Gravity encounter

[marli]

Ive come up with an idea for an encounter. I think it would be interesting for the players and has a mass off tacttical options for them.
It also should look cool.
I would like peoples opinion on the encounter, technical suggestions and if possible DMs to test it out.

This enconter is based around an effect called Charge-Surge
Charge-Surge has a direction and an amount.

Room random shape, quite large all walls spiked

enemys
1 controller magey
9+ spirit thing minions

the controller has three powers
1)push & melee
2)ranged attack+slow e of turn
3)ranged mark

the spirits will circle the mage until the mage activates a mark.
a spirit will move towards the marked player accordingly.


Move
a spirits can move a maximum distance, according to its mark.
distance from mark:move
15:1
10:2
5:3
A spirit can attemt to move through an enemy square.
Effect:IF the Charge-Surge is 0 the Charge-Surge direction changes to the direction the spirit moved for the first square of its move.
IF it moved more than 1 squares in the direction of the Charge-Surge then gain 1 Charge-Surge point, else lose 1 Charge-Surge point.

Immidiate interrupt.
IF during any move it would move into an enemy square it attacks that enemy.
Vs reflex.
Hit:deal 1D damage you may shift THROUGH the enemy square the rest of your move.
Miss:Move away from the enemy the rest of your move.
Effectush the target 1.

Standard
Vs reflex
Hit Deal 1D and knock prone.


at the end of its turn the spirit must shift Charge-Surge direction and squares as a free action.

if a spirit shifts into a wall it take 1D8 damage.
spirits have really high defense. all +5

------------------------
basicly, the mage sits in the middle.
the spirit moves to the players as if they had a gravity, they gain a momentum that send them spinning of in irreguler pattens.
if the players go to the mage. the spirits will keeps slamming into them.
if they discover that spirits will slam themselves into walls the have to take time getting hit at range and slammed into the walls themselves.

they cant out run the spirits as Charge-Surge has no maximum charge.
side stepping should work well, but they will need to need to drop thier turn for that.
moving perpendiculer to the spirits means they can avoid them but cant stand next to the mage.
ranged attacks are blighted by the cover that other spirirts offer and the mages high will.
-----------------------
I want you guys to look it over, what do you think, how much would the spirits be worth?

 

[Mesh Hong]

I think you might have to describe this in a clearer way. It seems like you know exactly what is happening but your description doesn't quite give enough information.

 

[marli]

yeah its a bit vague.
however the unique bits are the spirit creatures and the mark.

<table width="400" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td align="left" height="21" bgcolor="#006600"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="font-size:small;">[Crashing Curse]</span></span></span></td><td align="right" height="21" bgcolor="#006600"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="font-size:small;">[Mage 1]</span></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccccaa"><i>[Insert flavor text here ...]</i></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff"><span style="font-weight: bold;">[At Will]</span> :diamond: <span style="font-weight: bold;">[Acarna, Force, Mark]</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff"><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Standard] - [Range 20]</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Target</span>:[1 Creature]</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Attack</span>:[Int vs Will]</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccccaa"><span style="font-weight: bold;">[hit]</span>: [1d4 + Int Damage. Target is marked by a Crashing Curse Mark.]</td></tr></tbody></table><br/>

 

[Mesh Hong]

yeah its a bit vague.
however the unique bits are the spirit creatures and the mark.

<table width="400" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td align="left" height="21" bgcolor="#006600"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="font-size:small;">[Crashing Curse]</span></span></span></td><td align="right" height="21" bgcolor="#006600"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><span style="font-size:small;">[Mage 1]</span></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccccaa"><i>[Insert flavor text here ...]</i></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff"><span style="font-weight: bold;">[At Will]</span> :diamond: <span style="font-weight: bold;">[Acarna, Force, Mark]</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff"><span style="font-weight: bold;">[Standard] - [Range 20]</span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Target</span>:[1 Creature]</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Attack</span>:[Int vs Will]</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#ccccaa"><span style="font-weight: bold;">[hit]</span>: [1d4 + Int Damage. Target is marked by a Crashing Curse Mark.]</td></tr></tbody></table><br/>

hehe, from the vague to the ridiculous!

 

[fuzzlewump]

It has potential I think. The acceleration/gaining momentum thing seems needlessly complicated. It doesn't sound bad at first, but when you have 9 of those things, and the marked player is moving every round, that means you have to figure it out again every round for each creature.

I'd say just make their movement 2, and if a 'marked' player is an aura of 5 at the start of the spirit's turn it gets a movement of 4 for that turn. Or something. Of course, do whatever you think will be fun for you and your players.

I have no idea what the 'charge-surge' is or does, so I can't comment on much else.

 

[Mesh Hong]

OK the more I think about this sort of encounter the more I am intrigued by it.

In the spirit of cooperation I am going to try and develop the ideas suggested by Marli in the original post.

