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I’m not saying this might show up sometime in case anyone is reading this that it might matter to, I’m just saying that hobgoblins might have a troop like that takes care of their sneakier things.

And I’m not saying that if you did run into one of these you wouldn’t find them in pairs or even trios…

Or for the worst offenders, say perhaps a group that killed a high ranking hobgoblin officer that was out gathering toys for the grand hobgoblin marshall’s birthday present, you might run into a whole herd of the things.

You can get a PDF and the monster builder filer here [Download not found]

Created this little gem of a guy that you could use if you like.  He’s designed for a swamp but it coulde a Woods Walker almost as well, just reskin the obvious powers into a basic force blast of some kind.  Maybe dust or dirt or leaves or whatever.

You can grab a copy of the monster builder files and a pdf here – [Download not found]

And here’s a basic screenshot of the creature you could print out but it doesn’t include the Animate Trees.  Just grab the download for the PDF.

The basic tactics would entail using the swamp spew on its enemies to weaken them by making them easier to hit, then typically it would summon two animate trees and use the surging wave ability to push creatures away that are trying to get flanking on it while just smashing the crap out of everything that approaches.  It does have a ranged attack as a minor action that it can use where plants near the target lash out at it.  If you use this then I’d recommend you add in some ‘high ground’ for one or two characters, a rock pile where a character can escape the minor attack, that kind of thing.  But its your encounter do with it as you will.

Came up with this as a possible encounter for a group of level 4-5 level 3 characters.  [Disclaimer with the house rules I use this is an actually viable encounter creature even though it's 7 levels higher than the group, your mileage may vary.]

This is just an example of tweaking an existing creature.  I took the Hill Giant which is a level 12 brute, dropped his level in the character builder, reset the damages a bit to nudge him closer to a soldier while keeping the defenses and hit points etc of the brute, and added in a couple of powers as the default Hill Giant would be boring as a boss encounter.  With the other things I’ve got planned for this encounter I think it’ll be a good BBEG level encounter for the group.

You can grab the monster builder file here [Download not found] and an image of the creature below you could print out.

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Someone asked so here you go.  THese are the creatures I created for last week’s sessions, they all weren’t deployed.  They’re designed versus a level 1 party with 5 members.   The encounters ranged from around 750xp budget to  1200xp for the ‘boss’ level encounter budget.  There are six possible encounters, they bypassed one from good rolls during a skill challenge (and the challenge grants the same amount of XP).  Total experience is around 5000 not that I track it that way.  As a plot point they’d level at the natural stopping point after encounter six.

You can get the Monster Builder files here – [Download not found]

And here’s images of the creature stats that you could print out if you like that kind of thing.

These are the undead that I’m going to use in my house rules test.  Someone wanted them and I do try to be reasonably obliging.

You can use the images below or you can down the pdf’s [Download not found], [Download not found], [Download not found], [Download not found].  I’m also using the new Export function of the Monster Builder and you can grab the .monster files – [Download not found] if you kinda like these but want to tweak them to your own needs.

It’s interesting but for any non-published stuff I find myself just making my own creatures.  That’s another subtle but very huge draw/benefit of 4th edition.  That you can make almost auto-balanced creatures without any issue that are actually interesting.

Got to take my boys to a birthday party so I can’t really expand on this but surely these can give you some ideas…

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Wanted to post these to compare for later.  Original designs by malcom_n and Character Builder images by Thornbrier.  You can see the original thread here.

Just thought I might want to look at this again sometime although it’s pretty common sense. The Vulnerability 10 should be modified I believe to scale with tier, 5 for heroic, 10 for paragon, 15 for epic or something along those lines.  +10 damage at level 1 from an at-will like Scorching Burst would pretty much decimate any swarm in very short order.

I’ve used Rat Swarms and Drake Swarms to good effect, the adjacent attack can be a constant brutality if you’re rolling well against the players.

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Swarm Template (Elite Soldier)

Vulnerability 10 close and area attacks.

Saving Throws +2

Action Point 1

Hit Points +8 per level + Constitution score

The creature gains the Swarm keyword.

Size increases by two steps (tiny > medium, small > large, medium > huge, large > gargantuan). Reach remains the same as that of the original creature.

Mounted creatures can be turned into swarms. Use the size of the mount (usually large) to determine the swarm’s new size. Use the mount’s speed to determine the swarm’s speed.

