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Let's Read: Volo's Monsters
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<blockquote data-quote="Charles Rampant" data-source="post: 7008440" data-attributes="member: 32659"><p>The mama bear of the Orcs, the <strong>Claw of Luthic</strong> is a really interesting statblock, and reminds me a lot of how Druids are portrayed in videogames. </p><p></p><p><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UI9Blsy8KrA/V4i99lW90JI/AAAAAAAAILs/_83qEM_aZaEfRl6WW1y1ZejlR30ImhcZACLcB/s1600/bahgtru_and_luthic_by_kerembeyit.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>In the above image, the female at the top is Luthic, while the male at the bottom is Bahgtru, apparently. The image in Volo’s is actually really good; instead of sexualising the Claw, they went for making her intimidating, with a focus on the huge rippling muscles and claws of her right hand. This is the kind of image that sends a message about the person that the players are meeting.</p><p></p><p>The Claws of Luthic serve a vital role in the Orc Tribe; they are the ones that ensure it survives. When a Warchief leads all of the lads out to raid, Luthic’s clerics are the ones that ensure there will still be a tribe, whether or not they return. I am reminded of something that I read once about Late Roman defensive doctrine; they found that it was impossible to keep all of the Germanic raiders out of their territory (since there was this massive long border). So what the Romans instead did was ensure that any group which crossed the Rhine and started raiding, would be chased down and destroyed by Roman units as it tried to leave Roman territory, laden down with plunder. The impression that I always got from this was that being a Germanic raider seems like a great way to die young; Orcs must presumably be the same. The cult of Luthic also strikes me as a very powerful force, behind the scenes; Gruumsh may pick the chieftain, but Luthic’s cult are the ones who raise the next generation of warriors, and whose Orog bodyguards form one of the most concentrated groups in the tribe. If they felt that the chieftain was a nonce, they’ve probably got the ability to <em>do something</em> about it. And it is unlikely that the Chieftain can take a strong stance against them, for what sane Orc would agree to attack the whelping pits and the bear-mother’s clerics? Very interesting potential, there. </p><p></p><p>The Claw has a really fun statblock. It’s not long; basically all of the interesting elements are contained under <em>Spellcasting</em> and the <em>Claw</em> action. The latter is a bit of a 4e throwback; the Claw will make two melee attacks unless it is under half health, or <em>Bloodied</em> as 4e called it, at which point it makes four. I like this a lot. I can see why people disliked it coming up so much in 4e, but I think that a limited application of the same idea makes for a good mechanical tool to ensure that the fight has a certain feel to it. With forty five hit points, you’re probably talking about four to six solid hits from the PCs to bring down the Claw; at a guess then, you’ll see this extra attack function work for one or maybe two rounds. That makes it more dangerous, but also gives a really nice ‘bear cornered and desperate’ element to the fight. </p><p></p><p>The <em>Spellcasting</em> is fairly standard - a fifth level cleric equivalent, there is a mixture of healing spells (<em>cure wounds</em>), spells that explain how the Claw helps her tribe (<em>Augury</em>, <em>create food and water</em>), and a few solid damaging ones (<em>Guiding Bolt</em> is always a solid option, in my opinion). Some of the spells are a bit complex for a backup combatant, but should not be overlooked. <em>Warding Bond</em> is a very powerful buff spell given to an ally, albeit it makes the Claw die faster as it shares damage between the two. I can imagine a Claw using this on the tribe’s Warchief to keep him swinging longer. If the Claw has the opportunity, using <em>Bestow Curse</em> on a PC might be nasty - it lets you choose from the target taking more damage from the Claw’s attacks, a save-or-suck effect, disadvantage on attacks, etc. Probably one to keep in mind if the Orcs somehow get surprise on the players, for sure, and also something that you can use to effectively ‘stall for time’, if you feel that the players are struggling - it sounds terrifying, and has some potent effects, but it also takes time to do anything, so gives the players a breathing space. Finally, <em>Bane</em> is a spell that I’ve never noticed before, but it is actually quite nasty. It is a charisma saving throw for up to three creatures; on a fail, they subtract 1d4 from all their attack rolls and saving throws for a minute. In other words, it’s like having some Bards insult the players. With 30ft range, and the option to boost it to affect up to five characters, this might well be a surprisingly worthwhile debuff to toss out on turn one. </p><p></p><p>I was only intending on doing a short entry today, but I got a bit engrossed by the options there! The Claw of Luthic is a solid, meaty statblock that I think gives you a lot more options than you might think if your first look focused on the <em>Claw</em> attack. Combinining buffs for Orcs with debuffs for the players is likely to make people very unhappy, and closing to melee range and hurting the Claw is likely to be a mistake the players only make once.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charles Rampant, post: 7008440, member: 32659"] The mama bear of the Orcs, the [B]Claw of Luthic[/B] is a really interesting statblock, and reminds me a lot of how Druids are portrayed in videogames. [IMG]https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UI9Blsy8KrA/V4i99lW90JI/AAAAAAAAILs/_83qEM_aZaEfRl6WW1y1ZejlR30ImhcZACLcB/s1600/bahgtru_and_luthic_by_kerembeyit.jpg[/IMG] In the above image, the female at the top is Luthic, while the male at the bottom is Bahgtru, apparently. The image in Volo’s is actually really good; instead of sexualising the Claw, they went for making her intimidating, with a focus on the huge rippling muscles and claws of her right hand. This is the kind of image that sends a message about the person that the players are meeting. The Claws of Luthic serve a vital role in the Orc Tribe; they are the ones that ensure it survives. When a Warchief leads all of the lads out to raid, Luthic’s clerics are the ones that ensure there will still be a tribe, whether or not they return. I am reminded of something that I read once about Late Roman defensive doctrine; they found that it was impossible to keep all of the Germanic raiders out of their territory (since there was this massive long border). So what the Romans instead did was ensure that any group which crossed the Rhine and started raiding, would be chased down and destroyed by Roman units as it tried to leave Roman territory, laden down with plunder. The impression that I always got from this was that being a Germanic raider seems like a great way to die young; Orcs must presumably be the same. The cult of Luthic also strikes me as a very powerful force, behind the scenes; Gruumsh may pick the chieftain, but Luthic’s cult are the ones who raise the next generation of warriors, and whose Orog bodyguards form one of the most concentrated groups in the tribe. If they felt that the chieftain was a nonce, they’ve probably got the ability to [I]do something[/I] about it. And it is unlikely that the Chieftain can take a strong stance against them, for what sane Orc would agree to attack the whelping pits and the bear-mother’s clerics? Very interesting potential, there. The Claw has a really fun statblock. It’s not long; basically all of the interesting elements are contained under [I]Spellcasting[/I] and the [I]Claw[/I] action. The latter is a bit of a 4e throwback; the Claw will make two melee attacks unless it is under half health, or [I]Bloodied[/I] as 4e called it, at which point it makes four. I like this a lot. I can see why people disliked it coming up so much in 4e, but I think that a limited application of the same idea makes for a good mechanical tool to ensure that the fight has a certain feel to it. With forty five hit points, you’re probably talking about four to six solid hits from the PCs to bring down the Claw; at a guess then, you’ll see this extra attack function work for one or maybe two rounds. That makes it more dangerous, but also gives a really nice ‘bear cornered and desperate’ element to the fight. The [I]Spellcasting[/I] is fairly standard - a fifth level cleric equivalent, there is a mixture of healing spells ([I]cure wounds[/I]), spells that explain how the Claw helps her tribe ([I]Augury[/I], [I]create food and water[/I]), and a few solid damaging ones ([I]Guiding Bolt[/I] is always a solid option, in my opinion). Some of the spells are a bit complex for a backup combatant, but should not be overlooked. [I]Warding Bond[/I] is a very powerful buff spell given to an ally, albeit it makes the Claw die faster as it shares damage between the two. I can imagine a Claw using this on the tribe’s Warchief to keep him swinging longer. If the Claw has the opportunity, using [I]Bestow Curse[/I] on a PC might be nasty - it lets you choose from the target taking more damage from the Claw’s attacks, a save-or-suck effect, disadvantage on attacks, etc. Probably one to keep in mind if the Orcs somehow get surprise on the players, for sure, and also something that you can use to effectively ‘stall for time’, if you feel that the players are struggling - it sounds terrifying, and has some potent effects, but it also takes time to do anything, so gives the players a breathing space. Finally, [I]Bane[/I] is a spell that I’ve never noticed before, but it is actually quite nasty. It is a charisma saving throw for up to three creatures; on a fail, they subtract 1d4 from all their attack rolls and saving throws for a minute. In other words, it’s like having some Bards insult the players. With 30ft range, and the option to boost it to affect up to five characters, this might well be a surprisingly worthwhile debuff to toss out on turn one. I was only intending on doing a short entry today, but I got a bit engrossed by the options there! The Claw of Luthic is a solid, meaty statblock that I think gives you a lot more options than you might think if your first look focused on the [I]Claw[/I] attack. Combinining buffs for Orcs with debuffs for the players is likely to make people very unhappy, and closing to melee range and hurting the Claw is likely to be a mistake the players only make once. [/QUOTE]
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