I have a lvl 40 monster that I have been designing. As I have never had a character at lvl 30 (although close), I don't know how a lvl 30 party would fair against him. If you have any input or ideas regarding this monster, I would definitely appreciate it if you let me know! Thanks!
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Designing a Monster: Exiled Prince
- Thread starter Harleau
- Start date
the Jester
Legend
There are some cool concepts here, but it's a little rough around the edges.
A level 40 soldier should have AC 56 and other defenses 52 on average; this guy's defenses are way too low.
Looks like his hit points should be 712: (8 * 41 (level +1) = 328) + (con score = 30) = 356 * 2 (elite) = 712. Given the immortal assistant, I'd reduce this to about 650- still enough to be challenging, but not basically twice as many as should be.
Some of his powers are confusing.
Geaskai blightsight seems like it could be simplified, and several of its elements are really kind of whack- range 175 automatic hit?? I think that's a bit much. I would rewrite it like this if it were me:
Range 50*; automatic hit; the target is dominated until the end of tis next turn and is immune to this power until the end of the encounter.
*This keeps a "Whoa, that's really long range!" feel to it without being totally over the top.
Immortal Assistant is cool but needs to be clarified. Again, this is how I'd do it:
Immediate Interrupt* (when an attack hits the exiled prince and he is bloodied; at will): The exiled prince's immortal assistant appears and suffers the effect of the attack in his stead. The assistant then vanishes. The assistant has 300 hit points; once these are gone, it is destroyed, reforming after the exiled prince has a short rest.
*You had it set up as a reaction.
Checkmate: I would eliminate the Bluff check and simply create 20 illusionary doubles. I'd also add a minor action teleport "Switch places with a duplicate" ability.
Birthright looks like a recipe for slowing down play while you look at the pcs' items for half an hour. I would dispense with it entirely, personally.
Zero Requiem is confusing and doesn't say whether it's a melee, ranged, etc. Also, it dominates but it attacks AC? I'm not quite certain of your intentions for it- how does this attack look?- so it's hard to give suggestions, but it needs clarification if nothing else.
Radiant Judgment is, again, not marked as melee, ranged, etc. Also, is it supposed to be doing radiant damage? The damage on it is very low, especially for a 40th level dude.
Identify Discovered seems like a silly thing- basically, 1 in 4 attacks are wastes of time? For a 40th level guy?? I'd completely remove this.
Power of the Kings- I'd move this to the "Immune" line of the stat block and eliminate the text, it just clutters the stat block up.
Also, I'd recommend reordering things- your basic attack ought to be first, and the stat block should be ordered in a way where the dm can easily see how the monster should play. Immortal Assistant should be near the bottom, most attacks near the top, etc.
A level 40 soldier should have AC 56 and other defenses 52 on average; this guy's defenses are way too low.
Looks like his hit points should be 712: (8 * 41 (level +1) = 328) + (con score = 30) = 356 * 2 (elite) = 712. Given the immortal assistant, I'd reduce this to about 650- still enough to be challenging, but not basically twice as many as should be.
Some of his powers are confusing.
Geaskai blightsight seems like it could be simplified, and several of its elements are really kind of whack- range 175 automatic hit?? I think that's a bit much. I would rewrite it like this if it were me:
Range 50*; automatic hit; the target is dominated until the end of tis next turn and is immune to this power until the end of the encounter.
*This keeps a "Whoa, that's really long range!" feel to it without being totally over the top.
Immortal Assistant is cool but needs to be clarified. Again, this is how I'd do it:
Immediate Interrupt* (when an attack hits the exiled prince and he is bloodied; at will): The exiled prince's immortal assistant appears and suffers the effect of the attack in his stead. The assistant then vanishes. The assistant has 300 hit points; once these are gone, it is destroyed, reforming after the exiled prince has a short rest.
*You had it set up as a reaction.
Checkmate: I would eliminate the Bluff check and simply create 20 illusionary doubles. I'd also add a minor action teleport "Switch places with a duplicate" ability.
Birthright looks like a recipe for slowing down play while you look at the pcs' items for half an hour. I would dispense with it entirely, personally.
Zero Requiem is confusing and doesn't say whether it's a melee, ranged, etc. Also, it dominates but it attacks AC? I'm not quite certain of your intentions for it- how does this attack look?- so it's hard to give suggestions, but it needs clarification if nothing else.
Radiant Judgment is, again, not marked as melee, ranged, etc. Also, is it supposed to be doing radiant damage? The damage on it is very low, especially for a 40th level dude.
