D&D 4E Notes from the 4E Corebooks: Alignment, Monsters, Artifacts and More

[Rechan]

Boy, I sure hope so! I do not like the thought of werewolves who don't inflict lycanthropy on their victims, or or vampires who don't burn up in the sun, who can cross running water, and who aren't repelled by garlic. What I'd love to see is a system which allows for one to build these classic monsters any way you like. Either create a baseline vampire with added vulnerability to sunlight, or vampires who can turn into bats, wolves, and mist, and so on. I really, REALLY hope that's something they do, cause from what I've seen, I can tell I don't much care for the 4E iteration of the vampire or werewolf.

Hey, as someone who didn't like the 3e version either, it all comes down to "add what you like, strip what you don't". At least that the new vampire isn't like the 3e one; taking things away was harder than adding things IN. Adding weaknesses shouldn't be hard.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Interesting. I wonder how one becomes a lycanthrope then. Do you have to be cursed by the gods or something? Sounds to me like they just weren't able to come up with a good replacement for the problematic 3.5 lycanthrope template (actually, come to think of it, most 3.5 templates were problematic due to the accompanying power spike).

Well there is natural Werewolves where you are born as a Werewolf. There are ones where it is through magic/wearing the skin of a wolf that you become one. There is one's where you awaken to your Werewolf side (similar to natural, but it isn't apparent for a time (which could serve for example as say a PP, where at that timeperiod in the PCs life the Werewolf part of him awakens)).

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Wait wait wait...

...the art's recycled from the 3.5E MM...

Recycled art... in a new edition's core rulebook?

I hope that is the single exception, and not a general rule.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Interesting. I wonder how one becomes a lycanthrope then. Do you have to be cursed by the gods or something?

Hereditary, mostly.

This is really hard to believe. I don't even like that picture! Are they honestly going to tell us that they couldn't be bothered to commission someone to do a new illustration of the vampire? Or do you mean that there's a new illustration but it shows the same spiked chain-wielding vampire?

It's the same illustration--it's even got his kama-wielding sidekick.

Does it actually list the ritual in detail or does it just mention that there is one in the same way that the 3.5 MM mentioned that there was a ritual for turning someone into a lich without giving the specifics on how to do it?

There's a full ritual writeup.

I find it interesting that they chose to put the details of his "cult" in the MM. I suppose it makes sense.

It's more like there are cultist writeups attached to his entry, actually.

That's really disappointing about the full page illustration. Is that the only one in the book or are there other full pagers? I don't mind them. In fact, that was one of the first things I noticed was lacking when I first got the 3.5 books. What I don't like is the repetition. If it's on the cover, I don't need it in the book too. Thanks just the same.

Didn't spot any, but I was only looking for a handful of specific things.

Disappointing but, if I'm not mistaken, there's another one in KotS (unless it's one of the four in the DMG). Oh well. It sounds like artifacts might actually be useable at sub-epic levels now, so that's a plus, and I'm sure there will be more of them, either in the Adventurer's Vault or the DMG2, if not both.

Like I said, artifacts have serious meat to them now. I'd really look forward to a 4E Book of Artifacts.

 

[Lurker59]

There is a named item in KotS, but it certainly isn't considered an artifact.

 

[pukunui]

Well there is natural Werewolves where you are born as a Werewolf. There are ones where it is through magic/wearing the skin of a wolf that you become one. There is one's where you awaken to your Werewolf side (similar to natural, but it isn't apparent for a time (which could serve for example as say a PP, where at that timeperiod in the PCs life the Werewolf part of him awakens)).

Right, but what I mean is that it sounds like lycanthropes are just monsters at the moment. There's no way for a PC to actually become one. And I wouldn't be surprised if that's simply because the designers haven't figured out how to implement it in a balanced way yet.

Perhaps you could just do it with feats. Make it so that any time a PC wants to take a racial feat (do you get bonus racial feats or are they all entirely optional?), s/he has to take a lycanthrope feat instead or at least has the option to do so ...

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Well you figure, they probably have about 300+ monsters in the MM. They have said every single one is going to have a illustration. It isn't that unreasonable to assume there be some duplicates.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Well you figure, they probably have about 300+ monsters in the MM. They have said every single one is going to have a illustration. It isn't that unreasonable to assume there be some duplicates.

I would also note that the vampire art in question was one of the pieces that was new for the 3.5 MM, so at least it's only been recycled once.

 

[Oni]

Only 4 artifacts the DMG?

Guess we'll be getting a book of artifacts down the road.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Perhaps you could just do it with feats. Make it so that any time a PC wants to take a racial feat (do you get bonus racial feats or are they all entirely optional?), s/he has to take a lycanthrope feat instead or at least has the option to do so ...

Racial Feats are the same as ordinary Feats, so you take either or when you can take a feat.

I don't see why them being non-infectious means they can't be playable. It is another game, but... By that token none of the Werewolves in Werewolf: The Forsaken be playable since none of them are born from being bitten.

So there could be ways of having a Template or Feats to become a Werewolf.