4e excerpt - Archons

[ShadowSiege]

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The excerpt for those that can't read the original:

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Excerpts: Archons
4th Edition Monster Manual

In past previews, we showed you to 4th Edition’s angels. This time, R&D’s Dave Noonan introduces the archons—extraplanar creatures in the employ of the primordials.

We designed archons to serve a parallel function to the angels: smart, organized extraplanar monsters that work for the movers and shakers beyond the world. In the case of the archons, they work for the primordials. Their backstory describes them as an important step at the dawn of time in the arms race between the deities and the primordials. When the primordials saw armies of angels, they developed an army of their own: elementals-turned-soldiers called archons, each invested with the power of a specific element.

The battle between the primordials and the deities is over—at least for the time being. But the archons remain in the service of great powers that reside within the Elemental Chaos: Efreeti pashas, primordial nagas, salamander lords, and not a few demon princes. They’re also used as guardians at larger githzerai monasteries. Most remain amid the Elemental Chaos, but over the centuries many have found their way to the world, where they roam free or are bound to primordial cults, powerful spellcasters, liches, and other individuals and groups that typically bind elementals to service.

It’s also obvious that the Monster Manual only scratches the surface of available archons. We give you three fire archons (at levels 12, 19, and 20) and three ice archons (at levels 16, 19, and 20). But the Elemental Chaos is vast, and fire and ice are only two of the many forms it takes. Now that we’ve (thankfully!) separated the word “elemental” in the D&D sense from the classical Greek elements of earth, fire, air, and water, there’s plenty of room for archons of your own design. (And I imagine you’ll see more archons from us, too.)
How to Use Archons in Your Game

Archons are useful because of their single-mindedness. They’re intelligent, but they have no culture or society of their own. They’re intentionally disconnected from their roots so that every big bad evil guy can have archons in his employ—probably acquired in some dark ritual or bargain with the sinister forces from the Abyss or wider Elemental Chaos. Likewise, every soon-to-be-disturbed tomb or secret fortress can have archon guardians; they don’t age and they don’t mind waiting centuries for interlopers (read: the PCs) to come along.

Archons share some similarities with elementals, but two important differences will often point you toward one or the other when you’re designing a D&D adventure. First, archons are a lot smarter than elementals, so they’re a good choice when you want social interaction with the PCs or a monster that shows more than ordinary cunning during a combat encounter. Second, archons are focused on a single damage type, while elementals generally display aspects of multiple elements and damage types. Archons are thus good when you want to really emphasize a single element, whether you’re mixing them with other monsters that share that damage type or deliberately choosing complementary monsters.
--Dave Noonan

Archons are militaristic creatures native to the Elemental Chaos. Vaguely humanoid in form, they serve powerful primordial entities as well as various elemental lords and princelings.

Archons trace back to an ancient time when the world had hardly been formed, when primordial beings battled the gods for control of creation. In this cataclysmic conflict, the deities marshaled armies of angels and cadres of exarchs, and though the primordials could call forth titanic beasts and giants, they could not muster a true military to face their enemies until they found the means by which elemental creatures could be reshaped and hammered into soldiers. The warriors formed through this process were the first archons.

*Download the Archons PDF


Be sure to return Friday for a look at swarms!

From the PDF:

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ICE ARCHON HAILSCOURGE
This archon hurls shards of ice and besieges foes with storms of fist-sized hailstones.

Description
The hailscourge wears ice armor but carries no weapons. It conjures blades of ice similar in shape to shuriken and hurls them at distant enemies.

Ice Archon Hailscourge Level 16 Artillery
Medium elemental humanoid (cold) XP 1,400

Initiative +11 Senses Perception +10
HP 120; Bloodied 60
AC 30; Fortitude 28, Reflex 27, Will 26
Immune disease, poison; Resist 20 cold
Speed 6 (ice walk)

Slam (standard; at-will) Cold
+19 vs. AC; 1d6 + 4 cold damage.

Ice Shuriken (standard; at-will) Cold
Ranged 6/12; +21 vs. AC; 1d6 + 4 damage plus 1d6 cold damage.

Double Attack (standard; at-will) Cold
The ice archon hailscourge makes two ice shuriken attacks.

Hail Storm (standard; recharge 5, 6 ) Cold
Area burst 1, 2, 3, or 4 within 20; +21 vs. AC; 2d8 + 4 cold damage.
Miss: Half damage.
The ice archon hailscourge determines the exact burst radius of the hail storm.

