Buffing Solo Monsters

[styker]

DMing yesterday i noticed how vulnerable, useless and boring a solo can be. I always use traps, terrain features and diferent maneuvers with solos but they can´t resist all the conditions the pcs put on them.
First of all, they are completely vulnerable to powers whose durantion says "until the end of the encounter" and since a SOLO is the only enemy (normally) in the encounter his power is very decreased with this.
Second, the pcs put more conditions than he can save every turn.
Third, since he expends the 2 action points, his offensive power drops a lot.

In my opinion SOLOS should get a save to ALL effects, including the "until the end of the encounter" ones. They should get 2 saves in a round, one on the start and one on the end of the turn, conditions should be a extra affecting the creature not the rule. And third, they should get some way to be more offensive (except for Dragons, i think they are good solos from the offensive view point). Does somebody have some advice? Ideas?

 

[Jack99]

DMing yesterday i noticed how vulnerable, useless and boring a solo can be. I always use traps, terrain features and diferent maneuvers with solos but they can´t resist all the conditions the pcs put on them.

What kind of solo did you use? and what was the level of the party?

First of all, they are completely vulnerable to powers whose durantion says "until the end of the encounter" and since a SOLO is the only enemy (normally) in the encounter his power is very decreased with this.

There are two or three powers that do this. Splintering shot, walking wounded and maybe one or two other (no books at hand). While those two can be annoying, this is more a problem with said powers than a problem with solos in question.

Second, the pcs put more conditions than he can save every turn.

Huh? the solo gets a save against every effect on him, every round. Maybe this is your problem. You are playing it wrong.

Third, since he expends the 2 action points, his offensive power drops a lot.

I am not even sure what this means?

In my opinion SOLOS should get a save to ALL effects, including the "until the end of the encounter" ones. They should get 2 saves in a round, one on the start and one on the end of the turn, conditions should be a extra affecting the creature not the rule.

I am not sure I am following, but see above.

And third, they should get some way to be more offensive (except for Dragons, i think they are good solos from the offensive view point). Does somebody have some advice? Ideas?

Most of the solos in the MM are dragons. Could you specify which solo you think sucks, then maybe we can be more helpful.

 

[styker]

What kind of solo did you use? and what was the level of the party?

There are two or three powers that do this. Splintering shot, walking wounded and maybe one or two other (no books at hand). While those two can be annoying, this is more a problem with said powers than a problem with solos in question.

Huh? the solo gets a save against every effect on him, every round. Maybe this is your problem. You are playing it wrong.

I am not even sure what this means?

I am not sure I am following, but see above.

Most of the solos in the MM are dragons. Could you specify which solo you think sucks, then maybe we can be more helpful.

Hmm... sorry, really, he has a save againts each effect. Im playing correct, i wrote wrong.
I dont remeber the thread, but i saw a list of powers that are solo kills and powers "until the end of the encounter".
The solo in question was a hydra, but i had the same feeling with a berbalang, when the action points are expended their offensive power drops a lot. I think the problem it that they dont have area attacks to target all the group at the same time.

 

[TheLordWinter]

Solos more than any other monster need a lot of things going on to keep them interesting. Where did the party fight the hydra? Why did the party fight the hydra? In addition, which hydra did the group fight - Fen, Mordant or Primordial?

Solo monsters, in order to make them as interesting as they can be, need to be the centerpiece of a set-piece battlefield. The party should, preferably, have multiple objectives that the solo is impeding. A solo monster should also never be just a "random encounter." Solo monsters played in a straight-out slug fest become fairly boring as you mentioned, particularly once their action points are out. If it's just the PCs and the solo in an open field, it's gonna get boring and fast.

 

[webrunner]

A lot of the example Solo encounters from various suppliments and books seem to follow two or more things:

Either
a) there's a collection of 'retainers'.. a few rabble to fight with the solo
and/or
b) the entire encounter area is designed for it. Like the water that Black Dragon can submerge into. Solo monsters should have a way to use the environment to their advantage.. there's not much reason I can imagine for a solo to be standing around somewhere they dont have a bonus.

