Encounter-a-Day » 4e Monsters

Friends & Foes: Hardened Chuul

Asmor — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:31:57 +0000

Hardened Chuul

Description

The ground trembles a bit as this massive, yellow, lobster-like creature steps out of the lake. Sheets of water fall off its dense exoskeleton.

Hardened Chuul

Level 15 Elite Brute

Large Aberrant Beast (aquatic)

XP 2,400

Initiative +10

Senses Perception +12

HP 272; Bloodied 136

AC 31; Fortitude 30, Reflex 26, Will 25

Vulnerable psychic 10 (see also hardened chitin)

Saving Throws +2

Speed 5, swim 6

Action Points 1

M Claw (Standard; at-will)

Reach 2; +18 vs. AC; 1d10+6 damage, or 3d10+6 damage against an immobilized creature.

m Double Attack (Standard; at-will) ♦ Poison

The chuul makes two claw attacks. If both claw attacks hit a single target, the chuul makes a secondary attack against the same target with its tentacles.
Secondary Attack
+16 vs Fortitude; the target is immobilized (save ends).

Tentacle Net ♦ Poison

A creature hit by a chuul’s opportunity attack is immobilized until the end of the chuul’s next turn.

Hardened Chitin

The chuul begins each encounter with three chitin counters. As long as it has any counters left, all non-psychic damage that would be dealt to the chuul is prevented. If a single attack would have dealt 20 or more points of damage, the chuul loses a chitin counter (but the damage is still prevented). If a critical hit is scored against the chuul, the damage goes through as normal and the chuul loses a chitin counter.
Psychic damage ignores this ability entirely and is not prevented nor does it remove chitin counters.

Regrow Armor (Immediate Reaction, when first bloodied; encounter)

The chuul gains a chitin counter. It can’t have more than three chitin counters at a time.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages Deep Speech

Str 23 (+13)	Dex 17 (+10)	Wis 20 (+12)
Con 21 (+12)	Int 3 (+3)	Cha 12 (+8)

Hardened Chuul Lore

A character knows the following information with a successful Dungeoneering check.

DC 20: Some mages use chuuls such as these to guard their sanctums. This chuul’s exoskeleton has been treated so that it is impervious to all but the most egregious damage.

DC 25: The chuul’s tentacled mouth secretes an immobilizing poison.

DC 30: The process of hardening the chuul’s armor maddens it, making it particularly vulnerable to psychic damage.

Multi-part bosses

Asmor — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:01:16 +0000

One common complaint about 4th edition is that combat can be a bit of a slog. Solos, in particular, are notorious for this problem. But sometimes, you just really want a big, climactic fight against one really nasty enemy.

What’s a DM to do? As always, we take out the one tool every DM should know how to use, more useful than duct tape, a dremel, a swiss army knife and a leatherman combined: theft.

In this case, we’re stealing from video games. A common staple in video games is the large, multi-part boss fight that changes periodically throughout.

Let me give you an example. I’m coming up to the climactic ending of my campaign. The big bad in question is actually rather small; a halfling-sized warforged named Judgment who is (quite successfully) summoning an entity from the far realms to devour the world.

Now, there are three obvious ways to turn him into the big bad.

1. Make him a solo lurker and hope I can craft the terrain such that it’s an interesting fight. Not bloody likely.
2. Turn him into a hulking monstrosity “because of the far realms taint.” Not terribly desirable, since it radically changes the concept of the character.
3. Make him an elite and surround him with a a more standard encounter. Yawn.

No, no, no. That just won’t do. You see, it’s important to me that the PCs get to fight Judgment as… Judgment. Without getting into detail, suffice to say that a couple of the PCs have a specific and personal (to the players even more so than the characters) vendetta against Judgment as he is.

I also want to make sure that the fight is different and interesting. And so I brainstormed, and here’s what I’ve come up with.

The fight starts off fairly normal. Judgment is just a plain old lurker, not even elite, with a couple warforged and illithids and maybe an umberhulk. When Judgment is destroyed, he shatters into dozens of shards. Hooray, they got to kill the real Judgment!

After the last of the enemies are defeated, however, and before the PCs can take a rest, the shards begin to regenerate into a small army of Judgments. In this form, Judgment is represented as a couple dozen minions, with the nasty ability that every round any one of the minions can deliver a very powerful attack.

Finally, after they defeat the split Judgment, all the pieces coalesce back together into a more abstract, crystalline form. This is Judgment’s final form, and his most difficult. He is now an elite controller who radically alters the way the battles go, drastically reducing healing, making PCs attack each other, and only being hit by rolling under his defense.

