Give me the idea, I build the monster

[Nebulous]

I made a fairly powerful wizard (untested) by sampling some character powers. I actually think this guy would be quite fun in a fight, with some tweaking. He feels more like a wizard from past editions because he's going to cast multiple spells the party probably won't expect.

 

[Sporemine]

Twilightwaits, how about something along these lines….

Bugolith mark 1 Level 5 Solo Skirmisher
Huge Aberrant Beast XP 1,000

Initiative +8 Senses Perception +8, darkvision
HP 248; Bloodied 124
AC 21; Fortitude 18, Reflex 20, Will 17
Resist 10 acid
Saving Throws +5
Speed 6, climb 5 (spiderclimb)
Action Points 2

Mace Swing Cleave (Standard; at-will)
Attack +10 vs. AC; 1d10+4 damage; on hit creature may cleave a
secondary target for 3 damage

Leg Slam (Minor; at-will) ♦ 2/round
Reach 2; attack +8 vs. Reflex; 1d4+3 damage; on hit target is either
knocked prone or pushed 2 squares (Bugolith's choice)

Double Swing (Standard; recharge ) ♦ while bloodied only
2 attacks; attack +10 vs. AC; 1d10+4 damage; if creature hits two
different target with this attack then it may cleave a third adjacent target
for 6 damage

Acid Spit (Standard; at-will) ♦ acid, cannot use while bloodied
Range 10/20; attack +8 vs. Reflex; 2d6+4 acid damage; on hit target
takes 5 ongoing acid damage (save ends)

Weakened Acid Spit (Standard; at-will) ♦ acid, only while bloodied
Range 10/20; attack +8 vs. Reflex; 1d8+4 acid damage; on hit target
takes 3 ongoing acid damage (save ends)

Acid Spray (Standard; recharge ) ♦ acid
Close blast 3; attack +8 vs. Fortitude; 2d8+4 acid damage; on hit target
takes a -1 penalty to speed and AC defence (save ends both); on miss
half damage

Acidic Cloud (Standard; encounter) ♦ acid, zone
Burst 2; attack +8 vs. Fortitude; 3d6+4 acid damage; hit or miss creates
a zone that lasts until the end of the encounter; all creatures entering or
starting their turn inside zone take 5 acid damage

Mighty Leap (Move; recharge )
Bugolith leaps (shifts) 6 squares as a move action, this move may take it
through enemy squares but it must end in clear space

Abominable Resilience (Immediate Reaction; encounter) ♦ Bugolith
receives an effect that a save can end, recharges when first
bloodied
Bugolith makes a saving throw against the effect as an immediate
reaction, this power recharges when the Bugolith becomes bloodied

Combat Advantage
Bugolith deals an additional 1d6 damage with its Mace Swing Cleave and
Double Swing powers against creatures granting it combat advantage

Alignment Unaligned Languages common
Skills Athletics +10, Endurance +9
Str 16 (+5) Dex 18 (+6) Wis 12 (+3)
Con 14 (+4) Int 6 (+0) Cha 3 (-2)
Equipment heavy mace

I think it needs sneak... otherwise, it looks good.

 

[Sporemine]

I made a fairly powerful wizard (untested) by sampling some character powers. I actually think this guy would be quite fun in a fight, with some tweaking. He feels more like a wizard from past editions because he's going to cast multiple spells the party probably won't expect.

First off, I need to ask you, how well does the beta of the new monster maker work? Is it worth switching from the asmor monster maker?

Secondly, this guy is totally overpowered. His damage output is variable (usually high); and all he has are encounter and daily powers (3 daily 2 encounter) after his at will attack. As well, I don't think monsters get dalies.

To fix it just change 3 or 4 of them to recharge powers, cutting the power waaaaay down.

What I would do:
Eliminate Acid Claw and Howling Hurricane

Make fireball recharge on a or , reduce the burst to burst 2, and make the damage 3d8+5.

Change magic missiles to deal 1d8+5 damage after he's bloodied.