Powers

Swarm Attack
Aura; the swarm makes a basic melee attack as a free action against each enemy that begins its turn in the aura. The aura’s range equals the reach of the original creature.

Swarm Defenses
A swarm takes half damage from melee and ranged attacks. It is immune to forced movement (pull, push and slide) caused by such attacks.

Swarm Movement
The swarm can enter or move through an enemy’s space; this movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. An enemy can enter a space occupied by a swarm, but the space occupied by the swarm is considered difficult terrain, and doing so provokes an opportunity attack. A swarm can squeeze through any opening large enough to accomodate even one of its constituent creatures, i.e. it counts as two sizes smaller for the purpose of squeezing.

I needed something to terrorize a small town or large village and this seemed appropriate.  Unexplained deaths have been occurring over the last several months, with several inhabitants being found dead in their sleep without any marks on them.

People are scared, and now few people dare to sleep alone.  Even so people are still dying.  Tales spread of a large cat being seen prowling around or even leaping from the windows of those found dead, a great beast of a cat with green glittering eyes that glow from the shadows.   As the days go on, cats are hunted down and killed of all sizes and still the deaths continue.

A call has gone out for any brave adventurer’s that can help the imperiled village and their rewards will be great (well as great as a village of sheep farmers can offer).

I forsee a party passing through and hearing of the troubles or actively seeking it out.  They’ll investigaet the area and if they have good nature/perceptions they might find odd prints outside the house of the most recent dead.  An arcana, religion or history checks might give them clues as to the creature they’re looking for and this might lead them to search abandoned houses in the village since the Breathstealer is nocturnal.   The searching of the houses could have some non-related encounters.  Perhaps that run across a small chapter of thieves or thugs.   A house with a small crypt below it that has something dank and gross in it.

I think I’d lean toward them finding out a potential target of the creature, perhaps they’re smart enough to spread some gold among the beggars and orphans to keep an eye out, or maybe they get a report that a giant cat has been seen stalking around a particular house.  The breathstealer would stealth attack one of them leaving him dazed and bloodied on the ground perhaps and then retreat only to attack again from another direction much later on another solo target.

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Anyway here’s the [Download not found] in PDF or you can use the image below. -

This is Tat, Tit’s companion, both of who generally work for Blacksnake. Tat is a large creature, half giant, half tiefling maybe, no one’s really sure.  He delights in the simple pleasures in life, primarily throwing people around at the direction of Tit.  He loves grabbing the front line and using them as weapons against the casters in the back rows or simply leaping over their heads with his prodigious strength to land among the softer targets where he wreaks havoc with them while Tit turns those plate wearing defenders into so many dutch ovens.

Large brass knuckles adorn his hands, the left hand one enchanted in some fashion that generates a concussive boom when he lands a blow.

During a fight he’s constantly conversing with Tit at a battlefield level voice getting directions.  If on his own he’ll go after casters to the detriment of his own health who he has a savage hatred for as he believes it was only through magic that he was born.  A false belief but not one that is going to change for him.

He has lower than normal Hit Points and defenses for Brute but higher than typical damage output to make up for his shorter life span as a result.

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You can download him here – [Download not found]

Been so busy with building bunkbeds (which came out pretty darn nice if a bit rustic), being on call, and life in general that I haven’t had much time but I did knock out Tit, a companion for Blacksnake.  He’s a fire controller and has a brother called Tat who’s going to be either a pseudo-brute (brutes can be slow to fight) or perhaps a skirmisher but most likely something in between.

So here he is, nothing special really but if you need a fire based elite in a hurry he might work.  And here’s a PDF if you like that kind of thing. [Download not found]

Edit: Added image for him.

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Okay right now I’m not thrilled with the Monster Builder in some areas.  Yes it’s a great tool.  But…  there’s no caret in the text fields for editing the drop downs, there are NO options for printout, I need a HTML output option and I would say that most people would.  The colors are off the ‘official’ ones which given the source is a little surprising. Sometimes a power has an extra blank line in it that  just can’t get rid of.  This one below is an example of that.  So yes it’s great.  And yes it’s beta.

Anyway, this is Blacksnake, a wandering Bad Ass that is currently doing things that would eventually have him at odds with any PC’s of non-evil alignment.  Blacksnake is the master of the whip and can make it sit up and sing and dance and fetch him breakfast. He’s not a guy you want to screw with unless you really really have no option or you’re just one of those moral types that can’t leave well enough alone.

