moxcamel
Explorer
Hey all. I just read the Angry DM's 4-part series on making solo monsters tougher by turning them into a 3-part act. The article is here and definitely worth a read.
In a nutshell, he recommends taking a solo monster and re-designing it into 3 parts. Each stage has 1/3 the hit points of the normal solo monster, only the 3rd stage is treated as bloodied, and once each of the first 2 stages has dropped to zero hit points, you replace it with the next stage of that solo. The key is that all ongoing effects disappear with the first stage, and you have the freedom of setting up new powers, etc.
There are a couple advantages of this. The first is that you don't get into a situation where the party has completely locked your solo down and it just becomes a pinata fest. The second is that you inject a little more personality into the mob. For example, in the first act you might have the monster setup to be a little cocky, then when he drops into his act 2 build he realizes the party is a threat drops any finesse in favor of dealing out more raw damage, and then in act 3 he's acting more like a cornered beast and maybe his powers shift to more controlling so he can try to escape. Ideally, your 2nd stage is the most dangerous stage, and the party should get a feeling that it's winning during the 3rd stage.
Anyway, I've just started a new 1st level campaign, and really wanted to not only try the 3-act solo monster out, but also wanted to build a 1st level solo encounter out of it. I think a solo encounter at 1st level will be a fun surprise for the party, and when it starts shifting tactics I think they'll enjoy it even more.
So for my base, I'm thinking of a solo goblin. In his first act personna, I want him to be a little cocky and self-assured. I'll base him off the Goblin Warrior, so he'll use Goblin tactics to jump around the battlefield, sort of taunting the party as he hurls javelins at them. Once they drop him to zero, he turns into the stage 2 solo, and now he's angry. He's no longer a skirmisher, but a brute. He pulls out his club and just starts laying out damage. In his 3rd stage, I want him to be worn down, a little scared (he's a solo, but he's still a Goblin) and acting more defensively.
So I thought I'd solicit some input from others and see if anyone has any suggestions of powers or other thoughts, especially the final stage, which I still haven't quite worked out. The party consists of 6 players in this case, so he's going to be a tad tougher than a normal 5-party solo. Thoughts?
In a nutshell, he recommends taking a solo monster and re-designing it into 3 parts. Each stage has 1/3 the hit points of the normal solo monster, only the 3rd stage is treated as bloodied, and once each of the first 2 stages has dropped to zero hit points, you replace it with the next stage of that solo. The key is that all ongoing effects disappear with the first stage, and you have the freedom of setting up new powers, etc.
There are a couple advantages of this. The first is that you don't get into a situation where the party has completely locked your solo down and it just becomes a pinata fest. The second is that you inject a little more personality into the mob. For example, in the first act you might have the monster setup to be a little cocky, then when he drops into his act 2 build he realizes the party is a threat drops any finesse in favor of dealing out more raw damage, and then in act 3 he's acting more like a cornered beast and maybe his powers shift to more controlling so he can try to escape. Ideally, your 2nd stage is the most dangerous stage, and the party should get a feeling that it's winning during the 3rd stage.
Anyway, I've just started a new 1st level campaign, and really wanted to not only try the 3-act solo monster out, but also wanted to build a 1st level solo encounter out of it. I think a solo encounter at 1st level will be a fun surprise for the party, and when it starts shifting tactics I think they'll enjoy it even more.
So for my base, I'm thinking of a solo goblin. In his first act personna, I want him to be a little cocky and self-assured. I'll base him off the Goblin Warrior, so he'll use Goblin tactics to jump around the battlefield, sort of taunting the party as he hurls javelins at them. Once they drop him to zero, he turns into the stage 2 solo, and now he's angry. He's no longer a skirmisher, but a brute. He pulls out his club and just starts laying out damage. In his 3rd stage, I want him to be worn down, a little scared (he's a solo, but he's still a Goblin) and acting more defensively.
So I thought I'd solicit some input from others and see if anyone has any suggestions of powers or other thoughts, especially the final stage, which I still haven't quite worked out. The party consists of 6 players in this case, so he's going to be a tad tougher than a normal 5-party solo. Thoughts?