Dear bloody god: Calystrx (Threats to Nentir Vale Preview)

Aegeri · Jun 6, 2011

Dear God. This is really something, it's a red dragon with THREE heads and some pretty impressive powers. Most importantly, it's one of the first monsters I've ever seen that shrugs off marks like water. Each turn it just ends a mark upon him and then presumably eats the rest of the party at his whimsy. This is probably one of the strongest monsters in 4E because of its ability to outright not care about marks. The bite that slides a huge chunk doesn't hurt either. Plus 4 turns once he gets bloodied - additional usage of rip and tear AND breath weapon. He can cover the battlefield in zones!

I just. I just am in awe. Whoever designed this please make more.

Oh and random level 4 dude with a level 14 monster. I mean, yeah, he's level 4 and he's doing it. Presumably he's the little flaming kobold that could, but I would prefer it if these creatures had antagonists more around their own level and not wildly all over the place (Vestapulk comes to mind, but unlike that this stat block deserves its place). Again, what a fantastic monster even if I am confused why a level 4 creature is in the same "group" with a level 14 solo brute.

Drakhar · Jun 6, 2011

This is indeed a fearsome creature, the only thing I see slightly problematic is the zone her breath weapon creates only lasts until the end of her next turn, so if the party doesn't have an initiative count between 30-20 or 20-10 or 10-0 then One head won't gain the benefit of the breath weapons zone. Not to mention that when she gets bloodied she sprouts a 4th head which could be deadly for the party. All in all definitely what I would be looking for in a dragon.

Aegeri · Jun 6, 2011

Drakhar said:
This is indeed a fearsome creature, the only thing I see slightly problematic is the zone her breath weapon creates only lasts until the end of her next turn

The trick is that the breath weapons are tracked per head, so I would assume the intention from the author is that each breath weapon lasts until that heads next turn. This is at least how I see the trait working, but it is going to be very DM interpretable.

Matt James · Jun 6, 2011

The key here is looking at the phrase until the end of Calastryx's next turn.

GMforPowergamers · Jun 6, 2011

Aegeri said:
This is probably one of the strongest monsters in 4E

I think I would piss myself if I knew we had to go after this guy

I just. I just am in awe. Whoever designed this please make more.

yes... I wish solos almost all look like this..

Oh and random level 4 dude with a level 14 monster. I mean, yeah, he's level 4 and he's doing it. Presumably he's the little flaming kobold that could, but I would prefer it if these creatures had antagonists more around their own level and not wildly all over the place

I don't think they are togather...from what I read you meat little kobold at level 1-3 and forshadow the awakening of the big guy... then 8-11 levels later you meat your 3/4 headed beast...

If the PCs didn;t have this monster man, I could see them laughing it off thinking you were going to throw a lv 5 red dragon at them...then forgetting about it by level 10 or 11...just in time to remind them

Aegeri · Jun 6, 2011

Matt James said:
The key here is looking at the phrase until the end of Calastryx's next turn. When I designed her, it was mean't to be as terrifying as it looks. Theoretically, she could lay down 3 zones (4 if bloodied) that would all last for a good while.

I'm kind of confused. In one sense, the zones are going to last for a short period without affecting a PC (between the extremely high/low initiatives especially) with the original wording taken literally (without the trait that is). I'm assuming that your intent is that a zone placed on head 2s turn lasts until the end of the turn that the second head used the power? EG initiative 20 to initiative 20 the next round? Or am I mistaken?

Either way though, I absolutely love the monster and I can just interpret it how I like (So long as my PCs understand how it works and its consistent there is never a problem)! This is one of the best solos in 4E and you should feel exceptionally happy to have it published

Edit: Just out of curiosity, but were you talking to Rodney Thompson at all when you made this? It's similar to the description of his conversion of the two headed red dragon from the Lich Queen adventure recently (Combining a red dragon and hydra). Or do great minds just think alike? I'm also wondering about your decision to have it end marks: That's absolutely *brutal*.

Matt James · Jun 6, 2011

Calastryx's turn (not one of her heads, mind you) cycles just like the players. So, if she uses the zone power on Initiative count 30, it lasts all the way around until the end of Initiative count 10 on the following turn. Separating out each head could be cumbersome to say the least and would effectively make the monster act even more like a grouping of separate monsters.

This is a dragon--and a nasty one at that. If a group thinks this dragon is too brutal, I recommend they stay away from the dungeon in which it sleeps

Aegeri · Jun 6, 2011

Do you mean initiative count 20 then (next turn after 30 would be her turn on count 20)? I've always found multiple initiative creatures and "End of turn" effects to be rather wonky myself. Unless you think of all three initiative values as one turn all together - just spread out on three different counts. That would be an interesting interpretation.

Edit: That clarifies it. That's an interesting interpretation of "Turn". Actually I can't help but agree with you that is how multiple initiative solos should work, such as with the Tembo. Is this the actual official monster rule?

Edit2: That interpretation also makes keeping track of the breath weapon much easier. So you always know any zone will end at the end of initiative count 10 on the next round from when it was used (rather than having to track what zone ends on what initiative count etc).

Matt James · Jun 6, 2011

Nothing official that I know of. By the wording, it can equally be argued that it goes the other way--which is fine. She is still deadly either way you go

If you were going purely by the way the power is written, and consider her other abilities, the zone would end after each initiative count. Still--it's quite nasty.

Matt James · Jun 6, 2011

I also wanted to add, because it looks like there is confusion. The Kobold that shares the page isn't necessarily something that would be in the encounter with Calastryx. If you read the story behind it, it would work better as a lower level seed that leads you into a final encounter with Calastryx down the road. Thing of it as a seed early on in a story-arch that ends with your encounter with the dragon. Make sense?

Dear bloody god: Calystrx (Threats to Nentir Vale Preview)

Aegeri

First Post

Drakhar

First Post

Aegeri

First Post

Matt James

Game Developer

GMforPowergamers

Legend

Aegeri

First Post

Matt James

Game Developer

Aegeri

First Post

Matt James

Game Developer

Matt James

Game Developer

Similar Threads