1st level party vs. injured giant

[TheUltramark]

ok, I am sure between all the excellent ideas already posted, I am just stealing, I mean agreeing with someone else but...

I would make the giant a regular giant like a hill or firbolg, but, I would say it is bloodied at best, and two grave wounds, one to its leg, slowing it by half, and one to its eye, giving it -4 to hit . Also, maybe it's weapon is not close at hand as the giant tends to its wounds...giving the players, if they choose, a 'free round'

One thing to consider though, is this: while the thing may react like a wounded cornered animal, and fight to the death, giants CAN speak, maybe this one would have some cunning and try and talk his way past the inexperienced adventurers, maybe he offers them some form of treasure if he lets him live
- - whenever I can avoid a plain seek and destroy encounter, I try my best to do it.

 

[Blue]

If the monster has only 50 hit points, the combat won't last long enough to get boring. Consider: Five PCs, all needing a 15 to hit. Each one averages, let's say 9 points of damage with an at-will, 12 with an encounter, 15 with a daily. Many 1st-level PCs can do quite a bit more than that, but we'll go with those for now.

At a 30% hit rate, if everyone attacks with one daily power, followed by one encounter power, followed by one at-will--the giant is dead. (In the interim, of course, it will have knocked a couple of PCs around pretty painfully.) Even if the PCs roll badly, it should be over by the end of round 4. It's not going to be a long, draggy battle, especially when you factor in combat advantage and the like.

If you were talking about a fight with multiple soldier-type monsters, each at full hit points, I would completely agree. But that's not the situation here.

Okay, you're right. With so few HPs, it won't have a chance to get boring. And a PC with a lucky crit might have a chance to get some spotlight time that normally would often be reserved for strikers for a devastating hit/quick kill.

 

[DEFCON 1]

If you set the giant's defense high such that you need 15s to 17s for the PCs to hit... but are also afraid of the combat either going too long if it has a lot of HPs or it really kicking the crap out of the PCs because of its high damage attack... one other hindrance you could give the giant would be it only gets a standard action every other round. So the PCs will get to attack it twice in between its attacks. It would lessen the pain of missing somewhat, if the PC knows he'll have another chance to hit it before the giant get to wallop them again. Which would be a godsend for the PCs stuck in melee with it.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

You could also make the giant dazed all the time. So it won´t be able to attack except on a charge if PC´s are clever.

 

[DracoSuave]

Never EVER spring lottery encounters in any tabletop game ever.

It reduces the encounter to a simple race to see how long before a lucky roll hits.

The guy is very wounded. Just stat it like an encounter suitable to the players. Its lair should include hazards it can use like a boss.

You want players to have a reasonable chance to do their tricks to defeat the encounter. High defenses and abysmal hps might seem right, but its noninteractive. Challenge the players, not their dice rolls.

 

[Dausuul]

Never EVER spring lottery encounters in any tabletop game ever.

It reduces the encounter to a simple race to see how long before a lucky roll hits.

The guy is very wounded. Just stat it like an encounter suitable to the players. Its lair should include hazards it can use like a boss.

You want players to have a reasonable chance to do their tricks to defeat the encounter. High defenses and abysmal hps might seem right, but its noninteractive. Challenge the players, not their dice rolls.

A normal fight is no more nor less a "challenge to the players" than a fight against a high-def/low hp opponent. By shifting the expected hit range, you change up the balance of tactics. Suddenly that +2 from combat advantage is a big deal, and powers like Sure Strike get their day in the sun. The players can recognize and exploit these facts, or not; just as in a normal fight, they can use clever tactics or just stand there and hack.

Encounters with creatures that are hard to hit can be frustrating, but they can also be a fun change of pace, as long as you don't do it often. And I'm a big fan of mechanical consistency. If the players have to struggle to hit the giant now, think how satisfying it will be in a few levels when they go up against more giants and can hit them regularly. When you're always scaling monsters to match player level, the game can start to taste of treadmill.

 

[DracoSuave]

This is an encounter series designed around dealing the death of 1000 cuts to a superior foe. Lottery play doesnt sell that tone.

This is an encounter to remember. In a year no one is going to tell stories about how 'mechanically consistant' it is. Consistancy involves comparison and this is a unique event.

Be creative. If they walk away talking about the monsters stats and not the epic youve come up short.

 

[monboesen]

You could rule that the giants wounds as a favorable circumstance for the players granting +2 to hit, and a negative circumstance for the giant inflicting a -2 penalty to attacks.

That will help make a higher level foe more managable.

 

[Dausuul]

This is an encounter series designed around dealing the death of 1000 cuts to a superior foe. Lottery play doesnt sell that tone.

This is an encounter to remember. In a year no one is going to tell stories about how 'mechanically consistant' it is. Consistancy involves comparison and this is a unique event.

It is? Why? If it's just another solo fight, what makes it unique? For that matter, why should this particular fight be uniquely memorable anyway?

And if this is "death of 1000 cuts," then it begins with about 950 of the cuts pre-dealt.

 

[Eccles]

OK. The giant is wounded. The party knows what they're going into. How much special equipment can you give them?

How much can they rig the scenario in their favour? Can they bring in equipment on trucks? Vast nets with hooks on the end? Poisons, ballistas, lure a wounded / blinded giant into traps?

Do they have the ability to rig up giant ewok-style log falling things to crush the raging giant which is chasing them by now?

I appreciate that I seem to be turning this into a skill challenge rather than a combat encounter, but they all seem like valid options given the scenario...