Summary of information from original post

Controller Creature
-has a melee push attack
-has a ranged slow attack
-has a ranged mark power

Surge Spirits (multiple creatures, possibly 9 nr)
-tough but vulnerable to solid object collision
-move towards a creature marked by the controller
-have momentum
-have an attack vs Reflex when they move through a creature; deal damage and knock target prone
-(Interpretation) if their attack hits they continue their move, if their attack misses they ‘bounce off’
-(Interpretation) they have some sort of movement at the end of their turn as a free action (this is a bit weird but seems to be an important mechanic for getting the spirits to hit solid objects and take damage)

Surge Spirit Design
The important concept here seems to be the way the surge spirits move, and this depends on the presence of a mark from the controller.

No Mark
- Surge Spirit orbits the controller

Marked Target
- Surge Spirit heads towards the Marked Target, with momentum

So we know that the Surge Spirits need to have a variable speed that increases as it moves towards a target.

Design Assumptions
I have had to make a few assumptions when designing the powers of the Surge Spirits.
- The controller can mark multiple targets, and the mark is a (save ends) effect. This will add some randomness and dynamism to the encounter. At this stage my thinking is that the controller can mark one new target each turn.
- The controller will have a power that can increase the speed of a Surge Spirit, this will be important as a Surge Spirit starting its turn with 0 Speed will explode.
- The Controller will have a Triggered Action that allows it to shift 1 square if a Surge Spirit attempts to enter its square (even though it might be amusing to see the controller knocked about by his own pets!).
- The current Speed of a Surge Spirit can be tracked with a d8 placed next to its figure, removing the d8 if its speed is 0. This would probably be the clearest way of tracking this important information.
- The DM running the Surge Spirits is confident that he can adjudicate the movement of the surges in a consistent and fair manner. I point this out because the Surge Spirits movement relies on them moving in as straight line as possible without abusing the RAW movement rules to “side step” obstacles, there may also be moments when common sense comes into play if the Surge Spirits get themselves stuck in corners or alcoves when bouncing.

I have tried to word everything as clearly as possible, this has made the descriptions pretty long but at this stage I valued clarity over brevity. I have marked variables as “x” as I have no idea what level to make them, nor is it that important at this stage.

This creature does not have any Standard or Minor Actions, it runs purely from Move Actions that can result in Triggered Actions. I have also introduced Compulsory Actions with requirements that govern how the Surge Spirits act depending on the situation.

Surge Spirit
Resist x (type)
Speed 2, variable, see Sympathetic Orbit, Move to Target and Surge Overload

TRAITS
Surge Shock
Any non Surge Spirit creature starting its turn in the same square as a
Surge Spirit takes x damage and is pushed half the Surge Spirits speed in
a random direction (d8 direction, minimum 1 square) if this push would
take the target into a non Surge Spirit creature or a solid object it takes x
damage per point of speed remaining in the push and the push ends
(creature may make a saving throw as usual to instead fall prone and
avoid the damage), if the push takes the target into another square
containing a Surge Spirit repeat the push action using half the speed value
of the secondary Surge Spirit (creature may not make a saving throw to
instead fall prone)

MOVE ACTIONS
Orbit Controller * (compulsory action)
Requirement: no target is marked by the controller and the Surge Spirit is
more than 5 squares away from the Controller
Effect: The Surge Spirit moves its speed towards the Controller avoiding
obstacles, creatures and other Surge Spirits

Sympathetic Orbit * (compulsory action)
Requirement: no target is marked by the controller and the Surge Spirit is
within 5 squares of the Controller
Effect: The Surge Spirit moves its speed in a rough orbit around the
controller ending its move within 5 squares of the Controller, if any
enemies are adjacent to the Controller the Surge Spirit will instead move in
a straight line towards the nearest such target (if two or more targets are
equally spaced determine randomly) if this move takes it into any enemies
square note how much move the Surge Spirit has remaining and see
Creature Collision, if the Surge Spirit attempts to move into a solid object
note how much move the Surge Spirit has remaining and see Object
Collision, if this move takes it into a square containing another Surge Spirit
see Surge Spirit Collision
Special: at the end of its current movement action the Surge Spirit loses 1
point of speed for each creatures square it has entered and each object it
has collided with (minimum 0),and it gains 3 points of speed for each
Surge Spirit it has collided with (maximum 8)

Move To Target * (compulsory first action)
Requirement: a target is marked by the controller
Effect: Surge Spirit moves its speed in a straight line towards the nearest
marked targets square (if two or more marked targets are equally spaced
determine randomly), if this move takes it into any enemies square note
how much move the Surge Spirit has remaining and see Creature Collision,
if the Surge Spirit attempts to move into a solid object note how much
move the Surge Spirit has remaining and see Object Collision, if this move
takes it into a square containing another Surge Spirit see Surge Spirit
Collision
Special: at the end of its current movement action the Surge Spirit loses 1
point of speed for each creatures square it has entered and each object it
has collided with (minimum 0), it gains 3 points of speed for each Surge
Spirit it has collided with (maximum 8), if it has not entered a creatures
square, hit an object or another Surge Spirit in this action it instead gains
2 points of speed (maximum 8)

Momentum Move * (compulsory second action)
Requirement: a target is marked by the controller
Effect: Surge Spirit moves half its speed in a straight line along the same
path as its final direction during its Move To Target action, if this move
takes it into any enemies square note how much move the Surge Spirit
has remaining and see Creature Collision, if the Surge Spirit attempts to
move into a solid object note how much move the Surge Spirit has
remaining and see Object Collision, if this move takes it into a square
containing another Surge Spirit see Surge Spirit Collision

