Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Million Dollar TTRPG Crowdfunders
Most Anticipated Tabletop RPGs Of The Year
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Critique my manscorpions
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="JoeNotCharles" data-source="post: 5225525" data-attributes="member: 79945"><p>I just created my first monster with the Adventure Tools! But I have a notoriously poor feel for balance, so I'm wondering if I went overboard on anything, or left something as more of a pushover than I expect. Do these look level-appropriate?</p><p></p><p>Note: the PC's have no major necrotic or radiant attacks at the moment, so the resistances/vulnerabilities are only for flavour - these are soldiers of the god of darkness and corruption who only come out at night - although I may give them a side quest to get some source of radiant damage after the first few encounters. Also, I'm using a house rule where all enemy HP is dropped to 80% of the standard, but they do extra damage. I haven't quite settled on how much - these were created by adding the level (11) to all standard attack damage, half level (5) to minor action attack damage, and the tier number (2) to all ongoing damage.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Manscorpion Halbardier Level 11 Soldier</strong></p><p>Large Shadow Magical Beast XP 600</p><p><strong>Initiative</strong> +9 <strong>Senses</strong> Perception +11; darkvision</p><p><strong>HP</strong> 90; <strong>Bloodied</strong> 45</p><p><strong>AC</strong> 27; <strong>Fortitude</strong> 24; <strong>Reflex</strong> 23; <strong>Will</strong> 22</p><p><strong>Resist</strong> 10 necrotic; <strong>Vulnerable</strong> 10 radiant</p><p><strong>Speed</strong> 8</p><p></p><p>m <strong>Halbard</strong> (standard; at-will) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> Reach 2; +18 vs AC; 2d6 + 16 damage and the target is marked until the start of the manscorpion's next turn</p><p>m <strong>Tail Sting</strong> (minor; at-will) <strong>+ Poison</strong></p><p> Reach 2; +16 vs Reflex; 1d8 + 10 damage and ongoing 7 poison damage</p><p>M <strong>Followup Strike</strong> (immediate interrupt, when an enemy marked by the manscorpion moves or makes an attack that does not include it; at-will) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> Reach 2; +18 vs AC; 2d6 + 16 damage</p><p>C <strong>Scything Burst</strong> (standard; encounter) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> Close Burst 2; +18 vs AC; 3d8 + 16 damage and the target is knocked prone</p><p></p><p><strong>Alignment</strong> Chaotic Evil</p><p><strong>Skills</strong> Dungeoneering +11, Stealth +12</p><p><strong>Str</strong> 24 (+12) <strong>Dex</strong> 15 (+7) <strong>Wis</strong> 13 (+6)</p><p><strong>Con</strong> 17 (+8) <strong>Int</strong> 13 (+6) <strong>Cha</strong> 12 (+6)</p><p><strong>Equipment</strong> Halberd</p><p></p><p></p><p>I gave them the mark / Followup Strike combo because I wanted them to be slightly sticky without going as far as giving them threatening reach, and then Scything Burst to have a bit of a nova attack.</p><p></p><p>I'm a bit worried that the Tail Strike is too powerful for a minor action, but I don't want to force them to choose between a tail strike and halbard attack. And I have a dwarf in the party, but poison really hasn't come up for a while, so I felt it was time to give "poison damage (save ends)" some face time again.