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Here is an article on the 4E Bulette:
Elite Bulette
by Peter Schaefer
art by Todd LockwoodThe earth quivers. The ground furrows. Turning earth knocks heroes from their feet, and a mated pair of mighty bulettes bursts into their midst.
All granite-hard hide, characteristic fins, and below-ground tactics, the bulette has been a staple of D&D since the early days. Fourth Edition continues to do it honor by making it an elite monster.
Elite Monsters
Elite monsters represent a greater challenge: They count as two monsters of their level for encounter building and rewards. Elite monsters have the word “elite” preceding their level and role.Here’s how a fight against a pair of such beasts might go:
• The bulettes are underground using their burrowing movement. Even though the PCs can hear the creatures (a bulette isn’t exactly stealthy), they can’t attack until the bulettes rise to the surface.
• When the bulettes go, they go mean. The first burrows shallowly through the earth under the fighter and rogue – the fighter keep his feet, but the rogue falls down and makes a good target. The bulette leaves the ground to take advantage of this and bites the poor fellow, doing some serious damage.
• Bulette number two uses the same opening gambit but knocks over both the cleric and the wizard, who were next to each other. It opts to burst from the ground in a spray of packed dirt and stone. The prone heroes are easier to hit and take more damage from the wave of rocks. The fighter is also in range of the burst, but he brushes the soil aside with his shield.
• The party gets to act. The rogue rises. He’s not in a position to flank, but he can still try to do some damage. He doesn’t like the look of the bulette’s heavy armor, so he tries to slip his short sword between two stony plates before the bulette can react and he draws blood.
• The wizard’s in a bad spot. He probably can’t lay down an attack without provoking an opportunity attack or burning his allies, so he delays. Good thing, because the cleric places fear in the bulette’s tiny mind, which doesn’t offer much resistance. The bulette burrows away, taking an opportunity attack from the cleric before he gets underground (avoiding like attacks from the fighter and the rogue.
• This gives the wizard the chance to stand and cover the bulette’s space with crackling lightning -- the monster’s bulk means it doesn’t have much chance to evade the blast and it doesn’t. The fighter follows with a good, old-fashioned heavy sword swing and gets lucky: a critical hit. The bulette isn’t looking good (it’s bloodied), but now it gets to act.
• Bulette number one dives into the earth so rapidly that the heroes around it don’t get opportunity attacks. Safely in the ground, it heals some damage and then burrows under the heroes, who are now clustered close enough that the bulette can affect them all. Bulette number two follows by burrowing back into the action and bursting from the ground to rain more rocks down on the party, reminding them all that it’s time for some healing.The battle goes on. Even though there are four heroes, it only takes two bulettes to give them a run for their money. Fourth Edition has such elite monsters because you don’t always want a straight one-on-one fight -- sometimes a monster should just be bigger, tougher, and scarier than the norm.
I thought the battle seemed nice and quick. A little quicker than I'd imagine a good battle with two creatures as formidable as bulettes, but better too fast than too slow really. I like the idea that a few quick decisive actions can resolve a battle.
On the other hand, the bulettes themselves really don't end up making too great of a showing for themselves. I like the attacks, mind you, they're nicely flavorful. They spill landslides onto characters and surge up to the surface, causing the ground to rise under characters to knock them over. The fact that one bit onto the rogue and the guy was like "ow...I better backstab this creep" was kindova' letdown.
I guess they've done a pretty good job. The bulette is one of my favorites, and I am fairly pleased. I like that we're getting previews of a few of the monsters ahead of time. Some of them have turned out very nice (particularly the zombie and deathknight). I'm moderately hopeful.
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I thought the battle seemed nice and quick. A little quicker than I'd imagine a good battle with two creatures as formidable as bulettes, but better too fast than too slow really. I like the idea that a few quick decisive actions can resolve a battle.
Did we read the same battle? :) That is like the opening salvo of the battle... at the end of the pasted article the bulettes come back and battle continues, with the heroes needing healing after only what seems to be, essentially, a couple of rounds.