He travels with a retinue, on some occasions it’s a horde, of minions (not strictly in the 4th Edition definition of the word) and would rarely if ever be fought alone. Your needs may vary there of course, feel free to change that.

Here’s a crappy image of the character (click for a larger more legible one) and here’s a link to the pdf – [Download not found]

A rather nasty little bugger I came up with just now after thinking about zombies.  I’d really like to see a player fall to this during the fight and rise as zombie.

This creature should definitely be paired up with zombies of some sort.  Either zombie rotters as it’s current crop of ‘minions’ are decaying and falling apart or ‘healthier’ zombies that are still fresh and tough.  I’d even go so far as to reskin a Bonecrusher Skeleton as a zombie and add a couple of those to this encounter and have them be recent heroes that were slain and then whatever treasure you hand out for this encounter have it still hanging off them.

But then I’m mean like that.

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Zombee Level 6 Solo Skirmisher Small Natural Beast XP 1,250
Initiative +8 Senses Perception +6
Fuming Sores (disease) aura 1; Any creature not immune to disease that enters or starts its turn within the aura is dazed until the end of its next turn.
HP 288; Bloodied 144
AC 19; Fortitude 17, Reflex 20, Will 16
Immune disease, poison; Resist 10 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant
Saving Throws +5
Speed 5; fly 8 (hover)
Action Points 2
Jagged Swipe (Standard; at-will)
+11 vs. AC; 1d8+6 damage.
Erratic Attack Path (Standard; at-will)
The zombee shifts up to half it’s movement and makes up to two Jagged Swipes at any point in its movement.
Dripping Stinger (Standard; at-will)
+11 vs. AC; 2d8+6. The zombee may shift 2 squares before making the attack. Secondary attack: +9 vs. Reflex and target is grabbed. See Necrotic Poison
Necrotic Poison (Standard; encounter)
+9 vs. Fortitude; 3d10+6 damage. Requires the target to be subject to Dripping Stinger. Any creature that dies after being subject to this attack immediately  rises as a Zombie under the zombee’s control.
Bloodied Fluids (Free when first bloodied; encounter)
Necrotic Poison recharges.
Chitinous Melodies (Minor; recharge ) ♦ Fear
Close Burst 3; +9 vs. Will; 3d6+4 psychic damage and target is pushed 4 squares. Miss: half damage and target is knocked prone. Aftereffect: Target takes -2 penalty to attack rolls against the zombee (save ends).
Fragile
When bloodied the zombee’s wings are destroyed and it loses the ability to fly.
Alignment Unaligned Languages
Skills Intimidate +11, Stealth +11
Str 16 (+6) Dex 16 (+6) Wis 16 (+6) Con 16 (+6) Int 16 (+6) Cha 16 (+6)

Okay I’m reading through the Village of Hommlet 4th Edition version which is not so much a conversion as it is a faithful xerox of the original but with 4e stat blocks.  I don’t have a problem with that, it brings back memories, good ones.  The giant frog swallowing the halfling whole and the look of surprise and shock on the player’s face? Priceless.

But in reading this it brings up just how flat out stupid the bad guys aka everyone not the players are.  As an example (duplicated partially here without permission) -

Writing Desk: This table contains paper, ink and several notes written to “L” from “RD”.  Also is a letter from “L” to “H” describing…

Okay A, why the HELL does Lareth sign his letters with an L and put Dear H on them?  He KNOWS who they’re from and he KNOWS who they’re going to.  The person who gets them?  They KNOW who they’re from.  I doubt if H gets a lot of letters from other people about the guard setup in the moathouse.  And I doubt, actually I know, that Lareth only gets reports from Hommlet from one person.

If this was a unique event it might just be a set of really stupid bad guys.  But it’s not.  Wizards especially loves the not so secret ‘note’ aka big flashing red arrow to tell the characters who the spies and secret traitors and such are.

I’d just like to call for a boycott on secret notes and journals that require a DC Easy to find to hand spoon information to the PC’s.  Make them work for it!  Have the notes be cryptic and not bluntly obvious.  I think in secret agent 101 one of the first things they tell you is “Don’t sign your notes.”.

