D&D 4E 4e Monster Manual excerpt

[lutecius]

Oh hell yes.

That looks soooooo much better than any previous edition of the pit fiend. (Though the 1E version does have a certain old-school charm.) And unlike some of the art we've seen, the pit fiend actually got better in the transition between black-and-white-sketch and full-color.

I dunno about the background, though. The pit fiend's posture suggests that he's standing on top of a rocky crag or something, bellowing orders to his minions down below; his legs are clearly braced to support his weight, and you can see the toes on his left foot curling around whatever he's standing on. The "chaotic energy swirlies" background is a bit jarring.

Still, background or no background, the pit fiend himself looks bad-ass.

The colors are awesome but the articulations are weird, even for a fiend.
There's something terribly wrong with his left leg. the shin seems turned outwards but the foot is turned forwards.

 

[Mentat55]

Nice target for the wizards (non fire) AOE spells.

Exactly! Maybe the enemies won't want to bunch up then, or they will stay just close enough to the fighter that the wizard has to think: do I use my AOE and catch a suboptimal number of targets, do I wait for my fighter friend to extricate himself and I use it next round, at the risk of them spreading out again, or do I just ice storm the whole lot of them and tell the fighter to shake it off?

What I am starting to see is that, individually, the monsters are less complex, and frankly, probably more boring than their 3E equivalents. But if you can combine them correctly, a few unique powers per monster can make for interesting situations. If combats are more exciting, then the monsters can be more vanilla for all I care.

 

[Professor Phobos]

This isn't rules lawyer stuff. This is the complete and total effect of the power: you can't attack it, and if you're next to it, you have to take the hit. That is the entire list of what her charm does.

Sure, but the spirit of the power is clearly more. Besides, which is more enjoyable? "Oh I guess I move back two squares!" or "My lady! I will defend you! blah blah blah...."

I mean, I guess I wouldn't punish a player for this kind of pedantic anti-funnery, but I'd give him a disappointed and disapproving look that would so shame him he'd be unable to game ever again.

Sometimes I think people view gaming as practice for law school than as an enjoyable leisure activity. I mean, seriously, folks.

 

[FlameFrost]

Seems like devils still have the whole teleport vibe going , but now only on a tactical scale , and no longer as "raspberry" to the Pc's as Teleport without error often was.

Now that we have war devil stats , let's see what combat might be like using them with the pit fiends.

let's see , as a normal lvl 26 encounter , we have 2 pit fiends , maybe some fodder

round 1 : summon 2 war devils and 8 legion devils ,
point of terror, teleport , and action point for tail and mace + aura on the 2 squishy party members ( assuming the summonned monsters don't get to act on the first turn , otherwise , this gets even nastier )

Round 2 : pit fiends teleport out , using their tactical teleport to place the war devils , and 2 minions in the middle of the action ( surrounding squishy party members ) , and point of terror squishies.

War devil 1 ( now in melee with squishies ) use trident to drag the squishy further away from party defenders , into the pit fiend aura .
Teleport to switch places with one of the minions , who will take the hit from the defender, and uses fiendish tactics to give both war devil 2 and a minion an extra attack. War devil 2 repeats this , but instead gives 2 minions an extra action. ( I'm not using the mark as I suppose the +2 from that ability and the +4 from the pit fiend summons don't stack)

End result : 2 squishies severely injured , and the defenders surrounded by minions they have to clear before they can tackle te bad boys .

Now tell me 4th edition is dumbed down , or that the pit fiend doesn't have enough abilities to keep a fight interesting.

 

[Jack99]

I always thought it was "evil horn." Wasn't the 1e malebranche the horned devil, which later became the cornugon in 2e? Checking the 1e MM, I see that I am correct on both counts.

Cheers,
Cam

In the real world, Malebranche translates to evil claws, according to Wiki anyway:

Corrupt politicians (barrators) are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, guarded by devils called the Malebranche ("Evil Claws"). Their leader, Malacoda ("Evil Tail"), assigns a troop to escort Virgil and Dante to the next bridge. The troop hook and torment one of the sinners (identified by early commentators as Ciampolo), who names some Italian grafters and then tricks the Malebranche in order to escape back into the pitch. (Cantos XXI through XXIII)

Cheers

 

[Sojorn]

Sure, but the spirit of the power is clearly more. Besides, which is more enjoyable? "Oh I guess I move back two squares!" or "My lady! I will defend you! blah blah blah...."

I mean, I guess I wouldn't punish a player for this kind of pedantic anti-funnery, but I'd give him a disappointed and disapproving look that would so shame him he'd be unable to game ever again.

Sometimes I think people view gaming as practice for law school than as an enjoyable leisure activity. I mean, seriously, folks.

Actually, I see the kiss without a dominated victim as more of a "OH GOOD HEAVENS WHY DO I KEEP THROWING MYSELF IN THE WAY?!" sort of control effect. Running away from it is perfectly acceptable because its an insane compulsion/magical effect and without the dominate, it feels like it too.

Dominate is where you can start composing poems for your one true love. Probably much to the annoyance of the Succubus.

 

[ThirdWizard]

In the real world, Malebranche translates to evil claws, according to Wiki anyway:

Gimme two minutes.

 

[Lacyon]

Sure, but the spirit of the power is clearly more.

Clearly?

 

[AZRogue]

The whole succubus entry, in my opinion, will hinge on whether or not you are considered CHARMED in greater sense than just throwing yourself in front of attacks when she's right up on you.

If there's a general Charmed condition to go along with it then it could work like older versions of Charm--you look very favorably on anything said by the person who Charmed you. In that case a simple "stay next to me, dear" from the succubus and your butt is glued to her side.

The first MM entry. The first need for clarification and/or errata.

 

[Rex Blunder]

Actually, I see the kiss without a dominated victim as more of a "OH GOOD HEAVENS WHY DO I KEEP THROWING MYSELF IN THE WAY?!" sort of control effect. Running away from it is perfectly acceptable because its an insane compulsion/magical effect and without the dominate, it feels like it too.

That's how I read it too. I think that's a good way of describing it - sort of a split-second instinct that takes you by surprise. However, I can imagine the Charm keyword on the first attack indicating that the kiss charms if hits, and the secondary attack adds the bodyguard element, as someone suggested. Both seem interesting tactically. In absence of the core books to clarify, I'd go with the Sojorn approach.

Dominate is where you can start composing poems for your one true love. Probably much to the annoyance of the Succubus.

I always thought of Dominate as more of the being-john-malcovitch "someone is puppeteering my body against my will!" and Charm was the love-poems type of effect.