D&D 4E Has anyone converted the Piercer to 4E?

[Shag]

Hi! I don't start to many threads so I hope this is in the right spot.

I was wondering if anyone has already converted the Piercer to 4E, it is probably considered a Lurker Trap now, I guess. I'm pretty new to 4E, so I figured I'd see if anyone with more conversion and 4E experience has already converted it.

Thanks alot guys.

I always loved these guys.
I remember one time my Mage got nearly clobbered by one of these guys. He thought they were so 'cute' that he grabbed up the now helpless Piercer and put him into his 'Hat of Holding" until he had the money to build a tower to then use it as a "Welcome Mat" hanging over the front door.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

The Darkmantle Enveloper, level 8 Lurker in the MM2, is what the 2nd edition Piercer has morphed into. Thier original format, as shown here is hard to use in play.

I would suggest if you wanted a heavier Piercer feel, give the critter an encounter attack for its initial drop from the ceiling, usable only from surprise.

{edit} they changed thier file system on the link above. Scroll to the bottom and review the "1st Edition Monster Manual" posts

 

[the Jester]

In a dungeon with a lot of temporal distortion effects I had the following:

QUICK-GROWING PIERCER FIELD--- Level 15 Elite Blaster
Hazard--- XP 2400

From the ceiling, stalactites start raining down with deadly accuracy.

Hazard: The quick-growing piercer field covers the entirety of the western room of this encounter.

Perception
DC 21: The character notices that some of the stalactites seem to be moving. DC 25: The character also notices that some of them are growing visibly (albeit slowly).

Arcana
DC 26: The character can sense a magical effect in the upper portion of the room, near the ceiling. DC 31: The effect seems to involve time. DC 35: It’s not a spell; it is some kind of temporal anomaly, and it could be the result of the fabric of time becoming weakened or distorted somehow.

Dungeoneering
DC 24: The character identifies the stalactites as piercers.

Trigger: When a living creature enters the western room, the field makes an attack as a reaction after the creature completes that move action. The field also attacks as an opportunity action whenever a living creature moves three squares on its turn in the room. .

Attack
Immediate Reaction/Opportunity Action; Melee
Target: The triggering creature.
Attack: +20 vs. AC; 3d8+6 damage and the target is immobilized (save ends).

Countermeasures
An immobilized creature can attempt to free itself from the piercer by making an Endurance check, DC 27 (31 if the character is bloodied).

If the field can be hit for 60 points of damage with close or area effects in 1 round, it can be destroyed. Melee or ranged attacks have no real effect on it, and if only some of the piercer field is destroyed, the remainder reproduces in the blink of an eye.

 

[Shag]

Wow those are super piercers!!

What do you think more 'normal' ones would look like?

I do think in 4E they would be more of a trap than a monster.
Even though they are alive. Once they are on the ground they aren't much of a threat anymore.

 

[the Jester]

Wow those are super piercers!!

What do you think more 'normal' ones would look like?

I do think in 4E they would be more of a trap than a monster.
Even though they are alive. Once they are on the ground they aren't much of a threat anymore.

I guess they'd make good minion brutes or lurkers maybe?

 

[ExploderWizard]

Here are some I cranked out in the monster builder. I made them as lurker minions with only a single encounter attack. I made one for each tier.


Standard Piercer Level 6 Minion Lurker

Medium aberrant magical beast XP 63
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +10; blindsight, darkvision
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.
AC 20; Fortitude 20; Reflex 14; Will 18
Speed 1 , Climb 1
Piercing Ambush (standard; encounter)
+11 vs Reflex; 25 damage, and the target is impaled. Am impaled target is weakened and takes ongoing 5 damage (save ends).
Alignment Unaligned Languages —
Skills Stealth +13
Str 18 (+7) Dex 3 (–1) Wis 15 (+5)
Con 21 (+8) Int 2 (–1) Cha 4 (+0)

Giant Piercer Level 18 Minion Lurker

Large aberrant magical beast XP 500
Initiative +12 Senses Perception +19; blindsight, darkvision
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.
AC 32; Fortitude 32; Reflex 26; Will 30
Speed 1 , Climb 1
Piercing Ambush (standard; encounter)
+23 vs Reflex; 45 damage, and the target is impaled. Am impaled target is weakened and takes ongoing 10 damage (save ends).
Alignment Unaligned Languages —
Skills Stealth +22
Str 24 (+16) Dex 9 (+8) Wis 21 (+14)
Con 27 (+17) Int 8 (+8) Cha 10 (+9)

Gargantuan Piercer Level 28 Minion Lurker

Gargantuan aberrant magical beast XP 3,250
Initiative +20 Senses Perception +27; blindsight, darkvision
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.
AC 42; Fortitude 42; Reflex 36; Will 40
Speed 1 , Climb 1
Piercing Ambush (standard; encounter)
+33 vs Reflex; 100 damage, and the target is impaled. Am impaled target is weakened and takes ongoing 25 damage (save ends).
Alignment Unaligned Languages —
Skills Stealth +30
Str 29 (+23) Dex 14 (+16) Wis 26 (+22)
Con 32 (+25) Int 13 (+15) Cha 15 (+16)

 

[the Jester]

That's an awful lot of damage for a minion.

 

[ExploderWizard]

That's an awful lot of damage for a minion.

Yup damage is high but they only get one attack for the encounter. A piercer that misses is just XP served up on a platter. Its hard to get the scare factor in 4E with these guys with low damage.

Since healing resources are measured in surges as opposed to actual hp, the typical party won't be exploring wounded per se. They may be low on surges but a single regular attack isn't going to be close to having the impact of an attack by a 1E specimen. I'm thinking about adjusting up the XP since they are so dangerous.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Hmmm, interesting. The minion version works OK. Another option would be to make it a full level 1 lurker with a high limited damage expression (3d8+3) damage. With a 13 CON it has 25 hit points. Average damage on a hit will be 12. On a crit it will do 27 damage, enough to kill some level 1 PCs outright. With 5 of these guys dropping on a party by surprise it should yield a fairly nasty little scenario. I'd even be tempted to give them a minor bite attack just so they're able to do something about finishing off a victim they get lucky with, maybe just say 1d4+3 damage. Honestly though I think mechanically the minion concept is OK, once the things drop on the party there's no a whole lot of point to dragging it out, the damage is done and its all anticlimax from there.

The trap format would work OK as well. I'm not sure if its better than the monster format or not. The advantages would be presenting more options for circumventing and detecting them, and a more standard way to deal with XP for them.

 

[Riverwalker]

Used the minion lurkers in my game on the weekend - worked really well (playing Dwellers of the Forbidden City). The party were suitably paniced by the 25pts damage on a hit.