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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9475258" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/RlFl11b.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.dmsguild.com/product/242876/Mordenkainens-Magnificent-Statblock--CR23" target="_blank">Product Link</a>Product Type: DMing Tools/BestiaryCoS-Required? NoYou might remember earlier in this thread that I reviewed an overpowered CR 27 stat block for Strahd Von Zarovich. Suffice to say, this version of Strahd is strong enough to wipe the floor with a CR 12 Archmage. Shortly after that book’s release, the author saw fit to give Mordenkainen himself a powerup. This product is rather minimal, being a one-page statblock for Greyhawk’s most famous wizard, along with equipment he possesses and new spells consisting of the rest of the content. In the default Curse of Strahd module, this reflects Mordenkainen coming back into his true self after being cured from his cure of madness as the “Mad Mage of Mount Baratok.” Which is a good thing, as the default Archmage is deadly enough as is for PCs to encounter.This version of Mordenkainen is a CR 23 character who casts spells as a 27th level Wizard. He is proficient in every saving throw, and absolutely none of them match up with his existing ability modifiers, Proficiency Bonus of +7, or what he gets from his Epic Ring of Protection. For example, his Strength save is +3 despite having a 12 Strength, and his Intelligence save is +18 although his Intelligence is 26. There’s some other errors in the stat block, such as Mislead being misspelled as “midslead,” or the Elemental Adept feat not being bolded and part of the same paragraph as another feature which makes it easy to miss.Mordenkainen has 324 hit points, and whenever he casts a spell he gains twice the spell’s level in hit points, and this magical barrier is cumulative and can hold a maximum of 60 bonus hit points. His Armor Class is 23 due to his magical gear, so combined with the former he’s not going to go down anytime soon and can weather even the most harrowing blows in the module.When it comes to skills, Mordenkainen has expertise in Arcana and History, and is proficient in Intimidation and Religion, meaning that he’s a great “sage” archetype but isn’t as smooth in other non-knowledge skills besides frightening people. Any spell with the name “Mordenkainen” in it doubles its numerical parameters, are always prepared, can be cast as 1 action if it takes longer to cast, and he has a variety of buffs to them such as being able to enter any Magnificient Mansion without effort, or Private Sanctums’ wards don’t work against him. He also has access to two such spells that haven’t been officially converted to 5th Edition: Mordenkainen’s Lucubration he can cast at a recharge rate of 6 on a d6, where he regains a 5th level or lower spell slot meaning that he’s never going to run out of low and mid level spells. Mordenkainen’s Disjunction is the other one, where once per day he can permanently end the effects of 9th level and lower spells and magical items in a 40 foot radius (doesn’t affect his own magic items) and the effects can be reversed voluntarily as part of a short rest.For various other special abilities, Mordenkainen has the benefits of the Elemental Adept (fire) and Warcaster feats, the Third Eye and Greater Portent features of the Divination wizard subclass, can cast Fireball as a bonus action at 3rd level if he has a spell slot available, and he is a 27th level wizard with all sorts of spells. For Vancian magic, he has a healthy mixture of offense, defense, and utility spells, and a lot of them are universally-useful vs niche applications: Shield and Misty Step help shore up his defenses; Scrying and Sending are excellent for communication and surveillance, Banishment, Cone of Cold, Disintegrate, and Flesh to Stone gives him some rather potent offensive options; Counterspell, Banishment, and Wall of Force can shut down enemies in a variety of ways; Mind Blank and Sunburst give a big middle finger to Strahd; and his 9th level spells include Meteor Swarm, Time Stop, and Wish to remind the PCs that they’re now mere sidekicks to their Fated Ally.And that’s not all: he can cast Disguise Self, Invisibility, and Mordenkainen’s Sword at will!As though he wasn’t powerful enough, his spell save DC is 25 and his spell attack roll is +17, which blows bounded accuracy out of the water. Mordy comes equipped with a bunch of magic items, such as Robes of the Archmagi, Carpet of Flying, a Crystal Ball of True Seeing, and some new items such as an Epic Wand of Fireballs (as a normal Wand of Fireballs but even more powerful), Epic Bracers of Defense and Epic Ring of Protection (grant bonuses to AC and saving throws; the bonuses), and Mordenkainen’s Staff of Fire (deals fire damage as a weapon, has 30 charges that can be spent to deal additional fire damage or cast various fire-related spells…including Meteor Swarm again with 20 charges).We end the book with three new spells, all designed to be used against various monsters in the module. Mordenkainen’s Defense Against Beasts grants resistance to the melee attacks of creatures of the Beast type to a touched ally, and Mordy’s Defense Against Slime does the same thing for fungal plants and oozes. Mordenkainen’s Defense Against Lycanthropes also grants resistance, plus advantage on Constitution saves to avoid contracting lycanthropy. They are 3rd, 3rd, and 5th level respectively, so are learnable by PCs by the time they recruit the Mad Mage.Overall Thoughts: The Real Devil Strahd: A CR27 Version of the Devil is a product that has its own host of problems if used in CoS. Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Statblock presents an equal number of problems from the other side: the addition of an overpowered DMPC who will steal the spotlight from the PCs and make defeating default Strahd a trivial affair. This Mordenkainen has options tailor-made to deal with most of Strahd’s tactics and resistances, and he will wipe the floor with just about every other enemy in the module. Unlike Mordy’s default Archmage statblock, he also has a passive Perception of 18 (and the product doesn’t say how he got this score given that he’s not proficient in Perception), so he’s much harder to sneak up on unaware. But even if an enemy managed to get the drop on him, his saves and hit points are so high that it won’t make much of a difference. Baba Lysaga’s Finger of Death is but a flesh wound, and he can weather a full assault from her Creeping Hut before Misty Stepping to safety or using a DC 25 Banishment to make it go away. Even with just 2 slots, his 9th level spells are encounter-enders, and with Wish he becomes an effective plot device rather than a peer on par with the PCs.This product is better than the Real Devil Strahd in that it’s not as cluttered and easier to keep track of things, but that’s still damning with faint praise. I would not recommend this to be used in Curse of Strahd. Perhaps as a stat block where he’s a patron or even antagonist in a high-level adventure, but for Barovian castle dwellers, keep away!.Join us next time as we explore a folkloric adventure, the Swanmay and the Woodsman!</blockquote>

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