Okay, the recent discussion after the Pathfinder 2 Review led to the creation of this article, which is sort of a mini-preview of the Vampire Bestiary (which has a four page section on solo monster design) in itself. This article won’t be as detailed as the material in the Vampire Bestiary (hey I have to sell the books somehow), but I thought it would be a nice way to collate my suggestions with the experiences and suggestions of other people and maybe this can ultimately act as a good resource of ideas.
So before we solve the problems we need to understand them first.
Problems with Solo Monster Design
- Too Boring: Many complain that solo monsters just are not as fun to fight, probably a combination of less fight synergy (the fewer the enemies) and less variety to attacks. Solutions: Ensure the solo monster has multiple attacking options so that, not only can it change tactics, but it can also keep the PCs guessing what comes next.
- Too Easy: Primarily a problem at epic levels or with solo monsters that don’t follow the official design parameters. Solutions: Follow all the Top Tips below.
- Forgettable: Solo monster carry the burden of being ‘End Bosses’ and often don’t live up to the hype. Solutions: Try something unique with each solo monster, even if that something bends the rules a bit or seemingly comes out of nowhere (while battling the solo monster, another monster comes out of nowhere and kills it).
- Grinding: This occurs when the PCs are certain of victory but the monster still has lots of hit points remaining, leading to a laborious ‘going through the motions’ remainder of the battle. Solutions: Increase the damage output of the solo monster by approximately 50% when it becomes bloodied.
- Initiative: More of an annoyance within bigger groups of players where it can take a relatively long time between the monster’s action. Solutions: Auras and Triggered Actions are a quick method of countering this problem. Or alternatively stagger the solo monster’s various actions on different initiative orders.
- Too Static: Battles with solo monsters are inherently less dynamic than other encounters. Solutions: Giving a solo monster a Move Action can change this.
Top Tips for Solo Monster Design
- Base Damage: Always make sure you set monster damage to the maximum suggested amount (per the Dungeon Master’s Guide errata from last July). This seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be amazed how many times the official material doesn’t give monsters their due damage.
- Bloodied/Death Throes: Either give the solo monster an Encounter power that activates when its bloodied, or when its killed. These one-shot powers should be very powerful.
- Critical Hits: One of the ways to reduce grind is to give solo monsters bonus damage on critical hits. That bonus damage should be equal to the base damage dice of the attack. I also suggest increasing the Crit Range of the attack by 1 per additional tier (19-20: Paragon, 18-20: Epic, 17:-20: Immortal, etc.).
- Extra Damage/Features: Its relatively rare (in 4E) for non-basic attacks to simply deal flat damage. Most attacks add a condition, ongoing damage or additional feature (slide the target etc.). Always treat these as EXTRA features. Don’t reduce the base damage just because the attack also stuns the PC.
- Fatalities: Another option to consider is to give monsters attacks that deal damage ‘beyond damage’. Either attacks dealing an amount equal to the opponent’s bloodied value. Or attacks equal to the opponent’s total hit points. Heroic Tier = Bloodied Damage as an Encounter Power. Paragon Tier = Bloodied Damage as Recharging Standard Action. Epic Tier = Death as an Encounter Power. Immortal Tier = Death as a Recharging Standard Action. These attacks work best when gained upon the monster being bloodied.
- Interactive Scenary/Terrain: A nice simple way in making encounters seem more unique without resorting to increasing the difficulty (as adding additional foes, hazards and traps would do). Interactive scenary is something both the PCs and the monster can utilise, for instance in a chamber full of stalagtites the PCs could damage one into falling upon the dragon, or the dragon could break one off and throw it at the PCs.
- Ongoing Damage: Speaking of extra damage, when assigning ongoing damage use the following suggestions as your defaults: Heroic Tier = 5, Paragon Tier = 10, Epic Tier = 20, Immortal Tier = 40.
- Overall Damage: A solo monster needs to average the equivalent damage of approx. 3 standard monsters. Either allow it multiple Standard Actions and/or give it Minor and Move Actions. Auras and Triggered Actions should not count towards this overall damage figure.