Identify Discovered seems like a silly thing- basically, 1 in 4 attacks are wastes of time? For a 40th level guy?? I'd completely remove this.
Power of the Kings- I'd move this to the "Immune" line of the stat block and eliminate the text, it just clutters the stat block up.
Also, I'd recommend reordering things- your basic attack ought to be first, and the stat block should be ordered in a way where the dm can easily see how the monster should play. Immortal Assistant should be near the bottom, most attacks near the top, etc.
Thanks for the help Jester! I realize that it was a lot to read through. I just want to make a note that this monster is based on Lelouch from Code Geass. So, some of the powers and conditions are made to kind of reflect that. The range 175 on Geaskai Blindsight was supposed to be equivalent to the range that Lelouch has in the anime. Anyway, I'll definitely consider your revisions on this! Thanks!
Just one question: Why do you suggest 20 illusions rather than 10?
Just one question: Why do you suggest 20 illusions rather than 10?
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the Jester
Legend
the Jester
Legend
I dunno if you have Pyramid of Shadows, but there's a bad guy in there that uses images of himself to swap places with and stuff- you might take a look for inspiration.
Is that a game a or a book? Or is it relevant to DnD and I just haven't heard of it? I'll look around for it and see if I can find it.
To be honest I looked at the creature a couple of times in its original form and I found it ambiguous and complicated at best, confusing and nonsensical at worst.
To me it looks like a classic example of “I know what I mean, why don’t you?” or in other words you have a definite idea of what this creature does, but you haven’t written it out in a way that others can follow easily.
Jester’s post addresses the issues well, and if Jester (who has hundreds of creatures under his belt) is confused then what hope do the rest of us have?
My initial thoughts:-
Stats
I agree with Jester, defences and HPs should be around:
HP 722
AC 56; Fortitude 52; Reflex 52; Will 52
Geaskai Blindsight
This is confusing and contradictory, it is an automatic hit effect that lasts until the end of the encounter but only 1 turn if it has an effect?
My initial reaction to this power is one of suspicion. I can’t help but think there is a loophole somewhere in its text that allows something horrible to happen.
“any conditions included in the command (i.e. limit movement etc) are in effect until the end of the encounter.”
“Conditions that include status aliments, such as stun, sleep etc are only in effect for one round of initiative, starting on your turn”
So if this power was used to state “target can only move 1 square per turn” would that stay in effect for the entire encounter or for just 1 turn?
How about “target must drop any items they are carrying in their hands at the end of their turn” would that last for the entire encounter?
There is also the “The enemy can only perform one action” text, this does not have a duration so it could be interpreted that it lasts until the end of the encounter. Surely it doesn’t?
Immortal Assistant
Where is this assistant when it is not taking attacks for the Prince?
This power is an immediate reaction (should be an immediate interrupt) so it can only be used once a turn by the prince so I don’t think you need to worry about how many HPs it is taking, unless of course it is always present in the encounter. If it is always there in the encounter it needs its own stat block).
Checkmate
It’s a nice idea I like the concept of skill use during combat, it would be a little fiddly to remember who can and can’t see them but it could work.
However you could use them to completely block in an enemy so that it couldn’t move. If you have 10 illusions (that cant be moved or attacked) then 8 of them could surround someone and effectively take them out of combat.
Illusionary Retribution
Its OK.
There is no duration on the “vulnerability 10 illusions”.
Birthright
Its an interesting idea but it feels far too fiddly in my opinion, I think you would be better allowing it to gain the benefit of 1 out of a list of 6 possible effects each turn. Maybe randomly?
Zero Requiem
I am all for high damage attacks, but I don’t think you need the brutal or the vorpal mechanic, again its just too fiddly for a monster in my opinion.
Also as you will be surrounding 1 PC with 9 illusions he will be taking 8d10+25+8d6 damage. Again I am not afraid of massive damage, but bear it in mind.
Radiant Judgement
Why would it ever use this attack?
This is the attack of a level 10 standard creature.
Identity Discovered
This is just horrible, it both doesn’t make any sense thematically and hamstrings the creature.
Also you state “if any multiple of 4 comes up during an attack roll”, what exactly do you mean by that?
Is that really a 4, 8, 12, 16, (not 20 as it is your stated exception) on the d20 attack?
Power of Kings
I am all for important creatures having mechanics to help them with major status effects for the sake of keeping an exciting combat. But this doesn’t mean just making it immune to everything apart from slow and blind, that isn’t interesting that is power gaming and I don’t think your players would appreciate it.
Conclusion
I am very sorry for being quite negative in this post but I think this creature has some serious problems and would not lend itself to an exciting and entertaining encounter.
