Monday's Monster Mash is a new weekly series where monsters are selected from the three Monster Manuals and put together as an encounter group. A situation is discussed where these monsters would have been together and how their powers or status effects work together against the players.
The story...
The Meazels, once human, were attacked by a plague and turned to Baalzebul, duke of Maladomini, the seventh hell, to save them. Baalzebul's promise that the plague would not kill the humans stayed true, but had very frightening side effects. Instead of death, the Meazels were turned into flesh-hungry creatures covered in weeping sores. Their endless hunger drove them into the surrounding areas and on into the rest of the world as they tried to nourish their ravening appetites.
Cruril Duskwalker was a powerful Eladrin Wizard who sought after nothing more than ultimate power. He quickly learned how to summon powerful Firelasher elementals to do his bidding and took control of his favorite creature: the Phase Spider. His appetite for power and destruction was never quenched and in death he chose to perform an ancient ritual on himself, turning into a powerful Lich. This ritual got the attention of the archdevil Levistus, trapped in his ice prison in Stygia, the fifth hell, who granted Cruril unspeakable power for a price. Cruril would seek out the ancient city that became ground zero for the spread of the Meazels and turn them against Baalzebul.
Over several years, Cruril used his power to search out the ancient city and was easily welcomed in by the Meazels with promises of lifting their cursed plague and turning them back to humans. Not all Meazels followed him, but those that did were told the only way to be rid of the plague was to destroy Baalzebul himself. Cruril keeps the Meazels in check by allowing them to feed on small villages and plays to their wants by speaking of great magical treasures they must acquire to defeat the archdevil of the seventh hell.
Now, at the head of an army of Meazels, Phase Spiders, and Firelashers, Cruril is making his way across the realms wreaking havoc and growing more powerful by the moment.
The monsters...
Monster Manual | Monster Manual 2 | Monster Manual 3 |
| Firelasher Page 104 Lich (Eladrin Wizard) Page 176 | Phase Spider Page 190 | Meazel Page 130 |
The powers...
First off, let's look at the Meazels. All Meazels have the Wretched Curse of Baalzebul (Aura 1) giving all players starting their turn within the aura a -2 penalty to all defenses and a vulnerable 5 to all damage. But it gets better...any ally starting its turn next to the affected creature also becomes affected by the curse. This is a nasty disease and would easily spread like wildfire, dropping the defenses of the party's tank(s) and melee striker(s). I would stick with the Meazel Bravos (brutes) and fill the encounter with some Meazel minions, who, don't forget, would also have the Wretched Curse of Baalzebul.
Second, we have the Phase Spiders. This spider has 2 attacks that make it a deadly enemy: Ethereal Bite and Ethereal Repulsion. Ethereal Bite allows this beast to teleport up to 10 squares and make its Bite attack, which slows the target (save ends) and has an additional effect of knocking the target unconscious if the first saving throw fails. Ethereal Repulsion is an immediate interrupt triggered by an enemy moving to any adjacent square. The spider actually teleports the enemy 4 squares away.
Third, we have the Firelashers. This elemental has an attack called Wildfire Cyclone (close burst 2) that pushes the target back 1 square and knocks them prone on a hit. A miss still deals half damage. I wouldn't start the encounter off with any Firelashers on the battlefield but actually create a new power for the Lich (Eladrin Wizard) to summon them in pairs within 10 squares as a standard action.
Finally, we have the Lich (Eladrin Wizard). This monster has a ranged attack called Necrotic Orb that stuns its target until the end of the Lich's next turn. Not only that, but as a Lich, this monster is Indestructible. When its hit points are down to zero, the body and all his possessions crumble to dust. He then reappears in 1d10 days next to his phylactery, unless the phylactery is destroyed, making him a great reoccurring villain in any campaign!The encounter...
So how does this all tie together?
Imagine, a party consisting of a Warlord, Paladin, Ranger, and Sorcerer enter the ruins of an ancient city and are suddenly ambushed by Meazels. As the party gets oriented and begins picking them off, Phase Spiders teleport in and attack. The Ranger spots the Lich atop a nearby broken tower as the Paladin rushes a Phase Spider. The Paladin is teleported back as the Lich summons Firelasher to flank him. The Sorcerer begins launching attacks towards the Lich but the Meazels get in close and curse her. With her defenses down, a Phase Spider teleports in knocking her unconscious. The Warlord gives orders to the Ranger to concentrate fire on the Lich while attempting to give the Sorcerer aid. The Lich launches a Necrotic Orb at the Ranger, stunning him, and the Meazel Bavos wail away through his defenses. The Firelashers, now finished with the Paladin, turn on the Warlord with their Wildfire Cyclone attacks, pushing him back and knocking him prone. The Lich laughs from the looming ruined tower as he watches the party fall. Cruril Duskwalker is back and more powerful than ever.