- Powers: A solo monster needs options. As a rule of thumb, make sure a Heroic Tier solo monster has (at least) 8 powers (this total does not incorporate Traits other than Auras). Add one extra power per additional tier, and add one power if the monster is also a Leader.
- Reinforcements: One often quoted oxymoron is to “Never use solo monsters on their own”. However to avoid overtly unbalancing your encounter, use creatures worth no more than 19% of the solo monster’s Total XP. These are just enough to divert attention, but not significant enough to really sway the outcome of the battle (ie. they don’t change the Level of the Encounter).
- Resilience: Solo monsters need to have ways to reduce the chances of getting stun-locked (or similar). One way to accomplish this is to give them a save (Immediate Reaction) as soon as they are affected by anything allowing a save. A second method is to give them powers they can sacrifice to remove afflicting conditions.
- Situational Damage: One often overlooked design feature is to give monsters a bonus to damage when a certain favourable situation presents itself. The classic example is of course bonus Sneak Attack damage when you have Combat Advantage. But there are any number of possible situations such as: when a target is prone (or indeed any condition); when a target is bloodied; when the monster is bloodied; if the target is taking ongoing damage, etc.
Advanced Tips for Solo Monster Design
As noted at the top of the page, there are a few ideas I’ll be keeping from this article for the Vampire Bestiary…including:
- Boss Phases: Breaking up the action.
- Memorable Bosses: And now for something completely different.
- Random Action Generator: Building monsters one power at a time.
- Segmented Bosses: Very simple rules for fashioning multi-part monstrousities.
- Super-Solos: Monsters bigger than Gargantuan: castle sized, mountain sized, planet sized, star sized, solar system sized, galaxy sized and universe sized etc…admittedly this section won’t be in this first volume of the Vampire Bestiary.
- Weak Spots: Some very quick and dirty risk and reward style mechanics.
Eternity Publishing 
Upper_Krust
March 6, 2011
The reason for the Orcus image in the headline is that I was planning (and still plan to) revise Orcus’ stats and attach them to the article by way of an example of the above ideas in action. Hopefully I’ll get round to that in a day or so.
Dave
March 7, 2011
P.S. I can’t wait to see your take on Orcus. I recently redid Tiamat (I also made an “Orochi” version by adding the gray, purple and brown heads) and I want to do Demogorgon as well.
Dave
March 7, 2011
UK:
Nice suggestions, thank you for posting the article. Here are a couple of quick thoughts:
Tips
1) Completely agree
2) I don’t have a problem with this, but I don’t like the idea that monsters get more powerful as they get weaker so I don’t do it much myself. I have used it is some specific situations, but not in general
3) I really like this idea and plan to incorporate it in more of my future designs.
4)Agreed
5) I like this as well. I always thought it odd that Orcus was the only monster that had a one hit fatality power. I tend to give my epic/immortal solos one power that has a chance to wipe out a PC with one hit.
6) A good suggestion, I don’t do enough with scenery – I need to work on that.
7) A good rule of thumb
8) This makes more sense when you are not adding auras and triggered actions in the count. How about ongoing damage – do you include this in the calculation?
9) As noted on the previous thread I think that is a good idea.
10) I think minions are also good for this.
11) This is a must. There are lots of good methods for this.
12) How do you count this situation damage to the avg. damage. Do you feel this is a requirement, or something more to just make a solo more interesting and/or unique?
Upper_Krust
March 7, 2011
Hi Dave!
I was always going to do an Orochi based on the Godzilla foe Biollante. It would make a great Feywild monster.
2) From a design perspective, it makes sense to have a monster deal more damage the weaker it gets. It makes for a more satisfying encounter. Certainly its a good anti-grind tactic.
7) Ongoing Damage does not count towards base damage. I know some of the official monsters do this (your Essentials Red Dragon for instance) but I wouldn’t. Base Damage + Extra Feature (Condition; Ongoing Damage; Moves Target etc.)
