Consolidated Tips & Guidelines for Solo Creation

[BrokeAndDrive]

(note: this is actually a question, but by omitting the question mark this thread appears more authoritative )


With all the scattered tips and tricks for creating ye olde solo monster across several forums, it's hard to know what's good and what's bad in solo monster design anymore.

Several that I can think of off the top of my head that I've gleaned from the aforementioned several forums, some of which can apply to normals/elites (some contradictory or an exception):

• Needs fewer hit points.
  • Epic solos don't have enough and die very quickly
• Needs protection from the dreaded stunlock/dazelock/domlock
• High defenses make them more grindy
  • Player powers that penalize defenses/attack bonuses turns solos into pudding
• Combat roles mean jack-all for solos
• So they aren't boring, solos need to do a bunch of stuff, like multiple basic attacks, minor action attacks, auras, and interrupts/reactions
  • Being able to act on multiple initiative counts for no reason (unlike Tiamat) is extremely lame
• Self-heals lead to grind
• Resistance/immunity is BAD
  • "Punishing" effects when hit with certain elements are more fun for players (such as "hit me with fire and I auto-kaboom you")
• Action points for solos higher than level 30 can be arbitrary if you want to give them an edge
  • Even better, design powers that give them extra action points
• Solo leaders don't make a lick of sense, because then they aren't solo anymore
• They ought to have multiple "forms" like video game/anime bosses because that is pretty frickin' schweet
• "Solo" really just means a normal monster nine levels lower (so if Vecna were a normal monster he'd be level 44 but he'd still be the same old Vecna), so if you want to toss a high level normal monster at your party, just make it nine levels lower and redesign it (from scratch if necessary) as a solo (but for all intents and purposes it's the exact same critter)
  • Similar deal for elites and minions, but I don't remember the levels; I think minions were five level higher than what they'd be normally? Meaning, if you wanted your late paragon party to face a nest of young white dragons, they'd be level 17 minions (from level 3 solo to level 12 normal, then from level 12 normal to level 17 minion), but storywise they're the same guys; likewise, doing this can let you face momma dragon (elder dragon brought from solo to elite), her oldest kids (adult solos turned normal) and her babies (young solos minionized)(

What tips do everyone have for solo monsters, so it's all in one place for everyone's benefit?

 

[keterys]

XP-wise, it's approximately:
+/-4 standard to elite or vice versa
+/-5 elite to solo or vice versa
+/-8 standard to minion or vice versa

So, to upgrade a minion to a solo is -17 levels. That said, you may get some ludicrous results

Solos can often be encountered with minions and/or generate minions, and in those cases the leader qualities can work.

 

[BrokeAndDrive]

XP-wise, it's approximately:
+/-4 standard to elite or vice versa
+/-5 elite to solo or vice versa
+/-8 standard to minion or vice versa

Ohh, so that's where that comes from! So obvious it went straight over my head!


On-Topic: here's one I whipped up based on the first Zodiac Demon boss from Final Fantasy Tactics. Yeup, anoooother FF to D&D conversion. Sue me. There's a reason I call myself The Viking Weeaboo, ya know!

[sblock]Cúchulainn the Impure King
Lvl 10 Solo Controller [I halved his in-game level]
Large immortal humanoid [he isn't from the astral sea nor is he from the elemental chaos... heh, it doesn't really matter, does it?]
XP 2500

Initiative +10
Senses Perception +7

HP 306/153 [I have no idea how to calculate solo HP nowadays, so I just did 75% of what is said in the DMG]
AC 24, Fort 23, Ref 21, Will 22
Speed 6
Action points 2
Immune dazed, domination, petrification, stunned, unconscious [I couldn't think of a more elegant or interesting way to prevent him from being stunlocked, plus it's par for the course for Final Fantasy bosses to be outright immune to every in-game equivalent to Save-Or-Dies/Save-Or-Sucks]


TRAITS

Ague
Aura 5; enemies in the aura are slowed. [this is probably pretty mean, but I couldn't give him ANOTHER standard action attack, plus he's a big fat demon thing so it fits... I think]

Lucavi Endurance
Cuchulainne automatically saves against (save ends) effects at the end of his turn. [but is this enough to keep him from being stunlocked, so I can strip his immunities?]

STANDARD ACTIONS

[bm] Tainted Strike (at-will)
Reach 2; +15 vs. AC; 2d8+9 damage (2d8+18 on crit) plus 2d6 poison (4d6 poison on crit). [I calculated his damage to be roughly 125% of the recommended level in the July errata simply because he's a solo; his crits seem scary but he'll probably never bother punching anyone outside of OAs]

Bio (recharge 3)
Area 2 within 10; +11 vs. Fort; 1d8+6 damage plus 1d12 poison, and roll a 1d3: 1 = targets are blinded (save ends), 2 = targets take 10 ongoing poison damage (save ends), 3 = targets are vulnerable 5 to all damage (save ends). Miss: targets take half damage, and no other effects.

Biora (recharge 4)
Area 2 within 10; +11 vs. Fort; 1d8+6 damage plus 1d12 poison, targets are pushed 6 squares, and targets can only use basic attacks (save ends). Miss: targets take half damage and are pushed 3 squares.

