MM IV Q and A

[Gidien]

This may be a bit of a tease, since I don't have the book. However, I did see it yesterday at Barnes and Nobles, and so it must be out. I'm sure someone out there has it and might want to answer some questions.

Here are some of my first impressions: The book was lean, but so are all WOTC books these days (a reason I have yet to buy any 3.5 books since the PHB). The art was very pretty, IMHO, with some nice pictures in a fairly realistic style. Examples were some of the dragonspawn, and the elemental avatar of water. None of the monsters really caught my interest. The dragonspawn have a lot of variety, as opposed to just three types in five colors, which is what I expected. As such, I think I could easily modify the descriptions to make them into "new" monsters and use them in all kinds of situations.

The NPC type monsters were a huge yawn. Honestly, these things could easily be statted up by DMs of nearly every level of experience. And some are clear reprints. The Githyanki, for instance, look exactly like the classed Githyanki presented back when Dragon and Dungeon Mag had their Invasion issue. And a Half-Fiend Gnoll warrior type, who would have thought of that?!

So, not something I'm likely to buy, but then as I mentioned earlier, I stopped buying WOTC when everything jumped to $30+.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Did you look at the clockwork mounts at all? Are there creation guidelines given for them? Or prices?

I'm considering having clockwork mounts be a treasure deep inside a lost dwarfhold.

 

[The Sentry]

Did you look at the clockwork mounts at all? Are there creation guidelines given for them? Or prices?

I'm not Gidien, but I can tell you that all the clockwork creatures in the MMIV have their construction information written up. The Clockwork steed also has a nifty little section called ''upgrades'', stuff you can add to your mount to personalize it. Each add-on as a price in gp and xp.

 

[Ripzerai]

Are demonhive swarms actually demons, or is the name a misnomer (like the greenspawn razorfiend, which presumedly is not actually a fiend)? Do they live in the Abyss?

Are demonhive attendants/swarms/queens poisonous?

(I'm wondering if they'd be appropriate inhabitants of the Abyssal layer called Driller's Hives, which is ruled by the demon lord of poisonous vermin).

 

[The Sentry]

Are demonhive swarms actually demons, or is the name a misnomer (like the greenspawn razorfiend, which presumedly is not actually a fiend)? Do they live in the Abyss?

Are demonhive attendants/swarms/queens poisonous?

(I'm wondering if they'd be appropriate inhabitants of the Abyssal layer called Driller's Hives, which is ruled by the demon lord of poisonous vermin).

They are not Demons though they are native to the Abyss (their alignment is Neutral Evil).

And no they are not poisonous. Actually, demonhive creatures are quite weak (CR 2 for the attendants and swarm, while the queen is CR 6), still in large groups they could be a real handful (attendants grow enraged when the queen is in danger and the queen has a damaging scream she can use when other demonets are killed or injured).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm not Gidien, but I can tell you that all the clockwork creatures in the MMIV have their construction information written up. The Clockwork steed also has a nifty little section called ''upgrades'', stuff you can add to your mount to personalize it. Each add-on as a price in gp and xp.

Beautiful. Sounds like some really distinctive treasure for my players once they penetrate far enough into Glangirn.

 

[humble minion]

Does anyone have any info on the new, powerful evil fey in the book (I forgot what they're called, sorry!)

It looked like someone had made an effort to produce a fey creature that reflected the sidhe myths - binding oaths, stolen children, curses, etc. I'd be very interested to hear if my impression was right, and if so how the mechanics worked.

 

[Garnfellow]

What are some tweaks to the stat block format in this book?

 

[Shemeska]

What does the Voor(oloth) look like? The MMIV art gallery omitted that critter's picture (among others).

 

[Voadam]

Is power attack figured into the stat blocks and if it is is that made explicit?