Just got my copy of Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead. It uses a similar format to the Draconimicon, but the content is even better than the Draconomicon. Their are a lot clever imaginings and additions to the lore of the undead, in addition to some great mechanics and story bits.
Highlights:
- Several skill challenges, all very good. The best? “Zombie Horde”, which is exactly what it says.
- Nine undead lairs, three for each tier. Lots of maps, ideas, encounters to steal borrow from. A large part of the book. The book is worth it for this alone
- A mini-monster manual of undead abominations and nightmares. The star from this group? Brain in a Jar. I love this thing and I will use it.
- Stats for Vecna, Count Strahd.
You’re going to be dissapointed as a player if you’re looking for ways to raise undead. Sorry dudes. This is really a book for GMs, and the best part of GMing? You don’t actually need rules to create zombies off-stage. There is really nothing here for players, but I like this. I think a GM book shuold be all GM material, and provide enough content that you are actually saving the GM some time and lending inspiration.
I see in Open Grav a book I can go to again and again for my undead-themed campaign. I would reccommend Draconimicon only if you were using dragons for your adventures, but I would say Open Grave has enough useful content to be worth owning for any 4e GM.
A Jack of All Trades ,or if you prefer, an extreme example of multi-classing, Gamefiend, a.k.a Quinn Murphy has been discussing, playing and designing games straight out of the womb. He is the owner and Editor-in-Chief of this site in addition to being an aspiring game designer. As you would assume, he is a huge fan of 4e.
By day he is a technologist.
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If there’s a cooler monster than the Brain-in-a-Jar I’m yet to find out.
Sounds great. Mine is in the mail, and I am hopeful to put it to use soon in a new campaign.
I think Open Grave may be the only 4e book that I will ever own.
For certain the best supplement they’ve put out for 4e. Top notch.
“You’re going to be dissapointed as a player if you’re looking for ways to raise undead.”
Which is one of the things i do not like about 4E. Animating the undead has long been a trope in D&D and players should have the option to do it as well. It seems pointless to me to detail the lich transformation ritual and vampire creation ritual and then leave animating corpses in the realm of DM handwaving.
Then again I want to play a priest of Orcus so perhaps I am in the minority