Daily Art Preview

[Klaus]

Most definitely not loving those three. We've gotta weird assed centaur cat thingie that's kinda groovy, sorta. We've yet another lich and not one that's really all that great - why do liches always have all their bones? Come on, let's see some deterioriation on that corpse. And what the hell is that vampire chick? That's just goofy.

It's pretty rare for me to not like WOTC art, but, those three are bad.

You see, my main complain with the lich is that it is thoroughly skeletal.

I'd like to see liches that still have their skin stretched taut over their bones. And also non-wizard liches (clerics can become them just fine).

Cue in Counter Collection: Undead:

 

[Green Knight]

Nah, I still maintain that Skeletor is rather a Death Knight. He is able to go toe to toe with the strongest man in the universe, after all.

A Lich can do just as well as a Death Knight against He-Man. Biggest piece of evidence, though? Death Knights are created by the gods. Lich's, however, are created through wizard magic. And Skeletor was made a Lich by Hordak, another wizard.

His "magics" come from using magical items, if at all.

Yeeeaaahhhh, no. He's easily one of the most powerful wizards in the world. More powerful then Evil-Lynn, Sorceress, and Orko, and probably as powerful as King Hsss (although likely weaker then Hordak). His magic hasn't been shown to be any different from theirs. Just because he needs his Havok Staff, it doesn't mean he's not a Wizard. Remember, Masters of the Universe uses 5E rules , where every spellcaster MUST have an Implement in order to use their magic. Evil-Lynn can't cast spells without her staff. Sorceress can't cast spells without her staff. King Hsss can't cast spells without his staff. Orko can't cast spells without his wand. And Skeletor can't cast spells without his staff.

As for evilness, Mumm-Ra, the Everliving is on equal footing.

Ok, that I'll agree to. After all, the 'man' tricked the Lady of the Lake into giving him Excalibur, which then proceeded to stab the Sword of Omens right in the eye. That's pretty damn bad ass. And Mumm-Ra is, admittedly, a bit more sane then Skeletor.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Personally, I don't, because that just sounds silly. They're stuck? Why don't they just pull the stake free, then? They're certainly strong enough. And if the goal is pinning, then why stake them through the heart? Why not through the hands and feet? Or the shoulderblades? Or the forehead? Why the heart? And at the end of the day, why go through all that trouble just to pin them, and not kill them? It seems pretty silly. I can understand being staked putting them in a state of suspended animation (that's how Palladium vampires work. They're reduced to lifeless skeletons, but if the stake is ever pulled free, then they regenerate within moments), but once again, why not just kill them? Nah, better to have stakes kill vampires, plain and simple.

I think the idea is to get them through the heart because it does weaken them somehow... I would need to actually bother to read those old medieval vampire-slaying manuals to actually know the justification, so I don't. The truth is that there is evidence to suggest people actually ran a stake into the chest of a corpse laying in a coffin in the real world, and the justification made was keeping the vampire from rising from the grave, not necessarily killing it (and certainly not reducing it to a pile of ash instantly).

The problem with saying "a stake through the heart kills instantly" is that the question "how do you define a stake?" becomes extremely problematic. How do you differentiate a wooden stake from a metal stake, or a wooden stake from a wooden arrow? What are the weapon stats for a wooden stake? Do you need to use a hammer or not in order to get the effect you want? The whole issue can get pretty messy without a lot of rules lawyering and unnecessary text on the designer's part. Even if you can define the stake, you still need to define how to rule whether it gets through the heart, which is its own unwanted can of worms. If you say "staking an unconscious/inactive vampire to his coffin keeps him from rising", then a stake is something which can keep them held down, so the definition becomes far less problematic, since the stake is being used as a stake, and very few weapons can be used like a stake in this manner. This makes things a lot simpler for everyone.

 

[Stogoe]

If a lich illustration still has all its skin, you really can't tell it's a lich. And I absolutely love the phane pic. I'm stealing it for a lower level creature, because it's just that awesome.

 

[I'm A Banana]

To be fair about the Big T, looking like an excited lizard-dog isn't really a criticism. It looks kind of fun, and the T does tend to be more of a force of nature than a true villainous mastermind, after all.