Something a little more involved and that would give a valuable reason for a little roleplay is “As you read through the cryptic notes that seem to be describing recent events in a town, you assume Hommlet,  you see that whoever wrote it is concerned that ‘the baker’ seems suspicious and keeps nosing around.’ “.

Now you have a perfect opportunity for the players to go check out the baker and see who he’s been hanging around.  And what if it’s not the baker but actually one of the apprentices, the agent doesn’t really know the difference.  And what if the apprentice is actually just hanging out on his breaks near the agent’s place so he can watch a certain girl at the well?  Now you have a whole crazy mixup just waiting to happen.

Unless they’re just really low intelligence and wisdom and are young as in this is their first time bossing, most bosses are going to have at least some idea on an escape route.  They know they’re likely to get overthrown either by a younger, stronger, smarter creature in their ranks or by some do-gooder PC party.  As an example my Zizzor Hive Mother had a power “Preserve The Species” (see below) that allowed the Mother to move her full speed as a minor action, granting her 3 moves, 4 moves if she used an Action Point or 32 squares of movement as an Get Out of Jail Free card when combined with her Savage Cry.   The final Boss in that series of encounters had an extended Fade Away power, he was a Gnome, and as a standard encounter action he could sustain the invisibility (but it broke if he took damage) and would use that if things looked really badly. So some smart work on the player’s parts and they could stop both bosses from getting away but the bosses did have a chance to get away.

Using those kinds of options helps get your players in the mindset that the bad guys aren’t just meatbags of hit points and they’re destined to win.  After one or two bosses get away with smart tactics or preperation (or even better drive the players away with overwhelming force but that’s another article) then they might start thinking inside the box and planning on keeping the boss contained while they fight it.  Rather than just assuming it’s going to stand there and die for them.

As an aside, speaking of Hommlet, let’s try and avoid the Grab Bag Effect of monster placement too.  No goblins in a room next to Gnolls next to Orcs next to Undead.  4E gives us this HUGE ability, that no prior edition came close to, in having a themed set of encounters.  My Zizzor one off is an example, good I think but then I’m biased, of how you can have a series of encounters that are interesting by simply incorporating a different mix of subtypes.

I know that it large part the grab bag o’ monster encounters was forced on DM’s by the lack of variety.  No player wants to go through a dungeon and have 18 fights of the same Orc to face the Hill Giant that’s leading them.  So they added in a mish mash of encounters to make the encounter series interesting even if it made no realistic sense.  But we don’t have to do that now.  Have your first fights with goblin foragers with a goblin warrior or two, then some goblin archers or sneaks and a goblin shaman, the big fat goblin boss with the twin elite wargs as guardians.   It’s all goblin, it makes sense but each fight plays out different depending on the mix of controller, soldier, minion etc.

And remember to have that big fat goblin boss have a bolt hole in case things look really badly.  And honestly if the party has just ripped a new one through your entire crew, most bosses should be gone by the time they get there.  If they’re smart.

As a parting thought I give you the playbook for any boss – The top 100+ things I’d do if were an evil overlord.

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Zizzer Clutch Mother Level 3 Solo Controller (Leader) Medium Natural Humanoid XP 750
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +9
Incite Bloodlust aura 5; each Zizzer within the aura deals +2 damage, +4 damage when bloodied.
HP 176; Bloodied 88
AC 17; Fortitude 15, Reflex 16, Will 16
Saving Throws +5
Speed 6
Action Points 2
Claw Strike (Standard; at-will)
+9 vs. AC; 1d8+3 damage.
Frenzied Attack (Standard; at-will)
Close burst 1; the clutch mother makes a Claw Strike against all enemies in the burst.
Poison Spray (Standard; recharge )
Close burst 2; targets non-zizzor; +7 vs. Fortitude; 3d6+3 damage and target is dazed (save ends).
Yes Mother (Minor; at-will)
Close Burst 8; One zizzor in the area makes a basic attack.
Savage Cry (Minor; encounter)
Close burst 4; +8 vs. Willpower; Targets are dazed until the end of the Clutch Mother’s next turn.
Preserve the Species (Minor; encounter)
Until the end of the Clutch Mother’s next turn it may move its full speed as a Minor Action.
Bloodrush (Immediate Reaction (when adjacent enemy is bloodied))
The Zizzer makes a basic melee attack as an immediate reaction when an adjacent target is bloodied.
Alignment Evil Languages Common, Draconic
Skills Bluff +7, Insight +9, Nature +9
Str 13 (+2) Dex 17 (+4) Wis 16 (+4) Con 12 (+2) Int 16 (+4) Cha 12 (+2)

In preparation to the “Running with Zizzors” I started printing out monster sheets last night (sample one below) and I need 12 of them.  And 5 sets of character sheets (2 pages + 1 spreadsheet of powers).  And miscellaneous tracking pages.  And the adventure itself.

