Alright, here goes. Post number one. Before I get started, I figured I'd outline the format for what I'll be doing here. First, I'll give a brief summary of the five or six page article, so you can take a look at what's in it. Then I'll give my two cents on the best parts to use, adapt, and just leave out. So, without further ado, I present you with your first Extra Action - Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Yeenoghu, Prince of Gnolls.
From the start, this guy sounds pretty nasty. He's got "leprous skin" with a bunch of yellow patches, red eyes, and spit flying everywhere. What's more, his weapons and armor are basically made of pieces of his enemies after he's killed them. It's a little gruesome for my game, I think, but that's what I get for going into demon lords.
Now that we know what he looks like, let's take a look at this guy in combat. First, there's a formatting issue in the stat block that threw me off a little; one of the lines is mixed up. It's not huge, but the appearance is just that it was a little cobbled together. As for the actual statblock itself, there's quite a lot I like, but a couple things I don't like as well. Now I haven't run a lot of combats in epic tier, so I'm probably not the best authority on this. For example, 3d6 for moving three squares seems like a lot to me, especially since he has a power that lets him do that at-will. That probably isn't all that much, though, in an epic combat.
Yeenoghu's movement based powers really work for me; the 3d6 extra damage just for moving and the 3 square shift give him movement options that hopefully will keep the battle mobile. What I don't understand, though, is him slowing down the PCs as well. When I look at Yeenoghu, I probably want a high speed fight where he's dancing from opponent to opponent and can't be pinned down. It goes against this idea to have an aura that slows, pretty much taking most movement off the table. I guess that's what you get for taking on a demon lord, but still...
The lore, another part of every monster presentation, works for me. Other than the fact that Yeenoghu used to be a primordial (maybe I have a misguided concept of "shapers of the world", but aren't they supposed to be stronger than a demon lord?), his story is cool. The Chained God awoke him and turned him into a demon lord, and his realm of the Abyss is called, what else, "Yeenoghu's Realm". The concept is cool - it's basically a twisted African savannah, which amuses me because the gnolls are based on hyenas. I don't see it having a lot of adventure potential, but one run-through could be cool. I'd like a better name, though.
Yeenoghu's aspect is next; I don't like this as much. First, he has more and higher variable resistance than the demon lord himself... I don't see that logic. He's pretty much the same, and they even go so far as to tell us that this is a fragment of Yeenoghu. Despite that, he apparently has a different agenda. I do like this rendition of the Fetid Cloud aura; this doesn't impair movement and I don't see why they couldn't have given this one to the demon lord as well. The lore is also a little lackluster; there's one sentence.
After learning about Yeenoghu's "ambitions" (basically to take over the world, obviously), we get to stuff we might actually use in our game: smaller villains that we might be able to use in any given adventure. The first of these is Nezrebe, an exarch. Nezrebe is an albino gnoll who has a beat up bastard sword and coughs up caustic pieces of his lungs. Ew. The story isn't bad, but this guy creeps me out too much for him to be useful.
The second of these unique villains is named Zaiden, the exemplar of Yeenoghu's tenants on the mortal world. She leads Yeenoghu's largest gnoll pack, and rightly so; she's a level 20 elite controller with dark powers and animal magnetism, apparently. She's got a page to herself, wherein we learn about her motivations (to earn Yeenoghu's favor so she can rule beside him) and how to use her as a villain. This works a little more for me, because they give me advice on how to use them for my game. When I look in Dragon Magazine, I'm looking for something that I can rip out and use, not for ideas for the most part.
There's also a lot of fluff in this article, mostly focused on the cults of Yeenoghu and his minions. The minions listed are mostly gnolls, some lowly and some higher up courtesans and lovers. It also talks about alliances that Yeenoghu makes. An interesting note: he's not respected by many in the Abyss, and is sometimes used by the other gods. That could be an interesting story. The information we get on Yeenoghu's cults is interesting too, albeit some of it is standard fare for demon cults. There's the usual mutilation and sacrifice of victims, along with the custom of smearing feces and other bodily substances on one's robes and hide. This is more than a little revolting, but I think it gets the point of the cults across well.
There's also some history from the Nentir Vale, if you're interested. My campaign is set in the Vale, Wizards's default setting, so it's cool to me. Take it if you want; it's not a bad story, though a little cliched.
The article closes with a description of Yeenoghu's realm and the sections: the Dun Savannah, Screaming Peaks, the Curseswallow, the Seeping Woods, and an unnamed salt wastes rumored to hold the remains of a great champion of the gods. All of this is solid, with stuff I'd use if my players ever went there. It mentions the inhabitants of each (though briefly), and the seas even have pirates and the like. It also mentions three cities, though Yeenoghu disdains all of them and prefers to cruise the plane in his rolling fortress.
Wow, that was longer than I expected. I hope you understand, at least a little, though, what Spend an Action Point is supposed to be about. I tried to summarize the article for you, and now I'll give you my succinct opinion on what's the best stuff in this article.
Keep This! Yeenoghu's lore, the fluff about the cults, history, and his minions.
Errata This! Yeenoghu's statblock (change out the aura), Zaiden (with a little tweaking she could fit right into your campaign.)
Retrain This! The exarch and aspect of Yeenoghu
I do have one question about this article, though. I was under the impression that Dragon Magazine was for players. I didn't see one feat, paragon path, or magic item for my character here. Why is this in Dragon?
Well, there's your first Extra Action! Tune in next time for another Extra Action, Vor Kragal, City of Ash.
Want to check out this article for yourself? Go here. Have questions or comments? Leave a comment!
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