I hope this post has inspired you. Provided below are Judgment’s stats in each form.

Judgment

Level 12 Lurker

Small Natural Humanoid (warforged)

XP 700

Initiative +16

Senses Perception +14

HP 97; Bloodied 48

AC 26; Fortitude 24, Reflex 25, Will 24

Speed 6

M Dagger (Standard; at-will)

+17 vs. AC; 1d8+5 damage.

m Shank (Standard; recharge 56)

+17 vs. AC; 3d8+5 damage and target is weakened (save ends)

Camouflage

Judgment may make stealth checks to become hidden at the end of any movement. If it doesn’t have concealment, it takes a -5 penalty to the stealth check.

Sneak Attack

Whenever Judgment hits a target it has combat advantage against, it deals an extra 3d8 damage on the attack.

Tumble (Move; at-will)

Judgment shifts 3 squares.

Alignment Chaotic Evil

Languages Common

Skills Bluff +15, Intimidate +15, Stealth +17, Thievery +17

Str 12 (+7)	Dex 22 (+12)	Wis 17 (+9)
Con 19 (+10)	Int 13 (+7)	Cha 19 (+10)

Judgment, Split Form

Level 12 Minion

Small Aberrant Humanoid (warforged)

XP 175

Initiative +12

Senses Perception +14

HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.

AC 26; Fortitude 24, Reflex 25, Will 24

Speed 6

M Harrying Strike (Standard; at-will)

+17 vs. AC; 6 damage.

m True Strike (Standard; at-will, but only one split form may use it per round)

+17 vs. AC; 4d10+5 damage and target loses a healing surge.

Tumble (Move; at-will)

The split form shifts 3 spaces.

Alignment Chaotic Evil

Languages Common

Skills Bluff +15, Intimidate +15, Stealth +17, Thievery +17

Str 12 (+7)	Dex 22 (+12)	Wis 17 (+9)
Con 19 (+10)	Int 13 (+7)	Cha 19 (+10)

Judgment, Final Form

Level 12 Elite Controller

Small Aberrant Humanoid (warforged)

XP 1,400

Initiative +12

Senses Perception +14

Terrible Sympathy (healing) aura 10; Whenever another creature within the aura spends a healing surge, it heals half as much as it otherwise would and Judgment gains temporary hit points equal to the amount the creature healed.

HP 246; Bloodied 123

AC 26; Fortitude 26, Reflex 25, Will 26; See also obscene geometries below

Saving Throws +2

Speed teleport 8

Action Points 1

R Misdirected Blow (Standard; at-will)

Ranged 20; No attack roll; target makes a basic attack of Judgment’s choice against any creature within 20 squares of Judgment. The target does not have to be within range of the defender, and may even make a melee attack against a distant defender.

Warp Space (Immediate Reaction, when an enemy attacks Judgment with a melee attack; at-will)

The target is teleported 1d6 squares in a random direction and dazed until the end of Judgment’s next turn.

Obscene Geometries

If an attack would hit Judgment, instead it misses. If an attack would miss Judgment, instead it hits. A roll of 1 is always a critical hit against Judgment and a roll of 20 is always a miss. Enemies with combat advantage against Judgment get a -2 penalty instead of a +2 bonus to the attack roll.

Alignment Chaotic Evil

Languages Common

Skills Bluff +15, Intimidate +15, Stealth +17, Thievery +17

Str 12 (+7)	Dex 22 (+12)	Wis 17 (+9)
Con 19 (+10)	Int 13 (+7)	Cha 19 (+10)

Actually, as I write this addendum (which technically isn’t an addendum since as far as you’re concerned this all went live at the same time), I’ve just finished this fight. It worked out really well, minus some design issues with the last form of Judgment. The PCs were actually rolling too reliably and having a hard time missing him, and on top of that the basic attack thing wasn’t doing much damage. Turned it into a bit of a slog, so after a few rounds I decided to just end it there.

Other than that, though, I think the multi-part boss idea worked beautifully.

Friends & Foes: He’s His Own Best Friend

Asmor — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:26:44 +0000

Shadar-Kai Deathmaster

Level 13 Elite Brute

Medium Shadow Humanoid (shadar-kai)

XP –

Initiative +9

Senses Perception +10

HP 316; Bloodied 158

AC 27; Fortitude 28, Reflex 25, Will 29

Resist 10 necrotic; Vulnerable 10 radiant

Saving Throws +2

Speed 6

Action Points 1

M Shadowfist (Standard; at-will) ♦ necrotic

+16 vs. AC; 3d6+6 damage and secondary attack vs. same target: +14 vs. Fortitude; ongoing 7 necrotic damage and target is weakened.

