Dungeons of Dread Preview 3: Templates

[Scholar & Brutalman]

The Dungeons of Dread preview 3 is up, and describes two monsters that are templates in 4e:

In today's preview, we peek at two undead champions that can be found in Dungeons of Dread. As you expect, these two monsters can be found in the 4th Edition Monster Manual. What you don't expect is that these monsters can also be found in another 4th Edition book.

The new Dungeon Master's Guide presents almost two dozen templates that can be applied to monsters. Thanks to the template, the monster is transformed into something … different. Instead of being a normal monster, it is now treated as an elite -- it counts as two creatures for the purpose of building roleplaying encounters. Both of the monsters below are examples of a templated human.

Death Knight


The Death Knight has been a staple in Dungeons & Dragons ever since it was published in the original Fiend Folio. For 4th Edition, the Death Knight template upgrades a late Paragon or Epic level creature, usually one in a soldier role. More details on the template must wait until the books are published.

Miniatures players, however, won't need to wait as long. In the miniatures battle game, the Death Knight is a master of undead. It can bring in any evil undead into the game as well as grant a slight attack bonus. It has a champion power to boost the damage of other undead by granting a 20-point damage bonus on a successful hit.

Fans of the Death Knight are already familiar with the blast of unholy flames. This guy can cover up to a 25-square area with twenty points of necrotic or fire damage. Just like the radiant energy mentioned last week, no special rules are attached to necrotic damage.

Vampire Vizier


The second template is the Vampire Lord, and the Vampire Vizier is an example of this template being applied on a controller or lurker role. Templates manage the soul of the creature: the roleplaying side of the Vizier includes abilities such as "Hurt by Sunlight" and "Scent of Blood" -- abilities that all Vampire Lords have.

One difference from 3rd Edition D&D deals with the Vampire's life drain. A victim of a life-draining attack no longer suffers from negative levels. Instead, the target is weakened and the vampire heals a sizable number of hit points. The Miniatures Game statistics distill the Vampire Lord's abilities to a tight core -- it doesn't include the weakened state on the victim, but the Vampire Vizier does heal an impressive 25 hit points.

Next week -- two monsters with double letters and a digraph.

 

[small pumpkin man]

I'm still waiting to see what "vulnerable" means. Although I like the way they've done dominate (assuming in actual D&D there is a separate "dominate" ritual, which I assume there will be).

 

[Zamkaizer]

A rather elegant solution to balance issues presented by 3E templates, though I wonder about the specifics of applying templates to monsters already of the elite or solo variety.

 

[Reaper Steve]

I'm still waiting to see what "vulnerable" means. Although I like the way they've done dominate (assuming in actual D&D there is a separate "dominate" ritual, which I assume there will be).

When taking damage of that type, they take that much more.
So, Vulnerable 10 radiant means that the creature takes +10 damage from any attack of that type.
Source: DDM 2.0 rules

 

[Lackhand]

When taking damage of that type, they take that much more.
So, Vulnerable 10 radiant means that the creature takes +10 damage from any attack of that type.
Source: DDM 2.0 rules

The Sun does 2d6 0 radiant-damage attacks per round to everyone with no concealment/cover versus it each round? Really, it's more of a swarm than anything else.


Which explains why I'm always nauseated when I go outside.

 

[Rakor]

What caught my eye (sufficiently that I had to register so I could gush because it's late here and everyone is asleep) is that there are nearly two dozen templates in the DMG! Two dozen! That seems like a lot. Does it seem like a lot to anyone else? This is awesome.

'Night, -Nick

 

[Irda Ranger]

Huh. I think it's interesting that the "over two-dozen" templates 4E comes with is in the DMG, not the MM. Was that a page-count thing do you think, or something else?

Also, the drafting suggests that all templates (not just the two detailed here) transform a normal monster into an elite monster. Very intriguing. What that means to me is that templates are not designed to be "power neutral", giving powers with one hand while taking away with the other, but rather "additive only". That's a theme it seems in 4E design, similar to races and classes. You only "get" stuff by taking a race or class, not lose anything.

Hmmm. And "Vampire Lord" is a "late Paragon or Epic" template. Can we assume there is also a "Vampire Spawn" or "Just Plain Vampire" template that makes an elite foe for Heroic and early Paragon levels?

Also, that seems like good news about negative levels. A simpler "-4 to all attacks and damage" (or whatever) is a lot easier to track than losing levels.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Certainly, shifting a monster from being a normal monster to being an elite monster is an efficient and elegant way of balancing out templates. I like it.

Also, with templates being in the DMG, and monsters in the Monster Manual, it means you can have both books open at once and apply the template to the monster without flipping pages in either book. It may not be the designers' intention, but it is a great side-effect even if it wasn't.

 

[Peter LaCara]

Certainly, shifting a monster from being a normal monster to being an elite monster is an efficient and elegant way of balancing out templates. I like it.

Also, with templates being in the DMG, and monsters in the Monster Manual, it means you can have both books open at once and apply the template to the monster without flipping pages in either book. It may not be the designers' intention, but it is a great side-effect even if it wasn't.

Is it weird that this was one of the first things I realized, and one of the things that makes me happiest? It's kinda weird, isn't it?

 

[vagabundo]

Hmmmm me likey...