We're all familiar with the phenomenon known as 'Grind'. The goal here is to assemble an all-star team of monsters that are grind-reducers. Grind-immune. Paragons of anti-grind. Here are my candidates:
Ettins
I haven’t seen these guys in play yet, but they look excellent. They roll initiative twice, and basically take two turns during the initiative order, giving them lots and lots of chances to move around the battlefield, attack, and generally be interesting. And the best part? They automatically save from Stunned or Dazed at the start of their turn. A great, legitimate way to challenge your Stun-crazy Wizard. Give one of these guys a minor action attack, and I think you could turn them into an excellent, grind-free solo.
Zombies
If your group has more than one striker, Brutes can be a great way to reduce grind. A striker-heavy party can easily bypass their poor defenses and shave away their big piles of HP. Zombies, though, are great even in groups with only one or no strikers. They actually do pretty threatening damage for their level (something not all brutes do, though they should). What’s even better is their ‘Zombie Weakness’ ability (debility?) that causes them to die instantly when a critical hit is scored against them (“Shoot them in the head!”). This mean you can throw a horde of them at your party for a nice, swingy, unexpected battle.
Bullette
I haven’t seen a Bullete in play yet, either, but they look very good, primarily due to their ‘Earth Furrow’ ability. A lack of movement is a primary symptom of grind; the party just stands there and swings at the monster, and the monster just swings right back. Due to ‘Earth Furrow’, the Bullete has no reason not to zip all over the battlefield, making attacks while he does it.
I will admit, though, there are a few things that give me pause. Mainly that the Bulette creates his own difficult terrain, and too much difficult terrain makes things a grindfest. Also, ‘Earth Furrow’ knocks people prone, which, as a movement-denying effect, might feel grindy to some. This can be easily house-ruled away, though. Simply ignore the Bulette’s ‘Ground Eruption’ ability (or make it ‘until the end of the Bulette’s next turn), and change ‘Earth Furrow’ from an attack to knock prone to an attack that does a small amount of damage.
Anybody else have candidates for The Ungrindables?
Ettins
I haven’t seen these guys in play yet, but they look excellent. They roll initiative twice, and basically take two turns during the initiative order, giving them lots and lots of chances to move around the battlefield, attack, and generally be interesting. And the best part? They automatically save from Stunned or Dazed at the start of their turn. A great, legitimate way to challenge your Stun-crazy Wizard. Give one of these guys a minor action attack, and I think you could turn them into an excellent, grind-free solo.
Zombies
If your group has more than one striker, Brutes can be a great way to reduce grind. A striker-heavy party can easily bypass their poor defenses and shave away their big piles of HP. Zombies, though, are great even in groups with only one or no strikers. They actually do pretty threatening damage for their level (something not all brutes do, though they should). What’s even better is their ‘Zombie Weakness’ ability (debility?) that causes them to die instantly when a critical hit is scored against them (“Shoot them in the head!”). This mean you can throw a horde of them at your party for a nice, swingy, unexpected battle.
Bullette
I haven’t seen a Bullete in play yet, either, but they look very good, primarily due to their ‘Earth Furrow’ ability. A lack of movement is a primary symptom of grind; the party just stands there and swings at the monster, and the monster just swings right back. Due to ‘Earth Furrow’, the Bullete has no reason not to zip all over the battlefield, making attacks while he does it.
I will admit, though, there are a few things that give me pause. Mainly that the Bulette creates his own difficult terrain, and too much difficult terrain makes things a grindfest. Also, ‘Earth Furrow’ knocks people prone, which, as a movement-denying effect, might feel grindy to some. This can be easily house-ruled away, though. Simply ignore the Bulette’s ‘Ground Eruption’ ability (or make it ‘until the end of the Bulette’s next turn), and change ‘Earth Furrow’ from an attack to knock prone to an attack that does a small amount of damage.
Anybody else have candidates for The Ungrindables?
