Thoon (part two)

The last monster post was my 4E conversion of the Thoon collective from the third edition Monster Manual V. We now conclude the update with the more powerful thoonians.

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Thoon Abductor; Level 14 Lesser Lurker (600 XP)
Medium aberrant animate
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Initiative +17 Perception +17
HP 35
AC 29 Fortitude 27 Reflex 28 Will 27
Speed fly 6 (hover)
Skills Stealth +18
Immune nonlethal damage, sleep
Vulnerable a lesser monster is reduced to 0 hp by a critical hit.
Saving Throws a lesser monster automatically fails all saving throws.
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Standard Actions
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basic melee attack Pincers (at will):
+20 vs. AC; 16 damage.
Combat Advantage: target is grabbed and takes ongoing 12 damage until escape.
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Invisibility (at will):
The abductor becomes invisible until it attacks. It cannot use this ability while grabbing someone.
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Passive
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Abduction
The abductor can move a grabbed enemy without making a grapple check as long as it moves no more than three squares.
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Alignment Chaotic Evil
Languages Thoon
Str 20 (+12) Con 12 (+8) Dex 22 (+13) Int 4 (+4) Wis 20 (+12) Cha 4 (+4)


The Abductor is a small, floating construction, similar in nature to the Thoondercloud. Resembling a synthetic jellyfish with four, grasping talons instead of tentacles and fleshy eyes embedded in the sides, the Thoon Abductor is a fragile - but very stealthy - cybernetic horror.

Abductors are tasked with gathering whatever treasures Thoon desires for its inscrutable purposes. These can be inanimate objects, raw materials, or living victims. For the third category, the Abductor uses its invisibility power to kidnap men and beasts with near-impunity.


Combat

Thoon Abductors are not designed to kill, but to capture. Despite their intended function, their grasping Pincers can do a respectable amount of damage. Their usual tactic is to use Invisibility to gain Combat Advantage over an enemy, then use Pincers to grab him and fly him into the air. If there are other Thoon creatures nearby, the Abductor may choose to drop its victim into their midst. If there is a Madcrafter on the battlefield, it will try to stuff its prey into one of the Madcrafter's vats to be processed.


Thoonhulk; Level 15 Elite Brute (2,400 XP)
Large aberrant animate
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Initiative +12 Perception +12
HP 300 Bloodied 150
AC 28 Fortitude 29 Reflex 28 Will 28
Speed 5
Skills +18 Athletics, +17 Acrobatics, +18 Endurance
Immune nonlethal damage, sleep
Saves +2
Action Points 1
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Standard Actions
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basic melee attack Scythe (at will):
Reach 2; +21 vs. AC; 3d8+8 damage and target is marked. If the target is already marked, it is knocked prone.
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melee Double Attack (at will):
Make two basic melee attacks.
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melee Spin Attack (at will):
Make a basic melee attack against every target within reach, but do not mark or knock prone any of them.
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melee Implant (at will):
Target must be below 0 hit points; +19 vs. Fortitude; ongoing 10 disease damage (save ends); if the target is killed while under this effect, it becomes an allied thoon pawn and acts on the thoonhulk‘s initiative.
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ranged Thoon Laser (at will):
Range 20; attack one, two, or three targets, no two of which can be more than three squares apart; +19 vs. Reflex; 3d10+6 radiant damage and ongoing 10 (save ends). The thoonhulk takes 30 damage after using this attack.
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Move Actions
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Sprint (at will):
The thoonhulk moves 10 squares and takes 10 damage.
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Minor Actions
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aura Fiery Aura (minor; once per round, at will):
Gain aura 4 until the beginning of the thoonhulk’s next turn; any target that enters or begins its turn within the aura takes 10 fire damage. The thoonhulk takes 5 damage at the end of its turn.
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Reactions
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close burst Self Destruct (immediate reaction; when the thoonhulk is reduced to zero hp):
Close burst 2; +19 vs. Reflex; 3d8+8 fire damage and target is knocked prone. Miss: target takes half damage and is not knocked prone.
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Passive
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Calculated Step
The thoonhulk never provokes opportunity attacks from prone enemies.
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Alignment chaotic evil
Languages Thoon
Str 22 (+13) Con 22 (+13) Dex 20 (+12) Int 4 (+4) Wis 20 (+12) Cha 16 (+10)


When Thoon must send its forces into open battle against a powerful and well entrenched opponent, it uses the massive Thoonhulks to spearhead the attack. These towering destroyers are protected by a thick carapace of smooth, metal plating, and armed with massive claws as well as a plethora of magical weapons powered by copious amounts of stolen life force. When there isn't a war to be fought, Thoonhulks patrol the base, serving as a last line of defense against unexpected visitors.