R Mindslice (Minor; at-will, not more than 1/round) ♦ psychic

Ranged 10; +14 vs. Will; target takes 1d10+6 psychic damage and is dazed (save ends).

Split (immediate reaction when first bloodied; daily)

The shadar-kai deathmaster is replaced with a Cast-off Shell, and a Final Breath is placed in an adjacent square. If there are no empty adjacent squares, the final breath is placed in the closest available square. The cast-off shell and final breath share the same HP total, which is equal to however many HP the shadar-kai deathmaster has left when this power is activated.

Alignment Chaotic Evil

Languages Common

Str 22 (+12)	Dex 17 (+9)	Wis 19 (+10)
Con 18 (+10)	Int 20 (+11)	Cha 23 (+12)

Final Breath

Level 13 Artillery

Medium Shadow Humanoid (shadar-kai, undead)

XP 800

Initiative +9

Senses Perception +10

HP 316; Bloodied 158; see shared essence

AC 25; Fortitude 22, Reflex 25, Will 27

Resist 10 necrotic, insubstantial; Vulnerable 10 radiant

Speed fly 6 (hover); phasing

R Mindslice (Standard; at-will) ♦ psychic

Ranged 10; +14 vs. Will; target takes 1d10+6 psychic damage and is dazed (save ends).

Shared Essence

The cast-off shell and final breath which came from the same shadar-kai deathmaster share the same HP total.

Alignment Chaotic Evil

Languages Common

Str 6 (+4)	Dex 17 (+9)	Wis 19 (+10)
Con 12 (+7)	Int 20 (+11)	Cha 23 (+12)

Cast-off Shell

Level 13 Soldier

Medium Shadow Humanoid (shadar-kai, undead)

XP 800

Initiative +11

Senses Perception +6

HP 316; Bloodied 158; see shared essence

AC 29; Fortitude 26, Reflex 24, Will 22

Speed 6

M Malevolent Grope (Standard; at-will)

+20 vs. AC; 1d10+6 damage and target is grabbed. Effect: Target is marked.

M Om nom nom (Standard; at-will)

May only be used while grabbing someone; grabbed creature takes 1d10+6 damage and cast-off shell regains that many HP.

Shared Essence

The cast-off shell and final breath which came from the same shadar-kai deathmaster share the same HP total.

Alignment Chaotic Evil

Languages –

Str 22 (+12)	Dex 17 (+9)	Wis 11 (+6)
Con 18 (+10)	Int 9 (+5)	Cha 13 (+7)

Friends & Foes: Tarollis

Asmor — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:01:49 +0000

Today I present three new tarollis to confront your players with. See Monday’s post for a write-up of tarollis as a player race.

Tarolli Berserker

Level 8 Brute

Medium Fey Humanoid (tarolli)

XP 350

Initiative +7

Senses Perception +7, low-light vision

HP 107; Bloodied 53

Regeneration 5

AC 20; Fortitude 20, Reflex 20, Will 20

Speed 6

M Battleaxe (Standard; at-will)

+11 vs. AC; 2d8+5 damage

m Berserker Strike (Standard; recharge 456, usable only while bloodied)

+11 vs. AC; 4d8+5 damage and target is knocked prone

Alignment Unaligned

Languages common, giant

Skills Endurance +14, Intimidate +11

Str 20 (+9)	Dex 17 (+7)	Wis 13 (+5)
Con 20 (+9)	Int 7 (+2)	Cha 15 (+6)

Equipment battleaxe

Tactics

The tarolli berserker identifies the toughest foe and charges him, not stopping until one of the two is dead.

Tarolli Sniper

Level 6 Artillery

Medium Fey Humanoid (tarolli)

XP 250

Initiative +12

Senses Perception +9, low-light vision

HP 60; Bloodied 30

Regeneration 4

AC 18; Fortitude 19, Reflex 19, Will 17

Speed 7

M Handaxe (Standard; at-will)

+13 vs. AC; 1d6+4 damage.

R Longbow (Standard; at-will)

Ranged 10/20; +13 vs. AC; 1d10+4 damage.

r Accurate Shot (Standard; at-will)

The sniper makes a longbow attack, but rolls two attack rolls and keeps the better of the two.

Wild Step

The sniper ignores difficult terrain when shifting.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages common, giant

Skills Nature +9, Stealth +12

Str 13 (+4)	Dex 19 (+7)	Wis 12 (+4)
Con 18 (+7)	Int 8 (+2)	Cha 14 (+5)

Equipment handaxe, longbow, quiver of arrows

Tactics

The tarolli sniper keeps its distance from its foes, preferring to have obstacles and/or difficult terrain in the intervening distance. It uses its handaxe only as a last resort.