Frost Shield (immediate interrupt, when attacked by a ranged, a
close, or an area attack; encounter) Cold
The ice archon hailscourge gains resist 20 to all damage against the triggering attack.

Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Primordial
Str 18 (+12) Dex 16 (+11) Wis 14 (+10)
Con 18 (+12) Int 14 (+10) Cha 15 (+10)

Equipment plate armor

Ice Archon Hailscourge Tactics
The ice archon hailscourge unleashes its hail storm as often as it can, reducing the storm’s radius as needed to avoid harming its allies. While it waits for this power to recharge, it hurls ice shuriken at its enemies.

Hailscourge Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful
Arcana check.
DC 20: A hailscourge prefers ranged combat over melee combat. Hailscourges serve as artillery in elemental armies.
DC 25: The ice archon hailscourge pummels its enemies with fist-sized chunks of ice that rain down from above. It can also conjure and hurl jagged shards of ice resembling shuriken.


ICE ARCHON RIMEHAMMER
Ice archon rimehammers make fine enforcers and are often used as bodyguards by powerful elemental beings. They are not blindingly loyal, however, and they abandon their masters if treated poorly.

Ice Archon Rimehammer Level 19 Soldier
Medium elemental humanoid (cold) XP 2,400
Initiative +15 Senses Perception +12
Icy Ground (Cold) aura 1; enemies treat the area within the aura as difficult terrain.
HP 185; Bloodied 92
AC 35; Fortitude 35, Reflex 32, Will 31
Immune disease, poison; Resist 30 cold
Speed 6 (ice walk)

Maul (standard; at-will) Cold, Weapon
+25 vs. AC; 2d6 + 7 damage plus 1d6 cold damage, and the target is slowed (save ends). Against a slowed target, the rimehammer deals an extra 2d6 cold damage.

Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Primordial
Str 24 (+16) Dex 18 (+13) Wis 16 (+12)
Con 25 (+16) Int 14 (+11) Cha 15 (+11)

Equipment plate armor, maul

Ice Archon Rimehammer Tactics
This archon uses its icy ground aura to hinder foes that are trying to flank it. It otherwise engages in melee, using its maul to slow enemies and the icy ground to hinder their movement even further.

Rimehammer Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful
Arcana check.
DC 20: The ice archon rimehammer takes its name from the icy maul it wields. The weapon is so numbingly cold that those it strikes are barely able to walk.
DC 25: These archons are usually found in the service of frost giants, ice archon frostshapers, and similar creatures. However, they have been known to serve other creatures with ties to the Elemental Chaos, including such unlikely masters as efreets and fire giants.

There they are. Created by the primordials to face off against the angels of the gods, the archons. Being intelligent and monoelemental, they have a different niche than elementals, which now seem to mix elements judging from the clip above.

Random thoughts:
-Sweet hammer for loot from the rimefire.
-I'm leery of the Chaotic Evil alignment, as they don't seem to be such from the description (at least not in the standard demonic fashion).
-I want to make a sentai team of archons. Ice, Wind, Fire, and Earth (Heart isn't invited By their powers combined... you get a TPK.

[The Rose Dragon]

Man, unless Guardinals turn out to be some sort of always good guys, EE is gonna saw WotC's buttocks off.

[ShadowSiege]

WotC could give EE the best **** ever ****** and he would still ***** it was ****ing *********itude.

This comedic bleeping of totally harmless words has been brought to you by:
Torgo's Executive Powder.

I'm actually hoping to see guardinals just get the axe. Or at least axe Avorals. They look silly. Though they might get thrown under the celestials category (or was that the new name for Aasimar? Eh, I never really took the time to learn the good planar races. The evil outsiders were always more interesting. Even the inevitables, modrons and slaad were more interesting.

I'm still concerned regarding the chaotic evil alignment tag of the archons though. Perhaps a leftover of their creation by the primordials, but it's something I'm going to have to wait and see in regards to the fluff surrounding it, and change it if I see the need.

[Rutee]

The Primordials are really really huge elementals? I seem to have forgotten..

[ShadowSiege]

The Primordials are really really huge elementals? I seem to have forgotten..

Yeah, something like that. The Primordials were/are elementals on par with the gods, that created the world in a state of eternal chaos until they were defeated by the gods.

I can't think of any direct comparisons, but WoW's Elemental Lords are close in concept but nowhere near as powerful (ZOMG 4e = MOREPIGS :P). Other influences would be Greek titans and uh... blast my creation stories catalog seems to be lacking or those are the two closest I can come up with.

