Ampersand: Monsters, Minis, Ammo

[Rechan]

Ampersand: Monsters, Miniatures, and a New Power

Here's something interesting:

James Wyatt and Rich Baker are getting ready to launch into next year’s campaign setting, which I know is going to surprise and delight many of you out there. I’ll start dropping hints about the setting over the next few columns, and we’ll see how many of you can figure out what’s coming. Hmm. Nobody else is in yet. Oh well. We’ll catch up with the rest of Design next time.

Read the next months' columns closely, folks.

 

[darjr]

Nice catch!

Looks like the rust monster does destroy rusting armor and weapons.

 

[Rechan]

Holy crap, I love the residuum recover power of the rust monster.

That actually makes me think rust monsters could be treasure in and of themselves - kill one that's eaten a magical item, and that's just flat residuum you could get as loot.

However, the "Dissolve Metal" attack is (Standard, recharge if misses). Does this mean it's an encounter power?

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Looks like the rust monster does destroy rusting armor and weapons.

Only to level 10 though. It appears that Paragon level items do not rust away from this attack.

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

However, the "Dissolve Metal" attack is (Standard, recharge if misses). Does this mean it's an encounter power?

Essentially, yes. It's the monster equivalent of a reliable encounter power.

Only to level 10 though. It appears that Paragon level items do not rust away from this attack.

Not from the rust monster presented anyway. I must assume there will be a higher-level version that affects higher-level items. (And, if not, it would certainly be a simple affair to create one.)

Overall, I like the new rust monster. Annoying, without making you want to shove your pencil in your ear.

 

[Rechan]

Not from the rust monster presented anyway. I must assume there will be a higher-level version that affects higher-level items. (And, if not, it would certainly be a simple affair to create one.)

Spellguant (MM2 188). Basically a CR 12 rust monster with some webs. Perfect for an upper echelon rust monster.

 

[Derren]

Rustmonsters are 4Es Wall of Iron (at heroic levels) and totally screw the in game economy. Now you can get a 100% return on magical items when you have access to rust monsters.

 

[Nymrohd]

How do you get access to rust monsters exactly? You cannot summon them, you cannot teleport to their lair, and at heroic and early paragon you cannot easily and safely contain them. They are one use only as well. And by middle to late paragon the items they disenchant are a minor ammount of gold.

 

[Inyssius]

Rustmonsters are 4Es Wall of Iron (at heroic levels) and totally screw the in game economy. Now you can get a 100% return on magical items when you have access to rust monsters.

Oh really.

You're saying, if I understand your reference to Walls of Iron correctly, that an intelligent player with a pen of rust monsters could get a gamebreaking (or possibly infinite) amount of money.

How? Seriously. How do you pull off this magic trick?


The DM has to break the parcel rules for this to have any effectiveness. He (or she, but I prefer brevity over redundant parentheses and arguments over the words "they" and "xu") would have to hand out magic items to your players by the boatload, robotically assuming that they're going to be sold at the pathetic market rate. Like an idiot. This is kind of the whole point of the parcel rules.

Second, the DM has to give you a nigh-infinite amount of rust monsters. In order to get the residuum out, you have to kill them. And, of course, the DM would have to rule that the rust monsters will never digest or otherwise process that residuum (yeah, right), or else you would have to kill another rust monster after every valuable meal. (No, access to resurrection magic will not solve this problem.)

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

How do you get access to rust monsters exactly? You cannot summon them, you cannot teleport to their lair, and at heroic and early paragon you cannot easily and safely contain them. They are one use only as well. And by middle to late paragon the items they disenchant are a minor ammount of gold.

Trivialities. A real munchkin will find a way!