Tarolli Witch Doctor

Level 7 Controller (Leader)

Medium Fey Humanoid (tarolli)

XP 300

Initiative +7

Senses Perception +7, low-light vision

Ancestors’ Boon (healing) aura 8; Whenever an allied tarolli begins its turn in the aura, it gains temporary hit points equal to its regeneration value.

HP 82; Bloodied 41

Regeneration 4

AC 21; Fortitude 20, Reflex 20, Will 20

Speed 6

M Knock Some Sense Into Ya’ (Standard; at-will)

+12 vs. AC; 1d8+5 damage and target is dazed until the end of the witch doctor’s next turn.

R Juju Blast (Standard; at-will)

Ranged 20; +11 vs. Reflex; 1d8+5 damage and the witch doctor makes a secondary attack against the same target.
Secondary attack: +11 vs. Fortitude; target is weakened (save ends)

r Voodoo Doll (Standard; recharge 6) ♦ charm

+11 vs. Will; target is dominated (save ends). The voodoo doll doesn’t start recharging until after this effect ends.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages common, giant

Skills Heal +12, History +10, Insight +12, Nature +12

Str 12 (+4)	Dex 18 (+7)	Wis 19 (+7)
Con 18 (+7)	Int 14 (+5)	Cha 18 (+7)

Equipment staff, juju bag, voodoo doll

Tactics

The witch doctor first attempts to dominate someone with the voodoo doll. If a foe comes near, he knocks some sense into it and then moves away.

Friends & Foes: Troggles

Asmor — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 05:01:57 +0000

Troggle

Description

Troggles look like grapefruit-sized burrs floating silently in the water. They are usually deployed en masse by evil aquatic creatures– particularly those with ties to the far realms– to guard specific sites.

The troggles are given a specific list of criteria to identify enemies; for example, any non-sahuagin humanoid. Despite their lack of intelligence, they are capable of fairly sophisticated identification.

Troggle

Level 11 Minion

Tiny Aberrant Magical Beast (aquatic)

XP 150

Initiative +10

Senses Perception +8, blindsight 20

HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.

AC 25; Fortitude 21, Reflex 24, Will 22

Speed swim 8

M Hooked Nettles (Standard; at-will)

+14 vs. Reflex; target is grabbed. While grabbed, the creature can still move, but is slowed, and the troggle moves along with it even through forced movement.

M Inject Poison (Minor; at-will 1/round) ♦ poison

Grabbed creatures only; +14 vs. Fortitude; 6 poison damage

c Burst (Immediate Reaction, when reduced to 0 hit points; encounter)

Close burst 2; +16 vs. AC; 6 damage. Other troggles are immune to this.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages –

Skills Stealth +18

Str 3 (+1)	Dex 21 (+10)	Wis 16 (+8)
Con 14 (+7)	Int 1 (+0)	Cha 1 (+0)

Tactics

When a troggle identifies an enemy, it rushes towards it, trying to entangle and begin poisoning it. They have no sense of self-preservation, or even of self for that matter.

Troggle Lore

A character knows the following information with a successful Dungeoneering check.

DC 20: Troggles are barely-sentient abberant magical beasts deployed to protect underwater sites. They are little more than living weapons.

DC 25: The hooks covering a troggle easily become entangled with potential enemies, allowing them to latch onto them and begin poisoning them. If a troggle is destroyed, it explodes in a shower of spikes.

DC 30: Troggles are given specific criteria to identify friends and foes. It is possible that, if one could learn these criteria, one could fool them.

Friends & Foes: Furnace Golem

Asmor — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:01:27 +0000

Furnace Golem

Description

A furnace golem is a massive, vaguely-humanoid construct. Its huge barrel chest contains a furnace, and it uses pitchfork-like claws to rake any living things into the hopper on its back.

Furnace Golem

Level 18 Elite Brute

Gargantuan Natural Animate (construct)

XP 4,000

Initiative +14

Senses Perception +12

Trembling Ground aura 10; Other creatures in the aura treat it as difficult terrain. The furnace golem makes an attack against any creature touching the ground within the aura at the start of its turn as a free action; +19 vs. Reflex; the target is knocked prone.

Exposed Furnace (fire) aura 5; As long as the golem is bloodied, any other creature starting its turn in the aura takes 1d10+7 fire damage.