10) Any creature or group of creatures totalling less than 20% of the solo monster’s EXP Value will not increase the Level of the Encounter. Potentially that could be multiple minions or even two standard (or one elite) of 5 levels lower than the solo. I’d never go lower than 5 levels on Reinforcements though.
I also like the idea that Higher Tier Minions are worth less than 1/4 of a standard monster. At the moment I am using Paragon Tier = 1/5th; Epic Tier = 1/6th (as per the DMG2) but I am wondering if perhaps 1/6th Paragon; 1/8th Epic would be best. Minions are something of an irrelevance at Epic Tier…that said, I have a few surprises for my minions. 😉
12) I think its something just to make a solo more interesting. It also cuts down on grind if the monster has a situational attack that can potentially up its damage/threat level.
Dave
March 7, 2011
Hey UK!
RE 2): I understand the mechanical/encounter/dynamic benefit; however, I can’t get over that it doesn’t seem logical to me. It is a me problem, not a concept problem. I personally would try some other method (in general). I think it does make sense for some monsters, but not as a general rule.
RE 7) Good, I agree with you here.
RE 10) I have sorta done away with minions. I still use them, but I give them some hit points and variable damage. If Idon’t, my PCs figure out they are minions and they don’t like to know that. I haven’t changed there XP because with my changes I think they are about right.
RE 12) I like this idea, and I will give it a try, but it isn’t something I would use with every solo.
Also, some comments about the “Problems with Solo Monster Design”:
RE 4) Grinding: I really haven’t had a problem with this issue with the new solo defense, HP and damage guidelines. The PCs can really do a lot of damage even with At-Will powers (we have 3 strikers) so the chew through monsters pretty quickly. I have actually had to add hit points to my solo during a recent encounter to prevent the fight from being over to quickly!
RE 5) I have used primarily trigger actions, but I find that they don’t trigger often enough unless I have 2-3 different triggering actions. So, in the future I am going to start giving solos 2 turns or something similar.
RE 6) I absolutely agree. I also think it is a good idea to use this as trigger action or on another initiative count. This way the solo can move around in the course of the round, not just on its turn.
One last thing. I have been thinking about create some guidelines for something between a solo and an elite. Maybe a “champion” or something. The champion would be worth approximately 3 standards. Do you think there would be any use for such beast, or am I just trying to fulfill a need that isn’t there?
Simon Newman
March 7, 2011
I don’t like having too many combat options for my monsters. In actual play, 3 good options for a Solo is plenty, IME. Running a Solo should not be any harder than running a PC – and remember that the DM will be much less familiar with the Solo than the player is with his PC.
Dave
March 7, 2011
Simon,
I think you should definitely use what works for you. Not everyone will have a use for a solo with 10+ powers, but I don’t think having extra options hurts. I rarely use solos and I usually create them about a month or more before I use them, so I am generally fairly familiar with them before I use them. Thus, I don’t mind having several options for powers. I do agree that there should be 3-4 “core” powers that make the monster, but I think it is good to have extra options.
In addition, I think a solo should be compared to 5 standard monsters, not 1 PC. In this light, 10 powers can be a little low. I think one solo with 10 powers (at epic tier) is easier to run than 5 standards.
Finally, I haven’t played a PC in over 20 years, so I can’t really be sure how to compare a solo to a PC. I’ve been a DM to long!
Simon Newman
March 7, 2011
“In addition, I think a solo should be compared to 5 standard monsters, not 1 PC. In this light, 10 powers can be a little low. ”
The 4e DMG specifically says not to use 5 *different* standard monsters in a fight, though! It actually recommends 2-3 different sorts of monster, in most fights. That’s typically a reasonable 4-6 different core options to track, not 10+.
Dave
March 8, 2011
Simon,
The DMG also said solos should have X5 hit points and +2 to 2 defenses and didn’t provide any suggestions about how to prevent stun lock, etc. The DMG is guideline. I am simply suggesting that solos need more options. I think UK’s guidelines are a really good start. However, IMO, each monster must be looked at individually and the right powers applied to it.
I am not telling you to have 10+ power epic tier solos. A solo should have enough powers to make the encounter interesting, but no more than the DM can handle. I would suggest that this is around 10+ powers at epic tier, but that is dependent on what the DM can handle.