</p><p></p><p>Next up is the archer variant:</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Manscorpion Archer Level 11 Soldier</strong></p><p>Large Shadow Magical Beast XP 600</p><p><strong>Initiative</strong> +10 <strong>Senses</strong> Perception +11; darkvision</p><p><strong>HP</strong> 70; <strong>Bloodied</strong> 35</p><p><strong>AC</strong> 23; <strong>Fortitude</strong> 23; <strong>Reflex</strong> 24; <strong>Will</strong> 22</p><p><strong>Resist</strong> 10 necrotic; <strong>Vulnerable</strong> 10 radiant</p><p><strong>Speed</strong> 8</p><p></p><p>m <strong>Scimitar</strong> (standard; at-will) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> +18 vs AC; 1d8 + 16 damage</p><p>m <strong>Tail Sting</strong> (minor; at-will) <strong>+ Poison</strong></p><p> Reach 2; +16 vs Reflex; 1d8 + 10 damage and ongoing 7 poison damage</p><p>r <strong>Greatbow</strong> (standard; at-will) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> Ranged 25/50; +18 vs AC; 2d6 + 16 damage</p><p>R <strong>Double Attack</strong> (standard; at-will) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> The manscorpion archer makes two greatbow attacks against a single target or against two targets within 3 squares of one another</p><p>R <strong>Arrow of Darkness</strong> (standard; recharge 5 6) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> Ranged 25/50; +16 vs Reflex; 3d8 + 16 necrotic damage and the target is blinded (save ends)</p><p></p><p><strong>Alignment</strong> Chaotic Evil <strong>Languages:</strong> Common, Deep Speech</p><p><strong>Skills</strong> Dungeoneering +11, Stealth +15</p><p><strong>Str</strong> 18 (+9) <strong>Dex</strong> 21 (+10) <strong>Wis</strong> 13 (+6)</p><p><strong>Con</strong> 17 (+8) <strong>Int</strong> 13 (+6) <strong>Cha</strong> 12 (+6)</p><p><strong>Equipment</strong> Scimitar, Greatbow, 40 arrows</p><p></p><p></p><p>Nothing much to say about this one.</p><p></p><p>Finally the big gun. This one I have no idea if I've gone overboard or not far enough:</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Manscorpion Captain Level 13 Elite Soldier</strong></p><p>Large Shadow Magical Beast XP 1600</p><p><strong>Initiative</strong> +11 <strong>Senses</strong> Perception +13; darkvision</p><p><strong>HP</strong> 208; <strong>Bloodied</strong> 104</p><p><strong>AC</strong> 29; <strong>Fortitude</strong> 26; <strong>Reflex</strong> 25; <strong>Will</strong> 25</p><p><strong>Resist</strong> 20 necrotic; <strong>Vulnerable</strong> 10 radiant</p><p><strong>Saving Throws</strong> +2</p><p><strong>Speed</strong> 8</p><p><strong>Action Points</strong> 1</p><p></p><p>m <strong>Halbard</strong> (standard; at-will) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> Reach 2; +20 vs AC; 2d8 + 19 damage and the target is marked until the start of the manscorpion's next turn</p><p>m <strong>Tail Sting</strong> (minor; at-will) <strong>+ Poison</strong></p><p> Reach 2; +18 vs Reflex; 1d10 + 12 damage and ongoing 7 poison damage</p><p>M <strong>Followup Strike</strong> (immediate interrupt, when an enemy marked by the manscorpion moves or makes an attack that does not include it; at-will) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> Reach 2; +20 vs AC; 2d8 + 19 damage</p><p>M <strong>Tactical Sweep</strong> (immediate interrupt, when an enemy marked by the manscorpion captain or one of its allies moves or makes an attack that does not include the captain; at-will) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> Reach 2; +18 vs Reflex; 1d10 + 12 damage and the target is knocked prone</p><p>C <strong>Scything Burst</strong> (standard; encounter) <strong>+ Weapon</strong></p><p> Close Burst 2; +20 vs AC; 3d10 + 19 damage and the target is knocked prone</p><p>C <strong>Night's Command</strong> (standard; recharge 5 6)</p><p> Close Burst 10; the manscorpion captain makes one of the following commands:</p><p> <em>Kill the Unbelievers!</em> - all manscorpion allies in the burst can make a basic attack as a free action</p><p> <em>Surround Them!</em> - all manscorpion allies in the burst can shift 2 squares as a free action</p><p> <em>Strength From Darkness!