Make serpent swarm 3d10+5 poison damage and no burst, ignoring all cover and concealment

Leave iron to glass as it is.

Give him arcana skill.

Kudos

-Sporemine

 

[Nebulous]

First off, I need to ask you, how well does the beta of the new monster maker work? Is it worth switching from the asmor monster maker?

100% yes, yes and yes. It is the best program to ever make monsters, but i appreciate Asmor's contribution.

Secondly, this guy is totally overpowered. His damage output is variable (usually high); and all he has are encounter and daily powers (3 daily 2 encounter) after his at will attack. As well, I don't think monsters get dalies.

To fix it just change 3 or 4 of them to recharge powers, cutting the power waaaaay down.

What I would do:
Eliminate Acid Claw and Howling Hurricane

Make fireball recharge on a or , reduce the burst to burst 2, and make the damage 3d8+5.

Change magic missiles to deal 1d8+5 damage after he's bloodied.

Make serpent swarm 3d10+5 poison damage and no burst, ignoring all cover and concealment

Leave iron to glass as it is.

Give him arcana skill.

thanks for input. Yeah, his damage is high, and that was the main thing i would tweak (especially Hurricane). As for removing powers completely or making them recharge...well, that sort of goes against what i wanted. Each power is only going to work once in a fight (and the Builder lets me add them as Dailies). So, aside from Magic Missile, the wizard only has 4 one-shot attacks. And without worrying about recharge, that is 4 drastically different effects he pulls out of his hat of tricks. Which is what i was shooting for.

Now, assume that your baddie wizard escape and the PCs chase him, well, the Dailies aren't going to recharge for quite a while.

Kudos

-Sporemine[/quote]

 

[Twilightwaits]

Mesh, thats absolutely amazing and awesome. Its exactly what I was hoping for!

Thank you so much. ^^ I'll be sure to check back when they fight it and let you know how it goes.

Just for giggles, though, is there any chance I can get you to share a few pointers for the process behind creating solo's? the few I've brewed up always seem too overpowered when I design them, and wind up being total flops at the table -_-

 

[SkidAce]

Thanks again everyone for the snakes, they went over very well in the adventure. I am currently adding them to the monster builder. It is an excellent tool.

Thanks Asmor for the work you did previously.

 

[Mesh Hong]

thanks for input. Yeah, his damage is high, and that was the main thing i would tweak (especially Hurricane). As for removing powers completely or making them recharge...well, that sort of goes against what i wanted. Each power is only going to work once in a fight (and the Builder lets me add them as Dailies). So, aside from Magic Missile, the wizard only has 4 one-shot attacks. And without worrying about recharge, that is 4 drastically different effects he pulls out of his hat of tricks. Which is what i was shooting for.

Now, assume that your baddie wizard escape and the PCs chase him, well, the Dailies aren't going to recharge for quite a while.

I don't want to be too controversial here but I don't think he is overpowered, in some ways he is underpowered.

I get his HPs to be 148 (yours 111)

I get his defences (after elite bonuses)
AC 23 Fortitude 20 Reflex 23 Will 22

he hasn't got any resistances, I would probably give an elite wizard some sort of resistance item, if he was supposed to be the rough equivalent of a PC I would give him some eqipment from the books and give him some abilities based roughly on them. (this means that he has something logical to loot)

General
I get the attack bonuses higher than you.
vs. AC should be +16
vs. NADs should be +14

Magic Missiles
I am a little dubious of him being able to use this attack as an opportunity attack (?) other than that its standard damage, no extra effect and he can make two attacks when bloodied. If anything its underpowered as a level 9 elite should probably have an at will double attack.

Acid Claw
This is not much better than magic missile, in fact it might be worse because it is only 1 attack.

I would change this to 3d6+5 damage and target takes 5 ongoing acid damage (save ends) and all creatures adjacent take 5 acid damage and 5 ongoing acid damage (save ends)

Fireball
I think this should be area burst 2 within 15 squares (your notation is a little hard to follow)

Serpent Swarm
I would make this an attack it could only do when it was bloodied, as a nasty surprise, it would also help pacing. I would consider dropping it to burst 2 but I am not sure it needs that.