Bioga (recharge 5)
Area 3 within 10; +11 vs. Fort; 1d8+6 damage plus 1d12 poison and the targets are slowed (save ends). First failed save: targets are immobilized (save ends). Second failed save: targets are petrified (no save). Miss: targets take half damage and are dazed until the end of their next turn. [damage lowered for these due to additional status effects]

MINOR ACTIONS

Nightmare (at-will)
Area 2 within 5; +11 vs. Will; targets become unconscious (save ends) and fall prone. Targets can be "woken up" with a basic attack or other methods that deal similarly sudden, painful damage. [arguably his signature move, this is REALLY mean, but it fits the flavor of the horrifying, frustrating fight with him in FFT since he uses this all the time. to the point that, before I saw his stats on the Internet, I didn't even KNOW he had other attacks!]

TRIGGERED ACTIONS

Fowlheart (immediate interrupt, when hit by an enemy outside his aura; at-will)
Target is automatically weakened until the end of its current turn (this takes effect after they successfully attack but before they apply damage). [again, another "couldn't just give him another standard/minor attack as he has more than enough, and giving a solo at least an aura, standard, minor, and triggered is probably necessary for a non-grindy, interesting solo battle]


Alignment evil; Languages Supernal
Skills Endurance +15, Intimidate +14, Religion +13
Str 18/+9, Dex 10/+5, Wis 14/+7
Con 21/+10, Int 16/+8, Cha 19/+9[/sblock]
If you don't know what this is all about, here are some visuals: spamming Nightmare, and then spamming Bioga. I based his attacks on the table at the bottom of this page. Most are arbitrary: he actually has nine versions of bio but I rolled them into three, and they do poison damage because in FF, bio = poison. Several effects wouldn't fit well in 4e (such as insta-petrify, insta-kill, turn-you-into-a-frog, death sentence, etc.) but I still wanted this guy to be a "condition/status effect boss" more than a killer; some may consider it frustrating, but if you've fought him in FFT you know that's what he's all about .


What I'm saying here is: I made him with the assumptions found in the first post, and want to know if the result is in-line with "acceptable" solo-design parameters.

 

[Saagael]

Another thing to remember is that solos should pretty much always be at least tweaked to fit with the group they're facing. Powers can be slightly more complex and interesting to compensate for the lack of monsters (and therefore, lack of powers to memorize). It's also nice to have a theme with a solo, so that the powers are all logically imaginable.

Solo role does play into design a little, but it's not as important as a normal monster. Skirmishers will still be mobile, hit-and-run style solos, while brutes will still be high-damage hit point sacks. That said, all solos should have a little of each role in at their power pool.

Not to sound like a know-it-all, but you can look at the blog post I have in my signature for a solo creation guide I put together after a particularly successful purely solo fight (that is, no extra monsters used other than summoned minions).

 

[knightofround]

One key thing I would mention is this: Never use a solo that is higher level than the party. That is really the only source of the "high defenses make them too grindy" point.

If you insist on using a making a more-challenging-than-average solo encounter, keep the solo equal to party level, but fill up the rest of the xp budget with more creatures, traps, and terrain favorable to the enemy in order to compensate.

I would also dispute your point that "solos can't be leaders". It is very possible to make a party level + 5 encounter, with a party level solo leader plus a crap-ton of minions. You'd just need to make sure to give your leader appropiate powers...like:

Saving Aura 4: Whenever an ally within aura is dealt damage that would normally be fatal, the ally can roll a saving throw to convert the hit into a miss.

or

Reanimate Dead, Blast 5: All undead allies that were killed within blast during this encounter are resurrected. They can start taking actions on the solo's next turn.

or

Infuse Minion, range 10, one ally: When target dies, they explode, causing 1d10+5 necrotic damage within close burst 2, centered on target

 

[Mesh Hong]

Another thing to remember is that solos should pretty much always be at least tweaked to fit with the group they're facing. Powers can be slightly more complex and interesting to compensate for the lack of monsters (and therefore, lack of powers to memorize). It's also nice to have a theme with a solo, so that the powers are all logically imaginable.

Solo role does play into design a little, but it's not as important as a normal monster. Skirmishers will still be mobile, hit-and-run style solos, while brutes will still be high-damage hit point sacks. That said, all solos should have a little of each role in at their power pool.

Good stuff here, I agree that solos should always be tailored with the group in mind as far as reasonable threat goes. A solo of course is also a good opportunity to include a power or two that messes with whatever the PCs usual combat winning tactic is, if this can be done in a reasonable way.

It is also a good point that solos are not strictly tied into one role. The best solos have a core role and have a few powers or traits borrowed from other roles. This is perfectly fair as a solo represents five standard creatures, a group of five creatures in an encounter would usually cover two to three roles between them.

One key thing I would mention is this: Never use a solo that is higher level than the party. That is really the only source of the "high defenses make them too grindy" point.

If you insist on using a making a more-challenging-than-average solo encounter, keep the solo equal to party level, but fill up the rest of the xp budget with more creatures, traps, and terrain favorable to the enemy in order to compensate.

I don't agree with this. Solo's actually work better when slightly higher than the group, my usual preference is one to three levels. The slightly higher defences and punch this generates goes some way to counteracting the drag factor of it only being one creature as apposed to five.

Obviously you still must keep an eye on the balance of teh encounter and with this in mind I usually make level +3 and above solos with the Brute core role which gives them a lower AC.

In my experience even level solos do not usually make threatening encounters as PCs are more than competent against them. I would usually prefer to build an encounter around a higher level elite with some additional interesting standard creatures than use an even level solo.

 

[keterys]

One important thing about solos is that they have standardized hp - that is, solo brutes have no more hp than solo lurkers. This makes for a big change for lurkers, artillery, and brutes.