Wandering Monsters: Basic Beasties

This week takes a brief look at some classics; the bulette (aka landshark), manticore, owlbear, and pseudodragon.

I could not find any stats for the bulette in Next, but if the manticore and owlbear are any indication I am guessing that it is going to be about as…straightforward as it was in 3rd Edition, where it could bite and claw you, or jump and for some reason only claw you a bunch of times. These are all pretty good examples of what I dislike about many monsters in Next: they just kind of stand there and trade blows until someone dies/runs away.

The manticore barely deviates from the formula by having a fly speed and ranged attack, so it can stay out of reach of the fighter and just annoy everyone with tail spikes until it runs out. One thing that gets me is, in a game where so many things are for some reason based on a per-day refresh, why they regrow at a rate of 1/hour (a rate that I would prescribe for many things, like hit points and spells). At any rate the most compelling out of the bunch goes to the owlbear, because if it hits you twice you are grabbed, and grabbed actually does something.

I am not surprised that there is nothing fresh about them, but given the existence of 4th Edition, Dungeon World, and 13th Age I am disappointed that this is what we are getting (especially after a year and a half). Oh, it is a bulette, it will bite you, or claw you, or maybe leap on you and claw you four times because for some reason it can leap really high.

4th Edition’s bulette could dig tunnels, causing characters to fall (and dealt bonus damage against prone characters), or burst from the ground and attack everyone nearby. These two moves go a long way to evoke feeling that you are fighting something that can quickly burrow underground, suddenly surfacing to strike. These are not even things that “need” a grid; if a bulette burrows underground everyone nearby has to make a saving throw to avoid falling, and when it pops out it gets to make an attack against everyone nearby. Of course if characters split up then it might just go for the squishies, which forces them to make a choice.

Dragon’s-Eye View: Making of an Owlbear, Part 2

Another encounter with owlbears? At least, to a point, it indicates that they are paying attention.

I never really liked the whole “a wizard did it” treatment. Not just because I have no seen magic that let a wizard fuse two things together–which could be pretty awesome–but because it also seems lazy. Even so I like Oldgrump and his sasquatch-like gait, while the beak on Longbeak does not make me think of owl (even though it matches what we have seen), and Tallgrizz’s action-hero pose seems kind of out of place.

Out of track 2 I actually kind of like Screecher. I could see it as an owlbear-variant, but I think I would actually prefer it as another monster entirely. While I do not particularly care for the Gorillowl, to me it looks more like result of a wizard’s experimentations or bizarre magical mutations. Again I would prefer something else for the “core owlbear”, but could see room for both.

The “Grizzowl” is basically exactly what I want: it looks bear-like, dangerous, and seems to walk mostly on all four legs. My only problems are that it looks too expressive (like, sinister), and I guess the beak could be a bit bigger, though I can still easily imagine it mauling adventurers to death with just its claws, chowing down, and then barfing up massive pellets later.

Dragon’s-Eye View: The Making of an Owlbear

It has been hard keeping up with a homebrew campaign, a homebrew ruleset, blogging, and…well…Diablo III, so I will try to keep this brief:

I prefer the first owlbear he pitches, as it looks more bear than…gorilla, I guess? Do not get me wrong, the second one certainly looks menacing, even if it seems to be cribbing the krenshar’s shtick. It just does not look like either what I have come to expect, or what I would expect.

Of course, assuming I am correct with the whole “made by a wizard” origin, there is always room for an owl-gorilla hybrid. I wonder what it would be called, though? Owlape? Owlilla? Holy-crap-I-soiled-myself? The art on both is great. More than a few steps up from what I have seen, and I hope that that quality persists.

Supporting Cast: Owlbear Companion

Wyatt’s got a thing where he makes sample companions, which got me for some reason thinking about the baby owlbear from The Whispering Cairn. Companions were “officially” introduced in Dungeon Master’s Guide 2, and are mostly used to fill out empty party slots and/or as guest stars for an encounter or two. I think they would also be awesome for players that are dead, or if the party is split up. I know I had fun playing the dog in Dragon Age.

Anywho, if you decide to run Age of Worms (again?), here’s a stat block for the lil’ guy.

Notes: Removed double attack, though I could see that being added back in at a later level as an encounter attack. Reduced stunning screech so that it only dazes for a turn instead of save ends (though I could see it gradually scaling back up to that point).