And to be honest, any battle can be made to seem "action-packed" and quick when done in prose. I am guessing that if there was a battlemat, minis, and dice involved it would have taken at least 5 minutes to get the above done.
Couldn't the same battle be described in the same way using 3.5 rules? Why didn't he describe any of the characters actually doing something uniquely 4e? There's nothing about 4e in that article except to explain that when a monster is elite, it will actually have the word elite in the description. Has it really come down to such explanations being necessary? Sure, you need to explain what elite *means* somewhere, but ... ugh.
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You know what I like about this fight? No dice and other things to get in the way. Just a bunch of people sitting around, dictating what happens and understanding their limitations. No need for miniatures or anything. I may have been wrong about 4e, it seems pretty simple and fair.
Wait.... this isn't the rules then of 4e? Then why call it a spoiler?
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This looks more a game played with some CCG system rather than an RPG (even a combat-focused one like D&D).
My Elite Bulette plays "surface charge" and "gravel spray", and that prevents the mage from casting spells!
Drats!
OK, my rogue uses an action point to play "side stab" even if your armor value is too high for the normal attack.
I untap both my Elite Bulettes, so they go underground and heal.
Etc.
Seriously, the thing that bothers me is the fact that bulettes, while underground, can pinpoint warriors from clerics and rogues from wizards. Tremorsense evolved.
Seriously, the thing that bothers me is the fact that bulettes, while underground, can pinpoint warriors from clerics and rogues from wizards. Tremorsense evolved.
The article never said they could tell the difference, just when something fell over.
I agree with hmarcbower, this is a battle that's just beginning to get underway. Rather than mechanics, this article seems intended to showcase the versatility of an elite creature, something I think it does rather well. I also really enjoy these monster-oriented articles, for no other reason than to see how they're changing in the new game.
Did we read the same battle? :) That is like the opening salvo of the battle... at the end of the pasted article the bulettes come back and battle continues, with the heroes needing healing after only what seems to be, essentially, a couple of rounds.
Well the PC's beat at least one of them to less than half HP in just a couple of rounds. Now one of the things about 4e I'm not sure I like at all is the idea that sitting around gets you HP back. So yeah, the critter got back some health. Now if it's 1d4 then the PC's are pretty close to the end of the battle. If it's half the HP the critter lost, then yarg...it's gonna' be a long night. I figure it's closer to the former. Granted, again, I figure the heroes needing healing is more akin to a few hitpoints back from taking a breather--not a huge cleric sit down. So yeah, my read saw them a lot less beat up and closer to the end of the fight.
And to be honest, any battle can be made to seem "action-packed" and quick when done in prose. I am guessing that if there was a battlemat, minis, and dice involved it would have taken at least 5 minutes to get the above done.
Yeah...kinda' makes you wish you could huck all the dumb battlemats, minis and dice, huh? Adds more time to the fight and takes away from the narrative feel. Totally with you there, whether you meant it or not. Hate that stuff. That said, it seems like a few rounds of combat got the battle a lot further along than it normally would. Not sure if it's the glory of the new rules or not--but things did hustle more than they do.
Couldn't the same battle be described in the same way using 3.5 rules? Why didn't he describe any of the characters actually doing something uniquely 4e? There's nothing about 4e in that article except to explain that when a monster is elite, it will actually have the word elite in the description. Has it really come down to such explanations being necessary? Sure, you need to explain what elite *means* somewhere, but ... ugh.
I get that elite means basically "worth two PCs of a given level" and solo monster means "one critter worth a whole party of five PCs". It does get explained, but hardly in great depth. As for the lack of uniquely 4e thing, part of what I've been worried about is that with all the Mighty Morphin' Power feel of 4e that characters would play in strange and alien ways. Nice to see that the play at least -can- feel like I'm used to. That's nice for me. Granted I'd also like to see some examples of the other new stuff PCs can do, but it seems like I've been a bit overloaded with that lately (splash heals, magic orbs, ten-thousand cut slashes). I like the emphasis on the feel of the monster for an article like this.
Elite monster concept? Cool. New rock raining abilities and burrowing and stuff like that? Very cool.
