Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mesh Hong" data-source="post: 4948485" data-attributes="member: 73463">As long as a Solo creature is designed as a threatening and interesting opponent fights involving them don’t always have to involve massively complicated phased staging, or bizarre and interactive environments. But like all things DMs should try to present a mixture of different Solo’s throughout a story or campaign. Some will be fairly straight forward, some will take place in interesting or changing environments, some might evolve through two or more forms during a combat and some might be a truly bizarre combination of all these options. The following is an extract from the next instalment of my monster manual series (the book of serious threats), and is an example of a solo threat that changes (quite radically) when bloodied.  Bear in mind this is a level 2 Solo and is intended to be a Serious Threat, anyway I hope you find it another interesting addition to this discussion.  Spitting Fungus Level 2 Solo ArtilleryLarge Natural Beast (plant, blind) XP 625 Initiative +4 Senses Perception +5, blindsight 10, tremorsense 20Sleepy Haze (poison) aura 1; all creatures inside the aura take a -2 penalty to attack rolls; all creatures starting their turn inside the aura are slowed until the end of their next turnHP 152; Bloodied 76; see Bloodied EvolutionAC 16; Fortitude 16, Reflex 15, Will 13Immune disease, poison, gaze; Resist 10 acid; Vulnerable 5 coldSaving Throws +5Speed 4, climb 4 (spider climb)Action Points 0 see Fungal Devourers (separate creature) <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/bm.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":bmelee:" title="Basic Melee    :bmelee:" data-shortname=":bmelee:" /> Fungal Scrape (Standard; at-will) ♦ poisonAttack +8 vs. AC; 1d6+2 damage; on hit target takes 2 ongoing poison damage (save ends) <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/c.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":close:" title="Close    :close:" data-shortname=":close:" /> Spitting Spores (Standard; at-will) ♦ poisonClose blast 3; attack +7 vs. Reflex; 1d8+3 poison damage <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/c.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":close:" title="Close    :close:" data-shortname=":close:" /> Fungal Blast (Standard; recharge <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/5.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":5:" title="Five    :5:" data-shortname=":5:" /><img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/6.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":6:" title="Six    :6:" data-shortname=":6:" />) ♦ poisonClose burst 5; attack +7 vs. Fortitude; 1d10+3 poison damage; on hit target is immobilised (save ends) <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/area.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":area:" title="Area    :area:" data-shortname=":area:" /> Exploratory Spore (Minor; at-will) ♦ poison, 1/roundSpitting Fungus creates and shoots out a Fungal Spore that lands in a cloud of poison; area burst 1 within 15; must target empty square; attack +5 vs. Reflex; 1d4+2 poison damage; creates a Fungal Spore in the target square (see separate stats), Fungal Spore acts directly after the Spitting Fungus in the initiative order Bloodied Evolution (Immediate Reaction) ♦ when first bloodiedWhen first bloodied Spitting Fungus splits into 3 Fungal Devourers, see separate stat block Sliding Form (Move; at-will)Spitting Fungus may shift 2 squares as a move action Alignment Unaligned Languages Skills Endurance +8, Stealth +9Str 12 (+2) Dex 17 (+4) Wis 8 (+0)Con 14 (+3) Int 14 (+3) Cha 3 (-3)  Spitting Fungus is usually found growing and surviving in old abandoned ruins or shallow sparsely inhabited dungeons. It is made up of a thin but wide green, brown and orange surface hugging lichen or mould, and can spread out to over thirty feet in diameter. When it senses a potential meal it slowly starts to retract until it is a thick patch of rough fungus approximately eight to ten foot in diameter and moves into a position where it can start to pepper its victims with its spores. Recognising the Fungus as a threat is usually a Dungeoneering or Nature check vs. the creatures Stealth roll. All the creatures’ main attacks involve the expulsion of thick clouds of noxious spores that poison its victims. Some of these spores are actually smaller versions of itself that once released are individual creatures in their own right who, if they survive the conflict, will eventually grow to become Spitting Fungi themselves. A Spitting Fungus will always try and use its Exploratory Spore attack every turn in order to try and create a line of defence and hinder its victims from drawing too close to it. It will then use Spitting Spores and Fungal Blast when available while trying to keep away from any melee characters. Its favourite method of doing this is to move up walls or hang on ceilings.  