</em> - all manscorpion allies in the burst can spend a healing surge to heal 15 hp as a free action</p><p><strong>Last-Ditch Command</strong> (free; encounter)</p><p> When the manscorpion caption is bloodied, Night's Command immediately recharges and the captain may use it as a free action</p><p></p><p><strong>Alignment</strong> Chaotic Evil</p><p><strong>Skills</strong> Dungeoneering +13, Stealth +14</p><p><strong>Str</strong> 25 (+13) <strong>Dex</strong> 16 (+9) <strong>Wis</strong> 14 (+8)</p><p><strong>Con</strong> 18 (+10) <strong>Int</strong> 14 (+8) <strong>Cha</strong> 16 (+9)</p><p><strong>Equipment</strong> Halberd</p><p></p><p></p><p>I figured the Tactical Sweep would give it a nice synergy with its follwers marking ability - it (with its higher attack bonus) can hit and knock the victim prone first, giving the manscorpion who actually has the mark combat advantage for its Followup Strike. Or if a character is within reach of both the marking manscorpion and the captain, they'll have to choose which one to attack, and take an attack from the other.</p><p></p><p>I'm not sure if the commands are too powerful, though. Or if, at paragon tier, an elite needs something more than this. What do you think?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JoeNotCharles, post: 5225525, member: 79945"] I just created my first monster with the Adventure Tools! But I have a notoriously poor feel for balance, so I'm wondering if I went overboard on anything, or left something as more of a pushover than I expect. Do these look level-appropriate? Note: the PC's have no major necrotic or radiant attacks at the moment, so the resistances/vulnerabilities are only for flavour - these are soldiers of the god of darkness and corruption who only come out at night - although I may give them a side quest to get some source of radiant damage after the first few encounters. Also, I'm using a house rule where all enemy HP is dropped to 80% of the standard, but they do extra damage. I haven't quite settled on how much - these were created by adding the level (11) to all standard attack damage, half level (5) to minor action attack damage, and the tier number (2) to all ongoing damage. [b]Manscorpion Halbardier Level 11 Soldier[/b] Large Shadow Magical Beast XP 600 [b]Initiative[/b] +9 [b]Senses[/b] Perception +11; darkvision [b]HP[/b] 90; [b]Bloodied[/b] 45 [b]AC[/b] 27; [b]Fortitude[/b] 24; [b]Reflex[/b] 23; [b]Will[/b] 22 [b]Resist[/b] 10 necrotic; [b]Vulnerable[/b] 10 radiant [b]Speed[/b] 8 m [b]Halbard[/b] (standard; at-will) [b]+ Weapon[/b] Reach 2; +18 vs AC; 2d6 + 16 damage and the target is marked until the start of the manscorpion's next turn m [b]Tail Sting[/b] (minor; at-will) [b]+ Poison[/b] Reach 2; +16 vs Reflex; 1d8 + 10 damage and ongoing 7 poison damage M [b]Followup Strike[/b] (immediate interrupt, when an enemy marked by the manscorpion moves or makes an attack that does not include it; at-will) [b]+ Weapon[/b] Reach 2; +18 vs AC; 2d6 + 16 damage C [b]Scything Burst[/b] (standard; encounter) [b]+ Weapon[/b] Close Burst 2; +18 vs AC; 3d8 + 16 damage and the target is knocked prone [b]Alignment[/b] Chaotic Evil [b]Skills[/b] Dungeoneering +11, Stealth +12 [b]Str[/b] 24 (+12) [b]Dex[/b] 15 (+7) [b]Wis[/b] 13 (+6) [b]Con[/b] 17 (+8) [b]Int[/b] 13 (+6) [b]Cha[/b] 12 (+6) [b]Equipment[/b] Halberd I gave them the mark / Followup Strike combo because I wanted them to be slightly sticky without going as far as giving them threatening reach, and then Scything Burst to have a bit of a nova attack. I'm a bit worried that the Tail Strike is too powerful for a minor action, but I don't want to force them to choose between a tail strike and halbard attack. And I have a dwarf in the party, but poison really hasn't come up for a while, so I felt it was time to give "poison damage (save ends)" some face time again. Next up is the archer variant: [b]Manscorpion Archer Level 11 Soldier[/b] Large Shadow Magical Beast XP 600 [b]Initiative[/b] +10 [b]Senses[/b] Perception +11; darkvision [b]HP[/b] 70; [b]Bloodied[/b] 35 [b]AC[/b] 