Using two bulettes? Been there, done that, but I'm glad to see that they have new stuff to play with.
WotC wrote:
The wizard’s in a bad spot. He probably can’t lay down an attack without provoking an opportunity attack or burning his allies, so he delays.
Whoa! Now that's interesting with the "burning his allies" bit. I'm betting it's just tactical positioning, but it would be excellent if it's something other than that.
Bulette number one dives into the earth so rapidly that the heroes around it don’t get opportunity attacks.
Again, is this just the creature moving before they heroes get there, or are there mechanical ways to negate AoOs?
I really do like the regroup tactic. Is that the bulette though or the DM being smart? We don't have the stats. It would make sense since they are landsharks after all.
Yeah...kinda' makes you wish you could huck all the dumb battlemats, minis and dice, huh? Adds more time to the fight and takes away from the narrative feel. Totally with you there, whether you meant it or not. Hate that stuff. That said, it seems like a few rounds of combat got the battle a lot further along than it normally would. Not sure if it's the glory of the new rules or not--but things did hustle more than they do.
Preach it! I agree with both your points. I am more interested again thanks to this preview.
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What was the difference between a bulette now and a bulette in 4e?? I didn't see it. Rock spray? Yeah, neat. Elite? I can use 2 bulettes now if I need to, WTF does "elite" do differently than EL or CR?
No meat, and not much different besides a Rock Spray special ability and some fast healing.
Meh.
FH
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Please have a look at all the options the PCs have and have a look at all the options the Bulettes have.
Now tell me that combats will go faster in 4th.
I simply do not believe it!
We do not know how long it took the Wizard Player to figure out if he wants to move, cast a spell, dig his nose or delay.
With all the Template Books I have and my own creativity I can create a Bulette that will give a group of 4 Players a run for their money.
With a little bit of imagination I can also describe this fight in almost the same way as it was done above.
Even the Players would probably react in the same way:
Cleric: Casts Cause Fear
Rogue: flanking the Bulette uses Sneak Attack
Wizard: figures out that (insert area attack spell here) would effect the other PCs. He opts to delay and later, after the Bulette has moved casts a (insert area attack spell here).
Fighter: Attacks/Charges and Attacks/Power Attacks
So now tell me, where is the News and the Spoilers that present the new 4th edition rules?
A couple of parts of that article are hard for me to digest...
Admittedly, this is very likely due to a lack of "behind the curtain" details like dice rolls and such.
But I was mildly surprised when the Fighter was the only one to remain standing. Especially when the Rogue failed to keep his balance. Again, maybe the Rogue did the equivalent of rolling a 1 on his Reflex Save.
The prone heroes are easier to hit and take more damage from the wave of rocks.
This just reads "wrong" to me. But it is probably just because I am still in "3rd Edition Rules mode." But being prone causes more damage from the waves of rocks? Or is it that the prone heroes are easier to hit that causes more damage from the waves of rocks?
Either way, it makes me think that is a crappy mechanic, that might actually add to the complexity of the game. ("Hm... Let me see here. The Bulette activates his Wave of Rocks ability. Oh wait. George is prone. Let me check what that does to the damage output.")But it seems to just be me so far. So maybe it isn't as bad as it looks to me.
Oh wow, in 4e you actually describe things?! No, not for me. I prefer bland exposition.
Bulette's are some of my favorite creatures; definately a shapechanging must if you are a Master of Shapes.
But I was mildly surprised when the Fighter was the only one to remain standing. Especially when the Rogue failed to keep his balance. Again, maybe the Rogue did the equivalent of rolling a 1 on his Reflex Save.The prone heroes are easier to hit and take more damage from the wave of rocks.But it seems to just be me so far. So maybe it isn't as bad as it looks to me.
From what I have seen and I am in no way in the 'know' here. Saving throws now work as a 'to hit' roll.
So with the PC's laying on their duff its easier for the Bulette to overcome their reflex save "AC" and therefore cause more damage.
Just speculation on my part but I believe that's how it works in 4th ed.
