Interesting style of anti-defender soldier

[the Jester]

So I'm working on rewriting my version of the phraint, and I have a lvl 10 soldier (leader) that isn't very soldiery- my understanding of monster design has grown immensely since I did most of my conversions.

Anyhow, it didn't previously have any kind of soldiery ability to lock down enemies, so I have come up with something I felt was interesting enough to share:

Air of Authority * Aura 4
Creatures in the aura cannot mark phraints that do not have this trait.

(melee) Keep Your Eyes on Me (weapon) * At Will
Trigger: An enemy that has the gold phraint commander marked makes an attack that does not include it as a target.
Attack (Opportunity Action): Melee 1 (the triggering enemy); +17 vs. AC.
Hit: 2d8+9 damage, and the target is dazed until the start of its next turn.

What do you guys think?

 

[FireLance]

It's an interesting mechanic, but it only works on defenders. Strikers would have no problem focusing fire on whoever they want. In fact, unless it is important for the defender to keep the gold phraint focused on attacking him (and soldiers normally don't deal a lot of damage), he can simply circumvent the ability by not marking any creatures whatsoever.

I guess the tactical consideration brought about by this ability is how important marking is in a battle. I expect that in most cases, both sides will simply focus fire on the heavy hitters.

 

[the Jester]

Very good point. I should probably give it an additional 'lock down' ability of some kind.

 

[the Jester]

How's this look:

Air of Authority * Aura 4
Creatures in the aura cannot mark phraints that do not have this trait. Creatures in the aura that do not have a phraint with this trait marked suffer a -5 penalty to damage with attacks that do not include a phraint with this trait as a target.

 

[MortalPlague]

-5 to damage seems like a pretty hefty penalty for refusing to mark. Rather, I would give the commander some ability that dazes on a hit, making him a truly dangerous foe if he gets around and manages to attack the healer or caster. Not marking should be punished by your unmarked target running amok through your battle lines.

 

[FireLance]

Or how about the gold phraint gets a +5 bonus to damage rolls or an attack that dazes if he is unmarked?

 

[MortalPlague]

Or how about the gold phraint gets a +5 bonus to damage rolls or an attack that dazes if he is unmarked?

Yeah, there you go. Then you're not punishing the PCs for playing a different way, you're buffing the enemy.

 

[the Jester]

Well, the whole point is to encourage non-defenders to focus on him. It's similar to the swordmage mark (one version, anyhow).