And I will say that it looks quite a sight better than "godzilla's doofus cousin" from the 3e MM.

 

[WanderingMonster]

And I will say that it looks quite a sight better than "godzilla's doofus cousin" from the 3e MM.

You mean Toddzilla?

 

[Green Knight]

If you say "staking an unconscious/inactive vampire to his coffin keeps him from rising", then a stake is something which can keep them held down, so the definition becomes far less problematic, since the stake is being used as a stake, and very few weapons can be used like a stake in this manner. This makes things a lot simpler for everyone.

That doesn't simplify anything, though, because you'd still have to define which weapons can be used as a stake and which can't. Not to mention that you'd have to define what "keep him from rising" means. Does he stay there stuck like a bug with a pin through him? Can he remove the stake? Is he unconscious or concious? Paralyzed or in a coma? Can he interact with his surroundings in any meaningful way? Can he cast spells, etc? What exactly does "keep him from rising" mean?

Whatever the case, that'd still be pretty pointless considering the end result. And a vampire getting pinned in his coffin is pretty silly, as is the idea of going through all that trouble to pin a vampire to his coffin when you could instead kill him. If a stake through the heart does nothing but just stick him to the bottom of his coffin, then what's the point? You may as well just cut off his head and be done with it.

 

[TwinBahamut]

That doesn't simplify anything, though, because you'd still have to define which weapons can be used as a stake and which can't.

Anything that can be pushed into the ground and keep something there works as a stake. Mostly, that means stakes (wooden or otherwise). If the DM is generous, a sword or spear. Arrows are not strong enough to really work. I admit, it is not perfect, but it is still a lot better than the "kill with a stake" alternative, in which (thanks to a certain popular TV show), people will argue that anything and everything made of wood is a "stake", regardless of original purpose or structure, so the word "stake" itself becomes meaningless, and you might as well say "wooden weapon", which is a lot less interesting.

Not to mention that you'd have to define what "keep him from rising" means. Does he stay there stuck like a bug with a pin through him? Can he remove the stake? Is he unconscious or concious? Paralyzed or in a coma? Can he interact with his surroundings in any meaningful way? Can he cast spells, etc? What exactly does "keep him from rising" mean?

It means that, while the vampires undead nature might not be fully gone, it is pretty much stuck being a normal corpse, and is effectively dead so long as the stake is in place. In other words, it is a set-up for the "grave-robbers unintentionally unleash the terrible evil" scenario. I am pretty sure that one or two Dracula movies start with some variant of this premise...

Also, the Vampire can not obviously remove the stake, since it would not be a weakness if he could.

Whatever the case, that'd still be pretty pointless considering the end result. And a vampire getting pinned in his coffin is pretty silly, as is the idea of going through all that trouble to pin a vampire to his coffin when you could instead kill him. If a stake through the heart does nothing but just stick him to the bottom of his coffin, then what's the point? You may as well just cut off his head and be done with it.

The idea in this case is that it is pretty hard to kill vampires. The stake through the heart has always been the method used by frightened peasants or common scholars who can't confront the monster directly, but instead try to take advantage of the vampire's moment of weakness (when it is asleep in its coffin). Real heroes armed with powerful magic swords should never have to resort to this tactic, because they are tough enough to fight vampires directly.

To put it more clearly... It is people like Van Helsing from the original Dracula, common people who happen to know something of vampire lore, who use stakes through the heart. For strong heroes who fight vampires professionally, wooden stakes are unnecessary, as is proven by the Castlevania videogames.

 

[Green Knight]

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I want a flaming whip.

 

[Surgoshan]

Every time I see a war hammer depicted like the one in that vampiress pic, I wince.

The head of that hammer has to weigh more than fifty pounds! More likely around a hundred! You could use it as a weapon, but it would be so slow and unwieldy that you'd die before you got in a second swing!

A more realistic war hammer wouldn't look so impressive, until you stopped and considered what it would be like to get hit by a frickin' hammer. Ever hit your thumb?