Personally, my latest solo design is a version of Tiamat enhanced to have all eight heads (Orochi) of the chromatic dragons. She has about 32 powers (3-4 per head and then some general powers), not including auras and traits. By the time my party faces her (they are 5th lvl and she is 38th lvl), I will know her powers like the back of my hand. This is not a problem for me.
On the flip side, the last encounter we had with solo (at 4th lvl) I felt very restricted by the fact that the solo only had 6 powers. It battle felt really dull and I had to make up some powers on the fly to keep the battle interesting.
Upper_Krust
March 7, 2011
Hey Dave! 🙂
Just to let you know, I have Orcus pretty much worked out in my notebook. However, I have a few things to do tonight and I don’t see me getting his stats up here until tomorrow night. The current build I have of him actually has 18 powers. That may seem like a lot, but I basically just wanted to have 3 options for every action type. So after his basic attacks (3 options) we have a choice of 3 standard actions; a choice of 3 move actions; a choice of 3 minor actions and a choice of 3 triggered actions (3 traits rounding out the rest). He doesn’t seem too complicated to me but you can all make up your own minds tomorrow.
Re: Triggered Actions. I think the trigger is important, moreso depending upon the Tier. For instance you wouldn’t want an epic tier trigger to activate ‘When an attack misses the monster’ since the vast majority of attacks will hit.
Re: Champion Idea. It does sound a bit unnecessary. Just use an Elite thats one or two levels higher instead.
Dave
March 8, 2011
Great, I always love seeing new takes on icon D&D baddies!
RE – Tiggered Actions: I must confess that I have also had the problem of designing to many triggered actions. This results in there almost always being a triggered action. I guess this is fine, if the solo design takes into account the triggered attack as almost another standard attack.
RE – Champion: I thought the same thing as I was typing it out. It was an idea, but not really thought out and it doesn’t seem necessary.
Simon Newman
March 8, 2011
Hi Dave – re stun lock – in my heroic tier game, I found the PC ability to stun lock solos worked just fine; it lets the PC group then cycle through rounds quickly (so no grind) as they wail on the solo and chew through some of its enormous bucket of hp, but the stun lock goes down eventually and the wounded solo starts fighting again.
I don’t create solos 20 levels in advance; traditionally I’m more a “pick up the MM on the night & run it” sort of guy, though I’ve taken to adjusting MM monsters in advance to bring them into line with MM3 approach – more damage, fewer PC-nerfing powers. I can’t imagine ever being unhappy with 6 options being too *few*, which just shows how actual GMing styles vary I guess.
Dave
March 8, 2011
Simon,
I can’t help myself from creating epic tier baddies, it is a sickness I have! I know the party won’t fight even a third of them, but I enjoy making them.
I agree completely that it is dependent on DM style. I guess I haven’t asked enough DMs to find out what the sweet spot would be to recommend to new DMs. Afterall, that is really what the guidelines are for aren’t they?
Upper_Krust
March 8, 2011
Hey guys! 🙂
I can see how a handful of powers works well at the Heroic Tier. So I can understand Simon’s point of view. However, having been DMed by Simon, my impression is that he see’s solo monsters as just another (admittedly more powerful) monster. Whereas other DMs might treat solo monsters as more of an ‘event’ and assign more dramatic importance to them.
Ultimately I think my position is somewhere in the middle (as regards the number of powers for solos). I think too few and the monster just seems underwhelming. Too many, and running it can feel a bit of a daunting prospect. Looking over my version of Orcus, I did get somewhat carried away with myself and broke with the design parameters I generally try to adhere to. That said, I’m reading it now and yes, in totality it seems like a lot, but because they are fairly evenly spread over the different Action types it doesn’t look too bewildering.
What I believe is more important than having a multitude of different powers is having a multitude of different action types. So that with solo monsters, you make sure you have Move Actions; Minor Actions and Triggered Actions…not just Standard Actions.
