Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fieari" data-source="post: 5707994" data-attributes="member: 16221">I'd imagine a supersolo challenging 4 or 5 PCs, alone without allies.  Which is part of the point. As far as the social challenge, I considered it a case of the PC's psyching themselves up, convincing themselves that their foe is their foe, debating within themselves in over to overcome the task.  On the other hand, the idea of possibly seducing HER, falling in love with her, and only then being able of betraying her to slip in the blade... that has some serious story-weight to it as well.I guess it goes to show that the writeups for the three defensive abilities really need to describe how the skill challenge works better.I don't deny that it is.  Fighting solo monsters with other monsters around is pretty good design.  The supersolo, on the other hand, is a little bit more.  Instead of other creatures eating up players' actions and distracting them, there's skill challenges to face.It's like the philosophy of making interesting terrain, but building it into the monster.  It's providing support-- in the monster itself.  And it gives more actions and tactics and things to do.And none of this says that the encounter you listed isn't a good one, or isn't an interesting one.  But variety is the spice of life, no?The trick is, I think, really down to imagining good skill challenges and describing them.Perhaps the Winter Nymph wasn't the greatest example.  One of the concepts of supersolos being discussed was the possibility of super-sizing creatures.  Dealing with beings larger than gargantuan, larger than 3e's colossal, larger than colossal+ was even.  Shadows of the Colossus big, or bigger.So, lets reimagine the tarrasque a little bit.  To be frank, I'm not really sure the existing tarrasque should really BE a level 30 solo-- I think the only reason it was really set there is that the tarrasque was the biggest baddest monster in the 3e monster manual.  But the tarrasque was weaker than all the stuff in the 3e Epic Level Handbook... so, let's drop the existing tarrasque down to level 20.Now, let's modify the thing.  Make it the size of a large castle, in and of itself.  Maybe even make it the size of a mountain, like Cespinarve Rogue (from Thieves and Kings; the dragon who ate cities in one bite)  Bigger than anything 4e has dreamed of.  Now, we have something that would be tricky even for a level 30 team, especially with earthbinding. Maybe 30 is too LOW now, and you'd want to think about level 40 or 50 except that the math doesn't work for monsters that powerful.You'd have massive reaching area attacks for its melee strikes as it swipes at you.  You have the ground crumbling in earthquakes at it's footsteps.  You have the target area out of reach.So, you make it a supersolo.  First skill challenge is getting past the earthquakes, to get close enough to do ANYTHING.  Then you can plink away at it's legs, and perhaps fire ranged attacks up higher, but nothing REALLY vulnerable is available.  So, you pull a Shadow of the Colossus and start climbing; the second skill challenge.  Then, from on its back, you fight it as it tries scratching you off... maybe you deal with some nasty parasites it carries along (ala cloverfield)... but when it seems you've got it on the ropes, it keeps regenerating instead!  So you break out another skill challenge, perhaps you in fact break INTO the Tarrasque in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_Trigger" target="_blank">lavos</a>-esq manner, get out your epic magic rituals, and finish it off for good while enduring whatever the beast has inside.It's the idea of a monster that hitting it is just not going to be enough.  There's more to the story, and that additional bit can be cinematic and exciting, and hopefully make players think while they sweat.</blockquote>

Verification