Orcs preview

[Xanaqui]

white space is much better than a divided statblock...

Interesting; I'd prefer less whitespace and divided statblocks (or, alternatively, fill the whitespace with pictures or something). It's not like I'll use the statblock directly from the book much of the time.

My other comment is that I prefer paragraphical fluff to having most of it in the Lore section.

Neither is going to impact the likelihood of my purchasing this book, though.

 

[LowSpine]

Has anyone posted that 'ORC AXEBERSERKER LICH' yet?

His powers could include following abilities:

RAGE LIKE HELL (Recharge 5, 6): You get +4 to damage and saves when you rage
AXE MANIAC (Melee +10 - At-Will): You get an extra attack with a Greataxe (damage 1D12+12)
RUGH, BRUTAL! (Recharge 6): You get to attack all adjacent enemies.
+All the Lich goodness, of course!

Here's the powers of a 6th level ELVEN INNKEEPER (Controller):

THROW TANKARDS (Ranged +11 - At-Will): Damage 1D4 + DEX
MY INN, MY RULES! (Recharge 3, 4, 5, 6): Elven innkeeper gets +2 to all rolls within his inn, while his adversaries get -1 to all their rolls.
USE THE TRAP DOOR (Daily): The elven innkeeper may teleport outside the inn by using his secret trap door and escape tunnel.

I've got one:

SURVIVOR.

SLIPPERY SWINE
'The Survivor ducks and weaves out of the way causing your attack to miss endangering those around him.'

(Reaction - At Will - Trigger - When attacked adjacent to any other target friend or foe):
If the Survivor is next to a friend or foe when attacked that attack automatically targets any other target than the survivor. The Survivor may select to true target.


FEIGN DEATH
'Just when you thought the Survivor was dead he runs off like a coward.'

(Reaction - Daily - Trigger - When brought to 0 hit points)
The first time that day that the survivor is taken to 0 hitpoints the survivor gets a healing surge. The survivor may seem dead until such time as he decides to move/run away. The Survivor may be finished off with a coup-de-gras

BLOCK PURSUIT
'The survivor runs off pulling things in your path.'

(At-Will, Int vs Reflex)
The Survivor can pull over shelves, barrels, boxes or even people. Inanimate objects are automatically pulled over. When any pursuer reaches the obstacle the pursuer's Reflex defence is attacked.
Hit: The pursuer falls prone and takes 1d6+Int.
Miss: The pursuer negotiates the obstacle but doing so reduces his movement by 1 that turn.

RUN LIKE BUGGERY
'The Survivor just wants to get out of there.'

(At-Will)
If the Survivor does nothing during his turn other than move he moves 2 extra squares that turn.

DUMB LUCK
'The Survivor barges his way between the heroes and leaps through the window, no idea what lays below, just to get away.'

(Encounter - Standard)
The Survivor gains 50hp? temporary hit points for that turn. Any damage suffered during that turn are taken away from these hit points first. The Hitpoints go away at the end of the Survivor's turn.

SKILLS:
The Survivor has excellent acrobatic and athletic skills.
Diplomacy, Bluff, etc
- The Survivor can divert blame to others. Accusations and social mud slip off him like water off a duck's arse. If anyone tries to accuse him of anything or takes him to court etc, he gets a bonus to divert the blame to an innocent or even the accuser. He has one of those faces that people trust, he always says the right things, even though he might have a stinking rotten core.
- He is excellent at getting the credit for other people's actions. You save a town from doom and he'll be the one getting the medal.

(We've all met people like this. They are usually managers or civil servants.)

 

[Wolfspider]

"Orc minions have no particular sense of honor and simply swarm around a foe and hack it to death...."

With clubs.

 

[Wolfspider]

Nice to see a pdf excerpt from the Monster Manual.

That means a pdf exists.

Sell it to me, baby. You know you want to.

 

[Pinotage]

Nice to see a pdf excerpt from the Monster Manual.

That means a pdf exists.

Sell it to me, baby. You know you want to.

Hadn't thought about that. Neat! I want the pdf too! Don't care about the books - sell me the pdf!

Pinotage

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

"Orc minions have no particular sense of honor and simply swarm around a foe and hack it to death...."

With clubs.

Maybe the clubs have spiky bits in them?

After all, they'ze not proper Orks unless they've got proper ChaosDeathSpikyBitz on them, are they?

 

[Wormwood]

After all, they'ze not proper Orks unless they've got proper ChaosDeathSpikyBitz on them, are they?

Not in my game they ain't.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Orc Eye of Gruumsh Level 5 Controller (Leader)
Medium natural humanoid XP 200
Initiative +6 Senses Perception +3; low-light vision
Wrath of Gruumsh aura 10; orcs in the aura can use death strike
(see below).
HP 64; Bloodied 32; see also warrior’s surge and death strike
AC 19; Fortitude 17, Refl ex 14, Will 15
Speed 6 (8 while charging)
Spear (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+10 vs. AC; 1d8 + 3 damage.
Warrior’s Surge (standard, usable only while bloodied; encounter)
✦ Healing, Weapon
The eye of Gruumsh makes a melee basic attack and regains 16
hit points.
Death Strike (when reduced to 0 hit points)
The orc makes a melee basic attack.
Eye of Wrath (minor; at-will) ✦ Fear
Ranged 5; +8 vs. Will; the target takes a –4 penalty to AC (save
ends).
Swift Arm of Destruction (standard; recharge ⚄ ⚅ ) ✦ Healing
Ranged 5; one orc within range makes a melee basic attack (as a
free action) and regains 15 hit points on a hit or 5 hit points on a
miss.
Chaos Hammer (standard; encounter) ✦ Force
Area burst 1 within 10; +8 vs. Refl ex; 2d6 + 3 force damage, and
the target is knocked prone. Miss: Half damage, and the target is
not knocked prone.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Common, Giant
Skills Endurance +10, Intimidate +10, Religion +7
Str 17 (+5) Dex 14 (+4) Wis 12 (+3)
Con 16 (+5) Int 11 (+2) Cha 17 (+5)
Equipment leather armor, fur cloak, spear

Is the Eye of Gruumsh's initiative correct? I'm getting +2 (Dexterity) plus +2 (Level) for +4. Where is the +6 coming from?

 

[malraux]

My point is that I'm sure we've seen information that states that monsters don't have negative hit points.

They die at 0hp.

They can't recover hp when they are dead.

My reading of the article in question was that the dead at 0hp referred to the need not to worry about the stabilization checks. It doesn't mean that they always die at 0, just that they always bleed out. For these guys though, its not a stabilization check that's bringing them back, but a special ability. I'd sure as heck let these creatures fight on.

 

[jaelis]

Is the Eye of Gruumsh's initiative correct? I'm getting +2 (Dexterity) plus +2 (Level) for +4. Where is the +6 coming from?

I think that monster stats and bonuses can be adjusted as desired. Most of the early preview monsters didn't use Init = Dex + level/2 either.