CapnZapp
Legend
Well, I've thought further about how to make 4E work better with the scenario where the PCs come across a single (or a pair at most) perfectly regular (or Elite at most) monsters. It's all about the action economy.
How about: for each combatant the monster(s) are outnumbered, the enemies get one (1) bonus action point - per round of combat, throughout the whole encounter.
Such a scene would be rather typical in 3E (and in AD&D, I presume); in 4E however, it simply isn't supported (amply manifested by that other thread where a Paragon tier party took down a single Balor, easily a whole tier higher level than the PCs).
The only official "solution" or "fix" to converting such an encounter is "more monsters" - either through more actual individuals or by Solo-ficating the creature. But this solution isn't always desirable: adding more monsters might not make sense, perhaps the critter is simply solitary. And making it into a Solo gets old fast: "oh, it's a kobold! But... it's alone - it must be a 200 hp Solo! Bah, not worth the effort - easily a two hour grind - can't we simply sneak past him?"
Simply put, you'd want to keep the monster's stats pretty much as identical as possible. The sole change you'd want to do to make the encounter even remotely challenging is upping the monster's damage output.
However, as I experimented further, perhaps it would be more fun to not simply add to the monster's attacks. Perhaps adding more actions would be sufficient, and enable each monster's "combat personality" (unique actions) to shine through?
Thus the above rule.
Take Kobold Quarterly's recent Whispering Lady as an example (a L8 Elite Controller). For maximum mood, you'd want to pitch this critter alone against the (sleeping?) party. (Not always, or as a law, of course. But I do feel this is an appropriate example - an atmospheric critter whose mystery can actually be diluted by giving her a lot of allies)
However, properly Solofying the Lady is work. And it adds a truckload of hit points to the monster. With rather weak damage output, there is considerable risk the party (once past the initial confusion) will simply catch onto the fact they will win the fight, it's only a matter of time. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is The Grind. No surprise the accompanying mood text (to the article) pitches a lone adventurer against the Lady; that's because the encounter simply would not have worked per default assumptions! Once the party started whaling down on the poor Lady, she would have gone down in an instant, with the players asking themselves "Easy as pie! How could anyone be afraid of a weakling critter like that?!"... not the intended outcome I'm sure.
If we instead assume a party of six adventurers, and thus give the Lady four (4) bonus APs each round (as an Elite, she counts as 2 monsters; and 6-2=4) we have given her the tools she needs to properly intimidate the players.
This solution I hope can put back the respect of level into the player's mind (unconsciously of course, unless the DM plays with open cards and reveals levels). Unless the PCs are themselves level 8 or thereabouts, a single Whispering Lady suddenly becomes very intimidating indeed.
Z
PS As another example, this method would allow a DM to pitch this six-man party against a Dragon without messily having to add a few allies. Simply grant the Dragon a single bonus Action Point each round to account for the 6 to 5 number discrepancy - that should make the already formidable Solo considerably more dangerous (and non-grindy, to get to the point).
How about: for each combatant the monster(s) are outnumbered, the enemies get one (1) bonus action point - per round of combat, throughout the whole encounter.
Such a scene would be rather typical in 3E (and in AD&D, I presume); in 4E however, it simply isn't supported (amply manifested by that other thread where a Paragon tier party took down a single Balor, easily a whole tier higher level than the PCs).
The only official "solution" or "fix" to converting such an encounter is "more monsters" - either through more actual individuals or by Solo-ficating the creature. But this solution isn't always desirable: adding more monsters might not make sense, perhaps the critter is simply solitary. And making it into a Solo gets old fast: "oh, it's a kobold! But... it's alone - it must be a 200 hp Solo! Bah, not worth the effort - easily a two hour grind - can't we simply sneak past him?"
Simply put, you'd want to keep the monster's stats pretty much as identical as possible. The sole change you'd want to do to make the encounter even remotely challenging is upping the monster's damage output.
However, as I experimented further, perhaps it would be more fun to not simply add to the monster's attacks. Perhaps adding more actions would be sufficient, and enable each monster's "combat personality" (unique actions) to shine through?
Thus the above rule.
Take Kobold Quarterly's recent Whispering Lady as an example (a L8 Elite Controller). For maximum mood, you'd want to pitch this critter alone against the (sleeping?) party. (Not always, or as a law, of course. But I do feel this is an appropriate example - an atmospheric critter whose mystery can actually be diluted by giving her a lot of allies)
However, properly Solofying the Lady is work. And it adds a truckload of hit points to the monster. With rather weak damage output, there is considerable risk the party (once past the initial confusion) will simply catch onto the fact they will win the fight, it's only a matter of time. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is The Grind. No surprise the accompanying mood text (to the article) pitches a lone adventurer against the Lady; that's because the encounter simply would not have worked per default assumptions! Once the party started whaling down on the poor Lady, she would have gone down in an instant, with the players asking themselves "Easy as pie! How could anyone be afraid of a weakling critter like that?!"... not the intended outcome I'm sure.
If we instead assume a party of six adventurers, and thus give the Lady four (4) bonus APs each round (as an Elite, she counts as 2 monsters; and 6-2=4) we have given her the tools she needs to properly intimidate the players.
This solution I hope can put back the respect of level into the player's mind (unconsciously of course, unless the DM plays with open cards and reveals levels). Unless the PCs are themselves level 8 or thereabouts, a single Whispering Lady suddenly becomes very intimidating indeed.
Z
PS As another example, this method would allow a DM to pitch this six-man party against a Dragon without messily having to add a few allies. Simply grant the Dragon a single bonus Action Point each round to account for the 6 to 5 number discrepancy - that should make the already formidable Solo considerably more dangerous (and non-grindy, to get to the point).
