Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
The Three Act Goblin
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="moxcamel" data-source="post: 5341308" data-attributes="member: 67954"><p>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 <a href="http://angrydm.com/2010/04/the-dd-boss-fight-part-1/" target="_blank">here</a> and definitely worth a read.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="moxcamel, post: 5341308, member: 67954"] 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 [url=http://angrydm.com/2010/04/the-dd-boss-fight-part-1/]here[/url] 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? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
The Three Act Goblin
Top