind of caster who makes bone golems.

  • Level 15: 1 clay golem, 1 shadar-kai gloom lord, 2 shadow snakes. A Zehiri operation, if you still want to associate clay golems with clerics.

  • Level 21: 1 chain golem, 1 dark naga, 1 iron golem. Someone really wanted this place guarded.

  • Level 24: 1 iron golem juggernaut, 1 storm gorgon, 1 djinn skylord. A noble, his pet, and his mechanical manservant.

  There’s a point past which adding more golem types feels a bit redundant. There are also so many non-golem constructs out there that I almost think “golem” should be a singular monster type with very specific characteristics, rather than a whole family of them. Otherwise it would be best to do away with the term entirely.

• Sep 16, 2021

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

  

  D&D Fourth Edition uses “Goblins” to describe a set of closely related species of humanoids: actual goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears. They’re a very traditional component of the game and we looked at lots of them in the MM1/Monster Vault Let’s Read. The post covering their basic lore is here.

  Since the first Manual covered them so well, the second brings us a small number of more specialized stat blocks for them.

  Bugbear Wardancer

  Wardancers are specialized martial artists. Their weapon of choice is a two-handed heavy flail, which they swing in wide arcs while moving through enemy forces in the battlefield. The end result looks something like a dance, thus the name. There’s a religious element to the art: there are different schools organized around the worship of different exarchs of Bane, who compete among each other to see whose war dance is the best.

  The wardancer presented here is a Level 6 Skirmisher with 70 HP, low-light vision, and Speed 7. Its basic attack is a Flail Dance that does physical damage and has a lot of stacked riders: it pushes the target 2 square and knocks it prone, and also allows the bugbear to shift 1 square. Yes, this is an at-will basic attack.

  The wardancer also has a couple of special attacks. Flail Barrier (recharge 5+) does a bit of automatic damage in a burst 2 around the bugbear, and makes it take half damage from weapon attacks until the end of its next turn. Flail Assault (close burst 2 vs Reflex; encounter) does a bit more damage and knocks those it hits prone.

  All the wardancer’s attacks deal extra damage if it has combat advantage against the target.

  Goblin Acolyte of Maglubyet

  Another martial artist, this one a goblin from a sect devoted to Maglubyet. In previous editions (and again on 5th), Maglubyet is the main goblinoid deity, but here he’s one of Bane’s Exarchs. His acolytes seek to make themselves in his image.

  The Acolyte is a Level 1 Controller with 29 HP, Speed 6, and low-light vision. They wield a battleaxe in combat, and back it up with a bit of divine magic.

  Acolytes are surrounded by a Life Scourge aura (2) that prevents enemies inside from recovering hit points. Their basic attack is a Slashing Shroud that consists of an axe strike that also makes the acolyte invisible to the target until the end if the acolyte’s next turn. A good option against PC defenders.

  They can attack at range with the Hand of Maglubyet (ranged 10 vs. Fortitude), a telekinetic attack that deals force damage and either slides the target 3 squares or immobilizes it for a turn. Maglubyet’s Fists (recharge 5+) allows them to use this attack twice in a single action. So as far as martial artists go, this is one of those annoying hadouken spammers.

  The acolyte also has the standard Goblin Tactics power that allows it to shift 1 square as a reaction when missed by a melee attack. This is what you would change if you were making acolytes of other species.

  Lolthbound Goblin

  Goblins are generally big on Bane worship, but that’s not universal among them. This is a goblin whose people have been slaves to the drow for generations. Their training, and even their physiology, have some important differences from your usual goblins. They’re clearly meant to be encountered alongside drow, though for that to work out you’ll need to make those drow lower level or the goblin higher level.

  As written, the Lolthbound Goblin is a Level 3 Soldier with 45 HP. They have speed 6, and replace the usual low-light vision with full darkvision. They wear light armor and fight with a war pick.

  When Lolthbound Goblins are within 5 squares of a drow, they gain a +2 bonus to all their attacks and defenses. That pick is a high-crit weapon and marks targets for a turn on a hit. Once per encounter they can use a Stinging Blow that deals poison damage and instead of marking increases any ongoing poison damage the target is taking by 5. This synergizes with the poisoned weapons drow so often carry.

  Also once per encounter they can use a Lolthbound Shriek (close blast 5 vs. Fortitude), which deals light thunder damage to anyone in the area who is not a drow or spider.

  Aside from the usual Goblin Tactics reaction, they also have Drow Protector, an interrupt where the goblin throws himself in front of a drow that’s just been targetted by an attack, becoming the target instead.

  Lolthbound Goblin Slave

  This is a Level 12 Minion Skirmisher version of the lolthbound goblin above, which makes it appropriate for use with drow without the need for level adjustments. They’re also armed with war picks, and add a hand crossbow to their loadout.

  Their basic melee attack is a Stinging Pick, which works just like the Stinging Blow from the regular version. Their basic crossbow attack deals a bit more damage if they’ve moved 3 or more squares before making it.

  They also gain the attack and defense bonus from being near drow, and have Goblin Tactics.

  Hobgoblin Fleshcarver

  This is the hobgoblin specialized martial artist. Unlike the bugbear and goblin examples, fleshcarvers don’t seem to have a religious component to their training. It’s all about hard work and crafting your own custom-fitted weapons. Their weapons of choice are a polearm and a set of poisoned throwing darts, whose poison is harvested from serpents they hunt as part of their training. Fleshcarvers never refuse a challenge to combat, though they’re smart enough to not let such a challenge distract them in the middle of an ongoing battle.