23; [b]Fortitude[/b] 23; [b]Reflex[/b] 24; [b]Will[/b] 22 [b]Resist[/b] 10 necrotic; [b]Vulnerable[/b] 10 radiant [b]Speed[/b] 8 m [b]Scimitar[/b] (standard; at-will) [b]+ Weapon[/b] +18 vs AC; 1d8 + 16 damage m [b]Tail Sting[/b] (minor; at-will) [b]+ Poison[/b] Reach 2; +16 vs Reflex; 1d8 + 10 damage and ongoing 7 poison damage r [b]Greatbow[/b] (standard; at-will) [b]+ Weapon[/b] Ranged 25/50; +18 vs AC; 2d6 + 16 damage R [b]Double Attack[/b] (standard; at-will) [b]+ Weapon[/b] The manscorpion archer makes two greatbow attacks against a single target or against two targets within 3 squares of one another R [b]Arrow of Darkness[/b] (standard; recharge 5 6) [b]+ Weapon[/b] Ranged 25/50; +16 vs Reflex; 3d8 + 16 necrotic damage and the target is blinded (save ends) [b]Alignment[/b] Chaotic Evil [b]Languages:[/b] Common, Deep Speech [b]Skills[/b] Dungeoneering +11, Stealth +15 [b]Str[/b] 18 (+9) [b]Dex[/b] 21 (+10) [b]Wis[/b] 13 (+6) [b]Con[/b] 17 (+8) [b]Int[/b] 13 (+6) [b]Cha[/b] 12 (+6) [b]Equipment[/b] Scimitar, Greatbow, 40 arrows Nothing much to say about this one. Finally the big gun. This one I have no idea if I've gone overboard or not far enough: [b]Manscorpion Captain Level 13 Elite Soldier[/b] Large Shadow Magical Beast XP 1600 [b]Initiative[/b] +11 [b]Senses[/b] Perception +13; darkvision [b]HP[/b] 208; [b]Bloodied[/b] 104 [b]AC[/b] 29; [b]Fortitude[/b] 26; [b]Reflex[/b] 25; [b]Will[/b] 25 [b]Resist[/b] 20 necrotic; [b]Vulnerable[/b] 10 radiant [b]Saving Throws[/b] +2 [b]Speed[/b] 8 [b]Action Points[/b] 1 m [b]Halbard[/b] (standard; at-will) [b]+ Weapon[/b] Reach 2; +20 vs AC; 2d8 + 19 damage and the target is marked until the start of the manscorpion's next turn m [b]Tail Sting[/b] (minor; at-will) [b]+ Poison[/b] Reach 2; +18 vs Reflex; 1d10 + 12 damage and ongoing 7 poison damage M [b]Followup Strike[/b] (immediate interrupt, when an enemy marked by the manscorpion moves or makes an attack that does not include it; at-will) [b]+ Weapon[/b] Reach 2; +20 vs AC; 2d8 + 19 damage M [b]Tactical Sweep[/b] (immediate interrupt, when an enemy marked by the manscorpion captain or one of its allies moves or makes an attack that does not include the captain; at-will) [b]+ Weapon[/b] Reach 2; +18 vs Reflex; 1d10 + 12 damage and the target is knocked prone C [b]Scything Burst[/b] (standard; encounter) [b]+ Weapon[/b] Close Burst 2; +20 vs AC; 3d10 + 19 damage and the target is knocked prone C [b]Night's Command[/b] (standard; recharge 5 6) Close Burst 10; the manscorpion captain makes one of the following commands: [i]Kill the Unbelievers![/i] - all manscorpion allies in the burst can make a basic attack as a free action [i]Surround Them![/i] - all manscorpion allies in the burst can shift 2 squares as a free action [i]Strength From Darkness![/i] - all manscorpion allies in the burst can spend a healing surge to heal 15 hp as a free action [b]Last-Ditch Command[/b] (free; encounter) When the manscorpion caption is bloodied, Night's Command immediately recharges and the captain may use it as a free action [b]Alignment[/b] Chaotic Evil [b]Skills[/b] Dungeoneering +13, Stealth +14 [b]Str[/b] 25 (+13) [b]Dex[/b] 16 (+9) [b]Wis[/b] 14 (+8) [b]Con[/b] 18 (+10) [b]Int[/b] 14 (+8) [b]Cha[/b] 16 (+9) [b]Equipment[/b] Halberd I figured the Tactical Sweep would give it a nice synergy with its follwers marking ability - it (with its higher attack bonus) can hit and knock the victim prone first, giving the manscorpion who actually has the mark combat advantage for its Followup Strike. Or if a character is within reach of both the marking manscorpion and the captain, they'll have to choose which one to attack, and take an attack from the other. I'm not sure if the commands are too powerful, though. Or if, at paragon tier, an elite needs something more than this. What do you think? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Critique my manscorpions
Top