Regardless of rock spraying, earth healing, lightning, or deft thief strikes that draw blood, if one thing they're endeavoring for is to make the game faster, I'm left wondering how. Combats are going to take precisely the amount of time they take, no more, no less. Whatever flashy or colorful flavor text they use is used to make the scene more exciting, but is it going to shorten or lengthen any particular combat? Nope. Once again, these are DMing tools that any DM should be using to make and describe the scene better. How giving combat scenes descriptives somehow will make the game faster is beyond me. It's going to take exactly the same amount of time as it always has.
I will say, however, that these anecdotes are very good for inspiring DMs with examples on how to describe combat and the game in general. I've always loved reading examples of combat such as these, as they inspire me to include that level of detailing into my games, and that to me is content they could sell me on. Rules? Who needs more rules? Aren't we ruled to death these days? Give me flavor over crunch anyday.
Any of you remember first reading that short adventure passage in the 1e DMG, and how that made you feel towards the game? That's what I'm talkin about. :-)
The one thing that would have won me over (or made a good showing of it) is if they had said "We got rid of Attacks of Opportunity." I have recently been going through the SRD of 3.5 and I realized I could get rid of at least 50% of the text and AoO's without changing the way the game runs.
I was hoping that AoO would disappear with fourth. Other then that. Meh. No real rules shown so... who can say. (Didn't really like the AoE ability "rock spray" or whatever.)
Also I didn't understand why they attacked the one Bulette if it was running away in fear.
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The one thing that would have won me over (or made a good showing of it) is if they had said "We got rid of Attacks of Opportunity." I have recently been going through the SRD of 3.5 and I realized I could get rid of at least 50% of the text and AoO's without changing the way the game runs.
I was hoping that AoO would disappear with fourth. Other then that. Meh. No real rules shown so... who can say. (Didn't really like the AoE ability "rock spray" or whatever.)
Also I didn't understand why they attacked the one Bulette if it was running away in fear.
It's "OA" now. That'll speed things up.
I bet you spend 3 days of your life just saying the word "of."What an effing waste.
I found it interesting that WOTC managed to use up one of their column slots for Dragon magazine to tell us that they now have "elite" monsters. What took essentially 2 sentances to say filled up a brief one page article.
My reaction was similiar to others....."and this is new how?" Hello, did they forget about the advanced monster rules, so no, this doesn't appear to be a new concept. I can see how using the word "elite" would warrent creating a whole new editon. Thanks WOTC for educating me.
Sorry, I get kinda down on WOTC, but I'm not a supporter of 4th edition. My honest reaction was that they wasted a column for their Dragon magazine to tell us this. I think the space could have been used more wisely to promote their 4th edition. Guess I'm still waiting for a good reason to switch. This article didn't convince me to start my D&D book collection over again.
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WTF does "elite" do differently than EL or CR?
I think this is following the 'math is hard' logic that is influencing design decisions on 4e. When you look at a monster and find it is a level 4 elite monster you know that 2 of them will be an appropriate challenge for a level 4 party. Because, you know, what we really need in this game is an extra layer of predictability. If only they could dispense with the dice, character death would be a thing of the past.
No meat, and not much different besides a Rock Spray special ability and some fast healing.
Yes, but you see! He has to go underground to heal! Underground!! Because he has this connection with the earth. That's flavour... :-(
Ditto on the 'Meh'.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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To be fair, this illustration may have been an attempt to reassure us that, really, the new rules aren't that different from the game we know.
Yeah, it's funny how this works.
WotC gives a preview of a mechanic that's completely different/new. The crowd says "oh my god! They changed that mechanic! I love that mechanic! How dare they change it!"
WotC gives a preview highlighting how similar it is to 3e. The crowd sasy "oh my god! They haven't changed a thing! Why would I want a new edition if they aren't going to make any changes!"
Which is not to say the article is still the same old substance-less 4e "preview", but let's at least try for some consistency in our hatred. It makes the hatred seem less irrational.
