It's always interesting to get a book as controversial as Monster Manual IV. When opinion is so divided about it, it really makes me wonder what I'll think of it. Well, Monster Manual IV arrived in Ballarat last week, and so did my most recent pay packet. They said hello to each other, and I now have a new book - and a little less money.
Monster Manual IV makes use of the new stat block forum that debuted some time ago in Dungeon magazine and the DMG2. In addition, it significantly expands upon the ecology and description of each monster. Where, in the original Monster Manual, you might get a paragraph or two, Monster Manual IV expands this out to fill perhaps two or three pages.
The most significant addition, from my point of view, is the addition of a "Lore" section to each creature, which quickly allows the DM to judge how much the PCs know about a monster based on their Knowledge checks. This is a wonderful addition, and has already proved useful in my game. Indeed, enough so, that I wish it was there for all existing creatures as well!
There is a shift in philosophy from previous monster books here. Where once the purpose of a Monster Manual was to give just a grab-bag of monsters, in the hope that the DM could find some of them good for their own usage, Monster Manual IV is far more interested in aiding the DM to integrate the monster into their game, in providing linked groups of monsters so that adventures and campaigns can thematically use such, and in providing "ready-to-go" material for the harried DM.
The fourth Monster Manual also takes the opportunity to expand upon popular existing creatures, such as the Drow, Ogres and Githyanki. It does this by not only providing advanced creatures (with class levels), but in taking time to expand the description of their culture and organisation. It's interesting to contrast this information to the original Monster Manual. New players, in particular may find this expanded material very useful for their games.
In general, I'm quite in favour of these changes to the format. I've been using the new stat block for over a year now, and I find it quite superior to the old. I delight in the expansion of existing monsters, for even if I could theoretically create the monsters myself, I find it easier to just take them from the book. In addition, the expanded notes on encounters, society and organisation make the use of these new monsters much, much easier for me as a DM, as I find myself more and more pressed for time to create exciting adventures.
In specific? Well, there it gets interesting.
Avatars of Elemental Evil
The very first monsters in the book make an extremely positive impression on me. Dungeons & Dragons has a long history, an important part of which comes from the adventures that Gary Gygax wrote. Over the years, other authors such as Lewis Pulsipher and Monte Cook have added to his conceptions. This has resulted in an extremely rich framework for new material to be added to, and it is when D&D forges in new directions but with reference to its origins that it works the best for me.
Thus, the Avatars of Elemental Evil. From the original works of The Temple of Elemental Evil, Fiend Folio (1E), The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil and other sources, Elemental Evil has grown to be an intriguing part of the D&D mythology. The avatars are the great servants of the lords of Elemental Evil, which are sent to aid their followers on the material plane.
What makes the avatars particularly interesting is their CRs: they are all quite high (15-18). One can imagine them as the final, most devastating incarnation of the Elementals - well, at least until the real forms of the Evil Elemental Lords are faced! As a result, they are best used as foes in the final stages of a plot arc.
The best thing about the presentation of the avatars is that the history of Tharizdun and the Elder Elemental Eye is laid out for players unfamiliar with the previous works. Even though some of the conclusions may be controversial (based, as they are, on Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil), they are consistent with the current mythology of the game. The goals of Elemental Evil, as well as the idea of the "nodes" - originally seen in the original Temple - are described and so in just a few pages the DM is given some monsters and a great idea for a campaign.
This is Monster Manual IV at its best, where history and innovation intertwine to advance the game.
Demons, Daemons and other Fiends
Monster Manual IV takes time to increase the host of these fiendish hordes, although the poor devils do not get a look in. I have a feeling that the importance of fiends to the game has been increasing as the years have gone on. Despite Gygax's use of fiends in his Gord books, I feel they only really came into their own with the advent of Planescape, and, with 3.5e, the new DR rules that made them more approachable as opponents.
The four new demons are the Deathdrinker (CR 18), Kastighur (CR 11), Nashrou (CR 2) and the Whisper Demon (CR 9). The new yugoloths (which I still refer to as daemons) are the Corruptor of Fate (CR 5), Corruptor of Fate Assassin (CR 10), Voor (CR 4) and Dreadful Lasher (CR 9). Other related creatures include the NE Demonhives - Attendant (CR 2), Swarm (CR 2) and Queen (CR 6) - the CE Pandemonium inhabitants that are the Windblades - Windrazor (CR 1) and Windscythe (CR 4) - and the unfortunate Wrackspawn (CR 3).
