[Theory] Encounters with monsters of just one role.

[Hellzon]

And not solos either. The encounter templates in the DMG mix roles (except Wolf Pack). What would happen if you built an encounter with only one role?

All Skirmishers: Known as Wolf Pack in the DMG, I'll get this out of the way. Supposedly it can work if you have them split into "flankers" and "defenders". Moving on...

All Artillery: Screwed if the PC meleeists come close. Could work if they have lots of help from difficult/blocking terrain or murder holes/arrow slits. Flight also works - the lowest level flying artilley in the MM being the level 8 flameskull.
Verdict: Sounds doable.

All Brutes: According to what I've read, brutes have the highest "grind factor". Five brutes could work and be pretty nasty because they will hit a few times/round with those inaccurate but nasty attacks, but might turn into a grind.
Verdict: Bad idea.

All Controllers: Five support guys with nothing to support? they could lock down the party something fierce, but they won't do much HP damage. You'd get the same grind as with all brutes, but for a slightly different reason. Also rather complex, so managing five could be a hassle.
Verdict: Not the brightest of ideas.

All Lurkers: Risk of grinding again, as team lurker spends half the rounds hidden/protected in some way. Potentially very old-school, since the monsters can be hidden as statues (gargoyles), in walls (wraith), in darkness (shadowhunter bat) or just invisible (spectral panther), making the party appropriately paranoid.
Verdict: I want this to be good, but I'd have to see it in action.

All Soldiers: Seems like it would turn into a boring slog as each soldier marks/immobilizes a PC each. Low damage with no high-damage support turns it into a grind, and the party will have to be resourceful if they want to run from the battle.
Verdict: Could work. More of a "puzzle" as players try to get out of the battle.

All Minions: AKA "Zombie Horde". The party controllers will love this combat, and defenders/strikers will hate it. Make them spread out so Scorching Burst doesn't take out 1d4 per round. Probably too easy without regular unit support.
Verdict: Fun once in a while.

Any thoughts? Am I wrong?

 

[Runestar]

I think that combat could become extremely one-sided and repetitive, since you can have your 1-role party spam the same abusive power over and over again. Some abilities, while potent, might be balanced based on the assumption that it gets used only 1/round, and is thus of limited efficacy against a 5-PC party.

Example: The party encounters a group of 5 succubi. In the first round, they use charm monster 5 times, then direct those charmed this way to protect them and attack the rest of the party who made their saves. In subsequent rounds, some sustain their charm monster powers, the rest continue bombarding those who made their saves earlier.

And of course, if the entire party failed their saves...

 

[Jack99]

I think that an soldier encounter will turn into a grind a lot quicker than an all brute encounter. Brutes, while having more hit points, also suffer from low AC and at least low will, while the soldiers have the highest AC of all and decent defenses.

 

[WhatGravitas]

I think that an soldier encounter will turn into a grind a lot quicker than an all brute encounter. Brutes, while having more hit points, also suffer from low AC and at least low will, while the soldiers have the highest AC of all and decent defenses.

Yup - I think they are even a more annoying grind - brutes at least give you the satisfaction of the hit. With soldiers, the frustration of not hitting builds up quickly - even if the net time to kill them is the same.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Hellzon]

Runestar: Quite true. Probably worst with controllers (with their ability to stunlock)

Jack99/Lord Tirian: Ooh, didn't consider grind in that instance. True too.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

All Minions: AKA "Zombie Horde". The party controllers will love this combat, and defenders/strikers will hate it. Make them spread out so Scorching Burst doesn't take out 1d4 per round. Probably too easy without regular unit support.
Verdict: Fun once in a while.

Any thoughts? Am I wrong?

I did alll minnons acouplke of times...40 Devil Legions aganst 10 PCs at gencon....

6 PCs...1 Swordmage...1Fighter...2 rangers...1 warlord... and 1 Warlock

I did 2 encounters 1 with 28 zombie rotters
1 with 16 zombie rotters and 2 deathlock wights

all and all it was fun my players in both enjoyed themselves...