Edit: On second thought, it's not a terrible preview. It's just not very exciting either. But that might just be me; sometimes a change hits my sweet spot, and sometimes I just say "neh. That's not terrible, and it could be good, I'll need more information." This fits into that second bucket.
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No you can't. Everyone knows the speed loss in AoO was the use of the shift key, not the extra letter. Try and contribute something useful to the debate, heathy.I'll hate any damn way I want.
What Kinda Opportunity Attack do warwoof's get?
Right, right.
Glad you're there on the white horse, Marshall.I'll act good in your town.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Actually, the hatred makes rational sense either way in this instance.
What about this situation requires a rules revamp in any way/shape/form? How does it make combat better? Faster? More
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN?It's b&#&~~##, either way.
I just don't think there's enough info in the article to really draw any conclusions about how it actually plays. Maybe there are improvements under the hood. Or, maybe those funky new AO's are all sorts of fun.
Oh well, hate on my flea-ridden friend. I don't really have a dog in this fight, I'm just rousing rabble after having stolen this here white horse and marshal's star from the local legitimate authority.
Edit: On second thought, it's not a terrible preview. It's just not very exciting either. But that might just be me; sometimes a change hits my sweet spot, and sometimes I just say "neh. That's not terrible, and it could be good, I'll need more information." This fits into that second bucket.
I agree.
Edit: Except for the sweet spot bit.
I usually find they fit in the categories:
1)Well that was ugly. I don't like where they are heading.
2)Was that really neccesary?
3)Meh. Not bad not great. More info needed.
4)Could actually be good. More information needed.
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Here is an article on the 4E Bulette:
Elite Monsters
Elite monsters represent a greater challenge: They count as two monsters of their level for encounter building and rewards. Elite monsters have the word “elite” preceding their level and role.
Yeah, but does it have a golden dragon around its portrait? Sorry, could not resist this one - the term is a straight "lift" from World of Warcraft, after all...
The "simulated combat" sequence did not exactly thrill me, yet could have been worse, too. It reads a lot like i would expect the fight to go against such a monster in 3.5. Which is on one hand good (since i like 3.5 combat), but i wonder what the huge improvement is going to be, other than taking the fate of the characters out of their hand.
I don't quite know yet what my "take home message" from this article is. It shows a peek at some new mechanics, but not enough to really make up my mind.
However, i must say i am disappointed in one respect. Dragon seems to become the next White Dwarf... a bright brochure for whatever product happens to come out at the month. Ok, previously we had articles which were useful to the "latest and greatest", but unless i am absolutely mistaken, it was never as front and center as it seems to be now.
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But I was mildly surprised when the Fighter was the only one to remain standing. Especially when the Rogue failed to keep his balance. Again, maybe the Rogue did the equivalent of rolling a 1 on his Reflex Save.
From what I have seen and I am in no way in the 'know' here. Saving throws now work as a 'to hit' roll.
If you mean like the saves for area attacks, yes, you're right.
Which makes it even more bizarre that the rogue fell over while the fighter didn't, since how many fighters do you know who have a Reflex bonus higher than their rogue ally?The only way I can see this happening under the future rules, is if the blast radius has zones of decreasing DC, as you move from the centre of 'ground zero'. So; rogue in the middle, down he goes! Fighter at the edge, whoah, he wobbles, but he don't fall down...
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Yeah, but does it have a golden dragon around its portrait? Sorry, could not resist this one - the term is a straight "lift" from World of Warcraft, after all...
Heheh...Hopefully it'll drop more than green loot.
Like others have said, I don't see how this kind of combat would be unique to a 4e situation, besides the rockspray/knockdown effect. At the same time you could advance your standard bullette and give it some feats to simulate this. Nothing new..nothing new to see here..move along.
Guess they want to take the customization out of your DM prep and have 'elite' monsters out of the box.
The only way I can see this happening under the future rules, is if the blast radius has zones of decreasing DC, as you move from the centre of 'ground zero'. So; rogue in the middle, down he goes! Fighter at the edge, whoah, he wobbles, but he don't fall down...
*shudder* I hope not.
