Enchantress; new monster, new condition, new mechanic!

[Tequila Sunrise]

Recently I've been wrestling with the problem of using strong control effects in different monster castes. (Minion, standard, etc.) Especially minions and goons; how do I turn a standard Stunner into a lower caste monster without making it either totally lame or a TPK recipe? Also, wouldn't it be cool if monsters could worsen the conditions they inflict by working together?

What I came up with is Enchantment Tokens; aka enchantments. Instead of a monster inflicting daze or dominate or whatever, it inflicts enchantments. The more enchantments you have, the worse your condition:

1-4: Dazed
5-8: Stunned
9-12: Dominated
13-16: Enchanted (Exactly like dominate, except without the single-action restriction!)

Enchantments from different monsters stack, so there's no need to track which ones came from which monsters. For example if two enchantresses inflict a PC with ten enchantments in total, the PC is dominated by them collectively.

Four enchantment tokens count as one effect. So if a PC is affected by 10 enchantments that end on a save, the PC rolls three saves at the end of each turn and removes four enchantments for each successful save.

As an example of how I'm using enchantments in monster design, I'm posting the enchantress NPC as all five castes. So tear 'em apart!

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Enchantress Minion
Level 11 Minion Controller
Medium Humanoid
Initiative +8
Normal Vision
HP 2; Theshold 8
AC 25, Fort 21, Ref 23, Will 25
Speed 6

No Action
Heroic Effort Encounter
Trigger: You miss with an attack or fail a saving throw
Effect: You gain a +4 racial bonus to the attack roll or the saving throw.

Standard Actions
Beguiling Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 6 psychic damage and 2 enchantments until the end of the target’s next turn.

Psychic Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 9 psychic damage.

Staff At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +16 vs. AC
Hit: 6 damage.

Arcana +14, Bluff +15, Diplomacy +15, Insight +12
Str 10 (+5), Con 12 (+6), Dex 16 (+8), Int 18 (+9), Wis 14 (+7), Cha 20 (+10)
Languages Common; Telepathy 10

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Enchantress Goon
Level 11 Goon Controller
Medium Humanoid
Initiative +8
Normal Vision
HP 2; Theshold 18
AC 25, Fort 21, Ref 23, Will 25
Speed 6

No Action
Heroic Effort Encounter
Trigger: You miss with an attack or fail a saving throw
Effect: You gain a +4 racial bonus to the attack roll or the saving throw.

Standard Actions
Beguiling Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 10 psychic damage and 3 enchantments until the end of the target’s next turn.

Psychic Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 14 psychic damage.

Staff At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +16 vs. AC
Hit: 10 damage.

Arcana +15, Bluff +16, Diplomacy +16, Insight +13
Str 12 (+6), Con 14 (+7), Dex 18 (+9), Int 20 (+10), Wis 16 (+8), Cha 22 (+11)
Languages Common; Telepathy 10

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Enchantress
Level 11 Controller
Medium Humanoid
Initiative +8
Normal Vision
HP 81; Bloodied 40
AC 25, Fort 21, Ref 23, Will 25
Speed 6

No Action
Heroic Effort Encounter
Trigger: You miss with an attack or fail a saving throw
Effect: You gain a +4 racial bonus to the attack roll or the saving throw.

Standard Actions
Beguiling Gaze Recharge 5-6
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 3d6 + 9 psychic damage and 1d4 + 3 enchantments (saves end).

Beguiling Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 2d6 + 7 psychic damage and 1d4 + 2 enchantments until the end of the target’s next turn.

Psychic Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 3d6 + 9 psychic damage.

Staff At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +16 vs. AC
Hit: 2d6 + 7 damage.

Arcana +16, Bluff +17, Diplomacy +17, Insight +14
Str 14 (+7), Con 16 (+8), Dex 20 (+10), Int 22 (+11), Wis 18 (+9), Cha 24 (+12)
Languages Common; Telepathy 10

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Enchantress Elite
Level 11 Elite Controller
Medium Humanoid
Initiative +8
Normal Vision
HP 162; Bloodied 81
AC 25, Fort 21, Ref 23, Will 25
Speed 6

Traits
Elite Saves
The enchantress saves against up to two effects at the start of her turn. These effects can be those that normally last until an enemy’s next turn.

No Action
Heroic Effort Encounter
Trigger: You miss with an attack or fail a saving throw
Effect: You gain a +4 racial bonus to the attack roll or the saving throw.

Standard Actions
Beguiling Gaze Recharge 5-6
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 4d6 + 14 psychic damage and 1d6 + 4 enchantments (saves end).

Beguiling Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 2d10 + 10 psychic damage and 1d6 + 3 enchantments until the end of the target’s next turn.

Psychic Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 4d6 + 14 psychic damage.

Staff At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +16 vs. AC
Hit: 2d10 + 10 damage.

Arcana +17, Bluff +18, Diplomacy +18, Insight +15
Str 16 (+8), Con 18 (+9), Dex 22 (+11), Int 24 (+12), Wis 20 (+10), Cha 26 (+13)
Languages Common; Telepathy 10

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Enchantress Solo
Level 11 Solo Controller
Medium Humanoid
Initiative +8
Normal Vision
HP 324; Bloodied 162
AC 25, Fort 21, Ref 23, Will 25
Speed 6

Traits
Solo Saves
The enchantress saves against up to four effects at the start of her turn. These effects can be those that normally last until an enemy’s next turn.

No Action
Heroic Effort Encounter
Trigger: You miss with an attack or fail a saving throw
Effect: You gain a +4 racial bonus to the attack roll or the saving throw.

Standard Actions
Beguiling Gaze Recharge 5-6
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 3d12 + 19 psychic damage and 1d10 + 5 enchantments (saves end).

Beguiling Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 4d6 + 14 psychic damage and 1d8 + 4 enchantments until the end of the target’s next turn.

Psychic Gaze At-Will
Attack: Ranged 10 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 3d12 + 19 psychic damage.

Staff At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +16 vs. AC
Hit: 4d6 + 14 damage.

Arcana +18, Bluff +19, Diplomacy +19, Insight +16
Str 18 (+9), Con 20 (+10), Dex 24 (+12), Int 26 (+13), Wis 22 (+11), Cha 28 (+14)
Languages Common; Telepathy 10

 

[the Jester]

Needs more damage, even if just psychic, on some attacks (beguiling gaze, etc).

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Done!

 

[Aoirorentsu]

Interesting idea - question though. Is each PC/Monter combo a separate track of enchantments? Like, say I, Joe PC, am in a combat that features two enchantress elites, and they both hit me with powers that give me 10 enchantment tokens. Am I dominated by each of them simultaneously or enchanted by the combination of the enchantresses?

Basically, do I need to keep track of my PC's level of enchantment for each monster who gives me enchantment points in an encounter?

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Interesting idea - question though. Is each PC/Monter combo a separate track of enchantments? Like, say I, Joe PC, am in a combat that features two enchantress elites, and they both hit me with powers that give me 10 enchantment tokens. Am I dominated by each of them simultaneously or enchanted by the combination of the enchantresses?

Basically, do I need to keep track of my PC's level of enchantment for each monster who gives me enchantment points in an encounter?

Enchantments all stack, so no, there's no need to have different pools of them for the same character.

If two enchantresses inflict you with a total of 10 enchantments, you're dominated by both of them collectively. Fluffwise, the DM can decide whether they share control or only one is actually dominating.