Templates: anyone want to take a guess?

[TwinBahamut]

I wouldn't be surprised if there were templates for turning a basic humanoid critter or solider and making it into a different "class" of the same critter. Something like a Champion, Captain, or such template. Also, maybe a Mastermind, Brute, or even Minion template.

 

[Xethreau]

I'm kind of hoping for a Gargoyle template.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm pretty confident that lycanthrope isn't a template any more. If they're trying to cut down on cumbersome mechanics, the mechanics involved in creating and running a lycanthrope in 3E are right at the top of the biggest offenders.

We'll get some pre-fab lycanthropes right out of the gate, not a template.

 

[half-dragon dragon]

Hmm, I wouldn't personally mind if they made a 'dire' template that would basically turned any beast-like creature of animal intelligence into a dire version of such and possibly make it elite. This, as the others, is only a guess on my part, and while I would like to see a unified template for making dire creatures, it may very well not suit the design goals of 4e.

 

[Intrope]

Hmm, I wouldn't personally mind if they made a 'dire' template that would basically turned any beast-like creature of animal intelligence into a dire version of such and possibly make it elite. This, as the others, is only a guess on my part, and while I would like to see a unified template for making dire creatures, it may very well not suit the design goals of 4e.

I kind of doubt this; Dire in general means 'bigger and meaner' without any substantive changes in how it fights. It sounds like that kind of upgrading will be built-in to the system already.

I expect that templates generally will alter the creature in a way that changes how it fights. For instance, I doubt that there will be a Celestial template; the resulting creatures weren't particularly different than regular creatures. A Pseudonatural-like template that added a swarm of tentacles (as an area attack, say) would be more what I'd expect.

 

[NaturalZero]

As a DM, you don’t have to worry about creating the gnoll zombie or the orc zombie. The one set of Medium zombie statistics should do you fine. The players won’t know the difference, except by virtue of your descriptive talents. They should be most worried about the pummeling their characters are taking anyway.

Im willing to bet the farm that, based on the zombie article, we will not see templates like vampire, ghost, lycanthrope, mummy, ect. Instead, there will be different stock versions (vampire lord = elite vamp, mummy pharoh = solo mummy, Werewolf Ripper = werewolf striker) of such monsters that the DM can describe however he wants.

EDIT: Forget i even mentioned vampires.

 

[Lackhand]

Im willing to bet the farm that, based on the zombie article, we will not see templates like vampire, ghost, lycanthrope, mummy, ect. Instead, there will be different stock versions (vampire lord = elite vamp, mummy pharoh = solo mummy, Werewolf Ripper = werewolf striker) of such monsters that the DM can describe however he wants.

Well, you're certainly wrong about vampire But I agree with the idea you've got here -- I'd be amazed to see a lycanthrope template, unless they've changed the build significantly.

 

[NaturalZero]

Well, you're certainly wrong about vampire

Somehow i was reading the article as applying a Vampire Lord template to striker/lurker vampire, but upon rereading it, i see you are correct.

 

[jhouse]

The vampire lord seemed specific to both tier and role. I expect other templates to follow this. These extra details may lead to a number of variations on a single basic template (such as vampire lord instead of just vampire).

Below is a list of candidate items. I would not expect to see all of them since some stuff are better as custom created creatures.

vampire, lycanthrope, skeleton, zombie, mummy, dire, (the dire-ish eberron template), celestial, (impacts of other pacts or extra planar influences)

 

[Irda Ranger]

I'm pretty confident that lycanthrope isn't a template any more. If they're trying to cut down on cumbersome mechanics, the mechanics involved in creating and running a lycanthrope in 3E are right at the top of the biggest offenders.

We'll get some pre-fab lycanthropes right out of the gate, not a template.

The way that Lycanthropes were generated in 3E, I agree with you. But that doesn't mean they'll work the same way. They could be done a lot simpler. And since Vampire Lord is a template, Werewolf Lord makes just as much sense.

There's an odd tug of war going on between the "it's all right there in statblock" simplicity they're aiming for in some cases (and simplicity "won" regarding zombies) and giving DMs the freedom to make different kinds of monsters for their campaign by layering templates on top of monsters (and design freedom "won" regarding Vampire Lords). Because of this its really easy to make the argument either way that "[Concept X] is going to be a template like Vampire Lords!" and "No! It's going to be a monster only, like Zombies". Tastes great! Less filling!

I think a Were-x would make a good candidate for template, but I can certainly see it being a monster too that's just size based. Any medium humanoid that gets infected by a Werewolf just becomes a werewolf, and the differences between Elf and Dragonborn stock are merely cosmetic.

The Dire-X is an interesting candidate for Template. Just make it a size larger, increase damage die by one step, +100% HP, etc., whatever. I guess Emperor Dragooz' Storm Troopers are just Dire Humans.