Please Help - Encounter: The Merchant's Crew

I have built the first monster for an encounter I am working on. The setup is as follows: the PCs have been sent on a quest to raid a merchant boat carrying a large number of magic items and other valuables. When they get there, though, they'll have to fight the merchant boss's henchmen and business partners. Wet decks abound and cause hazardous/difficult terrain. The boss, Irena Swiftwater, runs off to be battled later while the ship burns down around them all. Here is the first monster I have built.

Tordil, Minotaur Bodyguard

Balanced? Suggestions? I based him off of the "Minotaur Warrior" in MM.

The group is level 2 right now and will probably still be at the time of the fight. I'm thinking of throwing in 8 equal level minions, a level 3 artillery controller spell-chucker and a level 3 artillery archer. I'll have them up when I build the cards.

Baron Felspark, Battlemage

here is the second monster for the fight. I decided to make him a controller rather than an artillery. I'm aiming to use his movement-causing effects to throw people overboard!

Baron Felspark, Battlemage

Once again, please provide feedback: balance and suggestion for pitting him against the level 2 party.

Amaria Vonavel, Elven Sharpshooter

Here is the final NPC for the fight, a level three archer.

Amaria Vonavel, Elven Sharpshooter


So there they are! All 3 NPCs the level 2 party will be facing as they board the merchant ship. I think I'll throw 5 human rabble in, buffing them up to two-hit minions. Thoughts?

Edit: I just realized I didn't add equipment to that last two monster cards. They'll have some, but it won't be affecting any stats. It'll be there as loot for the PCs.

Another idea just popped in to my head. I was thinking that instead of having minions, I might make the brute an elite. My reasoning is that this would make him more of a threat, and therefore more exciting. If I gave him some power to hold his enemies on him, such as marking or even a pull, he'd be drawing the attacks that the minions would normally take.

The drawback is that the players could still run off and attack the controller and the artillery. Having them attack the artillery wouldn't be too bad: she'd have more of a chance to use her encounter power, which i'd probably give recharge on 5/6. And the controller could always use his abilities to push them away...

Any thoughts on going this route?

(After four posts in a row, I'm starting to feel like I'm having a conversation with myself. Sincere apologies if this bothers anyone, and assurances that I'm not just bumping the post... I think my new idea warrants some feedback.)

On your first monster, make the reroll on a one a separate power. This will make your monster more challenging in battle.

BlackLotus said:

On your first monster, make the reroll on a one a separate power. This will make your monster more challenging in battle.

Click to expand...

That is an interesting idea. Perhaps he should be able to re-roll any roll at the cost of his only action point, using whichever roll is higher. If that were the case, I'd toss on some extra hitpoints and make him an elite.

Would that be unbalanced? I'm aiming to balance this fight as well as I can, so I can really go all out on the PCs and not feel bad.

I would make sure to detail some terrain powers - make cards for them and put them out on the map so that players won't forget about them.

Swinging on the ropes
Cutting down the sail (if it's up... I doubt it would be)
Opening up a hatch to push someone into the lower hold
Shoving someone off the deck

What else is on a ship that could be used in an interesting way? You might want to add some kind of supernatural engine on the ship that can be used. A bound air elemental, worms tied to the sides of the ship, a steam engine powered by a fire elemental...

I'd also change the minotaur's prone attack to a Push 2 - shoving someone into the brine would be fun.

For the minions, Human Pirates would work as a good template. Have them run around on the rigging and the masts.

LostSoul: Great ideas. I especially like the idea of a bound air elemental, that's just dripping with awesome flavor. I'll def. be making cards with terrain powers, too.

Meaner... buffer...

I made Tordil an elite.



Feedback please! Would he, along with the other two monsters above, crush my level 2 group, or should they be able to take the trio down?

That double attack on the archer is pretty potent. I'd drop the ability to shoot the same target twice (or just not use it that way). Also, the recharge is pretty high. 56 should be good enough.

Make sure you have rules for climbing back into the ship, and if you're going to push people into the hold, have a map, and some interesting ideas (ship surgeon is in the hold - minion with a nasty scalpel attack) or some loot they can grab and use when they get back on deck.

I find that difficult terrain, especially at low levels, tends to reduce the flow of fights. Use sparingly! But add some interesting terrain ideas, since ships tend to have weird equipment. In addition to ropes, masts, cargo, nets and the decks, remember that both ships and docks (if you're in port) have cargo cranes, so you can lift and throw characters.

I like LostSoul's idea about terrain power cards. Remember to make them better than at-will attacks, so folks use them.

PS