Thank you, I created this some time ago and the art of monster making is a continual learning process so there may be some inconsistencies in it. There are probably some things I would do differently now, but I welcome any feedback and will enjoy answering any questions or concerns.
Would you prefer me to comment on your more recent work?
Like all creatures though, each has to be weighed against the PCs it is facing and the composition of the encounter it is to be placed in. I generally create creatures on the strong side and like to consider them all serious threats, if you want more mundane threats there is always the MMI.
I'm not sure what you mean by "each has to be weighed against the PCs it is facing". Those this mean that they are optimized to fight your PCs?
The Bone Blade Skeleton was my attempt at a mini “Tomb Guardian”, now it is worth noting that I consider the MMI Tomb Guardian to be hideously overpowered for a standard creature. Personally I would use a maximum of two of these in an encounter as they are pretty efficient.
Yes, Cascade of Steel is the offender there.
It should be an encounter power.
- Skirmisher is pretty much the default creature type, not all skirmishers need to have movement related powers.
I strongly disagree. From the DMG, page 55:
Skirmisher
Skirmisher monsters use mobility to threaten the
player characters. Their combat statistics define the
baseline for monsters, but their mobility is their defin‑
ing feature.
But this discussion should have it's own thread.
- The way I envisioned the Corpse Catapult was that it needed support, and part of that support would be allies telling it where to target. I don’t see it as a guardian or soldier, I see it as a siege engine or tool and the lack of perception in a small way enforces this.
Well, that makes sense.
Having a second look at it, a hidden enemy may not be a particular difficult problem for the Corpse Catapult (which is why I recommended it to have Perception trained).
As to it being EXTREMELY powerful, I actually think the opposite. I think one of its failings is that it is underpowered!
A lurker of its level should be dealing 1d10+4 (standard) +1d6 (sneak attack) damage on a standard attack with combat advantage. This creature deals 1d6+4 damage on its attack, then deals 10 damage on subsequent rounds. The daze effect and regenerate 10 compensate for this but PCs have lots of ways to extricate their allies from grabs e.g. any push, pull or slide attack. Also regenerate 10 isn’t that significant when compared to PCs attacks.
Mmm, I'll show you my math, to see where we diverge.
First, let's see the Sneak thing.
For creatures that use Sneak, they usually substract 2 from the average damage, but add 3.5 (1d6) for gaining combat advantage. So whether a creature uses Sneak or not is irrelevant, since it can be easily factored in or out.
Now, on the expected damage.
In general it's quite complicated to do the math of Lurkers, and the Fidget Tick in particuar.
A normal Lurker of the Tick's level is supposed to do 2d8+4, which is an average of 13 damage. Factoring the usual 50% chance to hit, this is an effective 6.5 average damage.
In the case of the Tick, let's see these scenarios:
(I'm assuming an 8 average damage from the Tick and 10 from the PCs)
Target gets help
- Tick attacks
- Target's ally turn: attacks the tick and if hit, Tick looses grab
- Target's turn: attacks Tick if free
Assuming 50% chance of each event to occur:
- Tick expected damage: 6.5 (4 from attack + 2.5 from Ongoing Damage)
- Tick expected healing: 2.5
- Tick received two attacks (expected damage: 10)
- Tick consumed the actions of two party members
- We are assuming a forced movement attack from the ally, which should lower the damage taken by the Tick. And not all groups have it.
In this scenario, the damage the Tick is doing is in line of a Lurker, but in addition he's healing and consuming the attention of two foes. He will last less because he receives two attacks per round (although the healing compensates this somewhat).
This scenario seems balanced IF there's a reliable source of forced movement.
Target tries to escape
- Tick attacks
- Target takes 10 damage if grabbed
- Target's turn: Tries to break free or attacks if free
Assuming 50% chance of each event to occur:
- Tick expected damage: 9 (4 from attack + 5 from Ongoing Damage)
- Tick expected healing: 5
- Tick received 50% of one attack (expected damage: 2.5)
- Tick consumed the actions of one party member
This scenario is clearly unbalanced.
But it's ok, because the player can easily choose not to take this action and do the next scenario.
Target strikes back
- Tick attacks
- Target takes 10 damage if grabbed
- Target's turn: he attacks the Tick
Assuming 50% chance of each event to occur:
- Tick expected damage: 9 (4 from attack + 5 from Ongoing Damage)
- Tick expected healing: 10
- Tick received one attack (expected damage: 5)
- Tick consumed the actions of one party member
Ok, this other scenario is unbalanced as well and the player ran out of options.
Note that in these calculations I never considered the +4 AC the Tick gains when Latched On.
Now let's see these scenarios again, but assuming the Tick is already Latched On:
Target gets help
- Tick heals 10
- Target's ally turn: attacks the tick and if hit, Tick looses grab
- Target's turn: takes 10 damage and attacks Tick if free
Assuming 50% chance of each event to occur:
- Tick expected damage: 5 (from Ongoing Damage)
- Tick expected healing: 10
- Tick received two attacks (expected damage: 10)
- Tick consumed the actions of two party members
- 50% chance that Tick can't repeat this scenario (because he is not grabbing and must attack again)
This scenario clearly favors the Tick, not only is he almost cancelling the damage taken, but he manages to damage one party member and consume the attention of two.
Target tries to escape
- Tick heals 10
- Target's turn: takes 10 damage and tries to break free
Assuming 50% chance of each event to occur:
- Tick expected damage: 10 (10 from Ongoing Damage)
- Tick expected healing: 10
- Tick received no attacks (expected damage: 0)
- Tick consumed the actions of one party member
- 50% chance that Tick can't repeat this scenario (because he is not grabbing and must attack again)
Another scenario that favors the Tick
Target strikes back
- Tick heals 10 damage
- Target takes 10 damage
- Target's turn: he attacks the Tick
Assuming 50% chance of each event to occur:
- Tick expected damage: 10 (from Ongoing Damage)
- Tick expected healing: 10
- Tick received one attack (expected damage: 5)
- Tick consumed the actions of one party member
Another clear advantage for the Tick.
This is why I think this creature is extremely unbalanced.
As an Elite (doubling it's hit points and leaving his powers as they are) it should be ok.
Note that I didn't consider the +4 to AC, or any focus fire by the strikers.
But I'm sure a 5 member party against 5 Ticks is a TPK.
An encounter with Fidget Ticks should be a chaotic affair with them jumping around all over the place and latching on to PCs in an almost comical manner. To me they are very very lurker like and should provide an entertaining and memorable encounter.
Oh, they
definetely look fun to fight