Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
I did forget about that announcement. But given that it was under a year ago, I don't know if the writing team on this book had the time necessary to fully realize it. More importantly, the Water Genasi in this book still can't cast Shape Water. So my petty rant about how the Elemental Evil spells were excluded from this book (despite the resources for those spells being freely available) will standMaybe you missed this: Saying Goodbye to the PH+1 Rule | Wizards of the Coast
Anyway, back to what the people are really here for:
Alhoon. (VgtM)
The second wizard in this book is also an undead and a mindflayer! As such, it will serve as the prime example of the changes we can expect, because it had access to every kind of casting possible (magical attacks, innate Psionic casting, and casting as if it was a 12th level Wizard) This kind of necromancer started life as one of our favorite brain-eating tadpoles, only to find a book of Arcane lore from some wizard, and have their mind blown looking at the runes. Becoming a sort of a twisted reflection on the traditional cosmic horror trope where a person finds some evidence of eldritch intelligence and goes crazy, this eldritch being finds some evidence of humanoid intelligence and finds themselves on the run from their own kind. Ultimately choosing to become a sort of lich due to the fact that their traditional “afterlife” (fusing with the elder brain) is forever denied to them. This would make them a truly lonely individual, but Alhoon are known to gather in groups in order to share and feed their collective periapt of mind trapping.
At CR 10 you can easily use them as the main antagonist for a heroic game, or they could also be used as an unlikely ally. Alhoon find themselves naturally on the run from their still-living brethren, and could give in-depth information on their former homes if so inclined (or threatened into by someone holding on to their periapt).
In combat, the goal of the Alhoon should be survival and securing a snack, in that order. Unlike a True Lich, Alhoon do not possess the ability to create a new body if theirs is destroyed. Fighting to the destruction would only be used in times where their periapt itself is threatened. Keep in mind, they can cast Plane Shift (self only), and will do so if it looks like they are going to lose the fight. They should also avoid killing off targets when possible, especially older ones, in favor of keeping them knocked out or otherwise incapacitated so that they can sacrifice them later.
You can expect an Alhoon to use it’s hover speed to evade any melee aggressors. Fortunately it’s flight is incredibly slow at a measly 15’, meaning it isn’t going to employ any strafing tactics. Unfortunately, the Alhoon is at it’s deadliest when you are within 60’ of it, being able to employ both it’s disabling Mind Blast and it’s Negate Spell power against anyone within reach. Wall of Force can be used either for the classic “Divide and Conquer,” or as an emergency panic room should the Alhoon find themselves on the back-foot. A particularly nasty DM would note that the Chilling Grasp attack can heal the Alhoon, allowing them to dig into a tasty bag of rats in the same way that a group of PCs can chug healing potions. Globe of Invulnerability is an interesting option. Being locked into one position is rarely a good idea, but most combats are over in 3 to 5 rounds, and the Alhoon can just Plane Shift away if things get too spicy. The real trick is trapping the PCs in the same room as the globe without having to use another concentration spell (which shouldn’t be too hard for a DM to figure out, the name of the game is Dungeons & Dragons after all). Dominate Monster is more of a plot power than combat power. Not only is it harder to get one off in combat unless they are ambushing the party, but by the time the Alhoon exhausts the better options in it’s stat block, the combat should be mostly over anyway.
As for Modify Memory, it’s only use is as a plot power. Basically it’s a way for the Alhoon to trick the local township to keep sending
The changes to the Alhoon are extensive, in addition to what seems to be a common theme of more HP, Chilling Grasp now heals the Alhoon. And once again, the spell streamlining is the main event. The Alhoon no longer has explicit Psionic powers. Instead all of it’s spells are folded into the same spellcasting ability regardless of how they may have acquired them. With this merger all of it’s spells no longer require material components, but even the formerly psionic spells require somatic and verbal components now.
Their damaging spells have been compressed into the Arcane Bolt power, with the loss of utility on Disintegrate as perhaps the biggest nerf to the Alhoon. After all, being able to make a hole anywhere is a heck of a tactical advantage. Furthermore, I feel that as a necromancer and mindflayer, Arcane Bolt isn’t a good fit. Instead they should have a “Necrotic Bolt”, that deals necrotic damage while also applying some status condition. The Alhoon already has access to psychic damage via mind blast, the one-two combination would be very hard to resist and be more flavorful, given that the Alhoon only has Chilling Grasp (which unlike Chill Touch, is a melee attack that deals cold damage) for something resembling a necromancy spell.
The most interesting change is the new Negate Spell power. Negate Spell automatically disrupts the casting of any 3rd level spell or lower. Preventing the spell from being cast that turn, while refunding the slot of said spell (but not the action used to cast). Because it’s a power, it can’t be “Counter-Counterspelled”. But it’s also more limited than Counterspell due to it’s restrictions. I know there is a lot of clamor against Counterspell, but personally I am in favor of the concept because it enables multiple levels of counterplay. At the most basic level, your PCs can pick one spell to potentially negate, which in my experience is dramatic and fun. At the more advanced levels, you have PCs figuring out ways to protect their own spells. Using range, line of sight, subtle spell metamagic, baiting with other spells, leveled spell selections, counter-counterspelling, even playing mind-games with NPCs to force them into using bonus action spells so as to limit their reactions. Negate Spell keeps some of these, and tosses out the rest. Right now, the only reason an Alhoon isn’t using Negate Spell is because they are out of range or can’t see the target, otherwise it’s just always a good idea to deny an enemy caster their action. I can’t imagine Negate Spell to be less annoying for players than Counterspell. Even with the spell slot refund, the primary currency in combat is the action economy, and a lost action is always going to be a big deal because of that. On the other side of the coin, Negate Spell should prove easier for DMs to use, but putting a level limit on this ability causes the threat of the Alhoon to somewhat deflate in higher tiers, which runs counter to the principles of bounded accuracy.
Before I get your hopes up, not all the entries are going to be as wordy as these last two, sometimes there just isn't that much to say about a monster.
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