This of course is just my opinion but I hope this gives you something to think about and helps in some way.
EDIT:
I forgot another thing; an elite should be able to consitantly attack 2 targets a round or one target twice. This creature has 3 actions points instead of 1 but that doesn't make up for it only having one attack a round.
To me it looks like a classic example of “I know what I mean, why don’t you?” or in other words you have a definite idea of what this creature does, but you haven’t written it out in a way that others can follow easily.
Jester’s post addresses the issues well, and if Jester (who has hundreds of creatures under his belt) is confused then what hope do the rest of us have?
My initial thoughts:-
Stats
I agree with Jester, defences and HPs should be around:
HP 722
AC 56; Fortitude 52; Reflex 52; Will 52
Geaskai Blindsight
This is confusing and contradictory, it is an automatic hit effect that lasts until the end of the encounter but only 1 turn if it has an effect?
My initial reaction to this power is one of suspicion. I can’t help but think there is a loophole somewhere in its text that allows something horrible to happen.
“any conditions included in the command (i.e. limit movement etc) are in effect until the end of the encounter.”
“Conditions that include status aliments, such as stun, sleep etc are only in effect for one round of initiative, starting on your turn”
So if this power was used to state “target can only move 1 square per turn” would that stay in effect for the entire encounter or for just 1 turn?
How about “target must drop any items they are carrying in their hands at the end of their turn” would that last for the entire encounter?
There is also the “The enemy can only perform one action” text, this does not have a duration so it could be interpreted that it lasts until the end of the encounter. Surely it doesn’t?
Immortal Assistant
Where is this assistant when it is not taking attacks for the Prince?
This power is an immediate reaction (should be an immediate interrupt) so it can only be used once a turn by the prince so I don’t think you need to worry about how many HPs it is taking, unless of course it is always present in the encounter. If it is always there in the encounter it needs its own stat block).
Checkmate
It’s a nice idea I like the concept of skill use during combat, it would be a little fiddly to remember who can and can’t see them but it could work.
However you could use them to completely block in an enemy so that it couldn’t move. If you have 10 illusions (that cant be moved or attacked) then 8 of them could surround someone and effectively take them out of combat.
Illusionary Retribution
Its OK.
There is no duration on the “vulnerability 10 illusions”.
Birthright
Its an interesting idea but it feels far too fiddly in my opinion, I think you would be better allowing it to gain the benefit of 1 out of a list of 6 possible effects each turn. Maybe randomly?
Zero Requiem
I am all for high damage attacks, but I don’t think you need the brutal or the vorpal mechanic, again its just too fiddly for a monster in my opinion.
Also as you will be surrounding 1 PC with 9 illusions he will be taking 8d10+25+8d6 damage. Again I am not afraid of massive damage, but bear it in mind.
Radiant Judgement
Why would it ever use this attack?
This is the attack of a level 10 standard creature.
Identity Discovered
This is just horrible, it both doesn’t make any sense thematically and hamstrings the creature.
Also you state “if any multiple of 4 comes up during an attack roll”, what exactly do you mean by that?
Is that really a 4, 8, 12, 16, (not 20 as it is your stated exception) on the d20 attack?
Power of Kings
I am all for important creatures having mechanics to help them with major status effects for the sake of keeping an exciting combat. But this doesn’t mean just making it immune to everything apart from slow and blind, that isn’t interesting that is power gaming and I don’t think your players would appreciate it.
Conclusion
I am very sorry for being quite negative in this post but I think this creature has some serious problems and would not lend itself to an exciting and entertaining encounter.
This of course is just my opinion but I hope this gives you something to think about and helps in some way.
EDIT:
I forgot another thing; an elite should be able to consitantly attack 2 targets a round or one target twice. This creature has 3 actions points instead of 1 but that doesn't make up for it only having one attack a round.
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Thanks for your comments Mesh. No worries on the negativity. I figured that this one would get a lot of negative feedback on certain aspects, but that's what allows me to do better with it. Maybe it will one day be a good enough monster for people to use it as a custom creation.
I do agree that things are bit confusing about the details on skills and such, but I'm trying to figure out a way to re-write them into a simpler form. And, yes, it is a case of "I know what I mean- is it not clear?" And thanks for making that note on the lacking of a second attack. I'll be sure to add it.
I do agree that things are bit confusing about the details on skills and such, but I'm trying to figure out a way to re-write them into a simpler form. And, yes, it is a case of "I know what I mean- is it not clear?" And thanks for making that note on the lacking of a second attack. I'll be sure to add it.
