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<blockquote data-quote="Charles Rampant" data-source="post: 7007375" data-attributes="member: 32659"><p>The <strong>Orc Blade of Ilneval</strong> is a leader style melee combatant, and he duplicates the role and CR rating for the Orc Warchief so closely that we can regard him as essentially a variant entry for that role. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zoundsgames.com/Images/demihumans/245_Ilneval.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The Blade of Ilneval is described as a leader of Orcs, who has gained the ability to direct the ferocity of his comrades to achieve victory. Like the Warchief, he also gains extra damage on melee attacks as a reward from his patron deity. However, his deity is one of strategy and tactics, rather than rulership, and so these fellows are going to be subordinate to any Warchiefs around. </p><p></p><p>This is somewhat odd, for the Blade is basically an upgrade on the same combat concept. The damage output for the two entries is nearly identical - 28 DPR vs 30 DPR - and while the Warchief has more hit points, the Blade has greater AC, making that probably a wash. The real point of comparison is their leadership ability, and in this regard the Warchief is totally outshone by his subordinate; the Warchief gives advantage on attack rolls to all Orcs in 30ft, but only once a day, and for a single round, getting only half of his attacks on that round himself. Meanwhile, the Blade can let three Orcs within 120ft make another attack as a Reaction, an ability that not only recharges on a 4-6, but does not prevent the Blade from making all his attacks as normal. In other words, the Blade gets a better ability more often, and it doesn't affect his damage output. One upside to the Warchief's ability is that the two abilities stack, so you can use a Blade <em>and</em> a Warchief and have both active at once. </p><p></p><p>The Blade of Ilneval is a good statblock - meaty, strong attacks, a great leadership ability - but it effectively makes the Warchief look like a Warchump, and I'd want to give a boost to the latter in order to make him look more imposing as a result. After meeting this guy in a preliminary fight, I can't imagine that the players will be that impressed by the Warchief's efforts! Happily, you can convert the Champion entry in the back of the book without too much trouble I reckon, adding only the <em>Aggressive</em> trait and a Greataxe to make it feel Orcish, and that should serve as a solid boss fight for your Orc storyline.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charles Rampant, post: 7007375, member: 32659"] The [b]Orc Blade of Ilneval[/b] is a leader style melee combatant, and he duplicates the role and CR rating for the Orc Warchief so closely that we can regard him as essentially a variant entry for that role. [img]http://www.zoundsgames.com/Images/demihumans/245_Ilneval.jpg[/img] The Blade of Ilneval is described as a leader of Orcs, who has gained the ability to direct the ferocity of his comrades to achieve victory. Like the Warchief, he also gains extra damage on melee attacks as a reward from his patron deity. However, his deity is one of strategy and tactics, rather than rulership, and so these fellows are going to be subordinate to any Warchiefs around. This is somewhat odd, for the Blade is basically an upgrade on the same combat concept. The damage output for the two entries is nearly identical - 28 DPR vs 30 DPR - and while the Warchief has more hit points, the Blade has greater AC, making that probably a wash. The real point of comparison is their leadership ability, and in this regard the Warchief is totally outshone by his subordinate; the Warchief gives advantage on attack rolls to all Orcs in 30ft, but only once a day, and for a single round, getting only half of his attacks on that round himself. Meanwhile, the Blade can let three Orcs within 120ft make another attack as a Reaction, an ability that not only recharges on a 4-6, but does not prevent the Blade from making all his attacks as normal. In other words, the Blade gets a better ability more often, and it doesn't affect his damage output. One upside to the Warchief's ability is that the two abilities stack, so you can use a Blade [i]and[/i] a Warchief and have both active at once. The Blade of Ilneval is a good statblock - meaty, strong attacks, a great leadership ability - but it effectively makes the Warchief look like a Warchump, and I'd want to give a boost to the latter in order to make him look more imposing as a result. After meeting this guy in a preliminary fight, I can't imagine that the players will be that impressed by the Warchief's efforts! Happily, you can convert the Champion entry in the back of the book without too much trouble I reckon, adding only the [i]Aggressive[/i] trait and a Greataxe to make it feel Orcish, and that should serve as a solid boss fight for your Orc storyline. [/QUOTE]
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