Is my Dark Naga unfair?

[Obryn]

Alright, so the Dark Naga in the MM1 is just awful. It's one of those horribly-designed MM1 solos that should never be used as-is.

However, for the adventure/setting I'm running right now (a conversion of City by the Silt Sea), I need a Dark Naga. So I asked myself, "What made a dark naga click in 2e?" And I pretty much figured it was spells and poison and some kind of hypnosis thing, IIRC. (I also have a party with 2-1/2 controllers, very capable of putting Solos and Elites into Condition Hell.)

This encounter doesn't necessarily end in a fight - but since it already ate 2 of their allies' young, it very well might end up that way.

Also ... ah ... it's on a fairly small island, with several houses (including windows) surrounded by very dangerous magma.

-O

 

[Octangula]

Per MM3 math, Controllers no longer get +1 against a NAD. +22 vs Will should become +21.

You might want to adjust the recharge rate for Impenetrable Gaze. 3+ rolling twice a round means it has just an 11.1% chance of not being able to use it at least once per round (dropping to 3.7% when bloodied), which effectively makes it an at-will. 4+ would make it 25% (12.5%), 5+ would be 44.4% (29.6%). If the intent is to prevent it from downgrading a move action to do it twice, then maybe 1/round or 1/turn would be a better way of doing.

It seems to target nothing except Will, which means that it will struggle to hit some adventurers, and nearly always hit others. Would it be possible to make one of the other attacks (apart from Sting) attack a different NAD, or come up with a different attack to do this?

Sting seems to do a little too much damage, assuming that the ongoing will be dealt at least once. However, as the ongoing damage doesn't stack when it uses Skewer, it balances out slightly.

Psionic Arc should probably have a multi-target penalty to damage (given that this is a solo, I'm not sure how much that applies), and possibly a penalty for a strong status effect. The secondary attack push is a nice touch, although that's even more attacks it's sending out,

The rest looks fine, but I'm not sure I'd want to face one any time soon...

 

[Obryn]

Per MM3 math, Controllers no longer get +1 against a NAD. +22 vs Will should become +21.

Good call! Using the old MB, and adjusting what I've memorized. haven't memorized that - thanks!

[/quote]You might want to adjust the recharge rate for Impenetrable Gaze. 3+ rolling twice a round means it has just an 11.1% chance of not being able to use it at least once per round (dropping to 3.7% when bloodied), which effectively makes it an at-will. 4+ would make it 25% (12.5%), 5+ would be 44.4% (29.6%). If the intent is to prevent it from downgrading a move action to do it twice, then maybe 1/round or 1/turn would be a better way of doing.[/quote]
Thanks for checking my math. I want it to be NEARLY an at-will, but not necessarily every single one of its turns. I want it to play games with conditions, basically. I might up it to 4-6; I want the potential to do it more than 1/round without being a guarantee, especially when bloodied.

It seems to target nothing except Will, which means that it will struggle to hit some adventurers, and nearly always hit others. Would it be possible to make one of the other attacks (apart from Sting) attack a different NAD, or come up with a different attack to do this?

Good call. Could probably do something with the psychic arc...

Sting seems to do a little too much damage, assuming that the ongoing will be dealt at least once. However, as the ongoing damage doesn't stack when it uses Skewer, it balances out slightly.

This was intentional, actually. I figured if my Solo is only getting 3-4 attacks/round, it needs some compensation.

Psionic Arc should probably have a multi-target penalty to damage (given that this is a solo, I'm not sure how much that applies), and possibly a penalty for a strong status effect. The secondary attack push is a nice touch, although that's even more attacks it's sending out,

The secondary attacks 1d8 less damage, each, so it's kind of built in. Not a huge difference, but yeah.

Given that it's a solo, I don't want to penalize it for attacking up to about 5 times on its turn. I was thinking 4 attacks, plus a Minor. Since I normally have 5 PCs, the extra minor attack at Init+10 seemed okay.

The rest looks fine, but I'm not sure I'd want to face one any time soon...

Thanks for the feedback!

-O

 

[NewJeffCT]

looks like an interesting writeup. For clarity's sake, you might want to specify that the dark naga Split Mind means it can take an additional minor action at 10+ its initiative count.

Also, are there a lot of monsters that have a reaction power that doesn't allow you to save at the end of your current turn? I'm no monster builder expert, but I don't recall any? (Again, I could be totally off base...)

 

[Obryn]

Also, are there a lot of monsters that have a reaction power that doesn't allow you to save at the end of your current turn? I'm no monster builder expert, but I don't recall any? (Again, I could be totally off base...)

I don't recall any, but I think there should be when it's a reaction like this

It must happen on their turn except in corner cases like OA's. A current-turn save means it's 55%+ unlikely to do anything at all.

-O

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Per MM3 math, Controllers no longer get +1 against a NAD. +22 vs Will should become +21.

I wasn't aware of this

The only-versus-Will thing might be less of an issue if it has allies that attack something else. (Paragon solos can't be used "solo", so to speak.)

An important part of this encounter is how much damage does the lava do. I vaguely recall seeing stats doing ongoing fire damage plus slow, but I might have made that up somehow. In any event, it should be a hazard of the same level as the naga, or close to it.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I don't recall any, but I think there should be when it's a reaction like this

It must happen on their turn except in corner cases like OA's. A current-turn save means it's 55%+ unlikely to do anything at all.

-O

True - I think there should be powers like that, but once you're getting up to fighting level 18 Solo monsters, the PCs will likely have powers that grant bonus saving throws before the affected PC even goes, anyways.

Heck, a few sessions ago in my game, a PC that was level 15 or so failed like 12 straight saving throws after a monster power rendered him unconscious. I think it was over six rounds of combat, and he was granted a bonus saving throw each round through various powers or skill checks. (One of the most amazing displays of bad rolling I've ever seen... the opposite of the time where I saw a DM roll 5 straight 20s on a d20 when it was a weapon that did open-ended damage on a crit.)

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I think the thing is pretty nice. Aside maybe from the noted recharge issue, but honestly in most situations that won't matter much (though with nasty terrain it will). Tough monster, no doubt, but in a straight up fight definitely killable. Certainly not 'unfair' in any way that I can see. Seems like a perfectly good rendition of a modern 4e higher level solo.

 

[Obryn]

True - I think there should be powers like that, but once you're getting up to fighting level 18 Solo monsters, the PCs will likely have powers that grant bonus saving throws before the affected PC even goes, anyways.

This is true! And if so, I want them to use them!

-O

 

[Obryn]

I wasn't aware of this

The only-versus-Will thing might be less of an issue if it has allies that attack something else. (Paragon solos can't be used "solo", so to speak.)

An important part of this encounter is how much damage does the lava do. I vaguely recall seeing stats doing ongoing fire damage plus slow, but I might have made that up somehow. In any event, it should be a hazard of the same level as the naga, or close to it.

I'm being kinda mean about lava - 20 damage when entering, 20 damage if you end your turn in the lava, and slow while in the lava. I need to make a note that the naga has learned how to efficiently move through the lava, and with her 20 fire resistance (seriously, in the original module I'm not even sure how she got to the island in the first place - spells, maybe?) it doesn't pose a problem.

One other note ... the PCs are 14th level (soon to be 15th). I am not positive this will end in a fight. However, they just took down an Elite lvl 20 Fire Drake suppored by 2 artillery fire elementals, so they are feeling cocky. (It only ended up as an L16 fight, when it was said and done; I took it easy on them.)

-O