Both the Deathdrinker and the Kastighur are presented as melee combatants that make use of swift teleports to engage the enemy. What is particularly interesting about them is that each has a small suite of related special abilities. Neither has a long list of combat options, instead focusing on one "trick" to distinguish themselves and make them interesting in combat. This is extremely good design. The Deathdrinker gains in strength as it kills, and emits an aura of unlife that drains the lifeforce of those close by. The Kastighur attempts to terrify its opponents - making them shaken - and gains bonuses when attacking such foes.
The Nashrou, a low-level threat, is made interesting by actually being more vulnerable to critical hits - a critical hit automatically reduces it to -10 hit points! It's well set up to attack as a pack, and so it's presented in its description.
Meanwhile, the Whisper Demon - unusually, an incorporeal demon - attempts to drive its prey insane with its whispers, its victims becoming allips when they succumb and kill themselves.
These are good monsters. Each is distinct from the other, and rely on strong themes rather than a cornucopia of conflicting powers. It is worth noting that each is presented in two pages; quite a large amount of space. This space is taken up by their ecology & society, combat tactics, sample encounters, lore, typical treasure, and notes for adapting them for both Eberron and Faerun. I expected that this text would be merely padding. For the most part, I didn't find this to be the case.
I want to bring your attention to the "Typical Treasure" section as an example of this. The Whisper Demon is noted as not normally having treasure, "but one might carry about a ghost touch item, such as a shield, simply for the sensation of manipulating a material object." The Deathdrinker has standard treasure, mostly magic, and "its remaining treasure it typically carries in the form of jewelry, usually featuring grisly motifs such as skulls, faces distorted in anguish, or torture implements." This resonates extremely well with me, and I'm quite impressed with the result.
Moving onto the yugoloths (or daemons), the corruptor of fate uses bestow curse, an unluck ability, weapon attacks and a corrupting gaze to overcome its foes. They are described as mercenaries and assassins. The Voor and Dreadful Lashers are two forms of the same creature: a blind yugoloth that attacks with its piercing and rending tentacles, and are used as guardians and protectors of fixed locations. As one might hope, they do have blindsense!
I find the corruptor of fate to be the more interesting creature, as the Voor merely exist as dangerous melee combatants - although such can definitely be useful! The sample encounters for the corruptor suggest that one be encountered as a lone assassin, that they may be encountered due to a planar ally spell, a group could be met as a raiding team seeking to despoil a good-aligned church, as guards of an important planar gate, or as mercenary troopers hired by powerful evil forces.
This wide selection of encounter ideas is a strong feature of Monster Manual IV; monsters are diminished if you don't have a good situation to use them in, and this book provides a number of situations to aid you integrating them into your game.
The Demonhive creatures, originally native to the Abyss but now found in most of the lower planes, and occasionally are transplanted to the material plane by michievous fiends who want to cause havoc. The demonhive creatures are presented primarily to be used in such a fashion; in a short (or longer) adventure where the first swarms are encountered and then must be tracked to their lair and destroyed lest they contaminate the entire region, and the sample encounters give a structure for such an adventure.
The Windblades, windrazor and windscythe, are described as creations of Erythnul that delight in slaughter - in Eberron, as the book notes, they are inhabitants of Kythri and revere the Fury, and in Faerun, they were created by Talos the Destroyer. As their special mechanics, they terrify opponents when they inflict criticals, they rend, and they use flyby attack - the Windscythe possesses a Augmented critical (18-20/x3) that really is fearsome! The sample encounters for the Windblades present them as allies of servants of Erythnul (normally bugbears), on various missions of terror.
Interestingly, the windblades are also presented as playable characters - the windrazor has an LA of +2 and a base HD of 2, and the Windscythe has a LA of +5 and base HD of 8. In addition to this, as with all the fiends, Monster Manual IV notes what spells may summon them to the aid of PCs or NPCs, information that I greatly appreciate.
Finally, the Wrackspawn. This monster first saw light as one of the most despised miniatures of the D&D Miniature game. (It quickly gained the nickname of "WTF" due to its poor sculpt and unfortunate placement as a common). The monster description and artwork in MMIV does much to redeem it. The concept is that a wrackspawn is a good-aligned soul that has been tortured by demons until it became an evil mockery of itself, using its own bones as weapons. They are melee combatants, made distinct by being able to inflict additional pain (as they themselves suffer) on those struck by their bone weapons.
The sections on society and ecology for the Wrackspawn and Demonhive feel slightly like padding, although I'm sure that there are DMs that will find the information pertinent. Despite this, I feel that the presentation of these new fiends really adds to their utility.
