D&D 4E The 4e Solo Thread

[Storminator]

Hi all,

I've got an upcoming encounter I think might be a solo, and thought I could get some ideas from yall.

The PCs will be looking for the treasury of an Eberron prince. Naturally, it should be stored in a Kunderak vault. I'm thinking that if they trigger the vault's defenses it should activate all it's "traps" and I'm wondering the best way to model that.

Should it be a solo with a bunch of initiatives and attacks a la Colossus of Laam, or a bunch of separate stat blocks representing different traps? Or should it be a collection of traps?

Ideas?

PS

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=305]Storminator[/MENTION]
I just love this thread Had it say it. Ok, about your scenario...

It really depends on how you want to use the magically trapped vault. For example, in a heist scenario I heard about, someone began with the PCs already in the vault, having bypassed its initial security measures. In my Dragon Mountain 4e campaign I had a "Kobold Proving Grounds" toward the end of the mountain as a deadly elite obstacle that involved a gauntlet of five traps (4 had attack rolls, 1 was auto-damage)...except each trap had a trick to automatically overcome it if the players remembered encountering that trap earlier in the mountain.

The important thing with traps is that they have countermeasures the PCs can implement to disarm them, evade them, take control of them to reset them, use them against other traps/monsters, and so forth. If there are 3-5 traps happening at the same time, that can be tricky to cram all those countermeasures into one solo statblock. So if each trap has a unique countermeasure(s), then I'd say do it as separate traps.

Now, if there is a puzzle combination lock some players are working on in the midst of this that disables *all* the traps, or something like that, then I'd say you're looking at a solo.

EDIT: One type of trap I love to use that I don't see often in modules is the "choices with consequences / lingering condition trap". The trap does something which messes with the PCs unless they solve the trap...cursing them, swapping their psyches/bodies, making them glow, driving one crazy, etc. These sorts of traps are great when paired with a bit of damage and clearly revealing to the players that the trap will remove the condition it afflicted when solved. Pure evil DM fun watching them zap themselves with the trap again and again.

 

[Storminator]

I see them utilizing a skill challenge to gather info on their raid, which involves some murder and kidnapping in addition to stealing the treasury (they are totally heroes in this bunch . . . ). That means they are likely to know they'll need the key and a palm print to open the vault.

The vault itself will be a large chest, because it must be mobile. It will be placed in a secure area, and I anticipate no problems for my group slaughtering their way into the secure area. But as a royal, mobile Kunderak treasure chest it will have built in security measures. I'm imagining that calls someone at another entry to the extra dimensional space the vault opens on (allowing someone to start emptying the treasure out), attacks everyone a couple different ways, marks everyone nearby with some kind of Arcane Mark, and starts screaming for help. All of those systems should be breakable and disarmable.

PS

 

[Manbearcat]

Hi all,

I've got an upcoming encounter I think might be a solo, and thought I could get some ideas from yall.

The PCs will be looking for the treasury of an Eberron prince. Naturally, it should be stored in a Kunderak vault. I'm thinking that if they trigger the vault's defenses it should activate all it's "traps" and I'm wondering the best way to model that.

Should it be a solo with a bunch of initiatives and attacks a la Colossus of Laam, or a bunch of separate stat blocks representing different traps? Or should it be a collection of traps?

Ideas?

PS

What might be fun is to have a mad scientist guy as the head of security for this prince. He has created the vault with all manner of high-tech contingencies. These might be passive proximity traps (with attacks executable by the mad scientist) or minion constructs. Further, he has built a large (or huge) construct that he pilots which is a Solo Leader. This Leader might work just like a reskinned beholder. On his turn he activates several of his traps or directs on of the mini-constructs, he has a "frenzy" (maybe called "overload" or something thematically tech), a minor action with some potent effect and a triggered action that activates every time a player starts their turn within the vault. Put it all together, make sure everything force-multiplies well and provokes mobility within the battlefield, maybe have multiple Complexity 1 Skill Challenges ongoing at the same time (each shuts down a specific trap) and you've probably got a fun time.