For example, I have a Dire Crocodile (Level 3 Solo Soldier) in the Cannibal Entry of the Vampire Bestiary (one of the Cannibal ‘Gods’ in the book). That monster effectively only has one Standard Action*…its Bite. But it has a choice of 3 Minor Actions, a Move Action and a Triggered Action.
*Technically the Dire Croc has 3 standard actions with one being its bite; one being its bite if it has a target grabbed in its mouth and one is a powerful attack that it gains when bloodied. But at the start of combat it’s only Standard Action is its bite.
Dave
March 8, 2011
UK,
I completely agree that a solo needs different types of actions to keep it dynamic and interesting (IMHO). I think that is what can also lead to having a greater number of powers, but that doesn’t bother me. I look forward to Orcus.
Dave
March 8, 2011
UK & Simon:
I was just thinking about UK’s comment regarding Simon’s use of solos and UK’s comment about using and elite as a “champion.”
If you use a solo as just a more powerful monster and not the “big boss” it makes sense for it to have fewer powers and use tip 10 (Reinforcements) to flush out the encounter and make it more dynamic. This would also fulfill my desire for something between elite and the uber solos I tend to use.
Simon, do you run your solos all alone or with reinforcements?
Simon Newman
March 8, 2011
“However, having been DMed by Simon, my impression is that he see’s solo monsters as just another (admittedly more powerful) monster. Whereas other DMs might treat solo monsters as more of an ‘event’ and assign more dramatic importance to them.”
Hmm, yes. I don’t tend to see the monsters as the star of the show. This may explain my preference for Standard over Elite, and Elite over Solo. I tend to like monsters that hit hard but go down pretty fast – though not as fast as 1hp minions!
Simon Newman
March 8, 2011
(Machine ate my post, grrr) – I tend to use Solos with allies, yes. 1 dragon had a shadow demon lurker ally, another had a Chaos Warrior soldier ally, and a couple minions, only the third was alone. First & third were published sources (Lerentiss in Vault of Larin Karr, Nightscale in Forge of Fury).
Upper_Krust
March 9, 2011
The Orcus article is virtually complete, it needs about 30 more minutes of work to it. Unfortunately its after 1am here and I am at the point of fatigue where 30 minutes seems like about 3 hours. So I’ll get a good nights sleep and post it first thing in the morning.
Incidently I have him cut down to 14 powers…though don’t worry Dave I’ll be sure and tell you the alternates I chopped from the list. 😉
Dave
March 9, 2011
UK:
I understand, I’ve been there.
Dave
March 31, 2011
UK and Simon:
I just found a blog about the 3 stage solo, and I thougth about you two. You can read about it here: http://angrydm.com/category/features/for-dungeon-masters/the-boss-fight/
It is an interesting method to make a more dynamic solo fight that builds tactics into the stat block somewhat. You actually have 3 stat blocks for one creature, each with a 1/3 of the hit points. Each stage replaces the previous stage, rerolls iniative, and typically has unique powers.
It is a similar idea to the piecework solo ( http://community.wizards.com/wrecan/blog/2009/12/05/piecework_creatures:_a_solution_for_solos_in_4e ) , but a little more elegant I think.
Anyway, I thought you might find it interesting.
Upper_Krust
March 31, 2011
Hey Dave,
(this post was initially dropped into my spam folder; probably because of the two links, I have of course approved it now). Just incase it was confusing you why it didn’t show up.
Thanks for the links, definately elements of both show up in my own Boss rules. I’ll post some more thoughts here later.
Also working on a website article which asks the question “What is Epic?”…and hopefully tries to answer it as well. 😉
Upper_Krust
April 3, 2011
Been working the past few nights, but have managed to spend some time with the articles. One point that was raised in an affiliated article was the idea of just giving Solo’s two initiative rolls and two full sets of actions each round (but remove actions that allow multiple attacks).
So on each round the Solo would get:
x2 Standard Action
x2 Move Action
x2 Minor Action
x2 Immediate Action
Two sets of saving throws
Plus we could stipulate that if Stunned it loses one standard action, if Dazed it loses one minor action, if Immobilized it loses one move action etc.