 

[eprieur]

The lvl 12 solo hydra seem to be particularly weak. Unless you put it against a lower level party there is not much chance it can actually do anything it seem and it make for a pretty boring fight straight up.

I was looking for a lower level hydra myself and decided to go with a 3 headed hydras that is "wounded" and lost an head and I added a bunch of stuff to try to make the fight interesting. First the hydra will fight mostly in water in some underground river. The water will be infested with piranhas and I gave the hydra a grab attack on each successfull bite attack which will allow it to toss people around. Forcing people to make swim checks in water, with plate armor while the fish are chugging at you.

Since this hydra lacks one head I added a random splash damage attack around it.

In short with the modifs I think the hydra is a much more difficult lvl 8 solos then the lvl 12 one is for lvl 12 but more importantly I think I can make what would have been a boring slug a much more interesting fight with people flying around, eating piranhnas damages, forcing to do swim checks, being slammed into the walls, etc.

Here are the stats I gave it for fun:

Wounded Fen Hydra Level 8 Solo Brute (3 heads)
Large natural beast (reptile) XP
Initiative +9 Senses Perception +13; all-around vision
HP 400; Bloodied 200, 1/4 = 100
AC 22; Fortitude 24, Reflex 18, Will 20
Saving Throws +5
Speed 5, swim 10
Action Points 2
(melee) Bite (standard; at-will) Also see Piranha Food
Reach 2; +11 vs. AC; 1d8 + 5 damage.
(melee) Hydra Fury (standard; at-will)
The fen hydra makes 1 bite attacks per head.
(range) Acid Splash (free; special)
Each time the hydra takes damage for the first time each round there is a 1/6 change per severed head that it will splash acid around itself.
Close Burst 2, +8 vs Fort, 1D6 Acid Damage and ongoing 2 Acid Damage (saves ends). +1 atk/dmg for each severed head.
Severed Heads
The wounded hydra start with 3 normal head and 1 severed head, will lose 1 when it reaches it's bloodied value and another one at 1/4 hp. Each time one head is severed the hydra release an Acid Splash as a free action.
Piranha Food
On a successfull bite attack against a medium or smaller creature the hydra can roll a grab +8 vs Reflex and toss the victim up to 6 square away potentially into the water with the small fishy fishy. Typically 1D10 damage on a fall, 1D10+4 if tossed against a wall, potentially more depending on the wall.
Many-Headed
Each time the fen hydra becomes dazed or stunned, it loses one attack on its next turn instead. Multiple such effects stack.

Threatening Reach
The fen hydra can make opportunity attacks against all enemies within its reach (2 squares).

Alignment Unaligned Languages —
Skills Stealth +12
Str 20 (+11) Dex 16 (+9) Wis 14 (+8)
Con 20 (+11) Int 2 (+2) Cha 8 (+5)

Piranha Swarm based on Rot Scarab Swarm stats Level 8 Soldier

 

[MrMyth]

Third, since he expends the 2 action points, his offensive power drops a lot.

I did start to notice similar things in running solos. While I don't have an easy answer to dealing with players dropping powerful debuffs on the solo for the encounter, I do have some advice on making the solo seem powerful when it counts.

See, the first couple times I ran a solo, I tended to use its most powerful powers right out of the gate - burnt action points on rounds 1 and 2, along with its strongest attacks. The result was a party in a great deal of disarray... which then expended most of its in-combat healing... and spent the rest of the fight slogging through a relatively boring enemy, who had nothing left to really threaten them.

A better approach, I realized, is to start the fight a bit more gradually. Save your action points, simply use rechargable abilities or similar attacks. Usually this means over the first few rounds, you get a few characters in a bad shape, and they spend some of their in-combat healing patching that up - but nothing seems too dangerous, yet. The fight shouldn't yet feel boring, since the solo should have a couple different options for attacks, and they get to see a few different powers at hand.