HP 430; Bloodied 215

AC 32; Fortitude 33, Reflex 29, Will 29

Immune disease, poison, sleep; Resist all 5

Saving Throws +2

Speed 8

Action Points 1

M Pitch Fork (Standard; at-will)

Reach 3; +21 vs. AC; 3d8+7 damage and secondary attack +19 vs. Reflex; target is grabbed.

Residuum Hopper ♦ fire

The golem may have up to 16 medium or smaller creatures, or half as many large creatures, grabbed at any one time. At the start of the golem’s turn, all grabbed creatures take 3d10+6 fire damage. Any creature killed by this damage is turned into an amount of residuum equal to its experience value (or the value of an equivalent-level monster in the case of PCs) and cannot be resurrected.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages –

Str 25 (+16)	Dex 20 (+14)	Wis 16 (+12)
Con 25 (+16)	Int 3 (+5)	Cha 3 (+5)

Furnace Golem Lore

A character knows the following information with a successful Arcana or Nature check.

DC 20: The furnace these golems are named for converts the essence of life into residuum. Evil factions employ the golems to create residuum at the cost of many lives.

Friends & Foes: Giant Mutant Farm Animals

Asmor — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:35:08 +0000

In case you should ever need them, here are some giant mutant farm animals.

Giant Mutant Chicken

Level 9 Brute

Large Natural Beast

XP 400

Initiative +8

Senses Perception +5

HP 120; Bloodied 60

AC 21; Fortitude 22, Reflex 22, Will 19

Speed 8

M Peck (Standard; at-will)

+12 vs. AC; 1d8+5 damage

m Peck Peck Peck (Standard; at-will)

The chicken makes three peck attacks against the same target.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages –

Str 17 (+7)	Dex 19 (+8)	Wis 13 (+5)
Con 20 (+9)	Int 1 (-1)	Cha 3 (+0)

Giant Mutant Goat

Level 11 Soldier

Large Natural Beast

XP 600

Initiative +11

Senses Perception +9

HP 114; Bloodied 57

AC 27; Fortitude 23, Reflex 23, Will 23

Speed 8

M Gore (Standard; at-will)

+16 vs. AC; 2d6+5 damage and target is knocked prone. If gore is used when charging, target is also pushed 3 spaces.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages –

Str 21 (+10)	Dex 18 (+9)	Wis 18 (+9)
Con 18 (+9)	Int 3 (+1)	Cha 5 (+2)

Tactics

The goat charges back and forth, suffering opportunity attacks as necessary.

Giant Mutant Pig

Level 10 Elite Brute

Huge Natural Beast

XP 1,000

Initiative +7

Senses Perception +7

Filth Aura aura 5; All other creatures besides pigs in the aura take a -2 penalty to their fortitude defenses.

Noxious Stench (poison) aura 2; Enemies starting their turn in the aura take 6 poison damage.

HP 262; Bloodied 131

AC 24; Fortitude 26, Reflex 20, Will 23

Saving Throws +2

Speed

Action Points 1

M Chomp (Standard; at-will)

+13 vs. AC; 3d6+5 damage.

c Flatulence (Minor; encounter, recharge when first bloodied) ♦ poison

Close blast 5; +11 vs. Fortitude; 4d10+5 poison damage and target is dazed (save ends). This attack ignores the marked condition.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages

Str 23 (+11)	Dex 14 (+7)	Wis 15 (+7)
Con 21 (+10)	Int 2 (+1)	Cha 3 (+1)

Tactics

The pig attacks whoever has damaged it the most unless marked. If flanked, the it uses its flatulence power against the enemy(ies) behind it.

Friends & Foes: Warforged Octopus

Asmor — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:25:10 +0000

Warforged Octopus

Description

The light from two ominously-glowing reflect off the assorted metal plates covering this creature’s bulbous head. Long, cable-like tentacles trail behind it.

Warforged Octopus

Level 7 Elite Soldier

Large Natural Magical Beast (aquatic, living construct)

XP 600

Initiative +8

Senses Perception +5, darkvision

HP 166; Bloodied 83; see also warforged resolve

AC 25; Fortitude 23, Reflex 21, Will 18

Saving Throws +2

Speed swim 8

Action Points 1

M Grab (Standard; at-will)

Reach 2; +14 vs. AC; 1d8+5 damage and target is grabbed. The warforged octopus can grab any number of enemies.

c Squeeze (Standard; at-will)

Close burst 2; grabbed targets only; +12 vs. Fortitude; 2d6+5 damage.