Spawn of Tiamat
A significant portion of the book, 36 of 224 pages, is given over to these new monsters. With 2006 being promoted the Year of the Dragon, it is not surprising to see a selection of dragon-themed monsters in Monster Manual IV. So, how are they?
The conceptual nature of the Spawn of Tiamat is that the Queen of the Evil Dragons is attempting to impose her power on the material plane by creating new creatures - the spawn - primarily from the offspring of chromatic dragons that she warps to her own purposes.
Dungeons & Dragons covered the idea of draconic-like creatures as footmen of evil in the Dragonlance saga with the draconians, but that version has peculiar problems in portability. That they are created from corrupted good dragon eggs certainly presents a major obstacle, and their design is also very much a legacy of 1st edition methodologies.
Integrating the Spawn of Tiamat into a campaign with dragons should not prove troublesome. So, what are they? Each colour of chromatic dragon (black, blue, green, red and white) has a number of spawn that can be created from its eggs, from the Blackspawn Raider, a vicious monstrous humanoid hunter, to the Redspawn Firebelcher, a stupid mount for more intelligent spawn that can attack with a ranged fire attack.
As with other monsters in MMIV, each spawn has one very strong theme or attack trick. The spawn are designed to be used together, so that you might have two or three (or even more) different types of spawn in the same encounter. Indeed, many spawn have an ability named "Tiamat's Blessing", which gives adjacent spawn a measure of energy resistance or immunity. So, a redspawn and a greenspawn together are more fearsome than a redspawn alone.
The elegance of this design is that it is very easy to use many of the spawn together; they're not difficult to run due to their low number of special abilities, but, as they act quite differently in combat, encounters with spawn of tiamat allow a great deal of variety depending on what spawn are used. As with the other monsters in the book, the ecology and culture of the Spawn are explored, and there are many suggested encounters and groupings for them.
The Spawn of Tiamat are as follows:
* Blackspawn Raider (CR 4) - a vicious hunter
* Blackspawn Exterminator (CR 10) - advanced Raider with ninja levels, often found as the leader of raiding parties
* Blackspawn Stalker (CR 9) - dragon/spider cross; web and acidic spittle.
* Bluespawn Ambusher (CR 4) - quadruped beast
* Bluespawn Burrower (CR 9) - desert scout
* Bluespawn Godslayer (CR 10) - bipedal melee combatants with particular skill against good dragons and outsiders
* Bluespawn Stormlizard (CR 6) - large mount with electrical attacks
* Greenspawn Leaper (CR 2) - mount, hunter and guardian
* Greenspawn Razorfiend (CR 7) - voracious predators of woodlands and swamps
* Greenspawn Sneak (CR 2) - small bipedal scout
* Greenspawn Sneak Raid Leader (CR 7) - advanced sneak with ranger/scout levels
* Redspawn Arcaniss (CR 6) - fiery spellcaster
* Redspawn Firebelcher (CR 6) - large mount with fiery attacks
* Whitespawn Hordeling (CR 1) - bipedal meleeist
* Whitespawn Hunter (CR 4) - stalker of the frozen realms
* Whitespawn Berserker (CR 6) - advanced hunter with barbarian levels
* Whitespawn Iceskidder (CR 6) - large mount for cold environments with icy breath
Spiders!
Does D&D need more spiders? Well, the designers of MMIV think so, because we've got three new ones here, not counting the "Lolth-touched" template that makes regular spiders (and other favourites of Lolth) stronger.
I must say, after reviewing the spiders' stats and using the Inferno Spider in play, I'm inclined to agree with the designers. These new spiders are great additions to the DM's armoury.
What makes the spiders worthwhile is that the designers have identified what abilities are important to a spider - webs and poison - and designed the creatures around those abilities. I've found regular D&D spiders to be somewhat underwhelming in play, but these spiders restore health to the archetype.
First up is the Bloodsilk Spider (CR 2). This small magical beast doesn't have a poison bite, but something quite creepy: its webs can drain blood from those entangled in them and channel it to the spider, making it stronger.
The second is the Tomb Spider (CR 6). This large magical beast has both a poison bite and a web attack. The web is standard, but the Tomb Spider has been tainted by negative energy, so that negative energy heals it and positive energy hurts it. Its poison carries its taint, so that those affected by it will find healing spells to suddenly quite dangerous!
