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First Post
Played the Boss Monster dragon today; against a party of four 23rd level folk (fresh from a long rest), it worked well. No one was caught by the initial scene-changing attack, and barely anyone was hurt, so I only gave them a recharge of one encounter power (no surge).
The second stage was hard, with the wizard being entombed for a while, and the fighter not having much reach (on a flying dragon!).
Still, the 2nd=>3rd change-over power worked well, and once he took on his bloody form, he really started cutting through the PCs. His aura was also quite devastating, as well as the fact that for this stage, both his initiative turns were together. That meant that there was little time for the PCs to recover from his double attacks – especially when he action pointed! Two of the team (psion and fighter) went down round after round towards the end. Some high death-save bonuses and daily items allowed them to continue to regain their feet, but they didn’t get their actions, and remained within the aura!
Ultimately, the wizard missed on a crucial daily power, and rolled poorly for the miss damage, leaving it on 1 HP. Then the psion’s turn came up, and he went out backwards due to the cold aura. The warlock finished it off, and the resulting deathcry was also quite lethal – fortunately, cold resistances kept the revanant from also going out backwards!
In all, a dangerous and engaging monster that is much more fitting than the original dragon (who would have died in about half the time, I expect). The breaking of effects upon it, the extra saves, and the two initiative rolls really helped make it a solo that could actually fight solo – so well done, AngryDM, for your “Boss Monster” idea, it worked well!
In the end, the PC death was so nearly not a death, as the wizard had rolled poorly twice in a row to leave the dragon there. And indeed, the player had almost killed his PC off earlier, by flying out over the edge, some 250ft above ground, and getting stuck there…the wizard only just managed to TP him above land before he fell unconscious the first time!
So, even though one of their numbers died, the group in total enjoyed the encounter, and looked upon it favourably.
The second stage was hard, with the wizard being entombed for a while, and the fighter not having much reach (on a flying dragon!).
Still, the 2nd=>3rd change-over power worked well, and once he took on his bloody form, he really started cutting through the PCs. His aura was also quite devastating, as well as the fact that for this stage, both his initiative turns were together. That meant that there was little time for the PCs to recover from his double attacks – especially when he action pointed! Two of the team (psion and fighter) went down round after round towards the end. Some high death-save bonuses and daily items allowed them to continue to regain their feet, but they didn’t get their actions, and remained within the aura!
Ultimately, the wizard missed on a crucial daily power, and rolled poorly for the miss damage, leaving it on 1 HP. Then the psion’s turn came up, and he went out backwards due to the cold aura. The warlock finished it off, and the resulting deathcry was also quite lethal – fortunately, cold resistances kept the revanant from also going out backwards!
In all, a dangerous and engaging monster that is much more fitting than the original dragon (who would have died in about half the time, I expect). The breaking of effects upon it, the extra saves, and the two initiative rolls really helped make it a solo that could actually fight solo – so well done, AngryDM, for your “Boss Monster” idea, it worked well!
In the end, the PC death was so nearly not a death, as the wizard had rolled poorly twice in a row to leave the dragon there. And indeed, the player had almost killed his PC off earlier, by flying out over the edge, some 250ft above ground, and getting stuck there…the wizard only just managed to TP him above land before he fell unconscious the first time!
So, even though one of their numbers died, the group in total enjoyed the encounter, and looked upon it favourably.
