I know, I know. I’m not really going to make that title work ever, but I’m sticking with it. I just used a Setessan Hoplite from Mythic Odyssey of Theros for the first time this week and they were a blast in combat. I had the players on their heels for most of the match, dropped a few of them to zero, and was able to make tactical maneuvers around the battlefield.
Mythic Odyssey of Theros is based upon the similarly named expansion to Magic: The Gathering, Theros Beyond Death. There is no card with a matching name in the set, so I pulled an image for one that I thought was probably a close match. Mythic Odyssey of Theros has this to say:
Most Setessan hoplites begin their training as hunters, making them skilled in traversing the woods and adept at both guerrilla tactics and archery. Their strategies often emulate the favored servants of Nylea—especially wild beasts like wolves and lynxes. Typically a few soldiers harry an enemy while the rest capitalize on their foe’s distraction.
MOT, p. 229
The Setessan Hoplite in D&D swings well above it’s weight as a CR 4. I have to wonder if the CR was miscalculated. The stat block lists their average damage as 6 for the scimitar and 7 for the longbow. This seems to ignore the addition 3d6 of poison damage that both attacks do. So, that’s more like 17 and 18 damage respectively. I’m not going to look into it much more closely than that in order to maintain plausible deniability
Setessan Hoplite: Final Thoughts
What I will say is that these NPCs are great team players. They offer great damage both in melee and ranged combat. Their Pack Tactics ability gives them advantage when allies are in close quarters. Additionally, with two attacks and relatively high AC, there’s not a lot of soft spots her. I’m thinking of modeling a higher level named NPC based on their format as well. More to come on that, maybe on the Voivode.net blog.
Wanna know what other monsters are on my Hotlist? Or, maybe instead of the deadliest you want monsters that provide interesting challenges in and out of combat? Check out my Blocklist.
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