Are there Signature and Named monsters as well? That fighter really needs to learn to hold aggro better.
Hope it at least had some good drops.
What game was I playing, again?
-The Gneech
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Actually, the hatred makes rational sense either way in this instance.
What about this situation requires a rules revamp in any way/shape/form? How does it make combat better? Faster? More
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN?It's b&#&~~##, either way.
I just don't think there's enough info in the article to really draw any conclusions about how it actually plays. Maybe there are improvements under the hood. Or, maybe those funky new AO's are all sorts of fun.
Oh well, hate on my flea-ridden friend. I don't really have a dog in this fight, I'm just rousing rabble after having stolen this here white horse and marshal's star from the local legitimate authority.
I gotta quit readin this 4e crap.
For good this time!!!|
Contributor
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Look, they wrote an article to showcase the use of "elite" monsters. They had previously stated that the way monster levels worked was something like this:
4th level monsters are good on a 1:1 basis with 4th level characters.
Now we get to see that some monsters are going to be elite. This means that:
4th level elite monsters are good for encounters on a 1:2 basis with 4th level characters.
The Beholder preview stated that a Beholder is a match for the whole party, thus we have at least 3 tiers of monsters, standard, elite and "boss".
These are all stated as tools to help DMs cut down on prep time. You can now grab the MM, look at level 4 monsters and pick an appropriate number to have a fair encounter. That's the part of the game this is supposed to help speed up.
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Look, they wrote an article to showcase the use of "elite" monsters. They had previously stated that the way monster levels worked was something like this:
4th level monsters are good on a 1:1 basis with 4th level characters.
Now we get to see that some monsters are going to be elite. This means that:
4th level elite monsters are good for encounters on a 1:2 basis with 4th level characters.
The Beholder preview stated that a Beholder is a match for the whole party, thus we have at least 3 tiers of monsters, standard, elite and "boss".
These are all stated as tools to help DMs cut down on prep time. You can now grab the MM, look at level 4 monsters and pick an appropriate number to have a fair encounter. That's the part of the game this is supposed to help speed up.
Whoa, this is radically different! Before we had CR and EL and had to look up monsters according to CR to build an encounter, but now it is all different and new!!! Oh, wait. Nope, still the same. Nothing new to see hear except the use of a new phrasing....
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These are all stated as tools to help DMs cut down on prep time. You can now grab the MM, look at level 4 monsters and pick an appropriate number to have a fair encounter. That's the part of the game this is supposed to help speed up.
Color me unimpressed.
On the one hand, there are DM's who like running pre-designed adventures which they've purchased. This kind of "off-the-shelf" encounter doesn't help them much. They've already cut down on prep time.
On the other hand we have the DM's who design their own adventures, based on the interests of their players. For these people, encounters are part of a larger whole, and are modified by the peculiarities of the party: she knows that the party's sorcerer has a wand of fireballs and how that changes the encounter with the river trolls.
Telling these DMs that four trolls (or two bullettes, or whatever) is a good challenge for a typical party, is pointless; they aren't looking for challenges for a typical party. And prep time is one of the fun parts.
If the purpose of the game is to run disconnected, but perhaps themed, combat encounters, then this system might speed things up.
But it seems the worst of both worlds.
"OA"? What do Oriental Adventures have to do with the combat? Also not sure how Oriental Adventures will speed things up.
I am taking this as a humor post... But in case it isn't:
OA refers to Opportunity Attack, 4th Editions version of Attack of Opportunity. Heathansson is "commenting" on how dropping the 'of' in the phrase will streamline play.
My opinion?
Bla bla bla... Nothing but emptiness in this so-called spoiler. No specific rules, no real depiction of how it goes, nothing.
End of the story.
Elite Monsters?
What's next? Unique Boss Monsters that get extra powers, complete with a chart where you can roll its name?
"Knee-Biter The Flatulent"
A Unique monster has a randomly rolled up name - you always roll X times on the table, and use the parts you roll up in that order, even if the name doesn't make sense - and gets its name displayed in a different text colour.
Now where do I know that from? My mouse is screaming in recalled agony.