the Jester
Legend
The stone golem: Again, not a huge fan of adding abilities that have never been there. And in this case, adding a ranged attack means it's harder for pcs to make meaningful tactical choices to make an encounter easier to manage.
That said, there's a right way to do it. This isn't quite on the mark for me.
In my opinion, the thing to do when adding a ranged attack to a melee brute is to make it less effective than its melee attacks. One point less on its attack bonus is a good start, but it shouldn't do more damage than its slam attack- it should do less. I get that they're trying to alleviate the issue of kiting, but how often should you encounter a stone golem in a huge open field where you can just keep backing up away from it? Also, that's why it has the ability to cast slow in the first place.
If I was redesigning the stone golem with an eye toward giving it a ranged attack, I'd probably go with some sort of ranged rock spitting ability- maybe even a cone. Something with an attack bonus of around +6 or +7 (assuming its melee bonus was still +10), and with an average damage of around 16-18 points. Maybe slightly less but with multiple targets. And probably with a shorter range.
Man, I feel like a stodgy old fogy who is all critical all the time in this thread. But I really feel like they're reducing the impact of tactical choices for pcs. Again, "I remember this one adventure..." time.... I remember a 1e adventure I ran where low-level pcs had to deal with a stone golem by evading it, keeping their distance, and cleverly leading it around its lair while one pc accomplished their actual goal instead of fighting it. That's just not possible when it can do ranged attacks at 90'. I like encounters where you have to think outside the box.
That said, there's a right way to do it. This isn't quite on the mark for me.
In my opinion, the thing to do when adding a ranged attack to a melee brute is to make it less effective than its melee attacks. One point less on its attack bonus is a good start, but it shouldn't do more damage than its slam attack- it should do less. I get that they're trying to alleviate the issue of kiting, but how often should you encounter a stone golem in a huge open field where you can just keep backing up away from it? Also, that's why it has the ability to cast slow in the first place.
If I was redesigning the stone golem with an eye toward giving it a ranged attack, I'd probably go with some sort of ranged rock spitting ability- maybe even a cone. Something with an attack bonus of around +6 or +7 (assuming its melee bonus was still +10), and with an average damage of around 16-18 points. Maybe slightly less but with multiple targets. And probably with a shorter range.
Man, I feel like a stodgy old fogy who is all critical all the time in this thread. But I really feel like they're reducing the impact of tactical choices for pcs. Again, "I remember this one adventure..." time.... I remember a 1e adventure I ran where low-level pcs had to deal with a stone golem by evading it, keeping their distance, and cleverly leading it around its lair while one pc accomplished their actual goal instead of fighting it. That's just not possible when it can do ranged attacks at 90'. I like encounters where you have to think outside the box.