Edit: http://www.wowwiki.com/Elemental_Lord has more on Warcraft's Elemental Lords. In keeping with my prior statement, the Elemental Lords were actually not as powerful as gods/titans, being a tier below them on the power scale. Remove their fealty to the Old Ones (yay Cosmic Horrors!) and you're pretty close to 4e's primordials.

[Rutee]

Oh, I've read WoWiki's lore bit exhaustively, and had privately drawn that comparison. Long as I'm on the right page here.

[JBento]

I hate to be the 4E attacker here, because so far stuff has seemed pretty nifty so far (though final judgement is reserved for when I've launched by munchkin-neuron salvos against the books), even more so because it's taking a page of EE's book...

I'm seeing a prevalence, nay, an utter domination of Chaotic Evil alignments in anything from the MM. We don't have the alignment descriptions yet, but if CE is going to be the apocalyptical evil, it would appear that EVERYTHING is a sheer force of destruction. Since with PoL setting, you have tiny islands of civilization surrounded by MM-filled wilderness, how come there is still a setting in existence?

Again, this requires perusal of the MM before a final judgement (namely, how much of MM content is CE - are the previews a representative sample, or is WotC giving us the biggest badasses?), and I've killed 3.5 alignment system already so I suppose it won't be any trouble doing the same to the new guy.

Also, Ice Archons can serve stuff like fire giants? FIRE giants? Won't they, y'know, melt?

[Rutee]

(namely, how much of MM content is CE - are the previews a representative sample, or is WotC giving us the biggest badasses?)

The latter is most probable; Remember that the purpose of a preview is to generate interest, so you wanna use what, to you, seems like it would appeal to the most players, rather then a good look at all enemies of all levels.

[JBento]

The latter is most probable; Remember that the purpose of a preview is to generate interest, so you wanna use what, to you, seems like it would appeal to the most players, rather then a good look at all enemies of all levels.

One can but hope... hope is the last thing to die after all (3.5 Diplomacy and alignment systems being the 1st ex aequo (sp?))

[Sebastian]

Also, Ice Archons can serve stuff like fire giants? FIRE giants? Won't they, y'know, melt?

well, yes, but not particolary, if you notice they don't have fire vulnerability, actually they don't even have cold resistance, either the cold part of the elemental chaos is warmer then I thought or elemental archons wear coats while in it. :)

But, wait, this is 4e, the archons probably have a ritual or something that give them the ability to survive in there.

At the moment I think Angels with their immunities and elemental attacks are better elemental monsters than these guys. :D

But seriously, maybe it is in the cold subtype, I'd like to know more about those, we still know almost nothing about them and there are a lot of 4e oddities that could just be covered by these keywords, like demon falling asleep, or poisoned undeads.

[Muyten]

well, yes, but not particolary, if you notice they don't have fire vulnerability, actually they don't even have cold resistance, either the cold part of the elemental chaos is warmer then I thought or elemental archons wear coats while in it. :)

Actually they do have cold resistance it says right there in the stats.

[Morty]

So, Archons are big, elemental-related humanoid outsiders used as elemental lords and dieties as brute force. Not bad as far as 4ed fluff goes, and this Gods vs. Primordials stuff is actually quite interesting even if unoriginal(but then, nothing's original anymore).
But why are they CE? One might think that elemental soldiers who serve practically anyone would be perfectly Unaligned.

[Sebastian]

Actually they do have cold resistance it says right there in the stats.

D'oh!!! I can't believe I've missed it. nevermind then.

[KIDS]

The stats look good, nothing to comment on them before I play the game...

... but this part slightly disturbs me:

They’re intelligent, but they have no culture or society of their own. They’re intentionally disconnected from their roots so that every big bad evil guy can have archons in his employ—probably acquired in some dark ritual or bargain with the sinister forces from the Abyss or wider Elemental Chaos.

I mean, I probably would have used them in this way exactly, but I would really like WotC to put in some starting, mutable fluff rather than just this paragraph about soldiers....

[SamTheCleric]

Yes, the Primordials are taken from the Greek Titans.

So instead of an epic blood war... we now have an epic Gods vs Primodial Elementals war.

[Oslecamo]

Even better!

We have epic gods VS NINJA SHURIKEN THROWING ELEMENTALS!

Now how cool is that? Wotc surely suprised me with this one.

[puppyavenger]

While, I still hate the new alignments, but the fluff actualy looks vaugly intresting. However, why do they seems to want to make every name ascosiated with good in 3.5 put on an evil monster?