To make the Tomb Spider more unusual, the entry also gives stats for the Tomb Spider Broodswarm (CR 2), the tiny progeny of the mother spider, and the Web Mummy, an animated corpse that the mother spider has laid its eggs in - destroying it will just release a broodswarm! The Web Mummy is presented as a template, with a Human Commoner Web Mummy (CR 4) being given as the sample creature.
Finally, we have the Inferno Spider (CR 8). This large elemental hails from the elemental plane of fire, and has both a web and poison attack. The web is flaming, and burns those it entraps. Likewise, its caustic poison converts to 3d6 fire damage upon a failed save. This spider also has several elemental traits and is quite fast, with Dodge, Mobility and Spring Attack giving it yet another set of tactics.
The entries for these spiders also bring out a strength of MMIV: the special abilities are laid out in an easily comprehensible form, with almost all of the information you need to run the monster being present. The Inferno Spider's flame web entry tells us that it deals extra flame damage on the spider's turn, how to escape the web - by weapon, strength or escaping - and special considerations that need to be taken into effect, like how to extinguish the flame. However, the entry doesn't give the effects of "entangled", which is in the glossary of the PHB and DMG. It's about the only thing missing.
At this point, I'll also mention that MMIV occasionally has flavour quotes discussing the monsters from the point of view of some inhabitant of the D&D world, similar to those found on Magic cards or D&D Miniatures cards. I love this addition to the format, as I often find them amusing or inspirational. Consider the entry for the Bloodsilk Spider:
"It was on the third day that we encountered a pair of woodsmen with a tale of red webs. Prince Lumien determined to see these webs for himself, and he persuaded the holy man Ilix to accompany him. We did not see them again - not living." - Guldur of the Royal Guard.
A rumour for my campaign world? Quite likely.
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.
Additional Options
One nice thing about MMIV is that it calls out in the contents page the elements that can be used by PCs: monsters that can be summoned, created, or used as familiars or mounts. Although this may be used by players and their characters, they're equally - if not more so - useful to the DM. Having the list easily accessible is an excellent addition to the format.
There are also five "sample lairs" in the body of the book. These are maps with keyed descriptions of the locations, though not of monsters or treasure to be found there. I find these to be less successful; I would prefer not to see them in future Monster Manuals.
The Lesser Monsters and Other Flaws
Although I like most of the monsters in the book, there are times when the designs don't really work for me. Did we really need the Zern, a bunch of aberrations that sculpt other creatures into horrid forms? (Eberron already has such creatures).
Did we need the Sailsnake, a flying snake that sprays venom? Well, it can be taken as as animal companion, so I guess it has a point. It's just that at 2 pages for a CR 2 creature, one begins to feel this is overkill. I enjoy the longer format for monsters that have the depth of play (and recurring play) to warrant it. For a monster that is basically a one-shot encounter - look, it's an animal - it's too much.
The Spawn of Tiamat, with their goals and organisation warrant the space they take. The Sailsnake doesn't, and it feels like padding.
This feeling of padding is there for the better monsters as well. I feel that starting each monster on a new page does have a drawback - a monster that should take 1-1/4 pages is instead drawn out to two.
The most egregious mistake comes in the Lore sections. Whilst the text of the Knowledge skills in the PHB and the text in the MMIV indicates that the DC of these checks is determined by the Hit Dice of the monsters, instead, they all use the CR of the monsters! Oops. In fact, I prefer the checks to be determined by CR, but it's not what the rule is. This error has been repeated in later books such as Dragon Magic, but isn't the method used on the Wizards website series that details the earlier monsters. Confusion and chaos reigns!
I'd like to point out that there are a significant number of monsters that I haven't covered in this review; I hope what I have covered has allowed you to better judge whether the book is for you.
Conclusion
Monster Manual IV represents a brave new step by Wizards in the realm of monster publishing. Far more emphasis is given to monsters that are usable as-is. Sample encounters, maps, the new format: all work much better for people who just want to use the monsters, rather than spend time altering them first. It is possible to customise the monsters, although I don't think it is quite as easy as before.
Mechanically, MMIV has some brilliant innovations and really hammers home the point that lots of complicated abilities are not needed for interesting monsters. One or two simple abilities are often enough to distinguish a monster and cause more variation in how it is played than you might think.
It is obvious that MMIV follows the trend of providing more background information for DMs, as we have also seen in the presentation of classes, prestige classes and magic items. I appreciate the effort being spent here, but I'm not entirely sure of the results. Some of the material is great, but other seems to be there just to fill up space.
Ultimately, I do like MMIV. I really like the Spawn of Tiamat. I like the design philosophy for the new monsters. If it is not totally successful as a book, it is not because Wizards have been timid. Monster Manual V, which will be released in 2007, should be an interesting book indeed, as they continue to innovate in the field of new monsters.