And my printer decides to go tits up. And my laser printer doesn’t print colored monster pages very well at all.

So one dissection later and several wooden matches (W.T.F?!) removed later and it’s working again.  Yay!

This is the Shade Master, he’s going to show up with 24 minions of Shadow…

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Shade Master Level 4 Brute Medium Natural Humanoid XP 175
Initiative +3 Senses
HP 66; Bloodied 33
AC 15; Fortitude 17, Reflex 13, Will 12
Speed 6
Slam (Standard; at-will)
+7 vs. AC; 1d10+4 damage.
Smashing Darkness (Standard; at-will)
+7 vs. AC; 2d6+4 damage.
Enveloping Shadows (Standard; encounter)
Close Burst 3; +6 vs. reflex; all enemies in the area take 1d12+4 damage. Sustain minor, the area persists as a zone that causes blindness in all enemies that enter or start their turn in the zone.
Cast Shadows (Minor; at-will)
The Shade Master can teleport one shade within 20 squares to an empty square adjacent to him, or teleport one adjacent shade up to 10 squares.
Consuming Darkness (Minor; at-will)
The Shade Master can consume one tattered shade within 3 squares and gain a +4 power bonus on attack and damage rolls and 4 temporary hit points until the end of its next turn.
Alignment Chaotic Evil Languages
Str 18 (+6) Dex 13 (+3) Wis 10 (+2) Con 14 (+4) Int 9 (+1) Cha 10 (+2)

Mesh_Hong has come up with another ‘book of’ for your player annoying pleasure.  Filled to the brim with aberrant beasts, humanoids and things better left unlooked at the Book of Distant Stars should give you a little something creepy and slimy to hide under the next outre tavern the PC’s decide to stop at.  64 monters spread between level 2 and 12 and across all monster types should give you something to work with.

He has also added in a set of optional rules to go with some of the creatures that allow for Mental Disorders to really screw with your players.  Nothing like a jibbering phobic paranoic mass of huddle humanity trying to adventure together…

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I’ve re-written (okay it’s not a full write up just some notes on each encounter) the encounter of one area that I’ll be running to better fit the new setting I’m coming up with.

While the creature doesn’t give much away, I can’t really go into details on the setting as that would empower the players with information that would change the way they’re going to tackle the encounter so for now it’s just the first rough draft of the creature that I’ll be using.

But now I need to create something else as well in an Artillery form factor to go with this guy or the whole encounter doesn’t make much sense.

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Black Slime Thug

Black Slime Thug Level 4 Soldier Medium Aberrant Animate XP 175
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +3
Acidic Fumes (Acid) aura 1; after the black slime thug is bloodied, any creature that enters or starts its turn in the aura takes 5 damage.
HP 56; Bloodied 28
AC 20; Fortitude 18, Reflex 14, Will 14
Resist 5 acid, 5 necrotic; Vulnerable 5 radiant
Speed 6
Slam (Standard; at-will)
+11 vs. AC; 1d10+4 damage.
Double Fist (Standard; encounter)
+11 vs. AC; 3d8+4 damage.
Flow Step (Move; at-will)
The slime thug can shift up to 3 squares.
Death Splash (Immediate Reaction, when taken to 0 hit points) ♦ Acid
Close burst 1;+9 vs. Reflex; 1d10+4 damage and the target is blinded (save ends).
Alignment Unaligned Languages
Skills Intimidate +7, Stealth +9
Str 18 (+6) Dex 14 (+4) Wis 8 (+1) Con 16 (+5) Int 8 (+1) Cha 10 (+2)

In an effort to be extremely clever and witty I’m calling the module I’m writing for an upcoming session Running With Zizzors. Bow before my awesomeness and weep in joy. This module is for players new to 4th Edition and in the case of one, new to PnP RPG’ing due to hype and hysteria surrounding the hobby in it’s early days.  Ah those were the days, sitting around the pentagrams trying to summon Orcus using the spells out of the players handbook.  Sweet times indeed.

