Final Monster Vault Preview: Penanggalan

[Aegeri]

Damn this is a nasty as hell monster. Once again, a great monster with great mechanics combine to make one hell of an horrific creature. Nice upper heroic variety with a lurker, a soldier (swarm) and just a regular old angry head. Pretty nasty disease as well, now that I think of it. I liked the fluff as well, because it reminds me of those plots where I've wanted to make a game based on a haunted mansion.

Overall just another really solid monster (feels like it's in the right level range as well).

 

[Dice4Hire]

Yes, quoite interesting with a nice mix of powers. The level 8 swarm is a bit odd and I would lik to know more about hwat it is. Seems odd there would be a swarm of P heads around.

 

[Aegeri]

Yeah oddly enough that monster did avoid any sort of explanation in the flavor text. I have to admit that the concept of how these creatures operate from the flavor text gives them the official 4th edition Grimdark award. Remember, it's not enough to be grim or dark when you can be both!

 

[The Human Target]

Kinda seems like a waste to not have their bodies be monsters as well.

Though of course you could just use zombies or something.

 

[Colmarr]

Wow. That's disturbing.

Reminds me very much of a horror short story I read about a duchess who slept with the devil in return for eternal life, and then ended up buried alive beneath her castle in a half-height cage.

 

[Drammattex]

Yeah oddly enough that monster did avoid any sort of explanation in the flavor text. I have to admit that the concept of how these creatures operate from the flavor text gives them the official 4th edition Grimdark award. Remember, it's not enough to be grim or dark when you can be both!

Head Swarm: So... imagine a bunch of penanggalan heads screaming toward you in a cluster during the climax of the adventure. (That's the long and the short of the entire concept). It's just another option.

Grimdark: All the previewed monsters that I did have included nearly every word I wrote, with judicious clarifying edits. I was pretty sure this entry would be sanitized for the masses, but no... it appears in all its gory glory. Praise be to editor Jeremy Crawford and the rest of the team. I'm extremely happy with what they've done.

 

[Aegeri]

Jeremy Crawford is clearly a fan of old splatter movies, which is rather the theme that I got from this monster. Of course, I can't see how you would even begin to make a monster like this not Grimdark - but it is pretty great none the less. I still love the art of the monster as well, even if I think that image was used in Oriental Adventures (maybe?).

I do wonder with the return of the Penanggalan if we'll see it's close and equally as horrible relative the Vargouille return?

 

[Colmarr]

[MENTION=55363]Drammattex[/MENTION]: It was part of an anthology of short horror stories, which unfortunately I don't own any more. If I remember correctly, the cover features a black hairy spider.

Unfortunately, my google fu hasn't been strong enough to track down either the anthology or the name of the short story

 

[Drammattex]

I'll ask some of my horror buff pals. Sounds like a CREEPY story.

 

[RangerWickett]

From the 3e Oriental Adventures: