Matt Colville’s Strongholds and Followers

[Demetrios1453]

The bestiary appendix has some cool monsters. Not a fan of gem dragons, but I like additional fey, aberrations, elementals, fiends, and celestials.

I had no idea there would be a bestiary. About how many pages/monsters are there?

 

[MNblockhead]

I like the warfare rules. The warefare rules are completely open content, so I could past them here, but I don't want to clutter the thread. I'm wondering if there is a PDF out there of just the warfare rules? I can only find the earlier simplified rules he posted, which are not the same as those in the book.

 

[Devilbass]

I had no idea there would be a bestiary. About how many pages/monsters are there?

If you include the dozen or so pages in the bestiary section that are strictly art and/or lore, it's 80 pages - very respectable.


I've read some more of the Stronghold Actions and Class Feature Improvements. I feel some need clarification, and some I will definitely tweak for my own game.

The Fighter's Class Feature Improvement is neat, but unclear.

Class Feature Improvement: Fighting Surge
Whenever you attack by using your Action Surge, you automatically score a critical hit. You can do this for a number of surges equal to your stronghold level, after which you must take an extended rest to refresh this ability.

So, I like that it keys off of Action Surge, but is it supposed to turn every attack you make when you action surge into a crit? One attack per surge? When you specifically take the Attack action when you action surge? I mean, you don't technically attack with your Action Surge. Anyway, I don't expect the wording to be just like WotC's, but slightly stricter wording would be better.

 

[Leatherhead]

I like the retainer rules. Especially the extra abstract Health Levels instead of HP and the interchangeable Special Actions and/or Spells. I'm a proponent of the idea that NPC's don't have to be built using PC rules, because it's tedious and a bit of a kludge to build or run them that way.

Though my first order of business is to give Prestidigitation and the like out like candy (because those cantrips are the building blocks of magical power), and tweak all of the spell lists because there are some real wtf spell selections there. Seriously, why doesn't the Enchanter have some kind of Charm spell before 7th level? And the Evoker doesn't know Fireball?! I had to double check that one, because wow, Fireball is the basically entire point of having an Evoker.

 

[MNblockhead]

I had no idea there would be a bestiary. About how many pages/monsters are there?

Pages 149-230, so 81 pages.

39 monsters (quick count, may be off by one or a couple)

2 demons
1 devil
A section on the celestial court with 6 celestials (2 page treatment for each, 1 full-page art and one with stats and fluff)
A section on "The Court of All Flesh": 7 abberations. Art for each one, some near full-page pieces.
A section on "The Court of Arcadia": six fey. I really like these fey!
A section on "The Court of the Elements": six elementals
A section on gemstone dragons: Includes a section on psionic powers. Each dragon has 4 stats: wyrmling, young, adult, and ancient. There are 5 new dragon types: emerald, ruby, sapphire, topaz, and amethyst. Also includes rules for PC race variant "Gemstone Dragonborn" - while not a fan of the concept of gemstone dragons, I have to say that the art is great! Esp. the ancient sapphire dragon.
Finally, the section on the inexorable: 6 inexerables: space, death, change, fate, time, and nature. I really dig the inexerables, both the art, fluff, and crunch.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I do like his design philosophy that strongholds must cost a lot, but not take too long to build.

Base costs are keep=10,000 GB; tower = 8,000 GP; temple=8,000 Gp; establishment= 6,000 Gp

Are there different subtypes? Like, are there sizes of strongholds, or is that purely part of the stronghold level system?

I'll have more to say once I've had more time with the book, but to give you a quick and incomplete synopsis....

There are 4 primary stronghold types, with some slight variations on a few.....Keep, Tower, Temple, and Establishment. Each corresponds to a type of character class; Keep for martial types, Tower for arcane types, Temple for devout types, and Establishment for skilled types. Each one grants benefits to the founder in the form of enhanced class features that are usable a certain number of times until you spend an Extended Rest (a week) at your stronghold. These features are pretty cool and pretty effective, but not so effective as to break the game or anything. They definitely make characters more powerful.

