Dante
2022-06-05, 10:32 PM
Everyone knows about Star Spawn Seer Psychic Comet + Star Spawn Hulk Psychic Mirror because MToF mentions it. Weirdly enough, MPMoM trims this text to be less clear about its tactical advice: it no longer says the hulk is "a vital part of a tactic often used by seers". What gives? Those were the best-spent ten words in MToF! Why did WotC take them out? In MPMoM the tactic is still obliquely mentioned, but it's easier to miss and sounds more like an occasional accident than a deliberate tactic on the part of the Seer.
Now that that's off my chest, here are some other thoughts in no particular order.
I don't like how Star Spawn Seers no longer trigger opportunity attacks because it actually weakens them--but I bet 99% of DMs never even realized that tactic existed anyway. (Walk up to a group of PCs, trigger an opportunity attack to move a Hulk into position, then Collapse Distance on a PC or nearby Star Spawn Grue so everybody takes double damage with no save, from Collapse Distance + Collapse Distance reflected off the Hulk). +1 more point for more DM guidance/"notorious for XYZ" blurbs which they should have done instead of trimming the most useful tactical advice in the whole book.
Hutijin's conversion bugs me Edit: on two levels: it's less challenging (why did he lose his saving throw disadvantage aura? It interacts so nicely with his fear-causing reaction, Symbol, etc.), and I hate the random damage types on his attacks now. Magical piercing+poison/slashing/bludgeoning made sense for his bite/claws/mace/tail, but fire/cold/force/thunder is just... incoherent. As well as extremely frustrating for barbarians and Blade Ward casters. A bite that does no piercing damage, only pure fire, what?
Huitijin is just one example of that trend but he's the most scattershot that I've seen. It's weird that white and black Abishai now do force damage with their longswords, but not quite as weird as his four separate weird damage types.
Armanites lost magical weapons which you'd think would be bad for the Blood War, but gained some HP and some lightning damage and proning which might be enough to offset the loss, and makes them stronger against PCs.
I do like the added Star Spawn art.
Giff: I thought the old way (where they only get Multiattack with pistols, and rely to a certain extent on Headfirst Charge to augment their melee damage) was more appealing and emphasized their love for firearms better than giving them longsword Multiattack does.
I don't love what they did to the Skulk either (reduction in damage, while making it not dependent on advantage).
They switched Drow Matron Mother summons from Retriever to Gabrezu, but I don't mind that change given what the Retriever lore says about its origins. The actual threat levels aren't actually that different--Glabrezu actually winds up with better to-hit and effective AC after casting Darkness (because of Truesight advantage). If it weren't for Retriever's paralyzing beam I would say the Glabrezu is stronger, but overall it's a slight reduction in power and a significant reduction in XP earned.
I dislike what they did to Shadar Kai Gloom Weaver, eliminating its access to Armor of Agathys/Fear/Hypnotic Pattern/Major Image/Eldritch Blast/etc. in favor of another spear attack. It leaves it much more of a one-trick pony. (At least they left Darkness + True Seeing combo intact, although most DMs will never notice it, thus illustrating why additional DM guidance would have been better than stat block changes.)
Similarly, Soul Mongers lost Chain Lightning and Seeming and gained 13 HP in exchange, which leaves them weaker and I don't like it.
Also, I don't like that all elves are now immune to Gloom Weaver and Soul Monger auras, instead of just Shadar Kai. It's unnecessary and doesn't seem logical based on the lore of the Shadowfell.
Initially I liked the Eladrin redesign and I still think it's an overall improvement, but between HP buffs and damage buffs to all the Eladrin including Summer (such that Summer is now arguably the weakest Eladrin, or tied with Winter, despite getting more HP and an extra d8 on every attack)... I'm less happy than I was before. It feels like an overcorrection, change for the sake of change. Again, DM guidance on how to use Summer Eladrin mobility + ranged firepower to tactical advantage would have been better.
The Dybbuk rewrite makes them far less interesting now, not only for combat but for weird stuff like learning deeply personal secrets or specialized skills. Now it's just a boring 20 temp HP.
It bothers me that Blue Abishai are now primarily blasters, and better at it than Red Abishai.
