Wraiths in Monster Vault?

[Obryn]

Hey, folks!

I am in a spot. I hate MM1 wraiths with a passion, but they are thematically appropriate for my upcoming Dark Sun game. I'd consult Monster Vault, but I had to leave something D&Dish on my Christmas List for my wife.

Can someone give me a brief rundown of what the new, hopefully-fixed Monster Vault wraiths are like? If it helps, my group is 4th level at the moment.

Thanks!

-O

 

[Aegeri]

Wraiths in MV are similar to the ones in the MM. The main difference is that they take full damage from force damage even when insubstantial. If they are damaged by a radiant attack they lose their insubstantial quality until the start of their next turn. They no longer weaken, instead they just do an extra two dice of damage when they attack from invisible, and can turn invisible and teleport 6 squares when hit by a non-radiant or force attack.

That's the basic gist.

 

[Obryn]

Wraiths in MV are similar to the ones in the MM. The main difference is that they take full damage from force damage even when insubstantial. If they are damaged by a radiant attack they lose their insubstantial quality until the start of their next turn. They no longer weaken, instead they just do an extra two dice of damage when they attack from invisible, and can turn invisible and teleport 6 squares when hit by a non-radiant or force attack.

That's the basic gist.

Thanks!

I can work with that, I think....

-O

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Wraiths in MV . . . take full damage from force damage even when insubstantial.

Isn't that an update to force anyway? Force deals full damage to insubstantial, that is.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Level 5 to level 8. And the obnoxiousness of the grind has gone. Wraiths are still insubstantial (force defeats that and radiant removes it). But they no longer regenerate and no longer weaken. They also spawn Wraith Figments (minions that slow) if they kill humanoids. They have roughly normal hp (without insubstantial taken into account) but there's no longer the horror of insubstantial/weaken/regenerate.

The standard (lurker) Wraith gets to become invisible if it gets hit by something that's not force or radiant - and to not attack next turn. But an invisible wraith does 4d6+14 damage (at L5) on its attack and turns visible again.

Mad Wraiths do controllery things (damaging aura, defence debuff on the melee basic, and a charm melee recharge).

And the level 8 Sovereign Wraith (Soldier) marks, and has a recharge attack that makes all creatures except the wraith invisible to the target (save ends).

 

[Aegeri]

Isn't that an update to force anyway? Force deals full damage to insubstantial, that is.

No, though it seems logical only certain creatures with insubstantial take full damage from force.

 

[Riley]

And the level 8 Sovereign Wraith (Soldier) marks, and has a recharge attack that makes all creatures except the wraith invisible to the target (save ends).

Nice Tolkienesque flavor!

 

[Obryn]

Level 5 to level 8. And the obnoxiousness of the grind has gone. Wraiths are still insubstantial (force defeats that and radiant removes it). But they no longer regenerate and no longer weaken. They also spawn Wraith Figments (minions that slow) if they kill humanoids. They have roughly normal hp (without insubstantial taken into account) but there's no longer the horror of insubstantial/weaken/regenerate.

Yeah, that was a nightmare. Sword Wraiths win my personal award for Worst Monster Design.... It would be even worse in Dark Sun, where all of one character has an encounter attack which deals Radiant damage. No way I was sending normal wraiths against them, optional encounter or no. It would be boring.

The standard (lurker) Wraith gets to become invisible if it gets hit by something that's not force or radiant - and to not attack next turn. But an invisible wraith does 4d6+14 damage (at L5) on its attack and turns visible again.

Cool deal. I have them doing a bit less than that. What do you mean by "and to not attack next turn" though?

Gah. I wish I just had Monster Vault already!

The other wraiths are a bit too high-level for this party. For the rest of this little delve into UnderTyr, I'm throwing athasian-modified Chitines at them. They have a pretty appropriate Dark Sun style to them already.

-O

 

[Mentat55]

The basic wraith from the Monster Vault is light-years better than the MM1 wraith.

If the wraith gets hit by a non-force/radiant attack, it turns invisible and teleports. It stays invisible until the end of the encounter or until it attacks, but it cannot attack until the end of its next turn. Combined with the fact that, as Neonchameleon noted, it does much more damage when it is invisible to its target, and this guy really plays like a lurker.

I probably wouldn't run more than one or two (having lots of invisible teleporting foes that can't attack might get a bit frustrating for both the players and DM), but if combined with some more conventional foes, the DM can really have fun.

 

[Aegeri]

Lurkers actually are a very interesting monster for a DM. Many lurkers are a 2 turn sort of affair, but have substantial bonuses and advantages to this set up. The Gargoyle for example has stone form that gives it ridiculous damage reduction and can wait out enemies for it's opportunity to strike. That +15 to +20 damage bonus really makes the Gargoyle terrifying, especially when it breaks stone form and then goes for its opportunity to attack straight away when someone gets on low HP. A couple of Lurkers really adds things to an encounter now, which indicates the design of monsters has truly caught up to what they should be doing.

I've never been afraid of giving monsters powers and abilities that basically let them function according to role/concept. It's good to see that Wizards are just confirming this is the way monsters should be!