MV: Threats to the Nentir Vale in my hands

[nikadeemus327]

I'm interested in the tokens. Are there lots of tokens suitable for (demi)human NPCs, or is it mostly monsters?

Plenty of humanoids. In fact, there's plenty of tiefling and dragonborn tokens which have been seriously lacking in the previous sets.

 

[Aegeri]

This one was mine. I'll admit--I'm a sucker for the more generic type maps (like the King's Road map, which I use constantly). That said, as I recall it's deceptively strategic. (I miss you, DDM!).

Have I mentioned that you are one of my favourite people yet? Because I totally should have <3

 

[Destil]

That means that in comparison to other solos, they gain significant hit points and damage, and only lose 2 AC, which is hardly a notable thing at all.

At the same time, powers that do something when you hit will hit that much more often. It's not just about mitigating damage.

 

[Aegeri]

I still remember almost ruining a keyboard when, after a solid year of joking about 4+ drake swarms as a sign your DM wanted to TPK you, actually seeing a module published with... 5 or 7, I forget how many, but fairly ridonculous.

Personally the official module (IIRC it was in Dungeon) with the bunch of Giant Frogs is by far and away Wizards lowest point. I honestly have no idea what the guy who wrote those things was thinking. Also, I would have included Needlefang Drakes in my previous list but they were (in fairness) errata'ed. I only included things that are still broken/lethal today and have remained that way since time immemorial.

 

[Erren]

I heard that Dythan's Legion has an animated siege tower, what is that creature like? Sounds fascinating!

Glad you asked! I've flipped past it a few times and the art's always popped out at me, but hadn't had a chance to read it yet.

It looks really fun. It's an Elite Brute, so its defenses are a little lower than I might have liked, but it has resist 15 to all damage coming from outside, so it'll take a beating. There's mechanics in place for creatures to fire from within it and there's enough experience budget left of (since it's an elite) that you should be able to make a damn memorable encounter from it.

My main worry about it would be that it looks easy to lock down with a good controller and then your encounter might turn pretty boring. By early paragon a party shouldn't have any trouble regularly making it "prone", slowed, or at least some heafty forced movement which will render it much less effective. I know it's normally the realm of Solos, but some ways of mitigated such effects would have been nice. A dwarf can reduce forced movement by 1 and save against prone, but this 30-foot tower can't?

Definitely, definitely don't let it run you over.

 

[Drammattex]

Have I mentioned that you are one of my favourite people yet? Because I totally should have <3

Right back at you!

 

[Quickleaf]

A list of monsters would be exquisite

But if that's too much to ask, roughly how much of the book is devoted to new monsters vs. NPCs from Nentir Vale?

And do the NPCs seem readily re-fluffable?

Thanks!

 

[Erren]

A list of monsters would be exquisite

But if that's too much to ask, roughly how much of the book is devoted to new monsters vs. NPCs from Nentir Vale?

And do the NPCs seem readily re-fluffable?

Thanks!

Everything's tied in it's fluff to the Nentir Vale. It's all easily refluffable, and some ties are pretty weak. Here's a list of all the entries with my notes in parentheses:

Abyssal Plague Demons
Barrowhaunts (group of undead former-adventurers)
Bitterstrike (Adult White Dragon)
Blackfang Gnolls
Bloodfire Ooze
Boggle
Cadaver Collector (a necromancer's best friend/construct)
Calastryx
Clan Bloodspear (orcs)
Daggerburg Goblins
Dark Drake of the Moon Hills (drakes)
Dythan's Legion (dragonborn)
Fell Court (tieflings)
Felldrake (more drakes)
Frost Witches
Gravelstoke Family (human noble assassins)
Gray Company (human soldiers)
Harken's Heart (druids)
Hound of Ill Omen
Hunter Spiders (drow)
Hurly-Burly Brothers (no less disappointing than the preview)
Iron Circle (devils and humans)
Mages of Saruun
Mooncalf (aberrant creatures)
Penanggalan
Peryton
Phantom Brigade (undead)
Ragewind (undead animated whirlwind of swords)
Raven Roost Bandits (shadar-kai)
River Rats (halflings/thieves)
Scroll Mummy
Shadowmire (Elder Black Dragon)
Tigerclaw Barbarians (shifters/humans)
Treants of the Nentir Vale
Twig Blight (fey plants)
Vampiric Mist
Vestapalk (Young Green Dragon)
Wandering Tower
Witchlight Lizardfolk
Wolf Runners (bandits)

If you're looking for monsters in the mid to late heroic tier, I think it's an amazing product with some great design. Even up to early paragon, maybe.

Heck, much of this stuff is designed mean enough that it'd easily survive being leveled up to epic and still stand strong. In full disclosure, I haven't actually DM'ed epic tier myself.

 

[Talaeden_Denthiir]

Thank u guys for the info!

I'm interested in knowing more about the Twig Blights, Barrowhaunts, and The Cadaver Collector. Does it still have the ability to increase it's AC by impaling/adding creatures to its armor?

I've heard this MV has no adventure.

But from what I'm hearing there's enough fluff with each entry to easily make them. How do you guys feel about that?

And on the mechanics side, any info on the Math? HP formulae, attack damage per level per role, etc.?

Thanks again,

~Teo

 

[Matt James]

Correct. No adventure, but plenty of story to kick any campaign into warp 9