Warforged Resolve (Minor, usable only while bloodied; encounter)

The warforged octopus gains 41 temporary hit points

Threatening Reach

The warforged octopus can make opportunity attacks against all enemies within its reach (2 squares).

Iron Grip

The warforged octopus gains a +5 bonus to fortitude defense for the purpose of enemies attempting to escape grabs.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages Understands common

Str 20 (+8)	Dex 16 (+6)	Wis 14 (+5)
Con 19 (+7)	Int 6 (+1)	Cha 8 (+2)

Tactics

The warforged octopus attempts to grab the nearest enemy and then begins squeezing it until it dies. It does not specifically attempt to grab other creatures, though it very well may get them if they provoke opportunity attacks from it.

Artwork is of the Arcbound Fiend from Magic: the Gathering, and belongs to Wizards of the Coast

Friends & Foes: The Skreed

Asmor — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:09:04 +0000

Long ago, a tribe of humans mastered the arts of necromancy and used them to great effect. Zombies and skeletons served them at war and at home, as soldiers and servants. The gods punished the Skreed for their meddling in the dark arts by cursing them. The Skreed were banished to the Shadowfell and twisted into humanoid rats.

Skreed Boneblade

Level 4 Soldier

Small Shadow Humanoid

XP 175

Initiative +0

Senses Perception +9, darkvision

HP 58; Bloodied 29

AC 20; Fortitude 17, Reflex 16, Will 16

Resist necortic 5; Vulnerable radiant 5

Speed 6

Action Points 1

M Boneblade (Standard; at-will)

+11 vs. AC; 2d8+3 damage and target is marked.

r Evil Eye (Minor; encounter) ♦ fear

Ranged 6; +9 vs. Will; target is dazed (save ends).

c Sap Soul (Immediate Reaction, when marked target makes an attack which doesn’t include the Skreed Boneblade as a target; recharge 6) ♦ necrotic

Close burst 5; triggering enemy only; +9 vs. Fortitude; 3d6+4 necrotic damage.

Alignment Evil

Languages Common, Skreed

Skills Arcana +9, Stealth +8

Str 17 (+5)	Dex 13 (+3)	Wis 15 (+4)
Con 18 (+6)	Int 15 (+4)	Cha 12 (+3)

Tactics

The Boneblade engages what it deems to be the biggest threat, attempting to neutralize it by forcing it into one-on-one combat.

Skreed Filth-hurler

Level 4 Artillery

Small Shadow Humanoid

XP 175

Initiative +6

Senses Perception +8

HP 45; Bloodied 22

AC 16; Fortitude 16, Reflex 17, Will 16

Resist necrotic 5; Vulnerable radiant 5

Speed 6

M Bone Spear (Standard; at-will)

+11 vs. AC; 1d6+4 damage.

R Throw Organs (Standard; at-will) ♦ necrotic

Ranged 10; +11 vs AC; 1d10+4 necrotic damage and target takes ongoing 5 necrotic damage (save ends).

r Evil Eye (Minor; encounter) ♦ fear

Ranged 6; +9 vs. Will; target is dazed (save ends).

a Bulging Spleen (Standard; encounter) ♦ necrotic

The skittering skreed makes a Throw Organs attack. If it hits, all enemies adjacent to the target also take 5 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends).

Alignment Evil

Languages Common, Skreed

Skills Arcana +10, Stealth +11

Str 12 (+3)	Dex 18 (+6)	Wis 13 (+3)
Con 15 (+4)	Int 17 (+5)	Cha 15 (+4)

Tactics

The filth-hurler prefers ranged attacks and takes pains to ensure it keeps its range from enemies. It uses the bulging spleen at the earliest opportunity to catch at least two foes in its area of effect, and it saves its evil eye to aid escape in case cornered.

Skreed Herder

Level 5 Controller (Leader)

Small Shadow Humanoid

XP 200

Initiative +6

Senses Perception +4

Necrotizing Aura aura 6; Undead allies who start their turn in the aura regain 1d6 hit points.

HP 61; Bloodied 30

AC 19; Fortitude 16, Reflex 19, Will 17

Resist necrotic 5; Vulnerable radiant 5

Speed 6

M Touch of the Grave (Standard; at-will) ♦ necrotic

+9 vs. Reflex; 1d6+4 damage and target is weakened (save ends).

R Necrotic Ray (Standard; at-will) ♦ necrotic

Ranged 10; +9 vs. Reflex; 1d6+4 necrotic damage and target is slowed (save ends)

r Evil Eye (Minor; encounter) ♦ fear

Ranged 6; +9 vs. Will; target is dazed (save ends).

c Goad (Standard; at-will)

Close burst 1; an undead ally in the burst may immediately take a charge action, moving up to an additional 2 squares and dealing 5 extra points of damage on a hit.