Howling Hurricane
As written this power is a little over the top for a creature, especially an elite.
I would make it area burst 3 within 15 squares; attack +14 vs. Fortitude; 2d8+5 damage; creates zone, Wizard may slide any creature starting its turn inside the zone 2 squares, Wizard may move the zone 4 squares as a move action, minor action to sustain

Iron to Glass
Its an interesting power, I don't like the way that it affects a creature rather than a weapon. I would probably go with something a little simpler;

Iron to Glass (standard, recharge )
attack +14 vs. Reflex; on hit targets weapon is transmuted into glass, if the weapon is used it will break and be destroyed after resolution of the attack. (I would then allow some sort of arcane ritual to mend items during an extended rest)

This wizard is obviously meant to be a "named" threat and would be used in an important plot encounter, with that being the case he should be dangerous and memorable. These powers make him dangerous and memorable.

Just my opinion.

 

[Mesh Hong]

Just for giggles, though, is there any chance I can get you to share a few pointers for the process behind creating solo's? the few I've brewed up always seem too overpowered when I design them, and wind up being total flops at the table -_-

My general advice for designing solo's.

1: A solo creature needs to be able to threaten multiple PCs, either by having powers that target multiple PCs or by have multiple attacks.

2: A solo should be interesting throughout the combat. One easy way of introducing variety (and therefore interest) is to give it a different selection of powers when it becomes bloodied, in some situation you can also effectively make it a different creature (for an extreme example see my other thread Second Skin - level 20 solo)

3: When designing powers think about attack chains, and how the creature will act in combat. Ideally a creature should be able to concentrate on one threat while harrying or disrupting others, though different solos have different motivations.

4: A solo should have a way of staying mobile or escaping from being locked down. A fight becomes less interesting when a creature is locked down and the PCs just surround it and pound on it until dead.

5: A solo (especially high level solos) should have some sort of defence or reaction to status effects. Again a fight becomes less interesting when the solo is stun locked or dazed for multiple turns.

Applying these philosophies to the Bugolith

1: Its basic melee attack is a cleave so that it can effictively hit 2 targets, it can also make 2 attacks (at reach 2) for minor damage and a control effect (that might also grant it combat advantage for its main attack). It also has birst and blast powers.

2: When bloodied the bugolith can make a double attack, (which I built in motivation to attack 2 different targets so that it can damage a third). I also made its ranged attack weaker when bloodied to encourage it to close in and concentrate on melee.

3: I pictured the bugolith using its legs to knock enemies prone or push them off ledges or into its acid cloud, then using its mace to attack prone creatures. It could also use its blast power in hit and run attacks, using its spider climb to perch in a difficult to reach position.

4: I gave it mighty leap in an effort to keep it mobile, this way if it is surrounded it can leap away and reposition itself.

5: I gave it Abominable Resiliance as a limited status effect resistance.

Anyway I hope this basic commentary helps.

 

[Twilightwaits]

Actually, it does, Mesh. I greatly appreciate it ^^ Mucho gracias, mi amigo.

 

[Zinovia]

Bone Dragon

I'd like a bone dragon for an upcoming fight. It should be a solo undead, and probably about level 9-10 range. I'm not sure what other role it should be - I'd say probably artillery or skirmisher rather than brute or soldier. I'm using it to replace a (spoiler)

Spoiler

green dragon in Thunderspire Labyrinth

The group is likely to be level 7-8 when they get there. Despite being made up of tattered skin and bones, it should be able to fly still for the sake of maneuverability. My group is melee heavy (shield fighter, assault swordmage, taclord, rogue, and warlock) and I want to use that against them a bit in this fight. We may have an invoker as well, depending on circumstances.

I was thinking of just reflavoring one of the MM2 dragons, but I'm not sure what kinds of powers it should have. Thanks for the great thread! There's a lot of interesting monsters here.