Unhappy w/4E monster manual..3PP pls. publish monster books pronto!!

[Fallen Seraph]

Very cool, Henry. One idea I myself have had when it comes to the Charnel Hound is that as you know it is made up of corpses...

Well, I personally think it be neat if after a Charnel Hound is killed (or bloodied) some of the corpses become disentangled from its mass and rise up as zombie-minions

 

[Henry]

After looking up the 3e conversion in the creature catalog, I came up with the following. I robbed liberally from the Purple Worm entry in 4e; I liked their "crush" and "swallow" mechanics there, and I like the idea of the Froghemoth using minor actions to contrinue crushing after grabbing foes, but I might lower the damage done, as it might be too powerful for it. I can see a froghemoth, one or two party members wrapped in its tentacles, crushing away, as it's beating the hell out of the rest of the party with a free tentacle...

Froghemoth Level 13 Elite Brute
Huge Natural Beast XP 1,600
Initiative +8 Senses Perception +7, Darkvision
HP 320; Bloodied 160
AC 25; Fortitude 25, Reflex 23, Will 21
Immune Electricity; Resist Fire 5
Saving Throws +2
Speed 5
Action Points 1
M Tentacle (Standard; at-will)
Reach 3; +16 vs. Reflex; 3d6 + 6 damage, plus the target is grabbed (until escape). The froghemoth can grab up to three creatures at a time.
m Constriction (Minor; at-will) ♦ (only on grabbed creature)
The Froghemoth makes an attack against the grabbed creature: +14 vs. Reflex; 3d6 + 6 damage. Miss: Half damage.
m Swallow (Standard; at-will) ♦ (only on bloodied creature)
The froghemoth attempts to swallow a bloodied Medium or smaller creature it is grabbing; +14 vs. Fortitude; on a hit, the target is swallowed, dazed, and restrained (no save) and takes 5 damage plus 5 acid damage on subsequent rounds at the start of the froghemoth's turn. The only attacks the swallowed target can make are basic attacks. If the Froghemoth dies, any creature trapped in its gullet can escape as a move action, ending that action in a square formerly occupied by the froghemoth.
Alignment Unaligned Languages
Str 20 (+11) Dex 15 (+8) Wis 10 (+6)
Con 20 (+11) Int 2 (+2) Cha 10 (+6)

 

[Victim]

I think that normal animals weren't used to avoid discrepancies between hunting and fighting animals. Using magiced up animals means that real life exploits are harder to translate into game mechanics. There's no issue of "my character is a chump because he loses to critters that poachers kill easily."

Kruthiks are pretty cool as monster bug things, IMO.

 

[Spatula]

The 4e MM is definitely lacking when it comes to "mundane" encounters (animals, giant animals, etc.). There are a few but compared to previous editions it is severely lacking. Plus most of them seem to have magical effects tacked on. Scorpions that shoot lightning from their claws are neat, but seem rather... specific.

 

[Kunimatyu]

There are definitely things I think are missing, but I actually really like that nonthreatening animals, or animals that just do not attack groups of adult humans, aren't present in the MM.

If anything, it seems more "real-world"...ohgodsimulationism

 

[Crothian]

Didn't all the big bad monster finally just make those little animals extinct?

 

[jinnetics]

The 4e MM is definitely lacking when it comes to "mundane" encounters (animals, giant animals, etc.). There are a few but compared to previous editions it is severely lacking. Plus most of them seem to have magical effects tacked on. Scorpions that shoot lightning from their claws are neat, but seem rather... specific.

Bah, who needs mundane encounters! That's what real life is for.

 

[Jack99]

I've been going over my collection of pre-4E adventures as fodder for my campaign...and I keep hitting the "monster speedbump"

And a lot of those monsters, if they weren't in the 3.5 MM, they were in Tome of Horrors. It's too bad that because of the GSL Necromancer won't be doing a 4E Tome of Horrors, as I was drooling over the possibility. Hopefully they'll find the new GSL agreeable enough to publish Folio of Fiends, but....

I NEED MY OLD-SCHOOL D&D MONSTERS AND I NEED THEM NOW!!

There is a guy who has been converting a lot of the 3e monsters to 4e, in the homebrew section of ENworld. He started at level 1, and went up. Last I saw, he was asking for level 12+ monsters, so he might have some of those that you are missing.

Goodman Games has the answer:

Blackdirge's Dungeon Denizens.

Is there an ETA on that?

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

There is a guy who has been converting a lot of the 3e monsters to 4e, in the homebrew section of ENworld. He started at level 1, and went up. Last I saw, he was asking for level 12+ monsters, so he might have some of those that you are missing.

Oh yeah, I've been checking out his work...good stuff. I'm just spoiled and cranky, I'd rather just pay for a book of good monsters instead of farting around cutting and pasting from enworld and then going to the internet cafe/kinkos to print out a stack of papers that are going to fall all over the floor when I'm Dming.

First World Problems.

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

After looking up the 3e conversion in the creature catalog, I came up with the following.....

You = Class Act

Request queue:
Rot Grub
Green Slime
Piercer