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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Leatherhead" data-source="post: 8671432" data-attributes="member: 53176"><h3>Ogres of War (MtoF)</h3>Interestingly, the book doesn’t have much to say about Ogres other than how they like to rush into fighting. That isn’t to say Ogres lack lore in D&D, being large giant-kin they have a surprisingly large (hah) amount written about them, but I don’t think even Ogres actually care where they come from.  And at any rate, Hill Giants overshadow them in every way when you are looking for dropping giant lore. Ogres are large, dim-witted, hungy, and prone to smashing. Which is the standard D&D “Brute” loadout. As such, they are ideally suited for use in mixed creature-type units where you need some extra muscle and not much else. In fact, you could easily go as far as stripping out the Ogre flavor from these monsters and replacing it with some other generic brute, mostly because there wasn’t much to begin with. Ogres do have one advantage in combat other than their large size, their 40’ movement speed is enough to outpace most humanoids.Ogre Battering RamAll of these ogres are defined by the weapons that they use, so we will be skipping to combat for them. The Battering Ram wields a battering ram, and counts as a siege monster because of it. While they can be used for breaching defenses, they do have a mild amount of control on their attacks, allowing them to push medium and smaller targets around, or stop their movement completely with a Reaction. In the changeover, the Battering Ram had its HP upped and its AC dropped from ring to hide. It gained a Multiattack, and its Block the Path power was reworked from an action eating stance into a simple reaction. Over all, significant buffs. Ogre Bolt LauncherA Brute after my own heart, this Ogre was smart enough to figure out how to pick up and load a ballista as if it was a crossbow. There is even a blurb where they talk about using small trees and wooden beams when ammunition is low, which is a great visual that makes for good story-combat integration. While not terribly accurate, the mobility of an ogre more than makes up for that small deficiency.  The Bolt Launcher was not significantly changed for this book.Ogre Chain BruteThe Chain Brute sees the return of the infamous Spiked Chain. Their role in combat is to rush the front line, swing their chain for some AoE control, then breach the line so they can smash into the squishies with a stunning lash. I kind of wish they didn’t have a fist attack, and instead just had a chain whip attack with that added reach to up their formation busting prowess.The Chain Brute was only changed for formatting with the new book.Ogre HowdahThe Ogre Howdah is the most interesting of the special Ogres, and I’m not saying that just because the book said it too. The Howdah is a weapons platform that up to 4 small sized creatures can ride in. Each creature along for the ride benefits from ¾ cover, and can launch melee or ranged attacks from the Ogres square. The book recommends spears, but I recommend whips, as they have the required reach property, the finesse property for extra accuracy, and honestly whips lashing out from a box to rally the surrounding troops just kind of works from a thematic point of view.  If you are really keen on upping the tactical threat, have a bunch of Druids with Thorn Whip riding along. While this Ogre has a Fist attack for decent damage, consider dodging instead, its main purpose is to be a mobile fortress, and that role is better served with additional lairs of defense. The small creatures are basically riding the Howdah, and benefit from any mounted tactics you can think of,  for instance, dashing or disengaging can quickly maneuver around a battlefield. Targeting the Ogre with a Fly spell, while the caster is safely inside the Howdah, is something that will cause your players to reconsider their entire battle plan.For this printing, the Ogre Howdah traded in their Mace for a Shield, upping their AC. However, they did not lose any DPR for this trade, as their Fist has the same damage.</blockquote>

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