Alignment Evil

Languages Common, Skreed

Skills Arcana +12, Religion +12, Stealth +11

Str 11 (+2)	Dex 18 (+6)	Wis 15 (+4)
Con 13 (+3)	Int 20 (+7)	Cha 15 (+4)

Tactics

The Skreed Herder is never encountered without several undead minions. It uses its goad ability to intercept enemies who approach too close, and uses necrotic ray when there are no more undead for it to goad. Its touch of the Grave ability is used only as a last defense, it prefers to stay out of melee.

Skreed Blacktotem

Description

The ultimate form of Skreed necromancy, the blacktotem is a towering column of bones held together by necrotic energy. It moves on dozens of spindly legs and clawed arms grasp out menacingly from all over the blacktotem.

Skreed Blacktotem

Level 8 Elite Brute

Large Shadow Animate (construct, undead)

XP 700

Initiative +7

Senses Perception +7

Scrabbling Claws aura 1; The blacktotem may make a basic melee attack as a free action against enemies starting their turn in the aura.

HP 220; Bloodied 110

AC 20; Fortitude 21, Reflex 20, Will 20

Immune necrotic; Vulnerable radiant 5

Saving Throws +2

Speed 5

Action Points 1

M Claw Swipe (Standard; at-will)

+11 vs. AC; 2d6+5 damage

Subsume (Standard; at-will) ♦ healing

The blacktotem absorbs an adjacent corpse or unconscious creature into its mass, regaining 25 hit points.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages –

Str 20 (+9)	Dex 17 (+7)	Wis 16 (+7)
Con 20 (+9)	Int 2 (+0)	Cha 15 (+6)

Tactics

The Skreed Blacktotem wades into combat via the most direct route possible. Whenever any creature– friend or enemy– falls to 0 hit points, the blacktotem moves towards that enemy to subsume it.

Skittering Skreed

Description

When a skreed dies, the necromantic energy it wielded in life has so permeated its body and soul that it is a trivial matter to raise it as a resilient, if not very formidable, undead.

Skittering Skreed

Level 3 Minion

Small Shadow Humanoid (undead)

XP 37

Initiative +3

Senses Perception +3, darkvision

HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.

AC 17; Fortitude 16, Reflex 15, Will 15

Vulnerable radiant (see necrovitality below)

Speed 6

M Claw (Standard; at-will)

+8 vs. AC; 4 damage.

Necrovitality ♦ necrotic

After skittering skreed is reduced to 0 hit points, the next time its initiative comes up, it attempts a saving throw. If successful, the skittering skreed is restored to 1 hit point and may act normally. The skittering skreed automatically fails this save if it’s been dealt radiant damage during the encounter.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages –

Skills Stealth +8

Str 17 (+4)	Dex 15 (+3)	Wis 14 (+3)
Con 17 (+4)	Int 2 (-3)	Cha 3 (-3)

Skreed Lore

A character knows the following information with a successful Arcana check.

DC 15: The Skreed are a race of rat-like humanoids which hail from the Shadowfell.
DC 20: Skreed are known for their affinity for necromantic magic, and are often found with undead minions. Skreed are also capable of striking fear into the hearts of their enemies.
DC 25: The Skreed are resistant to necrotic damage, but vulnerable to radiant. They were once humans, but were cursed by the gods for their endemic usage of necromancy.

Friends & Foes: The Battle Medic

Asmor — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:28:41 +0000

The classic dilemma… Nobody wants to play the healer, but it’s very helpful if not outright necessary. Frequently, some DMs run an NPC healer, and that job is made particularly simple thanks to 4th edition! Below, find 6 medics designed to be moderately effective healers, though nowhere near as good as a PC.

Medic, level 1

Level 1 Skirmisher (Leader)

Medium Natural Humanoid

XP 100

Initiative +1

Senses Perception +3

First Aid aura 1; Allies in the aura gain a +1 bonus to all saving throws.

HP 29; Bloodied 14

AC 15; Fortitude 13, Reflex 13, Will 14

Speed 6

M Spear (Standard; at-will)

Reach 2; +6 vs. AC; 4 damage

m Patch Up (Standard; encounter) ♦ healing

An adjacent ally may spend a healing surge and regain his surge value in hit points.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages Common

Skills Heal +11

Str 11 (+0)	Dex 13 (+1)	Wis 16 (+3)
Con 13 (+1)	Int 13 (+1)	Cha 10 (+0)

Medic, level 6

Level 6 Skirmisher (Leader)

Medium Natural Humanoid

XP 250

Initiative +6

Senses Perception +6

First Aid aura 1; Allies in the aura gain a +1 bonus to all saving throws.

