The May edition of my monthly monster-building column, No Assembly Required, is now posted at This Is My Game.
The column, No Assembly Required, features a monster that can be inserted into a Dungeon & Dragons 4th Edition campaign. Each monster in the series includes comprehensive information including Origin, Lore, Combat Tactics, Power Descriptions and Stat Block. Visit This Is My Game to review this month’s monster, Thurl Bal’zud, Cleric of Laduguer. Thurl an Epic-Tier duergar who can be added to any campaign that might venture into the Underdark.
My goal with the character was to capture the vibe of fighting a Boss in an old Final Fantasy game where the Boss would have two stages. The first would be a defensive shell and the second would be a devastating attack. Going through the design process, I discovered that D&D 4th Edition already has this type of mechanic in the form of Lurkers. However, I don’t think Thurl plays like a Lurker.
Visit This is My Game for the full description of Thurl Bal’zud, Cleric of Laduguer, and decide for yourself. And be sure to check out previous entries in the series!
Many thanks to Grant Gould who provided the fantastic design and illustration for the evil duergar.
The Id DM 
Wonderful site. Plenty of helpful info here. I am sending it to some friends ans additionally
sharing in delicious. And naturally, thanks on your sweat!