HQ25 monster stats and abilities #4 the Chaos Dwarf

[Daedalus]

Discussion links:

3. HQ25 - Choose your monsters + stats

• Chaos Dwarf
  
  a) Mv:6 At:2 De:4 BP:2 MP:3, more here, more here, more here, again w/ability, again w/ ability, 2 or more adjacent Chaos Dwarves each get +1 DD
  b) Mv:5 At:2 De:3 BP:2 MP:4, more here, with ability, Phalanx: When adjacent to another monster with Phalanx this monster rolls +1 DD
  c) Mv:8 At:3 De:4 BP:2 MP:2, 2 or more adjacent Chaos Dwarves each get +1 DD
  d) Mv:4 At:4 De:3 BP:2 MP:3
  e) Mv:6 At:3 De:4 BP:2 MP:2, more here, 2 or more adjacent Chaos Dwarves each get +1 DD
  Runecaster
  
  Mv:5 At:1 De:4 BP:2 MP:5, more here, Rune spells

HQ25 - The great TO-DO list

• Chaos Dwarf
  
  f) Mv:6 At:3 De:4 BP:2 MP:3 Two or more adjacent Chaos Dwarves each roll one extra Combat Die in defense.
  e) Mv:6 At:3 De:4 BP:2 MP:2, more here, A Chaos Dwarf adjacent to one or more Chaos Dwarves rolls 1 extra combat die in defense.
  Adjacent Chaos Dwarfs each roll 1 extra combat die in defense against any attacker they both can see., more here, more here, more here
  Two adjacent Chaos Dwarves in a Hero's surrounding squares each roll one extra Combat Die in defense against that Hero's attack., more here

After a lengthy delay, here's the fouth of 6 polls dealing with the six chosen monsters for the HQ25 Quest Pack. Vote once for stats (lowercase choices), and once for ability (uppercase choices.) You may change your votes. Feel free to express your views and ideas in this topic thread, as later ideas can be added in the placeholder options.

If you're not sure of the description in an entry, follow the matching-lettered discussion link of this post for a fuller explanation at the original post. The links also indicate original stat and ability matchups intended by the creator.

The Beastman and Minotaur polls are still open, and a missing Kobold ability option has been swapped in.

[Daedalus]

The abilities are very similar, so for the sake of variety I have some alternatives:

• Bully: When attacked with a weapon, a Chaos Dwarf may switch spaces with an adjacent green monster, forcing it to be attacked instead. (These evil brutes don't hesitate to use lesser races as fodder.)
• Hell-forged Blade: If a Chaos Dwarf rolls all skulls to hit, reroll the dice. Each black shield rolled reduces the Hero's Attack dice for his weapon by one until it is repaired for half price between Quests.
• Barge Aside: A Chaos Dwarf attack may move a Hero back, to the left, or to the right one square for each Body Point of damage in excess of 1. (Door blocking and battle lines--not in their house!)

[Anderas]

I put my vote on a 2-3-2 Chaos Dwarf with Phalanx.
The others are too close to the Beastmen for my taste - on the other hand, a chaos dwarf with two attack dice is also a little sad chaos dwarf.

I would also like a second weapon variant with Helbard, 3 attack dice diagonal, but right here we're back to doubling the Beastman.

I like the Phalanx ability. I don't see it very often used, though, but why not! It adds Narrative, and that's always good.

[Daedalus]

I'm for A3-D4-B2 to favorably compare to the Even Warrior. Similarity to the Beastman stats bother me less because I want a tough opponent for later Quests.

A Halberd option--wow! It could always be included in a Quest Notes section of an individual room. That should maintain the Beastman differentiation well enough while allowing for a nasty surprise. I wouldn't mind seeing a few Chaos Gunners included in the same manner.

Either variation of shield wall would suit me, though I prefer a bit more "realism" in my fantasy combat.

[StratosVX]

I'm for A3-D4-B2...

That was what I voted for.

[Count Mohawk]

Wasn't there a Chaos Dwarf statline somewhere that had 3 Body Points? I may be misremembering, but I could swear there was. I'd throw for M6 A3 D4 B3 M2 if such a thing existed.

As for differentiating these guys from Beastmen, stat-wise, the Beasts aren't terribly burly on the defense side, so I'd give the Chaos Dwarves more Defense than Attack to counter-weight everything.

Also, I think this particular monster type would definitely benefit from an above-average presence in the Quest Notes. Dwarves are supposed to be great tinkerers, right? Then different rooms of Chaos Dwarves could each be toting various special gear, such as the halberds or guns Anderas and Neo-Daedalus mentioned. Of course, we still need a baseline to use, and the majority of encounters with them should be vanilla (even if it's a thin majority).

[Daedalus]

Neo-Daedalus . It's certainly possible I missed an entry throughout the various threads. I've added your stat-line as a new choice--f).

[Daedalus]

The front-runners are:

• f) Mv:6 At:3 De:4 BP:3 MP:2
• A) Phalanx: When adjacent to another monster with Phalanx this monster rolls +1 DD

The stats and ability lead me to believe four Chaos Dwarves would work well as a gray monster.

The open-ended Phalanx ability could provide for some interesting Quest Notes options. For instance, a special Gargoyle could also have Phalanx. Alongside 2 or 3 Chaos Dwarves, the Heroes would have even a tougher time. Or how about shield Goblins with Phalanx? These slaves can't attack, but this allows an adjacent Chaos Dwarf 4 Attack Dice.

[Anderas]

Wow these are hard ones!

It's possible that these little guys are tougher than Chaos Warriors with the BP more.
They are the Boss Monster for a beginner's group, but even for a red group they are not at all easy opponents.

I like the statline! Do we have some thing to fill the Goblin-Skeleton place in HQ25?

[Count Mohawk]

I like the statline! Do we have some thing to fill the Goblin-Skeleton place in HQ25?

Well, Goblins and Skeletons themselves will still be available for use when designing HQ25 Quests. Somewhat surprisingly, however, we don't seem to have any new monsters with exactly 2 Attack dice.

• Kobolds have 1 Attack die, and an ability that can give them more in the right situation.
• Beatmen have 3 Attack dice, although I think their counterattack skill hits for 2.
• Minotaurs have 5 Attack dice.
• Chaos Dwarves are likely to have 3 Attack dice, based on the current poll.
• Cultists will probably have 1 Attack Die, although a case could be made for them to have 2. But then, those guys will be the hardest to balance anyway due to the whole "minor mook with Magic" thing going on.
• Finally, who knows what Basilisks will have for Attack, although I'd be surprised if it was less than 3.