This is my current “Read Aloud” text that I will be presenting the players with at the start of the adventure -

“You are all residents of a medium sized fishing village on the shores of the Timpani sea.  The climate is moderate with mild winters.  The fishing fleets go out every week and return loaded with fish.  These fish are preserved, some in heavy brine, others dried and the very best ones are subject to rituals by the village ritualist and his apprentice that slow their decay so they can arrive at the city markets as fresh as they were pulled from the waters.

The area has many dangers, bandits from the hills to the south like to prey on travelers, wild animals and worse wander the countryside’s thick forests and low hills making travel a very dangerous thing for the solitary or weak.  To the east lay the dense marshes of Fenglidden (Black Marsh) swamps.  Tribes of reptilian humanoids known as Zizzors live on the edges of these fetid waters and stories abound of the greater dangers that lay deeper inward.

It was a successful trip and you have good news to report to the village, disease has wiped out a good portion of the beef herds so meat is at a premium and your barrels of fish brought a good price. You’re in a hurry to get home and the three day trip seems to drag on forever but finally the trip is drawing to a close.

But what’s this? A sullen glow lines the night sky south.  And as morning breaks, you see billowing smoke columns are on the horizon from where you know your village lies although several hours distant at the speed of the wagons.  You draw straws to see who will take the few horses and hurry on ahead leaving the plodding oxen to continue pulling the wagons of empty barrels.

As you come over the last rise the village lays before you.  Several  houses on the east side are nothing but burning embers,  others further in are partially burned or scorched.   Two of the big warehouses and the docks are in ruins.

You hurry down, weapons drawn to find the a pile of zizzor bodies, easily 20 or 30 of them and many shroud covered forms you know to be the bodies of your friends and relatives.

Elders of the village fill you in and answer your questions, a large force of zizzors attacked in the middle of the night setting fire to buildings and destroying and killing.  The villagers fought back but took heavy losses much as the hated reptiles had.

The one thing that sticks out to you from the stories is that the Zizzors seemed to be raiding with a purpose other than just random pillaging.    A head count reveals that several children are missing and feared taken but the remaining villagers are too few and there are too many wounded and injured to go after them.

But now that you’re here perhaps that can change, perhaps a quick chase could recover the children… or their bodies if the worst has already happened.”

The party, in my case, will consist of villagers, the best of the best so to speak and as a result they’re the only ones on hand able and capable of going after the zizzors with any speed or hope of success. It could just as easily be a group that’s passing through the village in the time of it’s need by land or perhaps they pulled into dock after spotting the fires and smoke from the oceans, whatever the reason they’re here now and tasked with saving the children.  That’s the good thing about using children, everyone with an ounce of compassion is going to make the attempt.  If the zizzors had raided the Home for Criminally Insane then perhaps it might not be as critical to save them.

And here’s one of the many types of Zizzor’s that I’ve created, not sure why I felt the need to make unique monsters for everything for this module since the people playing aren’t familiar with all the 4E monsters anyway but what the hell right?

Zizzor Spinethrower

Zizzer Spinethrower Level 2 Artillery Medium Natural Humanoid XP 125
Initiative +1 Senses Perception +7
HP 38; Bloodied 19
AC 14; Fortitude 14, Reflex 13, Will 13
Speed 6
Claw Strike (Standard; at-will)
+9 vs. AC; 1d6+3 damage.
Spine (Standard; at-will) ♦ Weapon
Ranged 10/20; +9 vs. AC; 1d10+3 damage.
Poisoned Spines (Standard; encounter) ♦ Poison
Ranged 10/20; 1d10+3 damage and target suffers 5 ongoing poison damage and is immobilized (save ends both).
Spine Volley (Standard; encounter)
Area burst 1 within 20; +9 vs. AC; 2d6+3 damage.
Bloodrush (Immediate Reaction (when adjacent enemy is bloodied))
The Zizzer makes a Claw Strike as an immediate action when an adjacent target is bloodied.
Alignment Evil Languages Common, Draconic
Skills Nature +7, Stealth +7
Str 13 (+2) Dex 14 (+3) Wis 12 (+2) Con 13 (+2) Int 10 (+1) Cha 12 (+2)

This is an old thread but still a valid one. A lot of monsters that didn’t make the ‘cut’ in the Monster Manual 1 (although this may no longer be valid in the Monster Manual 2) have been stat’ed out for our bemusement and in general aren’t too badly done, at least the ones I’ve read are within tweaking range if nothing else and most of them could be used as is without any issue I believe.