The Stronghold also grants Demesne Effects; these seem to be mostly flavor style effects for the realm in which your Stronghold is found. Then there are Stronghold Actions. These are combat related abilities that can take effect on initiative count 20 when the character is in the same hex as the Stronghold. These vary in strength, but tend to be potent. A couple seem very potent. Each Stronghold also attracts different types of followers.

I need to read more to really get a better sense of it all. I like the general approach, though.

Overall, the writing seems casual, which I like, and he explains a lot of the design in sidebars and footnotes. The art is top notch and the overall production quality is high. It's about 265 pages. I'm looking forward to seeing the print copy.

Again, more to come as I spend more time with the book.

That's very interesting. Are the strongholds restricted to those class types, or are they just suggested? Are there benefits that aren't class specific for a devout Fighter who funds a temple to their god, or a warlock who wants to own a bar?

If Collvile tends to be annoying to a person in his youtube videos, will this book be annoying to that person?

Lastly, do we know if this will be available to people that didn't want to put money on it before seeing any reviews from people who got to see a finished product (ie, who didn't back), and if so do we know how much it will cost?

The bestiary appendix has some cool monsters. Not a fan of gem dragons, but I like additional fey, aberrations, elementals, fiends, and celestials.

Oh man, new fey! What sorts of critters does he introduce?

 

[5ekyu]

I have to continue to read it in detail but so far i am getting more than I expected and more than what it cost in terms of usable and intriguing material that *can easily adapt* into my game.

I would suggest that the balance of "functional gains" and "roleplaying or investment in setting" factors seems well thought out.

 

[MNblockhead]

Are there different subtypes? Like, are there sizes of strongholds, or is that purely part of the stronghold level system?
That's very interesting. Are the strongholds restricted to those class types, or are they just suggested? Are there benefits that aren't class specific for a devout Fighter who funds a temple to their god, or a warlock who wants to own a bar?

I'll let Matt answer that from the book:

The stronghold for each class has a dramatic name—a “bard’s theater,” a “monk’s monastery.” But these names are merely examples chosen for flavor, you are free to imagine and name your stronghold in whatever manner seems best to you. Maybe your bard owns a library! Fantastic excuse to get folks coming in and out each dropping off useful nuggets of information. Maybe your barbarian prefers calling it their Horde rather than a camp! It’s entirely up to you. Furthermore, many of the following abilities reference alignment, but that’s purely because I’m old-fashioned and prefer the era when paladins fought for good, and I always assume warlocks are sinister. Feel free to reinterpret the abilities so they benefit you and your allies and harm your enemies, however they’re defined.

I think most people who use the book will keep to type, as the system makes it easiest to do so, but you could re-purpose with very little work to customize.

If Collvile tends to be annoying to a person in his youtube videos, will this book be annoying to that person?

Nope. What makes Matt annoying to most people, including me the first time I tried to watch his videos, is his motor-mouth delivery. I find as I started listening to more podcasts, I appreciated his style. You get through a lot of content quickly. For me he was an acquired taste but he's gone from "gah! turn it off" to becoming one of my favorite and must-listed to streamers. Keep in mind, I only listen to his DM game tip videos. I've never watched any of his streamed games.

I found the style very readable and engaging. Actually, I'm enjoying this enough that I've put his novels on my Amazon buy list. If this book is any indication, Matt is a good writer.

Lastly, do we know if this will be available to people that didn't want to put money on it before seeing any reviews from people who got to see a finished product (ie, who didn't back), and if so do we know how much it will cost?

You can buy the PDF now for $20. The hardback will also be available for anyone to buy. You can buy the PDF now from his online store:

https://shop.mcdmproductions.com/

Oh man, new fey! What sorts of critters does he introduce?

