The Devil's in the Details: Slavicsek reveals the Pit Fiend in all its glory

[Just Another User]

Thats if his assumption that monsters will just have access to rituals is indeed true. Nothing has actually indicated this, since pretty much everything on monsters has been focus solely on combat.

Somewhere it was mentioned that devils use rituals for long range teleportaion and in this same article is said that pit fiends use rituals to concede wishes, and in a FR article were mentioned rituals using nagas. I think it is out of discussion that some monsters can use rituals, the only problem is which ones.

but speaking of things monsters can and cannot do, does the pit fiend get the extra dice of damage on a critical from its magic mace? I'd like to get an answer about that.

 

[neceros]

If I wanted to play a video game I would.......why are they trying to make D&D into one?

They aren't.

There have been quite a few irritating comments so far, so I'm gonna say this to everyone and not target one point of view.

The developers are opening the system up for DMs to do what they like. They are not restricting people to playing monsters the way they think it should be done. This is evident from the lack of entries regarding day to day life. That sort of information shouldn't exist in a mechanics book, since it's frivolous in a combat related encounter.

Those details are left for the DM to make up. Why does that upset people? Do you want Wizards to tell you how to run everything in your game? Most people I see writing on here are complaining that they are restricting you too much with their minor setting and back stories.

Read between the lines.

Personally, this monster entry looks great. Concise abilities that are easy to pick out during combat. Powerful in melee, smart enough to use tactics. Summons to help him with bad PCs and teleport and fly at will. He's very tactical, as a Leader should be.


If you want your pitfiends to run a circus in his off time or lounge around and do nothing, then that's up to you. The devs are allowing you that freedom because it's your game.

 

[GoLu]

Honestly, I think it is a stupid ability, more fitting for a video game than a RPG (and I don't mean Diablo or WoW, I mean Super Mario).

Come to think of it, it was a Diablo ability. Remember the expansion to Diablo 2 where you had those taskmaster guys with the whips (like Shenk the Overseer) who would turn the generic local grunt demons into these bloated sprinting things that would hurl themselves at you and then blow up in your face?

 

[rkanodia]

Have anyone figured out the "Recharge 4 5 6" already?

I'm with the impression it's something like this:

"On the beginning of your turn, roll a d6. On a result of 4 5 or 6, the ability recharges."

Other monsters' special attacks could have a better or worse chance, say, Dragon's Breath Weapon (Recharge 5 6), which would then replace the "once every 1d4 turns".

Since it's a pain to keep track of turns, i don't think that that would be a bad idea.

If it's already been figured out before, sorry.

Sounds plausible. If you're right, then I think it's rather revealing that it says "Recharge 4 5 6" rather than "Recharge 4". It would mean that higher isn't necessarily better - for instance, a monster could have one ability with 'Recharge 3 4', and another with 'Recharge 5 6', meaning that he can't get them both back on the same turn.

 

[med stud]

When I read the blow-your-allys-up ability I got this thought: Asmodeus has made the pit fiends to his direct underlings. When he did that he also gave them absolute authority over the other devils, even to the point of destroying them at will. That's the reason why they are number 2 in the hierarchy.

You could find a devil that would cover a continent and still it would follow the pit fiends commands to the letter.

That's where their power comes from; not from being able to one-shot angels or wielding +5 equipment.

Besides, two pit fiends in one encounter looks like it can be Hell on Earth (he he). Two auras dealing 15 damage per round, lots of summoned devils and teleportations all over the battle field.

 

[BryonD]

The developers are opening the system up for DMs to do what they like. They are not restricting people to playing monsters the way they think it should be done. This is evident from the lack of entries regarding day to day life. That sort of information shouldn't exist in a mechanics book, since it's frivolous in a combat related encounter.

Those details are left for the DM to make up.

According to WotC this is exactly the opposite of what they are doing. Mearls flat out stated in one of the podcasts that prior editions required a really good DM and that now 4E will help carry the weight.

And they have removed a lot of combat options. It is far from just out of combat stuff that is gone. This Pit Fiend is vastly more predictable in combat. Just like video game monsters.

 

[Lord Zack]

In 3.5
Balance +10, Bluff +29, Climb +34, Concentration +29, Diplomacy +10, Disguise +29 (+31 acting), Hide +25, Intimidate +31, Jump +40, Knowledge (arcana) +29, Knowledge (nature) +10, Knowledge (the planes) +29, Knowledge (religion) +29, Listen +29, Move Silently +29, Search +29, Spellcraft +31, Spot +29, Survival +8 (+10 on other planes, +10 when tracking), Tumble +31

in 4.0
Skills Bluff +27, Intimidate +27, Religion +24
Str 32 (+24) Dex 24 (+20) Wis 20 (+18) Con 27 (+21) Int 22 (+19) Cha 28 (+22)

So:
Balance +10/+20
Bluff: +29/+27
Climb +34/+24 (really, it can teleport and has wings, but I digress)
Concentration +29/+21
Diplomacy*: +10/+22
Disguise*: +29/+22
Hide* +25/+20
Intimidate +31/+27
Jump +40/+24 (see climb)
Knowledge (arcana) +29/+19
Knowledge (nature) +10/+19
Knowledge (the planes)* +29/+24**
Knowledge (religion) +29/+24
Listen* +29/+18
Move Silently* +29/+20
Search* +29/+19
Spellcraft* +31/+19
Spot* +29/+19
Survival +8/+18
Tumble* +31/+20

* This skill is getting merged with another somewhere down the line in 4e.
** Uses his religion skill, since planar knowledge seems to be religion-based

That's a very good point. But I'm kinda worried that they're losing stuff like create undead and persistant image that are useful out side of combat. And it's one thing to say that the DM can just make it up, but players tend to get annoyed if DM make stuff up willy nilly. What's the difference between making up an attack method mid combat because you feel the moinster should have it and having a monster create an illusion of itself that that the PCs will spend resources fighting or whatever? Not much to me.

 

[med stud]

According to WotC this is exactly the opposite of what they are doing. Mearls flat out stated in one of the podcasts that prior editions required a really good DM and that now 4E will help carry the weight.

And they have removed a lot of combat options. It is far from just out of combat stuff that is gone. This Pit Fiend is vastly more predictable in combat. Just like video game monsters.

Really, an old school pit fiend would be pretty predictable as well. As a monster has a life span of about 4 rounds in a standard combat it's options are limited. I can't imagine a pit fiend casting animate dead or the like in a serious combat.

There are lots of ways to be unpredictable with long spell lists etc but there are few ways to be unpredictable in a sane way.

 

[Zsig]

but speaking of things monsters can and cannot do, does the pit fiend get the extra dice of damage on a critical from its magic mace? I'd like to get an answer about that.

From what we learned so far, only +X weapons adds up damage on critical hits, though, there's nothing on the Pit Fiend's stats that implies his weapon is +1 or better.

That's weird cuz it leads me to believe that now magic weapons could have a magical property without first having a minimum +1 on it (which is good IMO).


...or not, and monsters each receive their own specific weapons that doesn't work out like the ones the players have/use, and have their own rules written on the monster stats.

 

[Just Another User]

Agreed. Should my group ever encounter a 4e pit fiend it will be house-ruled not to have the 'explode your allies' ability (unless of course, as mentioned above, it can charm or polymorph the PCs into allies and then blow them up).

Actually what bother me more is the "slide" part, i'm not really sure why.