[The Rose Dragon]

Even better!

We have epic gods VS NINJA SHURIKEN THROWING ELEMENTALS!

Now how cool is that? Wotc surely suprised me with this one.

We need ninja shuriken throwing elementals with magic hands that shoot bees. Because no matter who you are, the moment you get compared to a magic hand that shoots bees, you're going to [...] lose.

[puppyavenger]

We need ninja shuriken throwing elementals with magic hands that shoot bees. Because no matter who you are, the moment you get compared to a magic hand that shoots bees, you're going to [...] lose.

Hurray for zero puntuaction refrenses

[Oslecamo]

While, I still hate the new alignments, but the fluff actualy looks vaugly intresting. However, why do they seems to want to make every name ascosiated with good in 3.5 put on an evil monster?

Duh. So the players can kill everything and anything whitout remorse.

Like EE said, monster's primary goal in 4e is to get killed by the party. So no noncombat abilities, and no alignment that can get in the way out of the party.

Thus, we have several species(demons, bugbears, orcs, kobolds, formians) that are inherently evil and some other races(angels) that work as mercenaries for whoever pays them.

Any "good monster" was probably deemed as a waste of space.

Of course, there's always the Drizzit aproach. The renegade group of demons who likes to save puppies and gives safe candy to children, or the honorable orcs who just want to be free.

[JBento]

Thus, we have several species(demons, bugbears, orcs, kobolds, formians, humans) that are inherently evil and some other races(angels, adventurers) that work as mercenaries for whoever pays them.

There. Completed it for you

[Oslecamo]

Wait, if humans are evil, why do the adventurers are alwawys trying to save them?

Or do you meant that regular humans are the evil mastermind and adventurers are their tools to spread the human emperium over all lands, obliterating the other races, crushing the natural forces and become the unquestionable ruling force of the planet?

[Jarlax]

So instead of an epic blood war... we now have an epic Gods vs Primodial Elementals war.

i think you will find the blood war alive and well within the pages of the DMG and manual of the planes, its just too good an element to throw away.

on the topic of alignment, i think you will find the archons will be similarly aligned in 4e as the primordials themselves. while they will work for anyone just like any race their default alignment is that of their race in general. in the same way the fiendish assistance may be bought, bartered or bound by anyone powerful enough.

[bosssmiley]

Yes, the Primordials are taken from the Greek Titans.

So instead of an epic blood war... we now have an epic Gods vs Primodial Elementals war.

Although I sneered them at first the concept of Archons as elemental shock troopers and the idea of an elemental titans vs. celestial gods War in the Heavens have gradually grown on me. Makes a nice change from the mish-mash of elder elementals, elemental princes, elemental Elder Evils, elemental princes of evil (et blah), oh, and the various flavours of genie that we had before.

Moar liek this plox.

[puppyavenger]

i think you will find the blood war alive and well within the pages of the DMG and manual of the planes, its just too good an element to throw away.

on the topic of alignment, i think you will find the archons will be similarly aligned in 4e as the primordials themselves. while they will work for anyone just like any race their default alignment is that of their race in general. in the same way the fiendish assistance may be bought, bartered or bound by anyone powerful enough.

so why are the elemental creatures who created the world CE?

[Green Bean]

so why are the elemental creatures who created the world CE?

Why wouldn't they be? The world the Primordials created was just seething elemental chaos. It was the Gods who came along and made the whole thing somewhat livable.

[Azerian Kelimon]

This archons are nifty indeed. While the short fluff is kinda irritating, my first high level adventure is TOTALLY going to have an Ice Archon powered minigun. Really, the myriad of combat possibilities is good enough to supplant the fluff.

[Jarlax]

so why are the elemental creatures who created the world CE?

because they are creatures that represent the elemental chaos. this defines their chaotic nature, the fact that they are the opposing force to the deities is what makes them evil. chutthulu would have been right at home as the shadow or death primordial(remembering that the concept of "elements" has changed in 4e to be broader than the basic earth, fire, wind and water).

[MorkaisChosen]

I like it, actually.

The thing to remember on the alignment front is that CE things are easier to deal with than LE. They've said as much with the demon/devil thing: if you want something to go "BLARGH RIP TEAR KILL," you want CE; if you want "I'm subtle, mwahahahahahahahahaaaaa" you want LE.

I do think having the race of We Don't Care creatures as CE is a bit weird...

[The Rose Dragon]

...if you want "I'm subtle, mwahahahahahahahahaaaaa" you want LE.

That would lose all subtlety right there, though.