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(4e) Too close to bag of rats?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7411430" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>It's a lot, /lot/ harder to stat out a PC or NPC using even /some/ PC rules, than to stat out a monster, PC-class-template monster/NPC, or a companion character (see DMG 2). A whole lot more. Just don't even go there. If you do end up with the NPC joining the party and becoming a PC when the original DM returns, just build it as a PC at that point. Until then, monster if fighting the party, companion character if joining up. Way, way easier on you. </p><p></p><p> A little elaborate for just that specific benefit (monsters tend to blow through hps a lot faster than PCs, so the Warlocks Pact Boon would actually be a bit trivial in that context). But a monster that kills innocents the PCs would like to save in order to fuel it's abilities is a fine idea. </p><p></p><p>You could do an Elite + Minions (guards) encounter (a standard encounter like that is 1 Elite & 12 minions, all of the PCs level, in the Heroic Tier), and have the prisoners /also minions/, but basically helpless, so they're naturally 1 hp. Whether you go with the temps or some other benefit, it should be a 1/round thing, so he doesn't blow through 'em too fast, and the PCs have a chance to be heroic and save at least some of them.</p><p></p><p>Saving prisoners could be as simple as killing the guards, or it could take checks to free them, making it a sort of skill challenge that'd also be worth some xp, or the BBEG could be able to use any minion (allied or otherwise) as fuel, and you can just count them towards the minions in the encounter (you could have 8 guards and 4 prisoners, for instance, or 6 & 6... guards fight the PCs, but are likely to be killed quickly, while the prisoners can remain as a resource for the Elite to tap).</p><p></p><p> Manufacturing fake enemies to set off conditional benefits was a 3.x trick that could be abused pretty hard in a few combos. 4e makes it clear such tricks don't work, that the 'enemy' targeted needs to actually be one. But, that's a player-side thing, a caution against letting PCs get away with something unintended. </p><p>A monster you just set up the way you want to set up, and a challenge like saving hostages that the monster is slowly killing his way through to fuel his power is a pretty good set-up. It means the PCs are doubly-motivated to save the hostages, as it both is the right & heroic thing to do, /and/ weakens the BBEG they're fighting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7411430, member: 996"] It's a lot, /lot/ harder to stat out a PC or NPC using even /some/ PC rules, than to stat out a monster, PC-class-template monster/NPC, or a companion character (see DMG 2). A whole lot more. Just don't even go there. If you do end up with the NPC joining the party and becoming a PC when the original DM returns, just build it as a PC at that point. Until then, monster if fighting the party, companion character if joining up. Way, way easier on you. A little elaborate for just that specific benefit (monsters tend to blow through hps a lot faster than PCs, so the Warlocks Pact Boon would actually be a bit trivial in that context). But a monster that kills innocents the PCs would like to save in order to fuel it's abilities is a fine idea. You could do an Elite + Minions (guards) encounter (a standard encounter like that is 1 Elite & 12 minions, all of the PCs level, in the Heroic Tier), and have the prisoners /also minions/, but basically helpless, so they're naturally 1 hp. Whether you go with the temps or some other benefit, it should be a 1/round thing, so he doesn't blow through 'em too fast, and the PCs have a chance to be heroic and save at least some of them. Saving prisoners could be as simple as killing the guards, or it could take checks to free them, making it a sort of skill challenge that'd also be worth some xp, or the BBEG could be able to use any minion (allied or otherwise) as fuel, and you can just count them towards the minions in the encounter (you could have 8 guards and 4 prisoners, for instance, or 6 & 6... guards fight the PCs, but are likely to be killed quickly, while the prisoners can remain as a resource for the Elite to tap). Manufacturing fake enemies to set off conditional benefits was a 3.x trick that could be abused pretty hard in a few combos. 4e makes it clear such tricks don't work, that the 'enemy' targeted needs to actually be one. But, that's a player-side thing, a caution against letting PCs get away with something unintended. A monster you just set up the way you want to set up, and a challenge like saving hostages that the monster is slowly killing his way through to fuel his power is a pretty good set-up. It means the PCs are doubly-motivated to save the hostages, as it both is the right & heroic thing to do, /and/ weakens the BBEG they're fighting. [/QUOTE]
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(4e) Too close to bag of rats?
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