D&D 5E (2014) FGG/Necromancer Games teases 5th Edition Foes

[trentonjoe]

Yes, he will need the proper supporting monsters to make his entrepreneurial venture in fine dining a success. The more I think about it, the more inclined I am to write an adventure around this guy. If I do, I'll share it here.

I was really intrigued about this guy as well. I think the spell like ability mechanic is a little quirky but I love the idea of giving him spell levels (4,5 and 6) without any spells for those slots.

I would suggest just saying they cast spells as a 13th level wizard but only know 2 spells from levels 1-3 and Finger of Death.

A cabal of these things who loosely work together but each have their own lair and territory spread out over 100 square miles or so would be super cool. Each of them could have different spells and minions. The ghouls and finger of death would be constant but allowing spell choice would give each an "identity".

I also think they would avoid "finger of deathing" humans because the zomieifcation ruins the meat.

Just eyeballing it this guys looks like a CR 3/4 as written. If you allow the extra spell slots and choice of spells it would be more like a 5.

 

[trentonjoe]

I would also like to see why its AC is 14. It doesn't look like armor (he? is wearing robes in the picture) and it isn't from his 11 dex.

There should be probably be some resistances/immunities if it from the abyss.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

I would love to have the adventure book, but I am not willing to gamble the extra $ for the monster book. in order to get tformer.

You can order/back the adventure book without the other books.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Why does this thing have a 7th level spell slot? It's a 7HD monster with 40 hps? It's basically going to kill a character before being beaten with that? It just doesn't match? Makes me wonder about their idea of balance. That's the biggest issue I worry about from splat books is lack of balance. Take that out and the monster looks good or maybe give it a 4th level attack spell or something.

I'm a backer who is getting cold feet after seeing this. I think that I will hope for a split or two previewed


Does anyone have a better example of spell like abilities in 5e yet

Edit: I do want to say it is a flavorful awsome idea for a monster I now want to run "Hell's Kitchen" complete with Gordan Ramses

 

[jadrax]

Does anyone have a better example of spell like abilities in 5e yet

Well the Spectator in Phadelver is probably the best example e have of what they will actually be like. Distinct abilities that do not refer to the spells chapter at all. So instead of 'Inflict Wounds' it has 'Wounding Ray. The target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, taking 16 (3dl0) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.'

 

[Jake Johnson]

I was really intrigued about this guy as well. I think the spell like ability mechanic is a little quirky but I love the idea of giving him spell levels (4,5 and 6) without any spells for those slots.

I would suggest just saying they cast spells as a 13th level wizard but only know 2 spells from levels 1-3 and Finger of Death.

A cabal of these things who loosely work together but each have their own lair and territory spread out over 100 square miles or so would be super cool. Each of them could have different spells and minions. The ghouls and finger of death would be constant but allowing spell choice would give each an "identity".

I also think they would avoid "finger of deathing" humans because the zomieifcation ruins the meat.

Just eyeballing it this guys looks like a CR 3/4 as written. If you allow the extra spell slots and choice of spells it would be more like a 5.

Good thoughts on spell handling: I would think he would avoid using Finger of Death unless pressed. Maybe he wouldn't open with it in the first round.

I agree that a loose network might be in order. You would need one to handle farming/procurement of "ingredients". There would need to be one running the "culinary academy". There could be one or two large distribution points (restaurants, etc.). I'm sure there might be quite a few "customers" that wouldn't appreciate the party interrupting the service of their favorite dining establishment(s).

 

[Steven Winter]

XP and CR values aren't listed in the sample because they haven't been assigned yet. Those will be the last things attached to the stat blocks, after most of the other work is done. I see many of the folk online who are analyzing 5E stat blocks assuming that CR is the first number laid down and everything else derives from it. You can do things that way, but you wind up with many monsters looking like clones. Despite all the positive advances that 4E made with monster stat blocks, the clone issue was inescapable. For the sake of variety and creativity, it's better to design interesting monsters and then work out their CRs based on their overall threat. When formatting this creature for the preview, we waffled back and forth between leaving CR and XP off entirely, or including "XP ? (CR ?)." Finally we decided to leave it off; I think we would have caused equal amounts of confusion either way. The HP listing is a straight-up typo; it should be "38 (7d8 + 7)."

Where the spells are concerned, stat blocks need to deal with two different spellcasting abilities. Some creatures cast spells like PC spellcasters, with spell slots that can be used up as the creature chooses by casting from a list of prepped spells. Other creatures can cast specific spells and nothing more. Typically those are innate spell-like abilities rather than spells as a wizard would cast them. The aaztor-ghola sort of straddles the line between those two, but because its spell list is so limited and it doesn't bother with components, we decided to treat it like an innate spellcaster. A true spellcaster's spell list will look a bit different, and it should be clear from the list and description which type of caster you're looking at.

That said, if this arrangement is causing confusion, then we absolutely want to hear that feedback. Nothing is set in stone yet. We'll be doing many more previews before the Kickstarter runs its course, and we're eager to hear any reactions people have, positive or negative. You can post reactions here or contact me directly as sjcwinter at gmail.com.

Steve

 

[JeffB]

You can order/back the adventure book without the other books.

When the KS went live that was not the case.

At any rate, I think I will wait and see. I do not like KS to begin with, and today's preview reinforces why.

 

[Charles Wright]

I decided against backing this because I figured there would be a strong "winging it" element and a little bit or a whole lot of re-tread of the multiple monster books FGG has done for S&W/PF and even Necromancer proper back into 3.x.

This preview makes me feel OK with that decision, as I find I rarely use more than 1/4 of the monsters in any supplemental bestiary (i.e, not the MM), regardless of edition. I would love to have the adventure book, but I am not willing to gamble the extra $ for the monster book. in order to get the former.

Had they waited until January or something, to get a good grasp on the finalized rules, I probably would feel differently.

If you look at our pledge levels you will see that there is a new one called "Adventurer Level" that allows you to pledge for just "Quests of Doom" if you wish.

I also feel that our lead developer, Steve Winter, has a good grasp of the rules being one of the people who playtested the rules in-house at WotC and is co-author of "The Rise of Tiamat" and "Hoard of the Dragon Queen".

 

[Zaukrie]

Thanks for posting, Steve