You could probably also give it the ability to expend an Action Point at the start of its turn to remove all negative conditions affecting it.
Dragons could probably have Bite as standard actions, Claw as minor actions, Wing Buffet as a move action and Tail Sweep as a Triggered Action. Then have maybe a recharging (recharge 6) attack for each of the actions to give it some variety.
…just off the top of my head…
Young Red Dragon – Solo Soldier
1. Bite – Standard
2. Breath of Fire – Standard Recharge 6, Close Blast
3. Claw – Minor
4. Snort of Flame – Minor Recharge 6, Ranged Single Target
5. Snatch & Grab – Move
6. Wing Buffet – Move Recharge 6, Close Burst (the Dragon can choose to push or pull targets smaller than it)
7. Tail Sweep – Triggered Action (struck by a flanking attack)
8. Draconic Roar – Triggered Recharge 6 (struck by an attack), Close Burst
9. Fiery Aura – When Bloodied
Paragon Tier Upgrade = 10. Rain of Fire – Standard Recharge 6, Ranged Burst, the dragon turns its breath skyward ejecting the clumps of basalt rock it uses to aid digestion. These fiery missiles rain back down over the area.
Epic Tier Upgrade = 11. Scorched Earth – Standard Recharge 6, Zone, the Dragon targets the ground with an extremely potent blast of its breath weapon, causing the surrounding terrain to become molten for the rest of the encounter
Regarding the Articles themselves…
Boss Monsters
Fairly similar to a lot of my own ideas although in the examples I read over, I didn’t really feel they warranted a whole ‘nuther stat-block. I also advocate a 3-act structure to Boss fights, but not necessarily 3 seperate stat-blocks. Plus if you are going to do the multi-stat block approach keep the stat blocks simpler.
Two stat blocks should each have the complexity of the Elite rank = 6 +1/Tier
Three should probably have = 5 +1/Tier
Piecework Monsters
I think in limitation this could work. The big drawback to this type of monster design is the area of effect attack. So the approach I prefer is using seperate pieces for powerful attacks.
Heres a quick example: Goblin Forgeborn
This creature is half goblin-half construct, with a big claw left hand. Enemies can make attacks against the goblin itself or the claw. The claw does twice as much damage, but can be damaged and put out of comission. The claw has hit points equal to the goblin’s bloodied value, but also Resist All 5.
Simon Newman
April 4, 2011
Re multiple solo actions, I like the MV dragons’ standard action on Init+10. I also like ranged attacks as minor actions, but the best thing is stuff like arc lightning where you have to spread the damage around multiple targets. I think a big problem with solos (and many elites) is that they are terribly dangerous to the melee PCs going to-to-toe, while the ranged attack PCs can lurk a good ways off and stay safe. Anything which breaks that dynamic and spreads the pain is good IMO – your/ Sly Flourish’s) “doughnut auras” are great for this, with damage starting 5 squares away from the Solo rather than stopping there.
Upper_Krust
April 4, 2011
Just to clarify I got the Doughnut Aura idea from Sly Flourish. He has some fantastic advice in his “How to Run Epic Tier Games” pdf. I thoroughly recommend checking it out for anyone who hasn’t already done so.
I agree with you about the melee lethality of solo’s. I remember reading over my Orcus and thinking “Anyone in melee with him will get decimated”.
But I am slowly but surely convincing myself that double actions are the way to go for solo monsters. Most solo’s already get a standard action that allows them to make two attacks. So the output of standard actions won’t change.
But allowing for two Move Actions grants them greater mobility (including the ability to close with annoying ranged attackers), while two Minor Actions gives it more variety (while not massively upping the damage), same thing with triggered actions.
If we reworked Orcus in this fashion we could remove the Wrath of Orcus power (which is indirectly overpowered compared to other standard attacks). I might go over to that thread and see what would change.
Igor
May 28, 2011
Nice article.
Upper_Krust
May 30, 2011
Hi Igor,
glad you liked it. 🙂
Just to clarify, since the article was written I have changed my mind on the idea of adding extra damage to critical hits.