Comments on: Solos and Their Environment

By: Mailbag 4 – All By Myself, Part 1 : Critical Hits

Mailbag 4 – All By Myself, Part 1 : Critical Hits — Mon, 03 May 2010 10:31:29 +0000

[...] Solos and Their Environment [...]

By: Claus

Claus — Sun, 02 May 2010 04:15:18 +0000

I agree, making monsters interact with their home turf is a great way to make these encounters unique. Here is my experience: a few months ago, in the middle of my previous campaign, I made an encounter where a guardian demon was able to morph the battlefield as the combat went on – it scared the hell of my players

http://claus.castelodelego.org/archives/486

Instead of making it an attack, I made it a minor at will that generated traps around the combat area – this meant that the players had to keep moving to keep themselves away from the traps that the monster created after them, and after a while they tried to push the demon against its own traps, which was really cool.

By: Christian K. Martinez

Christian K. Martinez — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:11:13 +0000

This is an excellent Idea, I love it. Made me think of this article at Kobold Quarterly that just went up a little while ago about terrain powers. It’s a great way to make Solo encounters unique from others, make them feel well…special. Just like a Solo should feel.

By: Solo Acts: The Worldbreaker

Solo Acts: The Worldbreaker — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:58:49 +0000

[...] Newbiedm, Sly Flourish and I have all been talking about making Solo monsters with a bit more kick. The best model that I can conjure up for how solos should feel is on basis of World of warcraft. I’m not saying that you should need an army of PCs to fight a solo (though Rob Donoghue did a good take on this some time back). MMO bosses are great to study because they are consistently fun. Any time something is consistently fun you have something that you can find patterns in and build off of. [...]

By: Colmarr

Colmarr — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:43:02 +0000

I agree this is a good idea, although I suggest these sort of powers are better dealt with as terrain hazards rather than attached to a specific monster. There’s no point taking up space on the Copper Dragon template for a power that is highly situational (ie. there has to be a roof).

Not to mention that if this is a monster’s power, how does it affect the XP budget. If you were to separate it out as a terrain hazard, perhaps each “environmental power” could count as a minion for the purposes of XP budget?

Now the pedantic stuff. I agree with the Atk v Ref comments above. Further, the power says PCs can make a check to avoid the burst. Then it goes on to have a miss effect. That contradiction is confusing.

Having said that, I admire your foresight in thinking of the “If a PC is in two areas” sentence. It probably wouldn’t have occurred to me!

By: ZorkFox

ZorkFox — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:55:00 +0000

@theactionpoint I totally agree with your modification of the power: I definitely prefer (as a player) not being penalized for not having a particular skill trained. If I’m a fighter, Acrobatics isn’t even in my sphere, so it’d be nice to have the Endurance or Athletics option.

By: ZorkFox

ZorkFox — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:52:12 +0000

I’m once again reminded of Shadow of the Colossus where environment is essential in defeating almost every colossus. One can be tricked into striking a big metal disk, thus damaging its armor and allowing you to climb it. (Similarly, another can be antagonized into attacking pillars until its armor breaks.) Another colossus can be lured into stomping on stone platforms that cause them to rise just enough to give you a leg up to a higher area, allowing you to attack it properly. Another chases you into burial mounds, stomps around on the ground, then peers down to have a look: did it get you? Then you can leap onto its head or back and make your attack.

By: newbiedm

newbiedm — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:55:38 +0000

That, my friend, is the idea.

By: RTGoodman

RTGoodman — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:52:50 +0000

How about this? The PCs fight a big White Dragon on a frozen lake or river, and the dragon has an Encounter (or maybe Recharge 5-6) power to knock 2×2 holes in the ice, giving it the ability to damage PCs, change combat strategies, and generally have a cool, cinematic power. You could do the same thing with a Red Dragon on a cliff near some lava for a deadlier encounter, or have a Black Dragon do it to wooden walkways/bridges in a swampy area.

By: dwashba

dwashba — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:37:03 +0000

Very cool and trying it out next game with a hydra that will knock down pillars!