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<blockquote data-quote="Morgan_Scott82" data-source="post: 4553688" data-attributes="member: 79594">By and large I love the way monster design has been streamlined in 4e, and the concept of monster roles facilitates thinking in ways that will make for interesting and challenging encoutners (even if I sometimes have trouble designing monsters that fit neatly into only one box).&nbsp; &nbsp;One thing that I am concerned about is Brutes.&nbsp; In my experience Brutes rarely add anything of consequence to the fight.&nbsp; The definining elements of the Brute role (high hp, low defenses, melee focus, low to moderate damage) make them largely inconsequential in the grand scope of the battlefield.&nbsp; In encoutner design soldiers and brutes serve much the same purpose as Defenders do in the adventuring party: to interdict the enemy advance and keep them from focusing on other perhaps more dangerous mosnters.&nbsp; Soldiers, with their higher damage output compared to the Brute, not to mention frequently having a marking ability are able to make themeselves enough of a credible threat to divert PC attention.&nbsp; Conversely it has been my anecdotal experience that Brutes get bypassed in favor of more prime targets.&nbsp;Furthermore Brutes, with their high HP totals can contribute to the sometimes drawn out feeling of 4e combat.&nbsp; This is especially true in light of my previous point that they're often ignored until the late stages of an encounter, which means you end up with the monster with the highest hp total, near full hp, who is easy to hit, but isn't much of a threat. So the PCs gang up on him and spend what are likely to be the most boring several rounds of the combat finally putting him out of the fight.&nbsp; The only times I've found Brutes to be useful in encoutner design is when there has been a physical bottleneck I can put the Brute in and let him soak up attacks for a while, however even in that limited circumstance a soldier likely better serves my purpose.&nbsp;I'm not proposing house rules, or making any changes to the Brute (at least not yet), but I'm curious if others have had similar experiences?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Morgan_Scott82, post: 4553688, member: 79594"] By and large I love the way monster design has been streamlined in 4e, and the concept of monster roles facilitates thinking in ways that will make for interesting and challenging encoutners (even if I sometimes have trouble designing monsters that fit neatly into only one box). One thing that I am concerned about is Brutes. In my experience Brutes rarely add anything of consequence to the fight. The definining elements of the Brute role (high hp, low defenses, melee focus, low to moderate damage) make them largely inconsequential in the grand scope of the battlefield. In encoutner design soldiers and brutes serve much the same purpose as Defenders do in the adventuring party: to interdict the enemy advance and keep them from focusing on other perhaps more dangerous mosnters. Soldiers, with their higher damage output compared to the Brute, not to mention frequently having a marking ability are able to make themeselves enough of a credible threat to divert PC attention. Conversely it has been my anecdotal experience that Brutes get bypassed in favor of more prime targets. Furthermore Brutes, with their high HP totals can contribute to the sometimes drawn out feeling of 4e combat. This is especially true in light of my previous point that they're often ignored until the late stages of an encounter, which means you end up with the monster with the highest hp total, near full hp, who is easy to hit, but isn't much of a threat. So the PCs gang up on him and spend what are likely to be the most boring several rounds of the combat finally putting him out of the fight. The only times I've found Brutes to be useful in encoutner design is when there has been a physical bottleneck I can put the Brute in and let him soak up attacks for a while, however even in that limited circumstance a soldier likely better serves my purpose. I'm not proposing house rules, or making any changes to the Brute (at least not yet), but I'm curious if others have had similar experiences? [/QUOTE]

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