Behir problem from MM2

[AbdulAlhazred]

Well, remember, as far as the Behir is concerned it was designed the way it was with the explicit goal in mind of making it tough to lock down. I think you're going to see these sorts of design concepts employed much more widely with Solos from now on. The real issue with solo lockdown is simply that it is disruptive to the PLOT. If all the DM is concerned with is tactically challenging encounters then MM1 solos are fine, just use them in encounters with a bunch of other monsters (perhaps by using somewhat lower level solos). This can certainly work fine with a plot to some extent, but if the solo is really intended to be a dramatic plot element and it spends the fight stunlocked then it failed, regardless of the format of the encounter.

Overall I'd say even lockdown specialists aside MM2 has it right when they provide condition mitigation/escape mechanics in solos. A condition on a solo is worth 5x as much as on a normal monster, so it should last 20% as long on average. That means your average solo should actually shed conditions in roughly 1/2 of a round (40% to be exact). I think WotC pretty well figured that out since the +5 to saves does that, they just didn't factor in save penalties in that design. Save penalties ideally should be halved vs solos. My own solution has been to just set a hard limit of -7. Its not perfect but it does help. Even in the worst cases a solo will get SOME screen time to be effective and MM2 solos generally manage to do OK.

 

[CapnZapp]

The Behir looks and feels like an awkward design, so chances are it IS an awkward design.

It simply isn't a good idea to give a monster such a specialized set of actions (as three standards)

It furthermore is a worse idea to then give it minor action abilities, when it gets no minor actions. (Hint: Don't force the DM - or a player - to convert standards into minors. It feels like a bad deal, regardless)

And finally, it is the worst idea of all to design a monster to be most lethal by also being the most boring, by doing nothing except chewing on a trapped PC.

All of this makes the Behir a candidate to the perfect storm of crappy monster design.

 

[eamon]

You are aware that the Behir has been errata'd? It's a free action sustain for 10 damage, now. I agree with what you said, in general, though ;-). I don't mind the occasionally odd action economy, however - as long as it's a rare novelty, though.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I don't think these kinds of designs should become excessively common, but the whole point with something like the Behir is to make a monster that feels lightning fast. There's nothing wrong with bending the action economy a bit and making a monster that works a bit differently than others. The rules system is pretty flexible and even with the whole minor action thing the monster WORKED, it just didn't provide exactly the feel that was desired. Its a fast monster and forcing it to use all its actions to sustain made it seem slow. Now it can do exactly what it was intended to do, which is move with lightning speed, barrel into the party, grab a PC, and zip on out of there before it can get pinned down.