Mantis Knight. A medium CR5 fey. The art is of a humanoid praying mantis dual weilding two foils.
Monarchon. CR 7 medium fey. Full page photo of an eladrin moth person. She is fascinated with death. "The embodiment of youth and death, spring and fall....When not withering or hypnotizing her enemies, she is pleasant to be around. She is fascinated by mortals.Loves watching the artfully slow decay of their flesh into inevitable death. If she had her way, she’d stick around for the final myocardial infarction and then celebrate your death, possibly by baking your corpse into bread."

Orchid Count. CR 6 medium fey, "the dashing archer-sorcerer of the Court"

Oleander Dragon, a/k/a the Petal Dragon. Looks like something from The Never Ending Story or The Dark Crystal. Like Lucas and Spielberg dropped acid together and came up with a new muppet-based movie. CR 8, large dragon. "Unlike any other dragon…and most creatures, the Oleander Dragon has no physical attack. It has no teeth or claws and considers such things crude. She prefers to be beautiful and would rather awe enemies so overmuch with its perfect glamour as to force them to reconsider the terrible decisions they made in their lives and abandon all violence."

Ash Marshal: CR 9 medium fey: planar escort and strongman of the Court.

Sidereal Vizier: CR 10 medium fey, the Court mage.

 

[5ekyu]

Hmmmm... that tingly feeling started when my mind went *ding* and i connected "hey, i wonder how much of these extended rest stronghold features i can re-purpose (or multi-purpose) into my campaign "scars" (think "regio" from Ars Magica or "area where magic has warped the reality well away from normal" if you are unfamiliar with that term) and realized the answer was "holy crap!"

 

[Zardnaar]

I'll let Matt answer that from the book:



I think most people who use the book will keep to type, as the system makes it easiest to do so, but you could re-purpose with very little work to customize.



Nope. What makes Matt annoying to most people, including me the first time I tried to watch his videos, is his motor-mouth delivery. I find as I started listening to more podcasts, I appreciated his style. You get through a lot of content quickly. For me he was an acquired taste but he's gone from "gah! turn it off" to becoming one of my favorite and must-listed to streamers. Keep in mind, I only listen to his DM game tip videos. I've never watched any of his streamed games.

I found the style very readable and engaging. Actually, I'm enjoying this enough that I've put his novels on my Amazon buy list. If this book is any indication, Matt is a good writer.



You can buy the PDF now for $20. The hardback will also be available for anyone to buy. You can buy the PDF now from his online store:

https://shop.mcdmproductions.com/



Mantis Knight. A medium CR5 fey. The art is of a humanoid praying mantis dual weilding two foils.
Monarchon. CR 7 medium fey. Full page photo of an eladrin moth person. She is fascinated with death. "The embodiment of youth and death, spring and fall....When not withering or hypnotizing her enemies, she is pleasant to be around. She is fascinated by mortals.Loves watching the artfully slow decay of their flesh into inevitable death. If she had her way, she’d stick around for the final myocardial infarction and then celebrate your death, possibly by baking your corpse into bread."

Orchid Count. CR 6 medium fey, "the dashing archer-sorcerer of the Court"

Oleander Dragon, a/k/a the Petal Dragon. Looks like something from The Never Ending Story or The Dark Crystal. Like Lucas and Spielberg dropped acid together and came up with a new muppet-based movie. CR 8, large dragon. "Unlike any other dragon…and most creatures, the Oleander Dragon has no physical attack. It has no teeth or claws and considers such things crude. She prefers to be beautiful and would rather awe enemies so overmuch with its perfect glamour as to force them to reconsider the terrible decisions they made in their lives and abandon all violence."

Ash Marshal: CR 9 medium fey: planar escort and strongman of the Court.

Sidereal Vizier: CR 10 medium fey, the Court mage.

Followed the link, yeah I get the motor mouth comments now. Its good he is updating and letting people know whats up.