HP 72; Bloodied 36

AC 20; Fortitude 18, Reflex 18, Will 18

Speed 6

M Spear (Standard; at-will)

Reach 2; +11 vs. AC; 5 damage

m Patch Up (Standard; recharge 6) ♦ healing

An adjacent ally may spend a healing surge and regain his surge value plus an addition 1d6 hit points.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages Common

Skills Heal +14

Str 13 (+4)	Dex 16 (+6)	Wis 19 (+7)
Con 16 (+6)	Int 16 (+6)	Cha 13 (+4)

Medic, level 11

Level 11 Skirmisher (Leader)

Medium Natural Humanoid

XP 600

Initiative +9

Senses Perception +10

First Aid aura 1; Allies in the aura gain a +2 bonus to all saving throws.

HP 114; Bloodied 57

AC 25; Fortitude 23, Reflex 23, Will 24

Speed 6

M Spear (Standard; at-will)

Reach 2; +14 vs. AC; 6 damage

m Patch Up (Standard; recharge 56) ♦ healing

An adjacent ally may spend a healing surge and regain his surge value plus an addition 1d6 hit points.

m Panacea (Standard; encounter)

An adjacent ally may immediately make a saving throw against an ongoing effect.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages Common

Skills Heal +16

Str 12 (+6)	Dex 18 (+9)	Wis 21 (+10)
Con 18 (+9)	Int 18 (+9)	Cha 15 (+7)

Medic, level 16

Level 16 Skirmisher (Leader)

Medium Natural Humanoid

XP 1,400

Initiative +13

Senses Perception +15

First Aid aura 1; Allies in the aura gain a +2 bonus to all saving throws.

HP 157; Bloodied 78

AC 30; Fortitude 28, Reflex 28, Will 29

Speed 6

M Spear (Standard; at-will)

Reach 2; +21 vs. AC; 8 damage

m Patch Up (Standard; recharge 56) ♦ healing

An adjacent ally may spend a healing surge and regain his surge value plus an addition 1d6 hit points.

m Panacea (Standard; recharge 6)

An adjacent ally may immediately make a saving throw against an ongoing effect.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages Common

Skills Heal +18

Str 15 (+10)	Dex 21 (+13)	Wis 24 (+15)
Con 21 (+13)	Int 21 (+13)	Cha 18 (+12)

Medic, level 21

Level 21 Skirmisher (Leader)

Medium Natural Humanoid

XP 3,200

Initiative +16

Senses Perception +18

First Aid aura 1; Allies in the aura gain a +3 bonus to all saving throws.

HP 199; Bloodied 99

AC 35; Fortitude 33, Reflex 33, Will 34

Speed 6

M Spear (Standard; at-will)

Reach 2; +26 vs. AC; 9 damage

m Patch Up (Standard; recharge 56) ♦ healing

An adjacent ally may spend a healing surge and regain his surge value plus an addition 2d6 hit points.

m Panacea (Standard; recharge 56)

An adjacent ally may immediately make a saving throw against an ongoing effect.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages Common

Skills Heal +21

Str 17 (+13)	Dex 23 (+16)	Wis 26 (+18)
Con 23 (+16)	Int 23 (+16)	Cha 20 (+15)

Medic, level 26

Level 26 Skirmisher (Leader)

Medium Natural Humanoid

XP 9,000

Initiative +21

Senses Perception +22

First Aid aura 1; Allies in the aura gain a +3 bonus to all saving throws.

HP 242; Bloodied 121

AC 40; Fortitude 38, Reflex 38, Will 39

Speed 6

M Spear (Standard; at-will)

Reach 2; +31 vs. AC; 11 damage

m Patch Up (Standard; recharge 56) ♦ healing

An adjacent ally may spend a healing surge and regain his surge value plus an addition 2d6 hit points.

m Panacea (Standard; recharge 56)

An adjacent ally may immediately make a saving throw against an ongoing effect.

c Noble Sacrifice (When reduced to 0 hit points; daily) ♦ healing

Close burst 20; All allies in the burst immediately regain hit points as if they’d spent a healing surge, plus 3d6 hit points.

Alignment Unaligned

Languages Common

Skills Heal +25

Str 20 (+18)	Dex 26 (+21)	Wis 29 (+22)
Con 26 (+21)	Int 26 (+21)	Cha 23 (+19)