The Hulk is an imposing presence. Standing over twelve feet tall, the creature consists of a vaguely humanoid upper half mounted on four, spiderlike legs. The Hulk's forearms are heavy, double-bladed scythes, and the elongated spike that serves as the head ends in a round, smoking orifice. Beneath the thick, gleaming metal that protects the creature is a sickening layer of semi-gelatinous flesh and fluids, wrapped around a skeleton assembled from the stolen bones of many creatures.

The one weakness of the Thoonhulk is its slow movement speed, a shortcoming it uses its strenuous life force abilities to circumvent.


Combat

When the enemy is considerate enough to come within melee range, the Hulk simply lays about with its Double Attack, switching to Spin Attack whenever there are three or more targets within reach. If the melee takes longer than a few turns, or if there are other enemies pestering the Hulk from a few squares away, it will activate its Fiery Aura and keep spending hit points to keep it burning until conditions change.

Should the enemy try to outrun or outdistance the slow-moving Hulk, it will use Sprint to quickly close the distance before going back to the tactics described above. Should the enemy prove consistently elusive, it will use its long ranged (but costly) Thoon Laser to fry them from afar.

Since its Scythe attacks are more than capable of knocking over melee attackers, the Hulk can often use its Calculated Step ability to move away from a prone warrior and take the opportunity to pursue the more vulnerable ranged attackers.

Should an opponent fall below zero hit points within easy reach of the Thoonhulk, it will use Implant to prevent its fellows from healing it and hopefully turn it into a Pawn. The Thoonhulk usually commands its pawns to charge the enemy and Explode as soon as they can act.

If it becomes clear that it cannot win the battle, the Hulk will turn on its Fiery Aura (if it isn't already active) and try to move into the middle of its enemies, putting them within range of its Self Destruct explosion.


Madcrafter of Thoon; Level 17 Solo Controller (leader) (8,000 XP)
Huge aberrant magical beast
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Initiative +6 Perception +4
HP 700 Bloodied 350
AC 33 Fortitude 33 Reflex 27 Will 31
Speed -
Skills Endurance +21, Arcana +16, Dungeoneering +16
Resist acid 20
Immune nonlethal damage, sleep
Saves +5
Action Points 2
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Standard Actions
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basic melee attack Bite (at will):
Reach 2; +24 vs. AC; 3d8+7 damage and ongoing 15 acid damage and target is slowed (save ends both). Regardless of whether it hits or misses, the madcrafter makes a secondary attack against all enemies adjacent to the target; +22 vs. Reflex; ongoing 15 acid damage and target is slowed (save ends both).
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blast Spew (recharge 5, 6):
Blast 6; +22 vs. Reflex; 4d8+7 acid damage and ongoing 15 (save ends).
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Create Thoon Constructs (recharge special):
The madcrafter summons one thoondercloud or two thoon abductors. Do not award XP for defeating these creatures. These creatures appear in vacant squares within 3 squares of the madcrafter, and act after its turn. When the creatures appear, make an area attack against anyone adjacent to the squares they appear in; +22 vs. Reflex; 3d8+7 acid damage and ongoing 15 (save ends).
Recharge: the madcrafter can recharge this ability by spending 50 hit points.
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Create Thoonhulk (encounter):
The madcrafter takes 100 damage and summons one thoonhulk. Do not award XP for defeating this creature. The hulk appears in vacant squares within 3 squares of the madcrafter, and acts after its turn. When the creature appears, make an area attack against anyone adjacent to the squares it appear in; +22 vs. Reflex; 3d8+7 acid damage and ongoing 15 (save ends).
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Free Actions
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Life Drain (once per round per target; at will):
If a thoontroid drops a Medium or smaller enemy onto the madcrafter’s space, the madcrafter sucks the victim into one of the vats on its back. The victim has line of sight only to the madcrafter, and must deal 25 damage with an attack to break off one of the lids and escape (the vat seals itself again afterward). Once per round, as a free action, the madcrafter can attempt (+22 vs. Fortitude) to use the victim’s hit points instead of its own to use Create Thoon Constructs and Create Thoonhulk. If the victim is killed by this attack, it becomes a Thoon Pawn and appears in an adjacent square, acting after the madcrafter’s turn. The Madcrafter can hold up to three creatures at a time. While inside the vat, the victim can use Second Wind once per round, as the Madcrafter drains the deepest stores of his life energy.
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Skill Challenge
By shattering the glass canisters attached to the madcrafter’s flanks, one could sabatoge the creature’s production capabilities. A Dungeoneering or Insight check (DC 27) lets a PC know that targeting the canisters might be a good idea.
Complexity 1; DC 27
Primary Skills (a character must be adjacent to the madcrafter to use these): Thievery, Athletics, Arcana
Secondary Skills (a character must be within 5 squares of the madcrafter to use these; a success grants a +2 bonus to the next Primary skill check. Each of these skills can only be attempted once): Bluff, Dungeoneering.
Success: The madcrafter takes 170 damage and is unable to use Life Drain until the end of the encounter.
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Alignment Chaotic Evil
Languages Common, Thoon
Str 22 (+14) Con 26 (+16) Dex 6 (+6) Int 16 (+11) Wis 18 (+12) Cha 22 (+14)