For discussion...
- What other monsters do you think could add an interesting flair to this group and how would you work them into the story?
- What other strategies could this group of monsters use against the party?
- Do you have any ideas for powers (like the Lich's ability to summon Firelashers) that could be created specifically for this group?
- What are some possible defensive tactics the party could use against these monsters?
- How could different party make-ups be better or worse against these monsters?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
As the party approached the Dwarven settlement, they found a dead Dwarf with a letter in his pack. The letter stated the settlement had been attacked by a group of Kobolds and a Dragon, all of which were taking orders from an Orc. The party made quick work of the enemies, freed the Dwarves, and found an entrance to the Underdark [1st entrance found]. After a good night's rest (and fresh dragon-wings for Methos) they headed back to Alistaire's tower with Jacob and the other surviving members of the Everlund City Guard. With the letter from the dead Dwarf and the word of the members of the Everlund City Guard, Alistaire became even more adamant about stopping the pending Orc invasion. Alistaire told the party about a magical battle map that would show the location of all enemy forces in battle. He believed it could be used to not only convince the guard captain of the pending invasion, but help once the attack came. Alistaire's old teacher Araldil had it in his tower to the north east of Everlund. There was a knock at the door the next morning and Bo Jangles entered the scene. He was sent my Kron Thunderheart to deliver the Thunderheart Battle Standard and join the party. The party decided to escort the Everlund City Guards back to town and met with the guard captain. He was grateful for their help but still did not believe any concern about an Orc invasion was warranted. He asked if the party would be willing to work for hire on a few local problems he had been dealing with, to which the party agreed.
The guard captain told them about some recent killings in the town where the victim had a certain message cut into their flesh. He offered the party a small amount of pay but said they could keep whatever loot they found. The party tracked the message back to an old continent-wide thieves guild and a curse that was put on the seven thief kings' graves. Once the cemetery was found, the party cleaned it out and headed back to town.
The Goblin led the party to what turned out to be a slave camp. The party decided to free the slaves before continuing on their journey. OttO, who was captured and chained with the other slaves, changed into his bear form and helped defeat the slaver guards. Walter Bellhaven, the leader of the slavers, got a few of his mercenaries but not before they were able to knock Tutela unconscious and kidnap him. The party tried to follow Walter and his gang into the cave system, but lost their trail pretty quickly as the caves led into the Underdark [2nd entrance found]. They then decided to escort the slaves back to their home village and OttO decided to join the group.
Once at the fishing village, the town elders were greatful for the work the party had done but worried the slavers would come back in force. The party quickly devised a defense plan and was able to fend off the slavers' attack. Walter and part of his group did survive and get away, but not before revealing Tutela had escaped them. The party decided to continue on to Araldil's tower.
Upon arriving at Aradil's tower, the party realized something must be wrong. The tower was overgrown, broken, and looked uninhabited. As they entered the tower they were attacked by all kinds of vines and plant creatures. Making their way through the various levels to the top, they found a witch and a huge plant beast. As it turns out, the witch was Aradil's other apprentice and she had commissioned the old blacksmith's guild in Everlund to create a special device that would help her turn Aradil back into a human. After delivering the device from the guild's storage, Aradil was transformed into his human self and offered the magical battle map as compensation along with several other items. He also told the party that the map only works partially without the ocular piece, which could only be found in Longtooth's Labrynth.
The party finally made it to the labyrinth, defeated the various enemies, and faced off against Longtooth. They found the ocular piece needed to make the battle map work fully. When they exited the labyrinth, they were met with a small Minotaur hunting party led by the huntress Buttersworth. She asked, "Does my brother Longtooth live?" The party, unsure of how she would react, lied and told her they paid him several gold to set them free. She then revealed her hunting party was there to slay him as their village had come under a curse, which they thought Longtooth had put on them. Once the party came clean about killing Longtooth, Buttersworth asked them to accompany her to the village and help stop whatever was going on there. Bo Jangles took a look at the battle map through the ocular and could see the placement of all the Orc troops. The majority were up in the Orcish lands to the north, but there were a few small bands peppering the area, one of which was at the same location as the Minotaur settlement. The party discussed this out of earshot of the hunting party and decided to go with them and stop the Orcs there, but did not want to tell Buttersworth the Orcs were the cause.