Fungal Spore Level 2 MinionSmall Natural Beast (plant, blind) XP 0 (see Spitting Fungus) Initiative +5 Senses Perception -1, blindsight 10HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.AC 16; Fortitude 13, Reflex 16, Will 12Immune disease, poison, gaze; Resist 5 acid; Vulnerable 5 coldSpeed 5 <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/bm.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":bmelee:" title="Basic Melee    :bmelee:" data-shortname=":bmelee:" /> Fungal Slam (Standard; at-will)Attack +7 vs. AC; 4 damage <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/c.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":close:" title="Close    :close:" data-shortname=":close:" /> Defensive Haze (Immediate Reaction) ♦ poison, when missed by a melee attackWhen missed by a melee attack Fungal Spore releases a cloud of thin poisonous sporelets that deal 2 poison damage to all adjacent creatures Sliding Form (Move; at-will)Fungal Spore may shift 2 squares as a move action Alignment Unaligned Languages Str 10 (+1) Dex 18 (+5) Wis 6 (-1)Con 12 (+2) Int 8 (+0) Cha 3 (-3)  The Spitting Fungus form of the creature is really its dormant or passive form. When sufficiently damaged it goes through a radical reactive alteration and splits into three wholly different fungi. These Fungal Devourers are a lot more predatory and aggressive, preferring to grab their victims and smother them with their highly acidic forms. Fungal Devourers are soft mounds of either green, brown or orange fungus, approximately four foot wide by three foot high. They have no limbs but they are able to grasp their victims by wrapping round and grasping anything they hit. Once they have a victim grabbed they will use their Acidic Smother to burn their enemies with their sickly acidic spores or if damaged they will use their Feeding Fronds attack to gain nourishment from their enemies blood. When destroyed the Fungal Devourer suffers a catastrophic collapse which sends out a thick cloud of acidic and toxic spores into the air that blocks line of sight and can even blind creatures unfortunate enough to be caught inside it. Any other Devourers who are still active will try and capitalise on this by attacking creatures inside the zone and even using the zone itself for cover making finishing them off all the harder. Encounters with the Spitting Fungus will usually be in large rooms or courtyards and should have a couple of high ledges or different levels in them. It would also be useful to have large pillars, statues or crumbling structures to add an interesting mix of terrain and cover options. There could also be areas of loose rubble that would count as difficult terrain or even a ten foot deep pit to add a little variety.   Fungal Devourer Level 2 BruteMedium Natural Beast (plant, blind) XP 0 (see Spitting Fungus) Initiative +3 Senses Perception +5, blindsight 10HP 30; Bloodied 15; also see Choking Spore FieldAC 15; Fortitude 15, Reflex 14, Will 11Immune disease, poison, gaze; Resist 10 acid; Vulnerable 5 coldSaving Throws +5Speed 5, climb 4 (spider climb)Action Points 1 <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/bm.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":bmelee:" title="Basic Melee    :bmelee:" data-shortname=":bmelee:" /> Fungal Grab (Standard; at-will)Attack +5 vs. AC; 1d10+3 damage; on hit target is grabbed (escape ends) <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/m.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":melee:" title="Melee    :melee:" data-shortname=":melee:" /> Acidic Smother (Standard; at-will) ♦ acid, grabbed target onlyGrabbed target only; attack +3 vs. Fortitude; 2d6+3 acid damage; on hit target is dazed until the end of Devourers next turn <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/m.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":melee:" title="Melee    :melee:" data-shortname=":melee:" /> Feeding Fronds (Standard; encounter) ♦ grabbed target onlyGrabbed target only; attack +5 vs. Fortitude; 1d6+2 damage; on hit Fungal Devourer regains 15 HPs <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/c.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":close:" title="Close    :close:" data-shortname=":close:" /> Choking Spore Field (Immediate Reaction) ♦ zone, acid, poison, when reduced to 0 HpsWhen reduced to 0 HPs Devourer explodes in an acidic and poisonous burst, leaving a dangerous cloud behind it; burst 2; creates a zone that lasts until the end of the encounter that blocks line of sight, any creature entering or starting their turn inside the zone takes 4 acid and poison damage; any creature starting their turn inside the zone is blinded (save ends) Alignment Unaligned Languages Skills Endurance +8, Stealth +8Str 16 (+4) Dex 14 (+3) Wis 8 (+0)Con 14 (+3) Int 12 (+2) Cha 3 (-3)  The Spitting Fungus is not really interested in collecting treasure so any items or coins would probably lie undigested where ever the creature’s last victims were killed and eaten. A particularly cunning Spitting Fungus might push its collection of shiny objects into a prominent position in the room and hope to use them as bait to draw victims into a trap where it could ensure gaining the element of surprise.</blockquote>

Verification