H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth doubt

[kevkas]

Don't know if I should be posting here or in the General RPG forum, but I think my doubt relates to rules about movement.

I'm going to run Thunderspire Labyrinth in the future (as soon as the party finishes with H1) and I'm reading it in advance to get the overall idea of this adventure.

When I was reading the New Monsters section, I couldn't quite figure out how a couple of powers/features work for the Bronze Warder (Large creature). These in particular:

-Rampage: The bronze warder can move 3 squares, and all smaller creatures whose space the warden enters are pushed 1 square and knocked prone. After moving, the bronze warder can use Axe Sweep. (which is a follow-up power that is a free axe attack with ongoing damage basically).

-Inexorable Movement: The bronze warder can move through a smaller creature's space, but it cannot end its movement in an ocuppied space.

-Ponderous: The bronze warder cannot shift.


I get the general idea of those 3 powers, but I can't seem to understand how this creature moves during combat. In the "Speed" entry it says:

-Speed: 5, see also Inexorable Movement and Ponderous.


If the creature cannot shift, does that mean that any kind/form of movement it makes will generate an Attack of Oportunity??
The way I understand it is that it cannot shift, but it can move through the PCs space (which are Medium size) in 2 ways:
-using the inexorable movement (as long as it doesn't end in a PCs square), but provoking OA.
-using rampage, which will provoke OA from every PC involved in the use of the power, since it's not shifting (unless it works like the Goring Charge power of the Minotaurs, which is a charge so at least it won't provoke OA from the PC that are in front, maybe from the ones adjacent like in a normal charge).


I would appreciate if anyone could clarify this.

Thanks.

PS: BTW, if any on you had problems identifying which monster is the Arbalester (since it's not introduced in the New Monsters section but it is used in the adventure), you can find it in the Treasure of Talon Pass adventure (it's free, you can download it from WotC's page). There you have a picture, and the Knowledge checks for the players. Just thought I should mention this since I didn't know that they were and it's not in H2.

 

[Caliber]

I think you more or less have it. Perhaps this is just a case of over thinking it? Bronze Warders can't shift, so unless an ally can give them a slide or something, they have no way to avoid OAs.

Both of their powers to move them through people do provoke OAs; one thing to remember is that Fighters (and maybe others) can halt movement on an OA. I believe the rule is that if the creature still has an action left it can continue to move, however.

 

[Flipguarder]

If you are worried about the monster dying very quick due to OA's you might think about giving the monster a +1 or 2 Ac vs them

 

[kevkas]

Thanks for the quick reply guys.

I found a post with a similar question, here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-4th-edition-rules/257419-trouble-running-encounter-h2.html

Couldn't find it earlier because I can't seem to know how really. I read the FAQ of the forum, and it says:
To quickly find a thread or post of interest anywhere on the bulletin board, click on the 'Search' link in the navigation bar at the top of most forum pages. Then, type in the keyword or phrase you wish to search for, and select either 'Show Threads' or 'Show Posts' to view the results. By selecting posts, you will be shown only the actual post in which the search word appears.

Maybe I'm just dumb or something, but I can't find the Search link anywhere. Could any of you direct me where to find it? The only links I see are:
My Account > Blogs > FAQ > Calendar > Quick Links > Log Out
And it's not in either Blogs or Quick Links.

Thanks again.

 

[Thanlis]

In my experience, bronze warders generating lots of OAs is a good thing, since they have a fairly ridiculous number of hit points otherwise -- the first encounter where they show up can be very tedious if they're not provoking OAs.

And yeah, they always provoke, poor things.

 

[Caliber]

Because of the burden to the servers, the Search functionality is disabled unless you buy an account. Dunno how much it is ... I don't think it's very much. You could always go to google and try your search with the tag "site:www.enworld.org". That'll sometimes work.

Edit: Hrms. Let's see if it works this time.

 

[kevkas]

Because of the burden to the servers, the Search functionality is disabled unless you buy an account. Dunno how much it is ... I don't think it's very much. You could always go to google and try your search with the tag "site:www.enworld.org". That'll sometimes work.

Edit: Hrms. Let's see if it works this time.

Thanks Caliber, I was beggining to feel like an idiot not being able to find a Search link -.-

 

[Ahrimon]

I DM'd this not too long ago. From what I saw, the bronze warder is nasty. With it's massive amount of HP's and resist all it takes forever to kill. Without those OA's the fight could drag out quite a bit. It's a walking tank. Revel in it's sheer toughness and rampage whenever you can. The players will soon fear them.

 

[kevkas]

You are right Flipguarder, I was worried about the monster dying very quick, but I think what Ahrimon said is the key on using the Bronze Warders in an encounter: between the amount of HP and the Resistence to all that should be more than enough to make it last through the encounter, even with oportunity attacks. Otherwise it could last longer than it should.


Thanks guys, you really helped.

 

[Lauberfen]

Yup, they're pretty horrible to fight- I think they must be a level 7 elite soldier or something- with the MM2 style defence bonus. AC 25 is really hard to crack at 6th level! Then they have resist 5 vs anything, with no way to stop it, which is pretty rare for that leve monster. Nasty.

The few times the fighter did manage to hit with an OA, it was a real bonus.