Court of Stars: The Prince of Frost

[TerraDave]

Nicely done.

You read these things and start thinking of the adventures or campaigns they could spawn, then think "I have too much of this already, I will never use it all".

But this time, I really do think I might use him and his cold court.

 

[Klaus]

I'll say this:

I just submitted two article queries for Dragon sparked by this article alone.

Keith kicks ass like that.

 

[catsclaw227]

The sisters of lament are two banshee-like henchmen of the Prince of Frost. They're presented as a Level 24 elite soldier and striker, so they make a great encounter on their own.

However, to go along with the Prince of Frost (A level 31 solo), they also present level 30 minion versions of the sisters with distilled versions of their elite-incarnation powers, a new power they can use in tandem, and a mechanism that allows them to respawn while the Prince of Frost is still alive. This seems like a great mechanism for Big Boss plus Minions.

I read the minions as being there with the sisters, not as replacements really. There can be many of each and if they all start to cry with lament, things get dicey. I can see a Court with the Prince of Frost, his two Sisters of Lament and their many lovers.

 

[halfrican]

Are there any other player options aside from the new warlock powers?

 

[Klaus]

One warlock feat, one warlock power and a warlock paragon path. Plus four "roleplaying" codes a PC (wether warlock or not) could follow while in service of the Winter Fey.

 

[Dire Bare]

I read the minions as being there with the sisters, not as replacements really. There can be many of each and if they all start to cry with lament, things get dicey. I can see a Court with the Prince of Frost, his two Sisters of Lament and their many lovers.

While you can use the crunchy stuff anyways you like of course, there are only two sisters serving the Pale Prince. The first set of stats are intended when the PCs encounter the two sisters without their Prince, and the second set of minion stats are intended for when the PCs encounter the sisters AND the Prince together.

I have a hard time wrapping my head around this idea, of conditional stat blocks, but I think I'll like it when I get over my own reluctance to leave old gaming habits behind. It's a pretty big paradigm change, I think, to go from old school stat blocks which seemed to represent the way the beasties actually worked (game rules = physics/biology) to the new wave of stats being only a means to an end, being part of the "scene" rather than being independant of it.

If a 4e monster is alone in the woods, does it have stats?

 

[Fallen Seraph]

While you can use the crunchy stuff anyways you like of course, there are only two sisters serving the Pale Prince. The first set of stats are intended when the PCs encounter the two sisters without their Prince, and the second set of minion stats are intended for when the PCs encounter the sisters AND the Prince together.

I have a hard time wrapping my head around this idea, of conditional stat blocks, but I think I'll like it when I get over my own reluctance to leave old gaming habits behind. It's a pretty big paradigm change, I think, to go from old school stat blocks which seemed to represent the way the beasties actually worked (game rules = physics/biology) to the new wave of stats being only a means to an end, being part of the "scene" rather than being independant of it.

If a 4e monster is alone in the woods, does it have stats?

Yeah that is how I read it as well, I quite enjoy it. I have always run RPGs like that so nice to see mechanics using this viewpoint Hmm... This, the Pod Demon they seem to be doing more stuff with minions, w00t

This is a very nice article in general too. I am so glad that WoTC decided to make Fey a major focus in 4e.

 

[Mephistopheles]

A solid feature. In particular I really enjoyed the first couple of pages that cover his background.

About the only problem I had was that upon seeing the main piece of art on page one the first thing I thought was "Elven Lich King".

 

[Rechan]

Okay, I'm stumped. Perhaps it's the late hour, but besides Conflict between Seasons, what other universal sources of conflict could exist between Fey?

 

[arscott]

I think the point is that the Eladrin Courts don't go to war with eachother. They go to war with the Fomorians, or the Goblins, etc.

The Courts are more like political parties in a democracy--sometimes they work towards opposite goals, sometimes they work towards the same goal, sometimes there are rivalries between specific members of two different courts (or members of the same court) and bloodshed is generally discouraged.