And then you let loose. When a solo goes bloodied is a great time for this, since many have extra bonuses when bloodied, or cinematic things happen then. Now you start using action points and your big powers - and the party, not at full strength, will really feel the pain. Already having used up some healing, they are suddenly trying to find any abilities they have to keep them going - especially since the enemy is getting close to death. And suddenly the end of the battle is a very intense, very back-and-forth battle, and feels like a real challenge - even if the first few rounds of the fight were relatively laid-back, more focused on showing off how the enemy worked or engaging in witty banter than really threatening the party... yet.

Now, this doesn't solve every problem. A hydra still only has one real form of attack, and even upping the intensity at the end of the fight won't make it extra interesting - same for, say, the purple worm.

But I have had good success with it as a general way of running solos, so it might help, at least to some extent.

If you are looking at getting more creative, here is one option - in a classic 'video game boss fight' style, have the monster abruptly change forms mid-battle.

Say, the fight starts with the PCs fight a Purple Worm - and when it hits bloodied, they chop off its head... and four more smaller heads pour forth, and suddenly they are fighting a Hydra! Use the Purple Worm stats until its gets bloodied, and from there, use the stats for a Hydra (starting the Hydra off at bloodied.) Adjust the monsters to be the same level, so you have one 'complete' Solo of the right level. Have them share Action Points between the two forms (so over the fight, the 'monster' uses no more than 2 Action Points), and mechanically, it should be entirely balanced. You can even use the change into a new form as a chance to wipe off status effects - thus getting around the issue of one or two attacks crippling the monster for the entire fight.

Now, you want to be careful in doing so - it is never fun for a PC to use an ability they thought they could rely upon, and have it suddenly negated. But as long as you handle it smoothly, it should be fun - and add a bit of excitement and memorability to what might otherwise have been a repetitive fight.

 

[Griogre]

A better approach, I realized, is to start the fight a bit more gradually. Save your action points, simply use rechargable abilities or similar attacks. Usually this means over the first few rounds, you get a few characters in a bad shape, and they spend some of their in-combat healing patching that up - but nothing seems too dangerous, yet. The fight shouldn't yet feel boring, since the solo should have a couple different options for attacks, and they get to see a few different powers at hand.

And then you let loose. When a solo goes bloodied is a great time for this, since many have extra bonuses when bloodied, or cinematic things happen then. Now you start using action points and your big powers - and the party, not at full strength, will really feel the pain. Already having used up some healing, they are suddenly trying to find any abilities they have to keep them going - especially since the enemy is getting close to death. And suddenly the end of the battle is a very intense, very back-and-forth battle, and feels like a real challenge - even if the first few rounds of the fight were relatively laid-back, more focused on showing off how the enemy worked or engaging in witty banter than really threatening the party... yet.

I agree with holding back a bit on using action points, I've even started doing this a bit with elites. Others have stated, and from what I can see it is true that unless the solo is several levels higher than the party it is not really going to be much of a challenge. I would go further and say if you don't have attendants with a solo you are probably going to have a boring fight. The only exception to one solo monster being boring seems to be if you totally customized the lair area to the solo to not only make the solo shine but also set up interesting circumstances.

 

[styker]

In another forum i post some people give the same ideas based in phases.
The idea was to give some more deadly abilities that activate when the solo becomes bloodied. Also some AP regain and maybe some bonus in the attacks.
The principal question is that i already use the terrain, the special lair to the solo and ddin´t work, but excelent ideas from all of you.

 

[MrAlgothi]

I give all solos the following ability.

Monstrous Resilience
No Action
At the end of this creatures turn, it may spend one action point to remove any single condition it is currently suffering from.

I find this gives solos the ability to get out of those evil player combos, but at a cost that wont make the players feel cheated. Placed at the end of its turn so the creature gets at least ONE round of horrible player inflicted pain.