Boss idea... is he too powerful?

[wlmartin]

I have an idea for a boss character.

lvl 3 group, and he is a solo

He is a brute that is drawing power from 8 sources of energy.
The group can disable these 8 sources using skill checks during the combat.

I have not statted up the monster yet but he will be able to do the following

1 : Any time he is hit for damage, he rolls a Saving Throw for every one of this 8 sources of energy still in operation. If he succeeds then either
> If it is an atwill, he saves for 0 dmg
> If it is an Encounter or Daily, he saves for 1/2 dmg

2 : Any time he is hurt, on his turn, he can sacrifice one of his 8 sources of energy (depleting it permanently) to spend a healing surge as a minor action. (essentially healing 1/4 his HP)

3 : He has a rechargeable power that allows him to channel all of his sources of energy. Its a special attack that does 1d4 damage for every power source he still has to every enemy in the room or he can do 1d6 damage for every power source he has to one enemy in the room.

NOTE : If he uses this power, he can not benefit from the healing surge or save ability of his sources of energy until the start of his next turn.

This power above is recharge 5,6

My guess is that whilst this monster would appear quite powerful, the group will eventually realize that the sources of energy are keeping him going and seek to disable them and when they do (although one or two of them will have to hold off the monster no doubt) they will find it much easier to hurt him.

When all sources of power are depleted, he will drop but should he drop whilst he has at least 1 power source active, whenever he drops to 0hp, he is considered to automaticaly spend a healing surge (1/4 hp) even if his has used his sources of energy power attack mentioned above.

... Now I am not sure how to balance him out well enough but think that the variables I could tweak would be

a) How many power sources he has
b) the dice his power source rechargeable power does different dice damage or is limited to a certain range perhaps

Does anyone have any ideas on the concept above?
I think he would work, he would be very powerful at the start but that would encourage the players to start attacking the sources of power to weaken him.

Am i missing anything with the above monster?
Do you think he is playable.. I dont mind the complicated aspect of his powers, I can get with that but I wouldnt want him to be too under or overpowered.

Would he work for a level 3 encounter and if not what changes would need to be made to balance him out?

 

[Quickleaf]

Doesn't this belong in house rules?

1 : Any time he is hit for damage, he rolls a Saving Throw for every one of this 8 sources of energy still in operation. If he succeeds then either
> If it is an atwill, he saves for 0 dmg
> If it is an Encounter or Daily, he saves for 1/2 dmg

So 8 saving throws to either take no damage or half damage? If you're making the monster essentially invincible unless they start destroying power sources, then you'd better make it 150% clear that's the case.

IMO you'd be better off changing it to a flat resist X damage (where x is something like 2 or 3 per energy source). I say this because no damage from at-wills gimps strikers and essentials fighters/thieves. Plus it means you don't have to roll a kajillion saves and IMO gives the players a clearer sense of progress as they take out power sources.

2: Any time he is hurt, on his turn, he can sacrifice one of his 8 sources of energy (depleting it permanently) to spend a healing surge as a minor action. (essentially healing 1/4 his HP)

In principle I like what you're going for, but at the table monster healing is generally a drag. My philosophy is the only reason a monster heals is so they have more time to show off their cool powers. Especially with a solo, why not just give it more opportunities to use its powers and/or extra powers?

Plus your condition "any time he is hurt on his turn" is rather odd. Do you mean only on opportunity attacks/immediate attacks? Then later you say as a minor action...

I would do something like 1/round (minor action) it can sacrifice a power source - it erupts in energy making a close burst 2 attack vs enemies, and recharges a power or let's him take a basic attack out of turn as a free action.

3 : He has a rechargeable power that allows him to channel all of his sources of energy. Its a special attack that does 1d4 damage for every power source he still has to every enemy in the room or he can do 1d6 damage for every power source he has to one enemy in the room.

NOTE : If he uses this power, he can not benefit from the healing surge or save ability of his sources of energy until the start of his next turn.

This power above is recharge 5,6

Hmm, if it's auto-damage you're going for I suggest an aura of reasonable size (5 maybe) that triggers if an enemy enters or ends it's turn there. Somewhere in the order of 2 damage per power source seems right. Actually this could be a direct trade-off with its resistance (your #1).

Btw what is the flavor of the monster?

 

[the Jester]

Looks potentially verrrry grindy.

 

[Unwise]

I like the broad idea, but that looks to be very grindy and frustrating to me. I think that it could be simplified a great deal by A) make him invincible until X power sources are down or B) Just make each source give him a stacking damage resistance, eg 5 each, so DR40 when they are all up (THP/Regen work well too if you want him to be defeatable, still grindy though).

Have your read the Colossus of Laarn article? Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (The Colossus of Laarn)

I have run it myself and it worked very well. I would have a look at that, heck, you could pretty much run that with very little changes. In this instance, there is no point attacking the bad guy at all, it is just about weathering his attacks and defeating him via skill challenge. You might find it more satisfying to run the skill challenges that end up just turning him into a normal elite monster at the end. That way the PCs get the satisfaction of smacking him down as 'death by skills' may not be something they can get their heads around.

 

[wlmartin]

Doesn't this belong in house rules?


So 8 saving throws to either take no damage or half damage? If you're making the monster essentially invincible unless they start destroying power sources, then you'd better make it 150% clear that's the case.

IMO you'd be better off changing it to a flat resist X damage (where x is something like 2 or 3 per energy source). I say this because no damage from at-wills gimps strikers and essentials fighters/thieves. Plus it means you don't have to roll a kajillion saves and IMO gives the players a clearer sense of progress as they take out power sources.


In principle I like what you're going for, but at the table monster healing is generally a drag. My philosophy is the only reason a monster heals is so they have more time to show off their cool powers. Especially with a solo, why not just give it more opportunities to use its powers and/or extra powers?

Plus your condition "any time he is hurt on his turn" is rather odd. Do you mean only on opportunity attacks/immediate attacks? Then later you say as a minor action...

I would do something like 1/round (minor action) it can sacrifice a power source - it erupts in energy making a close burst 2 attack vs enemies, and recharges a power or let's him take a basic attack out of turn as a free action.


Hmm, if it's auto-damage you're going for I suggest an aura of reasonable size (5 maybe) that triggers if an enemy enters or ends it's turn there. Somewhere in the order of 2 damage per power source seems right. Actually this could be a direct trade-off with its resistance (your #1).

Btw what is the flavor of the monster?

Thanks for the advise all.
I think that giving him 3/all per Power Source is a good idea
I would also think that giving him 2/regen per Power Source could work out as well

This does make it simpler

I would however like a method where he sacrifices one of his own Power Sources, so I may just translate that into an attack... I am sure there are enough rechargeable Powers in the MM stat blocks for me to pick one, he wont be doing it more than when he feels that he is losing... since it penalizes him in the long run, it is a rush action of desperation.

The overall idea is that destroying some of the power sources causes him to become weaker but destroying them all means he can drop. It may be worth exploring making a Colossus type that needs a skill challenge to overcome.

Thanks