General Monster Manual 3 Thread

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I really like the new stat block, though I do have one small complaint regarding triggered powers - I wish they put what type of action it was at the front in bold, rather than at the end in normal. Personally, the first thing you want to know with a triggered action is what type it is, and having to read to the end of the power to find out is kind of a pain.

Also, (and on much more minor note) it makes more sense for me if triggered actions had been right below traits, as for me they seem like "passive" benefits like auras and such, and as such it seems natural that they would be grouped close together.

I guess when I'm used to the new stat blocks I'll get used to how to jump around within the stat block and the power descriptions to find what I need - part of the problem with my second point is that other than auras, I'm used to looking for "passive/reactive" things at the bottom, so now that some are at the top and some at the bottom its not intuitive to me yet where to look for them.

That said, I do hope in the next MM that they incorporate my quibble about Triggered Actions.

 

[IanB]

I think the lore stuff has been a move in the right direction - the prior 2 books were terrible at including much other than the combat details of the monster.

I am still vexed by the lack of a text description of what the darn things actually *look like*. Just providing art (and not for every entry at that) does not do it for me.

 

[Gradine]

I disagree vehemently! It can lead to great stories of fun (like the risk-averse wizard who is always WAY back suddenly being chased down by the defender and knocked unconscious). It can be rather inconvenient, but being stunned, Imobilized (if melee) and blinded generally suck more because you can't usually do anything but make a save. You can at least laugh when the most damage a character takes in a fight is from a crit by his own teammate.

I agree wholeheartedly; domination, if used sparingly, can be a great boon for characters story-wise (if not in the immediate moment.) I haven't had much 4e experience with the condition, but in 3.x, I hit the party's paladin with a domination and he almost killed the female cleric he had sworn to protect. You can believe that memory stuck with him his entire career.

And as a player I also second the notion that at least your character's doing something. There's just as much tension and excitement hoping to miss or low roll damage than there is hoping to hit or roll high.

 

[Celisasu]

I don't have a problem with dominate/stun/unconscious as long as it's within reason. I'd probably never throw more than one monster lobbing that around at a time as having an entire party that's disabled is definately not fun for the players.


And now I have this horrible debate to decide. Lovecraftian campaign or Dark Sun campaign when our current campaign where I'm a player ends? *Will be the GM for our next campaign* I love Dark Sun, but we also have enough cool Lovecraft style monsters that I can do fun stuff with that too.


The lack of real tactics doesn't bug me because in all honesty if you look at a monster's powers it should be obvious how they work. The only thing that bugs me is the page XX errors that I've seen more of in MM3 than I did in MM2 and MM1.

 

[Aegeri]

I did the stat blocks for all my monsters and created all of their abilities and powers, but unfortunately I don't have any non-NDA-protected insight on the new formulae or tables for monster damage.

Thank God for the new stat block, though. In retrospect I'd been a little terrified of trying to run the kraken, with the number of powers I gave it. But if you take a look at the way it's laid out in the stat block, I think you can actually wrap your mind around it. When the PCs grow up a few levels I'll do it. But what to use for a mini... If only I could get my hands on those RPGA ship tiles.

As you made the Kraken and are here I feel the need to congratulate you on it. It's one of the most well made and interesting solos in 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons. Not to mention you accomplished this feat with a creature at high heroic/low paragon. That's great.

 

[Rechan]

Am I the only one amused by the fact the volcano dragon doesn't have fire resistance?

 

[Aegeri]

Am I the only one amused by the fact the volcano dragon doesn't have fire resistance?

Fire elementals also don't have fire resistance.

Personally I am not unhappy with generally reducing the resistances across the board. At the same time it doesn't take a lot to give your average creature 5 resistance X damage type per tier.

Edit: In my experience, your average PC is usually more confused about a lack of general vulnerabilities on various creatures than if a Fire elemental is resistant to fire.

 

[fba827]

Am I the only one amused by the fact the volcano dragon doesn't have fire resistance?

Amusing? yes, actually, now that you mentioned it, it is.

Though I'd probably chalk it up to "they can withstand intense/extreme natural temperatures. but not magical fires, etc"

edit: I say this without actually having seen the monster writeup and going solely by what was specifically quoted.

 

[Aegeri]

Amusing? yes, actually, now that you mentioned it, it is.

Though I'd probably chalk it up to "they can withstand intense/extreme natural temperatures. but not magical fires, etc"

Personally I think it is to promote attacking them using fire keyword spells - you don't need resistance when you're already punishing attackers for using fire based spells with extra damage.

 

[RodneyThompson]

Am I the only one amused by the fact the volcano dragon doesn't have fire resistance?

Actually, one of the things we tried to promote in this MM (at least in the case of the volcano dragon and other catastrophics) was that they have elemental deterrents instead of resistances. It's still a bad idea to hit the volcano dragon with fire, it's just not a "I wasted my time with that spell" bad idea, but instead, "Well, I hit him with fire, and so he did damage to everyone in the aura."

This helps not only eliminate the "wasted turn" feeling that resistances to cause, but also helps speed up combat; instead of reducing one target's hit points by less, both sides got their hp decreased.