Rust monster: I miss you, what would you look like?

[Frostmarrow]

Any ideas on how the rust monster would work in 4E? I realise it can't actually destroy metal gear cool:, I managed to work metal gear in to a sentence) but maybe there is something else it can do, while remaining true to its name?

 

[Paul Strack]

The rust monster could weaken gear (giving it penalties) by making attacks against Reflex. After the fight, the PCs could use the Make Whole ritual on their gear to restore it to normal.

If you allow the rust monster to effect magic items, I would make the casting cost of Make Whole based on the cost of the equivalent mundane item, since the monster is attacking the physical, rather than magical aspects of the item.

 

[thundershot]

My players FEARED rust monsters... They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it wasn't in 4E yet... I was saddened. Even if I didn't use them very often, the threat of them was worth it.



Chris

 

[chronoplasm]

Yeah, the Rust Monsters eat metal, but what do they poop? Residuum perhaps?


​

 

[Frostmarrow]

The rust monster could weaken gear (giving it penalties) by making attacks against Reflex. After the fight, the PCs could use the Make Whole ritual on their gear to restore it to normal.

If you allow the rust monster to effect magic items, I would make the casting cost of Make Whole based on the cost of the equivalent mundane item, since the monster is attacking the physical, rather than magical aspects of the item.

Interesting and straight-forward. It leads me to the idea of hitting thrice to consume a piece of equipment (akin to the new death attacks). Or consuming a piece of equipment as an encounter power.

Yeah, the Rust Monsters eat metal, but what do they poop? Residuum perhaps?​

Coal, mostly. Residuum too.

 

[Syrsuro]

Yeah, the Rust Monsters eat metal, but what do they poop? Residuum perhaps?​

Dark matter

 

[FireLance]

I'd model it with a disease track (rusting track?) for equipment:

Metallic Weapon
Normal <->
Pitted (-1 to attack rolls, damage die reduced one step*) <->
Corroded (-2 to attack rolls, damage die reduced two steps*) <->
Crumbling (-3 to attack rolls, damage die reduced three steps*, final stage)

Metallic Armor
Normal <->
Pitted (armor bonus reduced by 2) <->
Corroded (armor bonus reduced by 4) <->
Crumbling (armor bonus reduced by 6, final stage)​

For simplicity, you can assume that shields are non-metallic, or you could add the following tracks if the PCs are using metallic shields:

Metallic Heavy Shield
Normal <->
Corroded (shield bonus to AC and Reflex Defence reduced to 1) <->
Crumbling (shield bonus to AC and Reflex Defence reduced to 0, final stage)

Metallic Light Shield
Normal <->
Crumbling (shield bonus to AC and Reflex Defence reduced to 0, final stage)​

Make it a magical Rusting Curse, and have it maintained or improved by Arcana (Maintain DC 15, Improve DC 20). Once it reaches the final stage, only the Make Whole ritual can restore the item. Note that since the Rusting Curse only affects metallic items, light armor (cloth, leather and hide) should be unaffected.

On every successful attack by the rust monster, if the target is wielding a metallic weapon or wearing metallic armor, one metallic item (rust monster's choice if there is more than one) is affected by the Rusting Curse. If the item is magical, the target may make a saving throw with the item's enhancement bonus as a bonus to the saving throw to avoid the Rusting Curse. If the item is already affected by the Rusting Curse, its condition worsens by one step.

* To avoid vorpal weapon cheese, vorpal weapons take a cumulative -1 penalty to damage rolls instead.

 

[chronoplasm]

Maybe blacksmiths, for an additional fee, can galvanize your equipment to make it immune from rusting?
Maybe players can also get their armor made out of COR-TEN steel?