It includes creatures out to level 18′ish or so and while some of the options to be included are perhaps rather “Why?” there is the fact that in my opinion going through other people’s monsters is a great way to come up with monsters of your own.

If nothing else, and I’ve said this before I know, 4th edition finally adds interesting creatures for the DM to use.

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Another addition to the H1 – Keep on the Shadowfell module I’m planning on running as a one off for some folks.   This big guy will replace something somewhere, maybe in the keep’s kitchen…

I need to work on the story line too but there’s a lot of folks who’ve already exhaustively gone through the thing and tweaked it to make it more memorable to newcomers to the sport.  I’d like to add some RP moments throughout it rather than a loosely connected series of combat encounters.

Lore

Goblin Belchers are a rare breed of the goblinoids. Grotesquely obese they possess a size and strength that surpasses the average goblin. Voracious eaters they consume everything being true omnivores. Slow goblins have been known to vanish down their gullets when there’s nothing else to eat.

Their stomach acids have evolved to deal with the wide range of ‘food’ the belchers partake on and they can under need or duress vomit this bile and acid back up in a huge spray of noxious fluids.

Belchers are always found with goblin minions in attendance to fetch the food they crave and typically a belcher will have 4-6 goblins in tow as harvesters or in a pinch as a food supply.

Goblin Belcher Level 2 Elite Brute Medium Natural Humanoid XP 250
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +3
HP 88; Bloodied 44
AC 14; Fortitude 14, Reflex 14, Will 14
Resist Acid 5
Saving Throws +2
Speed 6
Action Points 1
Spiked Club (Standard; at-will) ♦ Weapon
+5 vs. AC; 2d6+3 damage.
Sweeping Smash (Immediate Reaction, when three or more enemies are in the burst.; at-will) ♦ Weapon
Close burst 1; +5 vs. AC; 1d6+3 damage and target is pushed 2.
Vomitus Mass (Standard; encounter) ♦ Acid
Close blast 3; +3 vs. Reflex; 2d10+3 damage and target is dazed and blinded (save ends both).
Backhand (Immediate Reaction, when a melee attack misses; at-will)
+5 vs. AC; 1d6+3 damage and target is pushed 1.
Alignment Evil Languages goblin
Skills Endurance +8, Intimidate +6, Stealth +5, Thievery +5
Str 17 (+4) Dex 9 (+0) Wis 12 (+2) Con 14 (+3) Int 8 (+0) Cha 10 (+1)
Equipment leather armour, goblin war club

Goblin Belcher Lore

A character knows the following information with a successful Nature check. DC 15: [Name, type and keywords] DC 20: [Powers] DC 25: [Resistances and vulnerabilities]

Another kobold I’m going to mix into the encounters in H1 Keep on the Shadowfell.  This one is a larger than average kobold with massive shoulders and arms and he gets by hurling rocks at targets and smashing people about with them.

While the image over there doesn’t completely match it isn’t too bad though, nice big arms and shoulders at least.

Image Credits

Kobold Rock Chucker Level 2 Elite Artillery Medium Natural Humanoid XP 250
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +3
HP 64; Bloodied 32
AC 14; Fortitude 15, Reflex 13, Will 13
Saving Throws +2
Speed 6
Action Points 1
Tosser (Standard; at-will) ♦ Weapon
Ranged 15/30; +9 vs. AC; 1d10+3 damage.
Smasher (Standard; at-will) ♦ Weapon
+9 vs. AC; 2d6+3 damage
Head Shot (Standard; encounter) ♦ Weapon
Ranged 15/30; +9 vs. AC; 3d6+3 damage and make a secondary attack against the same target. Secondary Attack: +7 vs. Fortitude; target is dazed (save ends).
Forearm Smash (Standard; recharge
+9 vs. AC; 2d10+3 damage and target is pushed 3 squares.
Shifty (Minor; at-will)
The kobold shifts one square.
Alignment Unaligned Languages Draconic, Common
Skills Stealth +8, Thievery +8
Str 16 (+4) Dex 11 (+1) Wis 12 (+2) Con 12 (+2) Int 9 (+0) Cha 10 (+1)
Equipment leather armour