Gray Linnorm... [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

visigani

2013-10-28, 04:42 AM

Speaking of Racial Class levels worth taking...

Gray Linnorm is a huge dragon, and all the benefits that entails...
Str 24, Dex 11, Con 20, Int 14, Wis 19, Cha 17
Oh, and it has 13 hit die.
No level adjustment.
And casts as a lvl 17 Cleric.
And it flies. =)

AlanBruce

2013-10-28, 05:15 AM

Linnorms, unless reprinted elsewhere, are found in the Monster Manual 2.

Many argue against the validity of the creature's designed in there. Particularly CR wise.

The biggest offender I can recall is the Adamantine Horror, infamous for having Disjunction and Implosion at will...at CR 9.

As a villain? Sure, it would make a horrendously powerful one, assuming you changed its feats and chose to rewrite his spell list and domains (can't remember if they gave a set list in his entry).

Looking at it, you could give it cleric spellcasting = to his HD plus any class levels you wish to add, if any.

If you go that route, expect a well optimized party to take him down, since they will be flying and flinging spells/maneuvers/etc at this guy. Play him like any smart dragon ought to be- hidden, pre buffed and with minions.

Oddly enough, I'm building a Corpse Tearer Linnorm encounter for my party, but that thing can be monstrous if redesigned for an epic party.

TuggyNE

2013-10-28, 06:06 AM

eggynack

2013-10-28, 06:13 AM

LA -, or LA +0? :smallconfused:
It seems to be LA -, so this doesn't work. Specifically, I can't see a level adjustment listed at all, either - or +0, which I think defaults to -.

TuggyNE

2013-10-28, 06:45 AM

It seems to be LA -, so this doesn't work. Specifically, I can't see a level adjustment listed at all, either - or +0, which I think defaults to -.

That's kinda what I thought (and hoped; WotC was not quite that careless, seemingly), but it's always best to make sure.

Karnith

2013-10-28, 06:53 AM

It seems to be LA -, so this doesn't work. Specifically, I can't see a level adjustment listed at all, either - or +0, which I think defaults to -.
That's correct. Monster Manual 2 is 3.0 content, meaning that when it was made WotC didn't have a set way of dealing with LA/ECL. Monsters lacking a LA entry are not suitable for player use, though (unlike the weird RAW on templates with no LA entry), so it doesn't really matter if a monster has no listed LA or is just LA: -.

If that isn't sufficient to convince, though, the MMII update booklet (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718a) clearly specifies Gray Linnorms as LA: -.

Kuulvheysoon

2013-10-28, 09:21 AM

That's correct. Monster Manual 2 is 3.0 content, meaning that when it was made WotC didn't have a set way of dealing with LA/ECL. Monsters lacking a LA entry are not suitable for player use, though (unlike the weird RAW on templates with no LA entry), so it doesn't really matter if a monster has no listed LA or is just LA: -.

If that isn't sufficient to convince, though, the MMII update booklet (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718a) clearly specifies Gray Linnorms as LA: -.

Better answer than me - I was just going to point out that it specifically lists the ECL of playable monsters in the MM2 (not the LA; the ECL), and Linnorms are not among their number.