Every Thoon army has one or more Madcrafters at its heart. The Madcrafter isn't the leader of the other Thoon creatures (though it is highly intelligent); rather, it is simply another cog in the machine that births other Thoon entities, and answers to the same mysterious overlord as its children.

A Madcrafter of Thoon is an utterly repulsive creature. A wedge shaped blob of gyrating flesh, larger than an elephant, its body more like a slug's than anything else. Immobile, the Madcrafter is attached to an array of twisted wires, pipes, and ominous metal containers, some of which belch forth noxious gases as the monster's throbbing flesh pulls at its scaffolding. At the front of the creature is what could almost be a face; a round, shapeless mouth - jawless, toothless, and wide enough to swallow a horse with its rider - madly opens and contracts, hundreds of dripping cilia writhing around its periphery. Above the slime-dripping maw are a pair of unsettlingly humanlike eyes. Attached to the creature's back is a metal harness, which holds several transparent canisters of clear, green fluid that puncture into the Madcrafter's back. The canisters are used to drain the life energy and usable body parts from living creatures, and - through a long and complicated process - to implant Infiltrator parasites into new hosts. The enormous mouth is for vomiting forth completed Thoon entities, which are built or grown within the Madcrafter's innards.

It is not known how the immobile Madcrafters are transported when a base is relocated, or how more Madcrafters are brought into existence. Unlike most Thoon creations, the Madcrafter is mostly biological, with vestigial features that suggest it may have descended from a free-living creature. There is so much about the origins and nature of Thoon that has yet to be learned.

Madcrafters can speak to non-thoon creatures, and can negotiate or threaten if they feel that communication will help further Thoon's goals. If a Madcrafter is captured by enemies, it will poison itself with some internal self-destruction gland rather than allow itself to be taken alive.


Combat

Unable to move from its scaffolding, the Madcrafter can only apply its corrosive Bite to those who come within reach. While it can use its Spew of acidic saliva to attack from a modest distance, the Madcrafter's main defense is its ability to birth lesser Thoon forms.

The Madcrafter will usually start the battle by creating two Abductors, and then spending an action point to unleash a Hulk. The Abductors will do everything in their power to grab an enemy and drop it into the Madcrafter's processing vats, where it can use its Life Drain to recharge its Create Thoon Constructs ability without damaging itself. It will create Thoonderclouds until its Abductors are destroyed, at which point it will replace them instead. If it is unable to capture anyone in its vats - or if the captured ones prove resistant to its Life Drain - the Madcrafter will reluctantly use its own hit points to create underlings, using Spew whenever it recharges.

If the Madcrafter's vats are destroyed by the skill challenge described above, it will grow desperate and begin spawning Thoonderclouds as fast as it possibly can, stopping only when it has fifty hit points or fewer.