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Let's Read: Volo's Monsters
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<blockquote data-quote="Charles Rampant" data-source="post: 6975575" data-attributes="member: 32659"><p>Pretty interesting stuff, thanks for bringing it up! That blog post was a really engrossing read, considering how scientific it was, and definitely makes them seem terrifying and impressive. I've never read Dinotopia or the Lost World thing, so my main source of Dinosaur understanding is Jurassic Park and all those times the X-Men went to the Savage Land, one of which is, uh, better than the other.</p><p></p><p>-----------</p><p></p><p>The Drow, not knowing when to leave well enough alone, return to bring us yet another dubious mixing of Elven DNA with something unpleasant. After an ‘unholy ritual’, a Drow High Priestess will give birth to a <strong>Draegloth</strong>, a half-drow, half-glabrezu fiend, which seems like a great idea to me.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/9/9a/Draegloth_wizards.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070709142058" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The art in Volo’s is very good. The Draegloth is poised, looking both relaxed but also ready to spring into action, with the detail in its hair (fur?) and skin nicely done. The second pair of arms are just sort of hanging there, but that is a pretty common problem with drawing what is (if we’re being honest) an impractical assembly of limbs. The facial expression - bestial rage - suits the creature very nicely. </p><p></p><p>As already mentioned, these guys are the result of a ritual. The effort involved must be pretty high for the Drow to only do it with High Priestesses, and it seems fair to say that the process is risky, so they are both rare and highly prized. Once the ritual works, the Drow then begin training the beast, which has a distressing combination of intelligence and rebelliousness that makes its slavery tricky to maintain. Though the Drow will respect it, they seem to do so as an object - a slave or consort, not an equal, despite its raw power. If a Draegloth breaks free of the house, it seems implicit that they do so in order to rip and tear with freedom, not to embrace the power of good; in other words, you can use one wandering the Underdark by itself, rather than always with Drow. </p><p></p><p>This slavery means that the Draegloth will be most interesting roleplaying-wise in a game where the players can interact with a Drow city or house in more than just combat encounters. If the players meet one of these, and observe its forced servitude, they might be forced to discuss the morality of slavery in this very precise instance. The Draegloth also seems like a fun guy to depict as the DM: I’m thinking he would be an Arnie-type character, full of self-sure power and bold statements delivered bluntly. If you’ve got a Drow PC in your group, having one of these turn up at night when they are on watch and issue the commands of his house might also make for a very impressive moment. </p><p></p><p>When it comes down to combat, as I think virtually every meeting with one of these will, the Draegloth will act as basically a super-charged Drow. They get the <em>Fey Ancestry</em> trait, as well as the same racial spells, plus <em>Confusion</em>, but are likely to let any Drow allies use them instead, as his melee attacks are much more potent. They do extremely respectable damage with their claws and teeth, and are likely to hit and wound even front line characters more than once a turn. In short, they are powerful and easy to use front-line bruisers, who can distract your party while the Drow Priestess and Drow Elite Warriors are doing damage from the sidelines. Probably one of the simplest monsters in the book, albeit one of the coolest, and likely to be one that really spices up the climatic fight against the Drow in whatever story you’re running.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charles Rampant, post: 6975575, member: 32659"] Pretty interesting stuff, thanks for bringing it up! That blog post was a really engrossing read, considering how scientific it was, and definitely makes them seem terrifying and impressive. I've never read Dinotopia or the Lost World thing, so my main source of Dinosaur understanding is Jurassic Park and all those times the X-Men went to the Savage Land, one of which is, uh, better than the other. ----------- The Drow, not knowing when to leave well enough alone, return to bring us yet another dubious mixing of Elven DNA with something unpleasant. After an ‘unholy ritual’, a Drow High Priestess will give birth to a [b]Draegloth[/b], a half-drow, half-glabrezu fiend, which seems like a great idea to me. [img]http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/9/9a/Draegloth_wizards.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070709142058[/img] The art in Volo’s is very good. The Draegloth is poised, looking both relaxed but also ready to spring into action, with the detail in its hair (fur?) and skin nicely done. The second pair of arms are just sort of hanging there, but that is a pretty common problem with drawing what is (if we’re being honest) an impractical assembly of limbs. The facial expression - bestial rage - suits the creature very nicely. As already mentioned, these guys are the result of a ritual. The effort involved must be pretty high for the Drow to only do it with High Priestesses, and it seems fair to say that the process is risky, so they are both rare and highly prized. Once the ritual works, the Drow then begin training the beast, which has a distressing combination of intelligence and rebelliousness that makes its slavery tricky to maintain. Though the Drow will respect it, they seem to do so as an object - a slave or consort, not an equal, despite its raw power. If a Draegloth breaks free of the house, it seems implicit that they do so in order to rip and tear with freedom, not to embrace the power of good; in other words, you can use one wandering the Underdark by itself, rather than always with Drow. This slavery means that the Draegloth will be most interesting roleplaying-wise in a game where the players can interact with a Drow city or house in more than just combat encounters. If the players meet one of these, and observe its forced servitude, they might be forced to discuss the morality of slavery in this very precise instance. The Draegloth also seems like a fun guy to depict as the DM: I’m thinking he would be an Arnie-type character, full of self-sure power and bold statements delivered bluntly. If you’ve got a Drow PC in your group, having one of these turn up at night when they are on watch and issue the commands of his house might also make for a very impressive moment. When it comes down to combat, as I think virtually every meeting with one of these will, the Draegloth will act as basically a super-charged Drow. They get the [i]Fey Ancestry[/i] trait, as well as the same racial spells, plus [i]Confusion[/i], but are likely to let any Drow allies use them instead, as his melee attacks are much more potent. They do extremely respectable damage with their claws and teeth, and are likely to hit and wound even front line characters more than once a turn. In short, they are powerful and easy to use front-line bruisers, who can distract your party while the Drow Priestess and Drow Elite Warriors are doing damage from the sidelines. Probably one of the simplest monsters in the book, albeit one of the coolest, and likely to be one that really spices up the climatic fight against the Drow in whatever story you’re running. [/QUOTE]
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