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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 3:47PM
#1
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XunValDorl_of_HouseKilsek
Date Joined:
May 31, 2003
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I was looking through the Open Grave book and I was reading up on Strahd and Osterneth. Well we all know that Strahd was a powerful Necromancer and the book even tells this, well there is nothing to hint at that in his stats block. He doesn't even posses the Arcana skill, nor does he have any spells.
Osterneth is of course a lich and in her little secret lore column it talks about her raising legions of undead to oust would be conquerors, well there is nothing in her stats block that allows her to do this. She doesn't even posses the Arcane skill.
The stats of the creature need to at least be on par with the little bit of fluff they do give them. If your characters make a lore check and find out that so and so is a great wizard and yet so and so can't cast spells because it's not in his or her stat block then that is pretty much a waste of time and lore.
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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 3:56PM
#2
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I was looking through the Open Grave book and I was reading up on Strahd and Osterneth. Well we all know that Strahd was a powerful Necromancer and the book even tells this, well there is nothing to hint at that in his stats block. He doesn't even posses the Arcana skill, nor does he have any spells.
Well, technically no monsters have spells, as monsters don't have power sources. That being said, it's perfectly allowable to let both raise legions of undead through the use of rituals. The only way I've seen so far to actually raise undead during combat is with the Death Master template.
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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 4:01PM
#3
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Date Joined:
Jul 14, 2004
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This is mostly because the skills they have aren't going to come up in a way that needs stats, or is really helped by having them. The fact that they're a powerful necromancer is best communicated by the fact that in an encounter they're surrounded by undead they summoned, or that you spent the last 5 sessions mowing through an undead army. It's counterproductive tying into rules stating exactly how many/ how tough/ when/ which undead/ how long it takes to summon them compared to letting the DM decide "he can have 2 of these, 1 of these, and oooh, those look cool".
Equally, they're not going to need Arcana rolls when you meet them (I can't think of an Arcana roll you're going to make mid-fight), and that is represented a lot better by the fact that you meet them when they're in the middle of completing their dark ritual of ultimate doom or similar.
And while many necromancers may fight by magically sucking your life energy, it's certainly not the defining aspect.
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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 4:07PM
#4
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Monsters don't exist outside of statblocks in 4e. They spawn and live for five rounds before dying.
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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 4:10PM
#5
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Date Joined:
Jul 19, 2006
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Monsters don't exist outside of statblocks in 4e. They spawn and live for five rounds before dying.
Or to put it more accurately.
Stats don't determine what the monster does outside of the five rounds of combat with the party, the DM decides.
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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 4:12PM
#6
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Statblocks only show what's important in combat. Raising legions of undead? Done out of combat for the most time. Done and done. If you find problems with that, how come you don't mention that PC's don't have the ability "Breath" as a free action?
If you have questions about 4th Edition - don't hesitate to ask me via PMs. Join the Community Monster Manual Group and help to collect a mass of monsters which will make your life as DM easier, and your life as Player pure hell!  I am a cartographer. You can find some of my maps in my profile, free for non-commercial use. Also, if you happen to like maps or make them yourselves, join into the Cartographers Group!
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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 4:13PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jul 14, 2004
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Monsters don't exist outside of statblocks in 4e. They spawn and live for five rounds before dying.
To be more accurate, the rules for the monster don't exist to do out-of-combat things. Because what they do out of combat should be in the DMs purview anyway, rather than telling the DM "no, he can only achieve this task"
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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 4:17PM
#8
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Date Joined:
Nov 13, 2004
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The one glaring example of fluff not matching the stats is the 'Serpentskin Armor' which lets you super-Shift once a day.
"Made from the discarded scales of a giant snake, this armor will carries the serpent's resistance to poison."
4e D&D is not a "Tabletop MMO." It is not Massively Multiplayer, and is usually not played Online. Come up with better descriptions of your complaints, cuz this one means jack ****.
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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 4:20PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Jul 28, 2002
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Statblocks only show what's important in combat. Raising legions of undead? Done out of combat for the most time. Done and done. If you find problems with that, how come you don't mention that PC's don't have the ability "Breath" as a free action?
Wait, so PCs wouldn't be able to breathe while stunned?
Yes, the latest book/release that you don't like is a blatant attempt by Wizards of the Coast to make money off the fanbase. They all are. That's kinda the point of the Free Enterprise system, companies are in it to make money... Spoiler:
Show
You can't! I tried... and the next night masked men came into my house and beat me until I burned up my ranger character sheet and rolled a scout. They told me... if I ever thought of making a non-essential character that they would kill mitsy..... OH GOD THEY ARE COMING BACK AND ARE FORCING ME TO BUY HEROES OF SHADOWS! SOMEONE STOP THEM PLEASE!
Your DM is your friend. He's not trying to screw with you, or dick you around. Play your character how your character would act. Accept that your character won't always be able to do what he's best at, but also know that as a goddamn HERO, he's gonna try to do his best at what he can do.
Roleplay your goddamn character, make the decisions he would make, and roll appropriately. Everything will be fine.
But filling a post with vitriol, hate-filled comments, like "these people should be fired", swearing at us or other ambiguous members of the company - there really is no reason for that. Please share your feedback respectfully, and consider how you would share your ideas if this were a face to face conversation between real people, not faceless names on a screen.
If you see me posting in a thread about editions or Essentials (that isn't simply a rules thread or similar) remind me that I'm trying to stay away from them. (My blood pressure will thank us both.)
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4 years ago ::
Apr 09, 2009 - 4:22PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Dec 16, 2008
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I agree with the OP. She's missing a couple of key details: a standard encounter power to raise a legion of undead, and an encounter minor action to seduce and betray a King.
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