TRIGGERED ACTIONS
Creature Collision (type) * at will
Trigger: Surge Spirit enters a creatures square
Attack: melee 0 (one creature); +x vs Reflex
Hit: x (type) damage and the target is knocked prone; the Surge Spirit
continues its move towards the marked target, if this was an attack
against the marked target it continues its move in a random direction (d8
to determine)
Miss: the Surge Spirit takes x damage and continues its move in a random
direction (d8 to determine)

Object Collision * at will
Trigger: Surge Spirits move would take it into a solid object
Effect: Surge Spirit takes x damage and continues its move in a random
direction (d8 to determine, reroll any result that would take the Surge
Spirit into the same object - requires common sense judgement)

Surge Spirit Collision * at will
Trigger: Surge Spirit enters a square containing one or more other Surge
Spirits
Effect: all Surge Spirits in the target square take x damage and the
triggering Surge Spirit continues its move in a random direction (d8 to
determine)

Surge Overload
Trigger: Surge Spirit starts its turn with Speed 0 or in the same square as
one or more other Surge Spirits
Attack: Close Burst 2 (creatures in burst); +x vs. Reflex
Hit: x (type) damage and the target is dazed (or maybe stunned
depending on encounter level) (save ends)
Miss: half damage
Effect: all the Surge Spirits in the Triggering Surge Spirits square are
destroyed

Into the Surge * at will
Trigger: a non Surge Spirit creature moves or is pushed, pulled or slid into
the Surge Spirits square
Effect: the triggering creature takes x (type) damage and is pushed 1
square in a random direction (d8 to determine)

Well that is my initial system for the Surge Spirits, what do you think?
Is it worth fleshing out any further?

Marli
Is this the type of thing you were thinking of?
What level encounter for what size and level group did you plan to use this for?
Have you any further comments?

Whatever the answers to these questions I hope you find this interesting or it gives you some ideas.

 

[dammitbiscuit]

Even if that's not the OP's intent, that's pretty awesome. Please don't delete or change it, beyond minor tweaks and filling in the blanks - make any serious revisions in a new post, pretty please.

 

[marli]

I think you read me right.
its a bit more complex then what i had but I'd trust your judgement. I was intending to have 1 spirit per mark, however I now see that would give ut a huge complexity.

they also seem a lot harder then I entended, taking damage from a missed hit? but it would mean them bouncing around like loons . i like.

what my be useful are a few changes...
1)make the spirits active or inactive. only the active spirirts attack.
2)allow the mage to (de)active spirits as a minor.
3)make the orbit ajacent square,

im not sure on the level, just somthing i want to bust out as an arc ender.

1-5 likely

 

[Mesh Hong]

Even if that's not the OP's intent, that's pretty awesome. Please don't delete or change it, beyond minor tweaks and filling in the blanks - make any serious revisions in a new post, pretty please.

I'm glad you like it.

I think you read me right.
its a bit more complex then what i had but I'd trust your judgement.

I think it probably looks a little more complex than it actually is. I tried to design them in a way that removed as much decision making from the DM as possible, treating them like a simple logic sequence.

they also seem a lot harder then I entended, taking damage from a missed hit? but it would mean them bouncing around like loons . i like.

I am not sure what you mean by "a lot harder", but my inference from the tone of your original post was that they were very hard to destroy through normal means and were meant to be destroyed by luring them into objects.

It just seemed like a fair trade off that if they miss with an attack they take some damage. This allows for clever PCs to realise that they are attacking Reflex and try and use a PC with a high Reflex defence as a lure. I can imagine a rogue ducking and diving as Surge Spirits bounce and crash around him.

Also think about the Rogue Human Shield, bravely standing in front of marked creatures and protecting them by bouncing the Surge Spirits off when they try to move through him to the marked target.

what my be useful are a few changes...
1)make the spirits active or inactive. only the active spirirts attack.
2)allow the mage to (de)active spirits as a minor.
3)make the orbit ajacent square,

1- Well I have an active and an inactive stance for the Surge Spirits. If there is a marked target they head to it, if there isn't a marked target they head back to the Controller and orbit him.

I picture it as a sort of tidal motion with the surges moving out when a mark is active and moving back when the mark is lost. In reality this might not happen as there will probably always be at least one marked target, but as closest marked targets change the Spirit Surges should weave around.

2- Why would the Controller want to de-activate a Surge Spirit?

3- If you mean an adjacent square to the Controller I think this would cause some issues, it would get really crowded and it would hamper the Controller moving about. You could change Sympathetic Orbit to 3 squares from the Controller if you wanted but any less than that would cause real issues with the way I have these things designed, they need space not to move through each other when inactive.

im not sure on the level, just somthing i want to bust out as an arc ender.

1-5 likely

Well at level 5 PCs should have at least 36-50 HPs, that could be a bit rough with the unpredicable nature of the Surge Spirits. I'll have a think about a level 5 encounter.