Annis Hags lost weapon resistance in exchange for only +15 HP. Whether you're using them as summons for their massive opportunity attacks, or using them as opponents who may have to have PCs with Animate Objects and conjured elks, it's an overall loss of durability. And if you're using them as summons, losing weapon resistance also means you no longer get ~double value out of healing spells and temp HP.
Bheur Hags on the other hand are significantly better as summons now due to unlimited blasting. As opponents I guess they're probably weaker due to fewer Walls of Ice and Cones of Cold and because the to-hit on their blasting is low, but 60 HP of ranged damage is a lot of at-will damage. Anyone who was primarily Planar Binding Annis Hags should probably switch to Bheur Hags if MPMoM is being used. Necromancers now have reason to envy druids.
Korreds lost Earth Elemental summoning. The powergamer in me hates that. The DM in me is sort of relieved and sort of not. It was a cool and interesting ability.
Oh, alignment. The fact that WotC's Githyanki of all races are now "any alignment" without even a nod towards a "typical" alignment (Hobgoblins are now apparently "typically Lawful Neutral") just makes my eyes roll.
Why in the world did they take Jump and Misty Step away from Githyanki (replaced by a recharge 4-6 non-spell ability called Astral Step, except Supreme Commanders always recharge) and Shield away from Githzerai (replaced by nothing, leaving them weaker)? This is the same book where they have a PC Githyanki racial Misty Step spell, and a Githzerai Shield racial spell. Why?
They also weakened the CR 16 Githzerai Anarch's Unarmed Strike and strengthened the CR 10 Githzerai Enlightened's Unarmed Strike so that it now does more damage per hit than the Enlightened. Why is WotC boosting almost every monster damage but nerfing the Anarch (twice!)? Is this just a typo or deliberate? To what end?
There's a whole thread on wizards, war priests, drow matrons and favored consorts so I'll avoid that topic except to say I thought the MToF art for drow favored consorts was cooler.
Nightwalkers received a significant damage buff as did many of the demon lords. Was that necessary?
Demogorgon no longer has much reason to use any gaze besides Hypnotic on any PC who doesn't have Fey Nature (advantage against charm). Is it just coincidence that MPMoM also makes Fey Nature available on more races than before? I think the MToF restrictions on Hypnotic Gaze were more interesting for both players and DM.
That's all I've got to say. Your turn.
Now that that's off my chest, here are some other thoughts in no particular order.
I don't like how Star Spawn Seers no longer trigger opportunity attacks because it actually weakens them--but I bet 99% of DMs never even realized that tactic existed anyway. (Walk up to a group of PCs, trigger an opportunity attack to move a Hulk into position, then Collapse Distance on a PC or nearby Star Spawn Grue so everybody takes double damage with no save, from Collapse Distance + Collapse Distance reflected off the Hulk). +1 more point for more DM guidance/"notorious for XYZ" blurbs which they should have done instead of trimming the most useful tactical advice in the whole book.
Hutijin's conversion bugs me Edit: on two levels: it's less challenging (why did he lose his saving throw disadvantage aura? It interacts so nicely with his fear-causing reaction, Symbol, etc.), and I hate the random damage types on his attacks now. Magical piercing+poison/slashing/bludgeoning made sense for his bite/claws/mace/tail, but fire/cold/force/thunder is just... incoherent. As well as extremely frustrating for barbarians and Blade Ward casters. A bite that does no piercing damage, only pure fire, what?
Huitijin is just one example of that trend but he's the most scattershot that I've seen. It's weird that white and black Abishai now do force damage with their longswords, but not quite as weird as his four separate weird damage types.
Armanites lost magical weapons which you'd think would be bad for the Blood War, but gained some HP and some lightning damage and proning which might be enough to offset the loss, and makes them stronger against PCs.
I do like the added Star Spawn art.
Giff: I thought the old way (where they only get Multiattack with pistols, and rely to a certain extent on Headfirst Charge to augment their melee damage) was more appealing and emphasized their love for firearms better than giving them longsword Multiattack does.
I don't love what they did to the Skulk either (reduction in damage, while making it not dependent on advantage).
