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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Morgan_Scott82" data-source="post: 4749041" data-attributes="member: 79594">Thanks for the praise. When I wrote both this post and the previous I was talking about designing solos, and how I think the design is the place to address their issues. I recognize that few of the printed solos conform to my recommendations, which is part of why I am so eager to evangelize them in hopes someone at Wizards of the Coast R&D will take my advice to heart (I also wouldn't happen to object if they wanted to hire me, or contract with me to consult on such matters <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />, I wouldn't even have to relocate to their Renton, WA offices since I'm already local...).  I do think the quality of printed solos is slowly improving as the people contributing to the game work with Solos more and get a better handle on their strengths and weaknesses. For example compare Thorn, a solo from Dungeon 160, to an adult white dragon. Assuming the standart party of five, Thorn's action ratio is 4:5, while the White Dragon's is 2:5. Thorn is a better written, more engaging solo. I don't think he goes far enough (niether of them have any outs for example), but it's progress, and hopefully we'll see more progress, and the game will continue to get better for all of us. While you're right that not all, or even most, DMs custom write their solos. I would of course encourage them to flex their design muscles and create more of their own, since solos are supposed to make for some of the most memorable encounters.  By custom building your solos you can help ensure that they're engaging and memorable. However I recognize not all DMs have the time to do that, heck most sessions I'm cramming design into the adventure all the way down to the wire (go ahead just ask my players how many times I've delayed the start of the session by ten minutes so I could figure out treasure parcels). That said, I think you can start with a by the book solo, and spice it up such that it meets some of the design criteria I've talked about with just a little effort. What's more I think that effort will be well worth it. For example our Adult White Dragon would be a good candidate for some spicing up. As it stands his action ratio is 2:5, and he has no outs. So lets look at the tools we still have to work with. He has four different ways to use his standard action, so anything we did there would be increaed competition for that single scarce resource, but he has no way to use his Minor or immediate actions, and no unique move actions.  He has icewalk, so he ignores difficult terrain from ice, but has no way to create difficult terrian, we should do something about that. We think about some dragon-ish, or cold-ish powers and see what comes to mind. Frostbound Earth Aura 2, the squares within the aura are considered difficult terrain. Wingback strike (Minor action)M; +10 vs Fort; 1d6+5 damage and the target is pushed two squares. Iceshock Stomp (Minor action, recharge 6)Close Burst 1; +10 vs Fort; 1d10+5 cold damage and the target is pushed three squares. Font of Arcane Renewal (immediate reaction, when the adult white dragon is effected by a condition that a save can end, recharge 5,6)The Adult white dragon makes an saving throw. There we go in ten minutes time we've taken a boring solo with an action ratio of 2:5, and no outs to what I hope would be a more interesting solo with an action ratio of 3.5:5 and a versitile, somewhat reliable out. Its easier than most DMs think to spice up a solo, and the more you do it the easier it gets. BTW Font of Arcane Renewal would be a good out power for all dragons... I think with just a little effort, you can mitigate a lot of the challenges with Monster Manual solos in a way that's much more rewarding than a blanket house rule. Not to mention keeping the rules as simple and streamlined as possible.</blockquote>

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