What do you mean by "can and can't see"?
What has this got to do with using villains as solos, surrounded by lower level mooks?
Solos: Using AP for the BIG ESCAPE
What do you mean by "can and can't see"?
What has this got to do with using villains as solos, surrounded by lower level mooks?
Jack99
Adventurer
That's odd, since all encounter suggestions in the MM include extra monsters, aside from the solos. I will agree that most of the adventures done by WotC also use this: 1 solo and not much else.
Maybe someone (coughmearlscough) who knows can enlighten us. Are solo mobs intended to be used on their own? Or just to be able to hold their own against a party?
Actually, the rule is that you can only use one AP per encounter, and then they go on to state that solo monsters break this rule.
Given that the Kas (solo soldier) encounter suggestion in "Open Grave" features him along with 3-4 soldier bodyguards, I'll give an educated guess as to which side of this debate WotC falls on.
Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
The presence of additional creatures alongside the Solo changes the "square relationship." The power that a Solo enjoys as a result of being designed to face the party alone is out of proportion when it isn't alone.
The more creatures you add, the more poorly designed the Solo will seem-- on the side of "too powerful."
You could compensate by dramatically reducing the power of the Solo and increasing the power of his allies, but it's not a linear relationship, and you'll basically be "fudging" the intended feel of the Solo.
Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
My educated guess is that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
Trying to get back on topic: The mechanism by which the Elite rival escapes is very similar, saving his single action point to expedite his retreat. Instead of waiting until he himself is bloodied, he makes his move when he is at or close to bloodied and roughly half of his followers are defeated (basically, when the encounter itself is roughly half-done).
The lack of the second action point is to be made up for by the surviving lackeys covering his retreat.
The lack of the second action point is to be made up for by the surviving lackeys covering his retreat.
You know, I get that they wrote in the DMG that "Solos are specifically designed to appear as single opponents against a group of PCs of the same level". But notice the "of the same level" at the end. It provides the same level of challenge as five monsters. I'm not convinced yet, I must say - can you give a concrete example of how a Solo would be overly powerful if complemented with more enemies? A specific example of how some of its powers become too good if they have allies in the fight?
And my educated guess is that WotC have started experimenting with Solo encounters since writing the DMG.
Wulf Ratbane
Adventurer
And Skill Challenges!
No, they pretty much have this in the core books. DMG pg. 58 (in the Building Encounters chapter, natch) lists an optional build under the Dragon's Den iconic solo encounter that includes a level n+1 Solo plus a level n Elite to make a hard level n encounter. And the sample dragon encounters in the MM *all* include allies for the 'solo' dragon.
ETA: In fact, it looks like solo monsters in general have sample encounter groups including multiple allies with the solo creare. Hydra, berbalang, Orcus ...
ETA: In fact, it looks like solo monsters in general have sample encounter groups including multiple allies with the solo creare. Hydra, berbalang, Orcus ...
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