Yeenoghu Entry = AWESOME.

[Paka]

Inspiring.

 

[BOZ]

Graz'zt was the last 3.5e Demonomicon article.

OK, that's what I thought. A few lords of hell in between though... we need a link repository!

 

[Paka]

OK, that's what I thought. A few lords of hell in between though... we need a link repository!

Was Graz'z't in a Dragon article?

Could someone hit me with an issue #?

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

I'd answer this question myself, except I haven't been able to read the article in question. I haven't been paying much attention to the online Dragon/Dungeon because the updates have been extremely sporadic/late and the substance usually hasn't perked my interest enough to wrangle with Gleemax.

However... I really like Rob Schwalb's work, and it's a fiend article, so I'm willing to cover my ears and my head and take a peek to see if there's anything I can either shanghai or take inspiration from.

And I would look myself as I said, but Gleemax won't let me view anything. Keeps saying I need to log in -and of course it lists me as logged in already- and when I try to do just that, it has an unspecified error.

So to those of you who have read it, how much of the flavor text is at odds with Yeenoghu's history and flavor from 1e/2e/3e? Does the article present his Abyssal layer as the same layer detailed in the Fiendish Codex I 3e (complete with the rotting, whispering carcass of the obyrith lord Bechard)? Or is it too filled with the default 4e assumed setting tropes to be used at ease with anything besides the 4e cosmology?

There are some changes, mostly in the origin story which stays fairly close in overall course if different in detail. There are big changes in the Realm information to match with 4e, but some elements can be backported to other editions. What you really want the article for is the section on his cult. And some of the NPCs are good fluff to pull from.

As for DDI you don't even have to be logged in, just follow the link and when you get the unauthorized message click on printer friendly. It will take you to a page where you can download the pdf file.

 

[Desdichado]

Gnolls are really savage and bestial and all that, but I think that they need more "oomph" to be a empire-shattering threat, and not just the flunkies of someone else. Hobgoblins are scary, mind flayers are scary, the necromancer zombie invasion is scary, but gnolls... eh. They feel kind of like amped up orcs. I feel like they need a little more.

I'm not sure I agree; barbaric cultures like orcs and gnolls could be seen as analogs of a sort to the Huns, the Mongols or the Vandals. Maybe literally destroying the world is a bit much, but destroying civilization? It's certainly happened before.

Plus nihilistic cults are always scary.

In the document, you have Yeenoghu as an agent of the primordials who slew Gorellik and usurped his people.

Minor nitpick. He wasn't an agent of the primordials, he was an actual primordial.

Artwork - While the final piece by Brian Hagan was awesome, the other pieces by Jason Engle fell awfully short of the mark. The artwork lacked weight (specially the opening piece, which was supposed to be the big bad himself). The article hsould've used the Brian Hagan piece (the "cover" for this issue) as the opening piece, and used Engle's piece smewhere within the text.

While I agree with the general direction, I actually think the original Engle piece was really good. Wasn't terribly impressed with his other pieces, though. (In fact, I'm not a huge fan of his work in general, and he seems to be getting a lot of it lately.)

Definately agree that the Brian Hagan piece was the best gnoll artwork I've ever seen.

"Yeah, 3rd ed was too hard to design monsters for." (people could use the basic math to check our totals and call us on it.)

"4th ed will be easier to design for." (No master advancement suckers!)

And yet lack of editing and proof reading continues to showcase the "strength" of the monster stat blocks in-house.

Poor WoTC...

I'm hoping to see a fan conversion of Yeenoghu into 3.5 a la the earlier Demonomicon articles soon. Take him up to CR 29 or so, using the methodology James Jacobs used, i.e., Fiendish Codex methodology for advancement with a few extras tossed in here and there (maybe borrowed directly from the 4e stats for that matter.)

so what I decided to do is combine gnoll and goblin society into one.

How odd; I'm doing something very similar. I've long ago decided that hobgoblins represented as savages doesn't really make any sense; what they need to be is highly civilized, militaristic, expansionist and imperial. A combination of Imperial Rome and Nazi Germany, ruled by a hobgoblin warrior caste. Goblins are the subservient laborer caste, and I didn't think bugbears really fit into this scheme so I axed them.

This article, combined with the wargs from The Two Towers movie made me decide that the goblins and hobgoblins raised hyenas instead of dogs and used them for hunting and for war, and probably bred very large breeds to ride on, a la the movie wargs. And a certain highly select caste of warriors essentially became were-hyenas, but without the ability to change back to a more "normal" form. I.e., they become gnolls.

They serve the dual role of shocktroops and holy men of sorts in hobgoblin society.