They switched Drow Matron Mother summons from Retriever to Gabrezu, but I don't mind that change given what the Retriever lore says about its origins. The actual threat levels aren't actually that different--Glabrezu actually winds up with better to-hit and effective AC after casting Darkness (because of Truesight advantage). If it weren't for Retriever's paralyzing beam I would say the Glabrezu is stronger, but overall it's a slight reduction in power and a significant reduction in XP earned.
I dislike what they did to Shadar Kai Gloom Weaver, eliminating its access to Armor of Agathys/Fear/Hypnotic Pattern/Major Image/Eldritch Blast/etc. in favor of another spear attack. It leaves it much more of a one-trick pony. (At least they left Darkness + True Seeing combo intact, although most DMs will never notice it, thus illustrating why additional DM guidance would have been better than stat block changes.)
Similarly, Soul Mongers lost Chain Lightning and Seeming and gained 13 HP in exchange, which leaves them weaker and I don't like it.
Also, I don't like that all elves are now immune to Gloom Weaver and Soul Monger auras, instead of just Shadar Kai. It's unnecessary and doesn't seem logical based on the lore of the Shadowfell.
Initially I liked the Eladrin redesign and I still think it's an overall improvement, but between HP buffs and damage buffs to all the Eladrin including Summer (such that Summer is now arguably the weakest Eladrin, or tied with Winter, despite getting more HP and an extra d8 on every attack)... I'm less happy than I was before. It feels like an overcorrection, change for the sake of change. Again, DM guidance on how to use Summer Eladrin mobility + ranged firepower to tactical advantage would have been better.
The Dybbuk rewrite makes them far less interesting now, not only for combat but for weird stuff like learning deeply personal secrets or specialized skills. Now it's just a boring 20 temp HP.
It bothers me that Blue Abishai are now primarily blasters, and better at it than Red Abishai.
Annis Hags lost weapon resistance in exchange for only +15 HP. Whether you're using them as summons for their massive opportunity attacks, or using them as opponents who may have to have PCs with Animate Objects and conjured elks, it's an overall loss of durability. And if you're using them as summons, losing weapon resistance also means you no longer get ~double value out of healing spells and temp HP.
Bheur Hags on the other hand are significantly better as summons now due to unlimited blasting. As opponents I guess they're probably weaker due to fewer Walls of Ice and Cones of Cold and because the to-hit on their blasting is low, but 60 HP of ranged damage is a lot of at-will damage. Anyone who was primarily Planar Binding Annis Hags should probably switch to Bheur Hags if MPMoM is being used. Necromancers now have reason to envy druids.
Korreds lost Earth Elemental summoning. The powergamer in me hates that. The DM in me is sort of relieved and sort of not. It was a cool and interesting ability.
Oh, alignment. The fact that WotC's Githyanki of all races are now "any alignment" without even a nod towards a "typical" alignment (Hobgoblins are now apparently "typically Lawful Neutral") just makes my eyes roll.
Why in the world did they take Jump and Misty Step away from Githyanki (replaced by a recharge 4-6 non-spell ability called Astral Step, except Supreme Commanders always recharge) and Shield away from Githzerai (replaced by nothing, leaving them weaker)? This is the same book where they have a PC Githyanki racial Misty Step spell, and a Githzerai Shield racial spell. Why?
They also weakened the CR 16 Githzerai Anarch's Unarmed Strike and strengthened the CR 10 Githzerai Enlightened's Unarmed Strike so that it now does more damage per hit than the Enlightened. Why is WotC boosting almost every monster damage but nerfing the Anarch (twice!)? Is this just a typo or deliberate? To what end?
There's a whole thread on wizards, war priests, drow matrons and favored consorts so I'll avoid that topic except to say I thought the MToF art for drow favored consorts was cooler.
Nightwalkers received a significant damage buff as did many of the demon lords. Was that necessary?
Demogorgon no longer has much reason to use any gaze besides Hypnotic on any PC who doesn't have Fey Nature (advantage against charm). Is it just coincidence that MPMoM also makes Fey Nature available on more races than before? I think the MToF restrictions on Hypnotic Gaze were more interesting for both players and DM.
That's all I've got to say. Your turn.