Monster Manual IV makes use of the new stat block forum that debuted some time ago in Dungeon magazine and the DMG2. In addition, it significantly expands upon the ecology and description of each monster. Where, in the original Monster Manual, you might get a paragraph or two, Monster Manual IV expands this out to fill perhaps two or three pages.
The most significant addition, from my point of view, is the addition of a "Lore" section to each creature, which quickly allows the DM to judge how much the PCs know about a monster based on their Knowledge checks. This is a wonderful addition, and has already proved useful in my game. Indeed, enough so, that I wish it was there for all existing creatures as well!
There is a shift in philosophy from previous monster books here. Where once the purpose of a Monster Manual was to give just a grab-bag of monsters, in the hope that the DM could find some of them good for their own usage, Monster Manual IV is far more interested in aiding the DM to integrate the monster into their game, in providing linked groups of monsters so that adventures and campaigns can thematically use such, and in providing "ready-to-go" material for the harried DM.
The fourth Monster Manual also takes the opportunity to expand upon popular existing creatures, such as the Drow, Ogres and Githyanki. It does this by not only providing advanced creatures (with class levels), but in taking time to expand the description of their culture and organisation. It's interesting to contrast this information to the original Monster Manual. New players, in particular may find this expanded material very useful for their games.
In general, I'm quite in favour of these changes to the format. I've been using the new stat block for over a year now, and I find it quite superior to the old. I delight in the expansion of existing monsters, for even if I could theoretically create the monsters myself, I find it easier to just take them from the book. In addition, the expanded notes on encounters, society and organisation make the use of these new monsters much, much easier for me as a DM, as I find myself more and more pressed for time to create exciting adventures.
In specific? Well, there it gets interesting.
Avatars of Elemental Evil
The very first monsters in the book make an extremely positive impression on me. Dungeons & Dragons has a long history, an important part of which comes from the adventures that Gary Gygax wrote. Over the years, other authors such as Lewis Pulsipher and Monte Cook have added to his conceptions. This has resulted in an extremely rich framework for new material to be added to, and it is when D&D forges in new directions but with reference to its origins that it works the best for me.
Thus, the Avatars of Elemental Evil. From the original works of The Temple of Elemental Evil, Fiend Folio (1E), The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil and other sources, Elemental Evil has grown to be an intriguing part of the D&D mythology. The avatars are the great servants of the lords of Elemental Evil, which are sent to aid their followers on the material plane.
What makes the avatars particularly interesting is their CRs: they are all quite high (15-18). One can imagine them as the final, most devastating incarnation of the Elementals - well, at least until the real forms of the Evil Elemental Lords are faced! As a result, they are best used as foes in the final stages of a plot arc.
The best thing about the presentation of the avatars is that the history of Tharizdun and the Elder Elemental Eye is laid out for players unfamiliar with the previous works. Even though some of the conclusions may be controversial (based, as they are, on Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil), they are consistent with the current mythology of the game. The goals of Elemental Evil, as well as the idea of the "nodes" - originally seen in the original Temple - are described and so in just a few pages the DM is given some monsters and a great idea for a campaign.
This is Monster Manual IV at its best, where history and innovation intertwine to advance the game.
Demons, Daemons and other Fiends
Monster Manual IV takes time to increase the host of these fiendish hordes, although the poor devils do not get a look in. I have a feeling that the importance of fiends to the game has been increasing as the years have gone on. Despite Gygax's use of fiends in his Gord books, I feel they only really came into their own with the advent of Planescape, and, with 3.5e, the new DR rules that made them more approachable as opponents.
The four new demons are the Deathdrinker (CR 18), Kastighur (CR 11), Nashrou (CR 2) and the Whisper Demon (CR 9). The new yugoloths (which I still refer to as daemons) are the Corruptor of Fate (CR 5), Corruptor of Fate Assassin (CR 10), Voor (CR 4) and Dreadful Lasher (CR 9). Other related creatures include the NE Demonhives - Attendant (CR 2), Swarm (CR 2) and Queen (CR 6) - the CE Pandemonium inhabitants that are the Windblades - Windrazor (CR 1) and Windscythe (CR 4) - and the unfortunate Wrackspawn (CR 3).
