MM2 Preview Starspawn

[Stormtalon]

Does unnamed ongoing damage stack?

Otherwise more than one of them is not so scary...

Even if it doesn't stack, the fact that multiples of them means that it'll always be refreshed back to full damage even if you DO save -- that's the scary part.

 

[Jhaelen]

I do not like the humanoid form of the Maw of Acamar; I was hoping for a more otherworldly shape, specially since they seem focused on destruction and not on interaction with mortals.

Yep, because:

Cool and all, but saying "starspawn" without immediately adding "of Cthulhu" will take some time...

; however:

And there's another use for that stupid Nightwalker mini i've never used

All in all it's a winner

 

[MerricB]

I'm developing the opinion that 4e actually has the strongest default setting ever, because so much crunch is associated with the default setting... it might not have a name, but in every other respect...!

I agree with you; certainly I've been noticing a lot of excellent elements of a setting all the way through the modules and the rulebooks.

It's still not a setting though: it's missing quite a few central elements that would tie it all together, but I'm very happy with how they've been doing it.

Cheers!

 

[Kinneus]

I do not like the humanoid form of the Maw of Acamar; I was hoping for a more otherworldly shape, specially since they seem focused on destruction and not on interaction with mortals.

However, I like the concept of the star spawn, and I found the stats for the Maw of Acamar very evocative.

Ditto. Still cool, though... if I was to use one, I'd probably re-skin it as a tentacled, Lovecraftian monstrosity with a black hole for a mouth.

One question I have; how does everybody feel a Controller that tries to get itself surrounded? Seems like a quick way to die, to me... one particularly evil thing you could do, though, would be to give it a template that grants it some sort of resistance (necrotic seems the most appropriate, flavor-wise), and then park it right in the middle of a hazard that deals constant damage of the type they're resistant to. Pretty wicked.

 

[Nightson]

I'm developing the opinion that 4e actually has the strongest default setting ever, because so much crunch is associated with the default setting... it might not have a name, but in every other respect...

Cheers!

I think that part of it, at least part of it for me, is that it isn't all laid out in one book. Instead there's bits and pieces here and there and you stumble across them and it gives more of a sense of discovery and mystery.

 

[Runestar]

How does that aura stack? The sadistic side of me is contemplating the viability of pitting 4-5 of these against a party (much as I realize how boring a fight with 5 controllers would be)? Would it force a PC to have to expend 15 squares of movement just to move 1 square? Imagine them pulling the PCs all over the place like some pinball machine...

 

[alleynbard]

How does that aura stack? The sadistic side of me is contemplating the viability of pitting 4-5 of these against a party (much as I realize how boring a fight with 5 controllers would be)? Would it force a PC to have to expend 15 squares of movement just to move 1 square? Imagine them pulling the PCs all over the place like some pinball machine...

I don't think auras stack unless the description specifically states they do.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I agree with you; certainly I've been noticing a lot of excellent elements of a setting all the way through the modules and the rulebooks.

It's still not a setting though: it's missing quite a few central elements that would tie it all together, but I'm very happy with how they've been doing it.

Cheers!

I love the "missing" bits - the different elements can be connected by the DM in whatever way he likes. (And of course, if you don't like some stuff, you can leave it out, since they are not strongly interconnected to each other.)

 

[WhatGravitas]

Man, that is awesome. Your crew has the talent and the dang book has the room, it really needed some more story background that is just fun to read other than stat blocks. If nothing else, the gory "description" of what's happening to PCs!

By the way, I really have the feeling that 4E is hitting its stride right now, between PHBII, the new MM and the other flavour material also floating around.

The mechanics in PHB2 (and also in the preview of AP and MM2 now) have reached a nice balance between easy to grasp and interesting (the PHB1 sometimes seems filled with bland stuff compared with the new stuff from the PHB2) - and the flavour a sweet spot between overly sparse and being too tacky (Golden Wyvern...).

Cheers, LT.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

If MM2 has more fluff than MM1 that's good, since I consider MM1 the one of the 1st 3 core books that needed the most improvement due to its lack of fluff.