Monster Manual IV - an ongoing review

[megamania]

I have not gotten it yet but still plan on it. Wouldn't be right not to have #4 if one has 1-3.



Granted, I don't have it but I generally find worth while goods in all books including monster books, campaign books and odd extras. Its all what you make of it.

 

[Psion]

As was mentioned in a speciifc thread on the subject, there are plenty of roles a Githyanki can play without being a Psionicist (Gish, anyone?) and the insistance that they should never be printed without XPH stats sorta flies in the face of including them in the core books in the first place.

Plenty of supplemental books have included psionics material. I see no reason why we should act so scared of it in this one.

 

[MerricB]

Plenty of supplemental books have included psionics material. I see no reason why we should act so scared of it in this one.

I see no reason why we should be intimidated into including it.

 

[MerricB]

Beyond the Grave
Monster Manual IV includes six new undead creatures, including the aforementioned web mummy. Undead tend to be a staple of many a D&D campaign, so do any of these look interesting for play? Well, yes. They do.

The Bloodhulk was first introduced as a D&D Miniature (the Bloodhulk Fighter from Deathknell), and then later used in Fantastic Locations: Fane of the Drow. It's nice to see the full creature entry. There are actually three bloodhulks presented here: medium, large and huge, and the Bloodhulk Fighter (CR 4), Bloodhulk Giant (CR 6) and Bloodhulk Crusher (CR 8).

I rather like the Bloodhulk. It's basically a big walking corpse, bloated with an infusion of the blood of innocent victims. There are two points about the Bloodhulk: they have lots of hit points (maximum on the dice), and they're fragile, taking more damage from slashing and piercing weapons. This gives them a very nice feel to them: their strength is also their weakness. They're not complicated, they just work.

The Defacer (CR 6) is a horrifying creature that steals the faces and souls of the creatures it slays. As far as creatures go in MMIV, it's one of the more complicated: it glides through the earth, it can spring attack, it stuns those it strikes, its stolen faces emit a frightful keening, and it steals faces when it slays a foe. Despite all of that, these aren't competing abilities but instead quite synergetic in their interaction.

One problem it does have is that its form of attack - spring attacking and retreating into the ground - could be quite frustrating, although the use of Ready Action would allow combat to properly occur. Defacers are created through the use of Create Undead on dopplegangers or similar shapechanging creatures - which has special significance on Eberron, as the entry notes.

The Necrosis Carnex (CR 3) follows the scheme of the flesh golem: its a bunch of limbs bound together and animated by dark (in this case, necromatic) magic. This is another creature where the designers had a lot of fun with its ability: its touch does negative damage (thus, healing undead), when slain it explodes in a burst of negative energy, and it takes additional damage from good-aligned weapons and spells. The logic from being a reservoir of negative energy to being more vulnerable to good attacks is lovely to see.

This is a creature that works as a healer for undead, and so they are used, especially in the Karrnathi military of Eberron. The three sample encounters make use of this.

The Plague Walker (CR 3) has a very disturbing picture - a bloated, shambolic form, dripping with pus. Once again, the designers gave this creature a weakness: Bloated Target, which means the penalty for firing into melee doesn't apply against this creature. Otherwise, the creature carries disease that infects those it strikes, and when badly damaged it can explode in a putrid burst that infects all around.

This last ability has a nice constraint on it: it's not a death throe. It has to actively will it, for a plague walker that dies before it can activate the ability just dissolves harmlessly.

The Vitreous Drinker (CR 11) is a servant of Vecna, and is very intelligent (18). For those unaware of what "vitreous" means, it's the gel that fills the eyeball between the lens and the retina. So, the Vitreous Drinker drinks eyes. There's something especially horrifying about that for me.

The Drinker has various spell-like abilities (arcane eye, eyebite, finger of death), the ability to steal people's ability to see, and a horrific gaze. Due to its high CR and special abilities, it works well as a spy or mastermind, although it's not a great melee combatant. I feel that there's something missing with the Vitreous Drinker - it uses its long tongue as a melee attack to damage and steal sight, but with only a +12/+7 attack bonus and not a touch attack, it seems a little too low for the ACs that are possessed by high-level PCs. Nice idea, but I really need to see it in play.

 

[megamania]

still want the book

 

[gribble]

The logic from being a reservoir of negative energy to being more vulnerable to good attacks is lovely to see.

How did they justify this connection? To me the opposite of negative energy is positive energy - it's not necessary evil or good, just negative or positive (I see it like saying that matter is "good" and anti-matter is "evil" - which is clearly nonsense). Sure, weilding it as a weapon or using it to harm living creatures may be an evil act, the the negative energy used isn't itself "evil"...

 

[MarkB]

How did they justify this connection? To me the opposite of negative energy is positive energy - it's not necessary evil or good, just negative or positive (I see it like saying that matter is "good" and anti-matter is "evil" - which is clearly nonsense). Sure, weilding it as a weapon or using it to harm living creatures may be an evil act, the the negative energy used isn't itself "evil"...

I know a lot of players don't particularly like it, but the correlation between negative energy and evil, and positive energy and good, is established in the core books.

Good clerics channel positive energy into Cure spells, and turn/destroy undead. Evil clerics channel negative energy into Inflict spells, and rebuke/command undead.

Under the Turn Undead entry in the PHB, it's stated that channeling positive energy is always a good act, and channeling negative energy is always an evil act.

Even mindless undead have evil alignments, according to the Monster Manual, because they're powered by negative energy. I suspect the reverse applies to mindless Deathless, if they exist.

Basically, positive and negative energy are inextricably linked to good and evil in the core rules.

 

[Gold Roger]

One problem it does have is that its form of attack - spring attacking and retreating into the ground - could be quite frustrating, although the use of Ready Action would allow combat to properly occur.

I don't quite understand the fear from frustrating monsters (here and in mearls removal of invisibility at will from the ogre mage). Yes, they take some special care by the DM to not overuse them. But in my book the extra exalation at finally beating such a foe is worth the initial frustration in my book.

 

[MerricB]

I don't quite understand the fear from frustrating monsters (here and in mearls removal of invisibility at will from the ogre mage). Yes, they take some special care by the DM to not overuse them. But in my book the extra exalation at finally beating such a foe is worth the initial frustration in my book.

There's a significant difference between invisibility and somewhere in the floor. In the first case, there are a multitude of ways you can affect it - guess its location, cast area effect spells, even detect invisibility. For earth-glide plus spring attack, the only time you can even try to affect it is when it makes its attack (thus, through a readied action).

Due to the readied action option, it's not as bad as it could be, but when you're down to basically only one option, things get boring.

Cheers!

 

[Gold Roger]

There's a significant difference between invisibility and somewhere in the floor. In the first case, there are a multitude of ways you can affect it - guess its location, cast area effect spells, even detect invisibility. For earth-glide plus spring attack, the only time you can even try to affect it is when it makes its attack (thus, through a readied action).

Due to the readied action option, it's not as bad as it could be, but when you're down to basically only one option, things get boring.

Cheers!

But there's little difference between spring attack and earth glide and incorporeal, some walls and spring attack. Besides, imho there just have to be frustrating opponents where you have to figure out the key to beating them. It's just important to note that this is a totally different kind of encounter from most normal combats.