Both the Deathdrinker and the Kastighur are presented as melee combatants that make use of swift teleports to engage the enemy. What is particularly interesting about them is that each has a small suite of related special abilities. Neither has a long list of combat options, instead focusing on one "trick" to distinguish themselves and make them interesting in combat. This is extremely good design. The Deathdrinker gains in strength as it kills, and emits an aura of unlife that drains the lifeforce of those close by. The Kastighur attempts to terrify its opponents - making them shaken - and gains bonuses when attacking such foes.
The Nashrou, a low-level threat, is made interesting by actually being more vulnerable to critical hits - a critical hit automatically reduces it to -10 hit points! It's well set up to attack as a pack, and so it's presented in its description.
Meanwhile, the Whisper Demon - unusually, an incorporeal demon - attempts to drive its prey insane with its whispers, its victims becoming allips when they succumb and kill themselves.
These are good monsters. Each is distinct from the other, and rely on strong themes rather than a cornucopia of conflicting powers. It is worth noting that each is presented in two pages; quite a large amount of space. This space is taken up by their ecology & society, combat tactics, sample encounters, lore, typical treasure, and notes for adapting them for both Eberron and Faerun. I expected that this text would be merely padding. For the most part, I didn't find this to be the case.
I want to bring your attention to the "Typical Treasure" section as an example of this. The Whisper Demon is noted as not normally having treasure, "but one might carry about a ghost touch item, such as a shield, simply for the sensation of manipulating a material object." The Deathdrinker has standard treasure, mostly magic, and "its remaining treasure it typically carries in the form of jewelry, usually featuring grisly motifs such as skulls, faces distorted in anguish, or torture implements." This resonates extremely well with me, and I'm quite impressed with the result.
Moving onto the yugoloths (or daemons), the corruptor of fate uses bestow curse, an unluck ability, weapon attacks and a corrupting gaze to overcome its foes. They are described as mercenaries and assassins. The Voor and Dreadful Lashers are two forms of the same creature: a blind yugoloth that attacks with its piercing and rending tentacles, and are used as guardians and protectors of fixed locations. As one might hope, they do have blindsense!
I find the corruptor of fate to be the more interesting creature, as the Voor merely exist as dangerous melee combatants - although such can definitely be useful! The sample encounters for the corruptor suggest that one be encountered as a lone assassin, that they may be encountered due to a planar ally spell, a group could be met as a raiding team seeking to despoil a good-aligned church, as guards of an important planar gate, or as mercenary troopers hired by powerful evil forces.
This wide selection of encounter ideas is a strong feature of Monster Manual IV; monsters are diminished if you don't have a good situation to use them in, and this book provides a number of situations to aid you integrating them into your game.
The Demonhive creatures, originally native to the Abyss but now found in most of the lower planes, and occasionally are transplanted to the material plane by michievous fiends who want to cause havoc. The demonhive creatures are presented primarily to be used in such a fashion; in a short (or longer) adventure where the first swarms are encountered and then must be tracked to their lair and destroyed lest they contaminate the entire region, and the sample encounters give a structure for such an adventure.
The Windblades, windrazor and windscythe, are described as creations of Erythnul that delight in slaughter - in Eberron, as the book notes, they are inhabitants of Kythri and revere the Fury, and in Faerun, they were created by Talos the Destroyer. As their special mechanics, they terrify opponents when they inflict criticals, they rend, and they use flyby attack - the Windscythe possesses a Augmented critical (18-20/x3) that really is fearsome! The sample encounters for the Windblades present them as allies of servants of Erythnul (normally bugbears), on various missions of terror.
Interestingly, the windblades are also presented as playable characters - the windrazor has an LA of +2 and a base HD of 2, and the Windscythe has a LA of +5 and base HD of 8. In addition to this, as with all the fiends, Monster Manual IV notes what spells may summon them to the aid of PCs or NPCs, information that I greatly appreciate.
Finally, the Wrackspawn. This monster first saw light as one of the most despised miniatures of the D&D Miniature game. (It quickly gained the nickname of "WTF" due to its poor sculpt and unfortunate placement as a common). The monster description and artwork in MMIV does much to redeem it. The concept is that a wrackspawn is a good-aligned soul that has been tortured by demons until it became an evil mockery of itself, using its own bones as weapons. They are melee combatants, made distinct by being able to inflict additional pain (as they themselves suffer) on those struck by their bone weapons.
The sections on society and ecology for the Wrackspawn and Demonhive feel slightly like padding, although I'm sure that there are DMs that will find the information pertinent. Despite this, I feel that the presentation of these new fiends really adds to their utility.
