Hound of Ill Omen: Sound mechanics + Great Fluff = ?????

[Aegeri]

Presumably the ???? should be profit, but your mileage may vary. Once again, another interesting monster to add to the ever increasing pile of great monsters*. This is one thing I won't get sick of any time soon from Wizards. There is one thing that makes this monster massively stand out: The curse mechanic. As it isn't a disease, it means the target has to tough out that religion check on his own time (with party assistance of course if people are trained). It's a pretty nasty effect and I would definitely be packing the remove curse (affliction?) ritual around to get rid of that.

Overall solid mechanics, solid fluff and another time the MV really nails what it does. Upper heroic feels appropriate for their power level as well. I can envisage using this creature in almost a Sherlock Holmes inspired, Hound of the Baskervilles type of adventure.

*Other than a pile of money, this is one of the best piles to actually have.

 

[Jack99]

Yeah, that is a very good monster.

 

[the Jester]

Very nice. That's a cool take on yet another old-skool Fiend Folio monster. Updated from kind of a flavor thing to an actual monster. I like.

 

[Drammattex]

I'm glad you guys like it.
A couple quick notes:

- Credit to Chris Perkins: I wrote the original howl like a disease and Chris suggested trying to incorporate it into the creature's stat block itself, so you're seeing the result of that attempt. It's cleaner, imo. Chose the Religion skill because once you're under the curse the only thing you can really do is pray that you won't die. Or get someone to pray for you. In short, nothing short of divine intervention is going to save you from what's coming once the hound calls for you.

- As a kid, I was a big fan of the original FF hound.

- Fun fact: Chris described another creature in the book as a "Hound of the Baskervilles" type monster, and assigned me that one as well. Faced with both, it was a challenge to make sure both monsters covered different territory. You'll find the other one amongst the drakes.

 

[Mirtek]

Is their insubstantial trait supposed to errata how insubstantial works in 4e or is it just special for these specific monsters?

 

[MrMyth]

Given that I'm about to start a Ravenloft campaign and planning to include more curses/diseases and assorted dooms for the PCs, this is just the sort of thing I like to see. In many ways, I'm expecting Monster Vault: Nentir Vale to be an even more useful resource for me than the Shadowfell box set itself!

 

[Drammattex]

Is their insubstantial trait supposed to errata how insubstantial works in 4e or is it just special for these specific monsters?

The file I turned in just has "Resist: insubstantial," so the way it's written in the pdf would be a clarification made by editing/development.

Given that I'm about to start a Ravenloft campaign and planning to include more curses/diseases and assorted dooms for the PCs, this is just the sort of thing I like to see. In many ways, I'm expecting Monster Vault: Nentir Vale to be an even more useful resource for me than the Shadowfell box set itself!

In that case, the penanggalan should be right up your alley. ;-)

 

[MrMyth]

In that case, the penanggalan should be right up your alley. ;-)

That is absolutely fantastic news to hear, given that it is a long favored adversary in our gaming group.

 

[Aegeri]

Is their insubstantial trait supposed to errata how insubstantial works in 4e or is it just special for these specific monsters?

It does actually vary. Sometimes a creature will be insubstantial like this, but at other times it will not have any particular insubstantial weakness. Personally, I just modify any undead monster with insubstantial to do this. Other creatures gain different vulnerabilities to cancel out the insubstantial.

- Fun fact: Chris described another creature in the book as a "Hound of the Baskervilles" type monster, and assigned me that one as well. Faced with both, it was a challenge to make sure both monsters covered different territory. You'll find the other one amongst the drakes.

Fascinating, because this creature really did give me that vibe (which is a very very good thing). I look forward to what other monsters you've made!

One small question I hope you can answer: Are there more hill clan stat blocks there or just the minion?

 

[Klaus]

I'm glad you guys like it.
A couple quick notes:

- Credit to Chris Perkins: I wrote the original howl like a disease and Chris suggested trying to incorporate it into the creature's stat block itself, so you're seeing the result of that attempt. It's cleaner, imo. Chose the Religion skill because once you're under the curse the only thing you can really do is pray that you won't die. Or get someone to pray for you. In short, nothing short of divine intervention is going to save you from what's coming once the hound calls for you.

- As a kid, I was a big fan of the original FF hound.

- Fun fact: Chris described another creature in the book as a "Hound of the Baskervilles" type monster, and assigned me that one as well. Faced with both, it was a challenge to make sure both monsters covered different territory. You'll find the other one amongst the drakes.

And then there was the Black Hound PP in Heroes of Shadow (previewed but ultimately cut out) that had you bond with a Hound of the Baskervilles-type of creature.

That Conan Doyle sure knew how to spin a yarn, didn't he?