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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9478458" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/54INIx6.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Chapter 6, Fearsome Foes is Frontiers’ bestiary, providing us with 23 stat blocks for various monsters, NPCs, and famous folks. It leans heavily on the Humanoid side of things, with 8 being of that type. The next-most common type are Beasts at 3, with the rest just 1 or 2. In regards to Challenge Rating, about half of them (13) fit within the boundaries of the first tier of play at 4 or lower, and the four entries that are CR 20 or higher represent unique named beings. The remaining 6 are mostly Tier 2, with 1 (Rhesh Turakbar) being CR 12 for Tier 3. In addition to stat blocks, specific NPCs and monsters have advice for how to use them in campaigns, along with motivations and common minion types.We start things out with Breggan Blackcrown, who is a CR 8 warlock who specializes in offensive magic and debuffs. She has a saber as a pact weapon in addition to force blasts, letting her do well in both melee and ranged combat. She is not proficient in Perception and has an 11 Wisdom, so she’s actually pretty easy to sneak up on. Blackcrown Spellswords are CR ½ minions who are akin to bandits with cantrips, and have mistyped Wisdom and Charisma scores of 6 and 3 but with +0 modifiers and saving throws.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/iu0MpAL.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Orlassk is a CR 23 daelkyr, a high-AC bruiser type who can “summon” new minions by reshaping petrified creatures to fight for him, has a curse that restrains and then petrifies targets, and legendary actions such as a far-reaching punch and maddening assaults that deal psychic damage and debuffs.Demonglass Warrior is not a specific creature, but a template that makes the implanted person more frightening in battle, such as proficiency in Intimidation and gains temporary hit points whenever they knock out or kill a target, but disadvantage on mental saves vs the effects of fiends reflecting the fiendish overlord’s mental influence.Dolguul is a new daelkyr-created aberration, formed from bugbears merged with quadrupedal beasts. They basically look like stony centaurs, but with a bony cleaver for an arm and a toothy maw emerging from their torsos. As you can imagine, a dolguul is primarily a melee fighter, and its other arm is a reach weapon hook that can pull targets closer to it.Gantii’kaas are fairies that live in mountain ranges and underground, and miners who grant them gifts may be blessed with rich veins. But if they feel disrespected, they are known to cause cave-ins and worse, perfect for their role as servants of the greedy archfey King Grayfinger. Statwise they are CR 5 fey with a blinding claw attack, can throw rocks, and can cause an eruption of damaging stone as an AoE.We have two new types of Gargoyles. The first is a Demonglass Gargoyle, which has a frightful presence like that of a dragon and can see in magical darkness. Quickstone Gargoyles, on the other hand, are formed from quickstone by Orlassk, the daelkyr still has more influence over them in being closer to his lairs. They are shapechangers who can make themselves look like humanoids and can adapt either a Softened Form that lets them Dodge as a bonus action or a Hardened Form that makes their claw attacks deal more damage.King Grayfinger is an archfey who embodies the storybook archetype of greedy kings of the underground, holding treasure troves of gems, crystals, and all kinds of treasure taken from around the world. In spite of being evil, the daelkyr’s influence in Khyber are encroaching on territory he views as rightfully his, making him an “enemy of my enemy” for those fighting Xoriat’s forces. Grayfinger is a CR 23 boss monster who can merge with stalagmites like a dryad does with trees, can summon a variety of unique magic weapons to fight with in combat, can steal weapons from the hands of attackers as a reaction, and summon emanations of stone and cast earth-related magic for battlefield control. Pretty cool tactics for an end-game foe.The Merchant of Misthaven is a fey who represents a “deal with the devil” archetype, a mysterious figure who shows up to give someone a precious item or opportunity to set some major event in motion. The Merchant’s deal often has some kind of limit and price, playing upon the person’s greed and short-sightedness. She is a CR 20 creature who specializes in illusory spells, can summon a variety of trinkets that do random effects, and can succeed on a failed saving throw but also choose a new target to take its consequences instead.Tol Kharash, the Horned King, is a fiendish overlord. At CR 28, he is the most powerful being in this book. Given his appearance as a giant demonic minotaur and representative of tyranny, his stats and tactics revolve around being a big melee bruiser whose overbearing presence can frighten and deal psychic damage. He has a cool thematic trait called “None Above Me” that causes creatures above his eye level to spend their movement to go beneath it on a failed Charisma save.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/98MHAcd.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Rhesh Turakbar is the other “BBEG Raider” NPC in the Western Frontier. He’s tougher than Breggan Blackcrown at CR 12, and unlike her is more solidly a melee fighter, although he has a ranged attack that can deal damage, frighten, and curse enemies within 40 feet on a failed Constitution save.Steel Horse is basically a construct horse designed by Brelish engineers to make tireless steeds for cavalry, but their expense made them too prohibitive to replace their living counterparts. There’s not much to say about them besides the fact they restore 1 hit point when Mending’s cast on them.Stoneborn is a template representing creatures warped and manipulated by Orlassk, gaining natural armor, resistance to non-magical non-adamantine weapons, darkvision, and can look like a statue when motionless like a gargoyle can.Stone Cultists, by contrast, are Humanoid NPCs who serve Orlassk and have unique stone-themed supernatural abilities, like gaining temporary hit points whenever they see a creature suffer the Petrified or Restrained Conditions.Tribex have existed in Eberron lore as quadrupedal cattle, but haven’t had stat blocks until now. They are Beasts that come in three varieties: Plains Tribex are primarily beasts of burden or cattle with increased carrying capacity; Riding Tribex have the highest movement speed at 50 feet, can ignore difficult terrain when Dashing, and advantage on Constitution saves for forced marches; War Tribex have the most damaging attacks of the lot, plus a trample ability that can damage and knock a target prone.Nonplayer Characters ends our chapter with four generic archetypes that are common on the Western Frontier. Without exception, they all fit within the first Tier of play. Sentinel Marshals are elite warriors of House Deneith, heavily armed and armored, have some Dragonmarked spells, can trade places with an adjacent target to take their attack, and advantage on saves vs various conditions that impose some kind of reduced movement or inaction such as Stunned or Prone. Tharashk Hunters specialize in tracking targets, and their main offensive ability involves setting up traps in squares that can impose damage and the Restrained condition. Wandslingers are basically martial wizards who have rapier and arcane blast as their primary attacks, and their spells focus on defense or utility. Westwind Riders are elite soldiers serving the Brelish government as border patrol on the Western Frontier. They are primarily cavalry, moderately armed and armored, and are good team players by having a reaction that adds +2 AC to allies and a constant trait granting nearby allies advantage on Wisdom and Charisma saves.All in all, a good assortment of interesting characters and creators. There is a dearth of high-level threats, but that’s nothing new to 5e and isn’t particularly problematic in Eberron’s case.The last chapter of this book focuses on Heart of Stone, a level 1 to 5 adventure. I don’t know whether or not I’ll cover it, as when reviewing adventures I prefer being more in-depth vs skimming over it. To say nothing about spoilers of people who may end up as players in it!</blockquote>

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