Spawn of Tiamat
A significant portion of the book, 36 of 224 pages, is given over to these new monsters. With 2006 being promoted the Year of the Dragon, it is not surprising to see a selection of dragon-themed monsters in Monster Manual IV. So, how are they?
The conceptual nature of the Spawn of Tiamat is that the Queen of the Evil Dragons is attempting to impose her power on the material plane by creating new creatures - the spawn - primarily from the offspring of chromatic dragons that she warps to her own purposes.
Dungeons & Dragons covered the idea of draconic-like creatures as footmen of evil in the Dragonlance saga with the draconians, but that version has peculiar problems in portability. That they are created from corrupted good dragon eggs certainly presents a major obstacle, and their design is also very much a legacy of 1st edition methodologies.
Integrating the Spawn of Tiamat into a campaign with dragons should not prove troublesome. So, what are they? Each colour of chromatic dragon (black, blue, green, red and white) has a number of spawn that can be created from its eggs, from the Blackspawn Raider, a vicious monstrous humanoid hunter, to the Redspawn Firebelcher, a stupid mount for more intelligent spawn that can attack with a ranged fire attack.
As with other monsters in MMIV, each spawn has one very strong theme or attack trick. The spawn are designed to be used together, so that you might have two or three (or even more) different types of spawn in the same encounter. Indeed, many spawn have an ability named "Tiamat's Blessing", which gives adjacent spawn a measure of energy resistance or immunity. So, a redspawn and a greenspawn together are more fearsome than a redspawn alone.
The elegance of this design is that it is very easy to use many of the spawn together; they're not difficult to run due to their low number of special abilities, but, as they act quite differently in combat, encounters with spawn of tiamat allow a great deal of variety depending on what spawn are used. As with the other monsters in the book, the ecology and culture of the Spawn are explored, and there are many suggested encounters and groupings for them.
The Spawn of Tiamat are as follows:
* Blackspawn Raider (CR 4) - a vicious hunter
* Blackspawn Exterminator (CR 10) - advanced Raider with ninja levels, often found as the leader of raiding parties
* Blackspawn Stalker (CR 9) - dragon/spider cross; web and acidic spittle.
* Bluespawn Ambusher (CR 4) - quadruped beast
* Bluespawn Burrower (CR 9) - desert scout
* Bluespawn Godslayer (CR 10) - bipedal melee combatants with particular skill against good dragons and outsiders
* Bluespawn Stormlizard (CR 6) - large mount with electrical attacks
* Greenspawn Leaper (CR 2) - mount, hunter and guardian
* Greenspawn Razorfiend (CR 7) - voracious predators of woodlands and swamps
* Greenspawn Sneak (CR 2) - small bipedal scout
* Greenspawn Sneak Raid Leader (CR 7) - advanced sneak with ranger/scout levels
* Redspawn Arcaniss (CR 6) - fiery spellcaster
* Redspawn Firebelcher (CR 6) - large mount with fiery attacks
* Whitespawn Hordeling (CR 1) - bipedal meleeist
* Whitespawn Hunter (CR 4) - stalker of the frozen realms
* Whitespawn Berserker (CR 6) - advanced hunter with barbarian levels
* Whitespawn Iceskidder (CR 6) - large mount for cold environments with icy breath
Spiders!
Does D&D need more spiders? Well, the designers of MMIV think so, because we've got three new ones here, not counting the "Lolth-touched" template that makes regular spiders (and other favourites of Lolth) stronger.
I must say, after reviewing the spiders' stats and using the Inferno Spider in play, I'm inclined to agree with the designers. These new spiders are great additions to the DM's armoury.
What makes the spiders worthwhile is that the designers have identified what abilities are important to a spider - webs and poison - and designed the creatures around those abilities. I've found regular D&D spiders to be somewhat underwhelming in play, but these spiders restore health to the archetype.
First up is the Bloodsilk Spider (CR 2). This small magical beast doesn't have a poison bite, but something quite creepy: its webs can drain blood from those entangled in them and channel it to the spider, making it stronger.
The second is the Tomb Spider (CR 6). This large magical beast has both a poison bite and a web attack. The web is standard, but the Tomb Spider has been tainted by negative energy, so that negative energy heals it and positive energy hurts it. Its poison carries its taint, so that those affected by it will find healing spells to suddenly quite dangerous!
To make the Tomb Spider more unusual, the entry also gives stats for the Tomb Spider Broodswarm (CR 2), the tiny progeny of the mother spider, and the Web Mummy, an animated corpse that the mother spider has laid its eggs in - destroying it will just release a broodswarm! The Web Mummy is presented as a template, with a Human Commoner Web Mummy (CR 4) being given as the sample creature.