  Fleshcarvers are Level 6 Elite Controllers with 146 HP. They have Speed 6 and low-light vision, wear heavy armor, and are armed with the afore-mentioned specialized weapons.

  Their stance and movements act as an aura (2) named Fleshcarver’s Trap, dealing 5 damage to any enemy inside the first time they move during their turn. Their glaive is reach 2 and is used both for basic attacks and for an at-will Glaive Flurry that targets all enemies in a close burst 2, does more damage than the basic attack, and slides targets 2 squares.

  At range they can throw those Toxic Darts to do a bit of poison damage and slow the target (save ends). If the target was already slowed, it’s immobilized instead. When they’re hit by a melee attack, they can use their reaction to shift 2 squares and make a dart attack. And finally, fleshcarvers have the same Hobgoblin Resilience and Phalanx Soldier powers from MM1 hobgoblins.

  These hobgoblins are more effective when lots of enemies are in reach, but the selective targetting on their area attack means they engage all those enemies while fighting in formation for that sweet defense bonus from Phanlanx Soldier.

  Sample Encounters

  These new goblinoid specialists can be inserted into any goblin encounter, and being goblins themselves also work well with any of their typically allied creatures. These are the encounters we get on the book:

  • Level 1: 1 goblin acolyte, 3 goblin warriors, 1 Lolthbound Goblin. It’s likely the whole group are drow slaves, with the LBG being their leader. The level math works out, but the LBG’s drow-related skills are wasted here.

  • Level 6: 2 bugbear wardancers, 2 bugbear warriors, 1 barghest battle lord. A warlord and their bodyguards.

  • Level 6: 1 fleshcarver, 3 hobgoblin soldiers, 2 dire wolves. A patrol with a little extra kick to it.

  • Level 13: 4 lolthbound goblin slaves, 1 drow priest, 2 blade spiders, 2 drow warriors. Lots of poison being thrown around on this one, which makes the minions more dangerous than their level would indicate.

  Final Impressions

  I like these new additions, because their stat blocks are interesting and their associated lore fleshes goblin culture out a bit more. I like that they’re complex enough to have multiple martial styles.

• Sep 1, 2021

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

  Gnomes were introduced in the first Monster Manual, and you can see the post I did on them here. By the time the MM2 came out, they were already available as a playable option in the Player’s Handbook 2.

  We get three new gnome stat blocks in this entry, but one of them (the Gnome Entropist) also appeared in the Monster Vault and so was covered in the original post. We’ll cover the other two here.

  Gnome Mistwalker

  Gnome Mistwalkers are like the triple-classed fighter/illusionist/thieves of yore. They’re skilled at illusion magic and melee combat, using those to ambush their targets. This sort of training is common among gnome brigands, who build elaborately disguised hideouts and strike at merchants passing along nearby trade routes.

  Mistwalkers are Level 5 Lurkers with 51 HP and all standard gnome traits (including the Fade Away and Reactive Stealth powers described in the original post). They wear light armor and wield picks in combat.

  The picks have the High-Crit property, and they deal extra damage to targets granting them combat advantage. Mistwalker’s Strike (recharge 4+) allows them to become invisible until the end of their next turn, shift 2 squares, and make a pick attack in that order. This means the attack will always benefit from the extra damage, and won’t disrupt the invisibility.

  In addition to the two standard powers, they have a third defensive ability in the form of Blur of Movement, a reaction that allows them to teleport 1 square when hit by an enemy.

  Gnome Entropist

  Their mechanics were covered in the original post, but here we get a bit of extra lore on them. Entropists are magicians whose power flows from the Elemental Chaos. This tends to interfere with their natural link to the Feywild, so they’re not usually the most stable of gnomes.

  Gnome Wolverine

  This gnome is the best at what it does, and what it does ain’t pretty, bub. And that’s pretty much all you need to know to understand this short berserker.

  Wolverine is a Level 9 Skirmisher with 95 HP, lightly armored and wielding an axe. His natural speed of 5 becomes 7 on a charge, and he has a +3 to AC against opportunity attacks plus the standard gnome powers.

  That axe can be used for basic strikes and for an Unbalancing Swipe that does the same damage, slides the target 2 squares on a hit and knocks then prone on a critical. When the Wolverine drops an enemy to 0 HP, Vicious Fury allows him to shift 5 squares and gain a +3 bonus to damage rolls until the end of his next turn. Once per encounter, and once again after being bloodied, Wolverine can use a Shrieking Strike that’s much stronger than the basic attack and does a bit of splash damage to an enemy adjacent to the target. Hit or miss, it grants Wolverine a +3 bonus to all defenses until the end of his next turn. This can be used as part of a charge.

  Despite my joking, this Wolverine doesn’t regenerate.

  Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

  We have two sample encounters:

  • Level 8: 1 entropist, 2 wolverines, 2 spriggan giantsouls.

  • Level 10: 3 entropists, 2 phase spiders, 1 satyr piper, and 1 will-o’-wisp.

  All seem to be the sort of gnome who’s up to no good, since they include the dodgier sort of fey (spriggans/redcaps and the wisp).

  I like 4e gnomes, so I liked seeing more of them. The wolverine is particularly fun, because it goes so hard against type.

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