In the Works

[Pants]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20040815b&page=4

Things of note:
1) The names of the monsters in the MMIII strike me as being... boring? Arrow Demon, Amush Drake, War Troll? Kinda boring.
2) Not to continue the nitpicking process, but does the Arrow Demon look a little tough for a CR 7?
3) Frostburn looks cool (pun intended )

 

[MerricB]

Actually, the names of those monsters are really good because... I can pronounce them!

It's all very well to have cool looking names, but if you run into trouble saying them, they're not much use, are they?

Considering the Challenge Rating of the Arrow Demon:

Hmm... you have a point. It does seem a little low. I'd like to see it in play, though.

Note: the revised summoning rules from the Planar Handbook are being used. You can add the Arrow Demon to your list of summonable creatures if you remove the Babau. (The Babau has a CR of 6).

Ignoring the questionable CRs, I really like these new monsters - I'm very much looking forward to Monster Manual III.

Cheers!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I really like the picture for the Arrow Demon...has me plotting already. All of this stuff coming up really looks good. Though I may not get Frostburn, its getting more and more interesting. Curse my not having much money.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I looked at the Arrow Demon and the Cragtop Archer preview, and then contemplated how nasty an Arrow Demon with levels in Cragtop Archer (or almost any archer prestige class) would be.

 

[Pants]

Actually, the names of those monsters are really good because... I can pronounce them!

It's all very well to have cool looking names, but if you run into trouble saying them, they're not much use, are they?

What sounds more intimidating/creative?
Balor or Fire-Sword Demon?

Hmm... you have a point. It does seem a little low. I'd like to see it in play, though.

Note: the revised summoning rules from the Planar Handbook are being used. You can add the Arrow Demon to your list of summonable creatures if you remove the Babau. (The Babau has a CR of 6).

The problem (as I see it) seems to come from the fact that you can switch it in over the Babau.
Compare the two:
Babau - Around 66 HP, 19 AC
Arrow Demon - 135 (!!), Ability to wield Two Large Composite Bows at Once AND make two attacks as a Standard Action!

I'd probably pick the Arrow Demon over the Babau personally.

Ignoring the questionable CRs, I really like these new monsters - I'm very much looking forward to Monster Manual III.

Cheers!

Indeed, modifying CR's are easy and I can always use more monsters!

 

[MerricB]

What sounds more intimidating/creative?
Balor or Fire-Sword Demon?

Try "Demon of Flame" and you'd have the more intimidating name.

However, Balor is a name from mythology. As such, it has a bunch of other connotations attached to it. It's not a creative name in this context.

Consider "Mind Flayer" or "Illithid" - I much, much, much prefer the former.

Every so often, new names hit a chord and do work. However, I can't say it's that common.

Cheers!

 

[Pants]

Try "Demon of Flame" and you'd have the more intimidating name.

However, Balor is a name from mythology. As such, it has a bunch of other connotations attached to it. It's not a creative name in this context.

Very true, however they could easily give the Arrow Demon a name out of Mythology and I'd probably prefer it.

 

[Knight Otu]

The names aren't bad, except the Arrow Demon. We've talked about it a bit here, and tossed out a few names that would be better, including Archer Demon.
Someone who wanted a more tanar'ri-like name could also take the suggestions from my post (Beloezu [Belozu]; Toxoneshnee [Toxonethee/Toxonilith]).

There also might be a few problems with the stats that were previewed.

1. The war troll is a monstrous humanoid instead of a giant. Most trolls from official sources, however, are giants, with two exceptions - the tree troll from Dragon # 299 is a small monstrous humanoid, and the fiend troll from Unapproachable East is a large outsider.
2. The dracotaur, as a dragon, does not receive automatic armor proficiences. That's why it has the appropriate feat. However, the dracotaur as characters section states that a dracotaur is proficient in light armors naturally.

 

[Nifft]

"Arrow demons prefer to fight in ordered ranks" -- WHAT? No demon prefers fighting in ordered ranks. No demon prefers to fight in ordered anything.

Maybe they got Devil and Demon confused -- devils also have names like "Fork Devil", so the name fits better that way too.

-- N

 

[Shazman]

The war troll and ambush drake are great. I can't wait to try them on unsusepcting PC's. "Hey, why's that troll carrying a greatsword?" "He hit me for how much damage?" "He just laughs at my fireball?"

I must say that I agree with knight otu about the war troll. Why would they make it a monstrous humanoid? I'll probably house rule it to be a giant.