Finally, we have the Inferno Spider (CR 8). This large elemental hails from the elemental plane of fire, and has both a web and poison attack. The web is flaming, and burns those it entraps. Likewise, its caustic poison converts to 3d6 fire damage upon a failed save. This spider also has several elemental traits and is quite fast, with Dodge, Mobility and Spring Attack giving it yet another set of tactics.
The entries for these spiders also bring out a strength of MMIV: the special abilities are laid out in an easily comprehensible form, with almost all of the information you need to run the monster being present. The Inferno Spider's flame web entry tells us that it deals extra flame damage on the spider's turn, how to escape the web - by weapon, strength or escaping - and special considerations that need to be taken into effect, like how to extinguish the flame. However, the entry doesn't give the effects of "entangled", which is in the glossary of the PHB and DMG. It's about the only thing missing.
At this point, I'll also mention that MMIV occasionally has flavour quotes discussing the monsters from the point of view of some inhabitant of the D&D world, similar to those found on Magic cards or D&D Miniatures cards. I love this addition to the format, as I often find them amusing or inspirational. Consider the entry for the Bloodsilk Spider:
"It was on the third day that we encountered a pair of woodsmen with a tale of red webs. Prince Lumien determined to see these webs for himself, and he persuaded the holy man Ilix to accompany him. We did not see them again - not living." - Guldur of the Royal Guard.
A rumour for my campaign world? Quite likely.
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.
Additional Options
One nice thing about MMIV is that it calls out in the contents page the elements that can be used by PCs: monsters that can be summoned, created, or used as familiars or mounts. Although this may be used by players and their characters, they're equally - if not more so - useful to the DM. Having the list easily accessible is an excellent addition to the format.
There are also five "sample lairs" in the body of the book. These are maps with keyed descriptions of the locations, though not of monsters or treasure to be found there. I find these to be less successful; I would prefer not to see them in future Monster Manuals.
The Lesser Monsters and Other Flaws
Although I like most of the monsters in the book, there are times when the designs don't really work for me. Did we really need the Zern, a bunch of aberrations that sculpt other creatures into horrid forms? (Eberron already has such creatures).
Did we need the Sailsnake, a flying snake that sprays venom? Well, it can be taken as as animal companion, so I guess it has a point. It's just that at 2 pages for a CR 2 creature, one begins to feel this is overkill. I enjoy the longer format for monsters that have the depth of play (and recurring play) to warrant it. For a monster that is basically a one-shot encounter - look, it's an animal - it's too much.
The Spawn of Tiamat, with their goals and organisation warrant the space they take. The Sailsnake doesn't, and it feels like padding.
This feeling of padding is there for the better monsters as well. I feel that starting each monster on a new page does have a drawback - a monster that should take 1-1/4 pages is instead drawn out to two.
The most egregious mistake comes in the Lore sections. Whilst the text of the Knowledge skills in the PHB and the text in the MMIV indicates that the DC of these checks is determined by the Hit Dice of the monsters, instead, they all use the CR of the monsters! Oops. In fact, I prefer the checks to be determined by CR, but it's not what the rule is. This error has been repeated in later books such as Dragon Magic, but isn't the method used on the Wizards website series that details the earlier monsters. Confusion and chaos reigns!
I'd like to point out that there are a significant number of monsters that I haven't covered in this review; I hope what I have covered has allowed you to better judge whether the book is for you.
Conclusion
Monster Manual IV represents a brave new step by Wizards in the realm of monster publishing. Far more emphasis is given to monsters that are usable as-is. Sample encounters, maps, the new format: all work much better for people who just want to use the monsters, rather than spend time altering them first. It is possible to customise the monsters, although I don't think it is quite as easy as before.
Mechanically, MMIV has some brilliant innovations and really hammers home the point that lots of complicated abilities are not needed for interesting monsters. One or two simple abilities are often enough to distinguish a monster and cause more variation in how it is played than you might think.
It is obvious that MMIV follows the trend of providing more background information for DMs, as we have also seen in the presentation of classes, prestige classes and magic items. I appreciate the effort being spent here, but I'm not entirely sure of the results. Some of the material is great, but other seems to be there just to fill up space.
Ultimately, I do like MMIV. I really like the Spawn of Tiamat. I like the design philosophy for the new monsters. If it is not totally successful as a book, it is not because Wizards have been timid. Monster Manual V, which will be released in 2007, should be an interesting book indeed, as they continue to innovate in the field of new monsters.
