Daggerheart General Thread [+]

[zakael19]

I think, though this is a guess after only one session and some theory crafting, that a phased solo like the Volcanic Dragon can fit the bill as a legit solo threat. But normal solos are more like 4e elites.

Yup, this is what I’ve been saying and my experience yesterday bore it out!

The ones with relentless can be a good thematic “oh naughty word” challenge but not really a full boss. Which is fine! Sometimes you don’t want a near death encounter but do want a solo guardian or stalker or something. I think the “challenge” for the encounter math should probably have been a little better explained.

 

[zakael19]

The encounter math could give you two solos and be a slightly harder than normal fight. Your budget is 11 and that fight would cost 12.

But yeah, the solos not being solos still bugs me.

You subtract 2 from your budget with more than one solo. They have abilities and defenses that often scale higher than 2.5 standards IMO. Eg: the demon’s hope drain, plus fear gen, plus relentless, plus a 1d20+6 AOE.

 

[overgeeked]

You subtract 2 from your budget with more than one solo. They have abilities and defenses that often scale higher than 2.5 standards IMO. Eg: the demon’s hope drain, plus fear gen, plus relentless, plus a 1d20+6 AOE.

Yes, that’s what I said. Two solos is 5 each. Using two solos costs an extra 2. Hence 12 points. An “average” fight for 3 PCs is 11 points. I guess if you want to be pedantic it’s a cost of 10 and a budget of 9, but the result is identical. The fight is 1 point over the suggested “average.” But the book includes wiggle room for harder or easier fights.

 

[zakael19]

Yes, that’s what I said. Two solos is 5 each. Using two solos costs an extra 2. Hence 12 points. An “average” fight for 3 PCs is 11 points. I guess if you want to be pedantic it’s a cost of 10 and a budget of 9, but the result is identical. The fight is 1 point over the suggested “average.” But the book includes wiggle room for harder or easier fights.

I think that unless the players are rolling super hot, two solos are going to do some serious hurt (at least at T1). Especially if you pick a pair that synchronizes.

My read of how Solos generally up their threat level is by being able to put damage down against multiple targets up to the entire party. With a single Minor Demon, I ate up about 1/2 of the party's resources (hp/stress/armor). And I rolled terribly most of the time. It was the Area attacks forcing reaction rolls that really ticked things up, and I only did that twice in a dramatic way.

• Brusiers are 4pts and thresholds/hp similar, but can generally bring the hurt to a single target at a time.
• Leaders have efficient spotlight actions that activate a big chunk of an encounter.
• Solos tend to both bring the pain (generally they're going to get to Major damage by default), and have options to easily threaten everything around them. They also have high attack bonuses.