Preview of the Idol of Kali, a Level 10 Solo Monster for 4th Edition. Showcasing some of the boss battle mechanics for the Vampire Bestiary and some more of the books amazing art courtesy of Peter Szmer.
Firstly, slight apologies. I had been sick with the cold for almost two weeks and it just knocked me off schedule, hence the lack of updates (I’ll try and make up for it over the next week).
The Vampire Bestiary is not yet complete but within a week I should have an early 80 pages ‘done and dusted’ version ready for a few souls to give me their opinions of. The remaining pages will still take a few weeks but they are themselves almost complete. In terms of interior art I think we are about 9 illustrations away from the full quota.
This is Preview 4 of the Vampire Bestiary. In the previous previews I revealed:
The weird thing about the above monsters is that since the previews I have probably reworked and revised them all several times, for instance the Level 4 Controller Witchdoctor is now a Level 3 Elite Controller. The basic Vampire is now a Level 8 Skirmisher rather than Level 11…and others have changed as well. However, I’ll leave the Previews as they are, in effect as variants.
The Idol of Kali
Initially I was planning to release the Psoglav (a powerful vampire monster) as the last Preview of the Vampire Bestiary. However, the art is being handled sequentially and the Psoglav art is near the back of the book so it will be one of the last to be completed. So instead I decided to showcase another solo monster from the book, the Idol of Kali.
The idol is heavily inspired by the monster encountered in the Golden Voyage of Sinbad movie. So its a tribute to Ray Harryhausen in that respect. Of course, as you’ll see when you read the monster entry, I took the basic inspiration and then did something totally new with it. 😉
I hope you all like it. Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
Eternity Publishing 
Dave
May 20, 2011
UK:
Very interesting. In general I like it a lot, but I do have a few reservations. i have not reviewed the math (attack and defense bonus, damage, etc.), but here are a few quick thoughts:
I like the three different forms, each with a different flavor. It should really keep the battle interesting.
I like the variety of powers. They look interesting and fun to play.
I am also a fan of the trigger and move actions and I like how they change with each form, it keeps the PCs guessing.
I like using minor actions for basic attacks with solos.
I am concerned that it is too powerful. All together it has 710 hp which is about 250 more than it should, plus it has resist 10 to all damage which is like adding a bunch more hp. I think the three forms would be more balanced if they were standard monsters with a resist all 10.
I also think having 2 full turns per round, coupled with the attack options for minor, move and triggered actions is truly deadly. This seems like a TPK in very short order at heroic tier. I would sugest perhaps just one additional action on the 2nd turn (like MV dragons) with 2 immediate actions.
Finally, how this is written I am unsure how the Animated Swords at to be used. I believe the swords are thrown at the end of phase one and then start attacking on there own (with an initiative for wach one). But I feel this not clearly stated, it just what made sense to me.
That is it for now. A very interesting monster, but a little overpowered at heroic tier I think.
beej
May 20, 2011
Unlike Dave, I don’t see it as overpowered. AFAICT, it’s the equivalent of 3 elite monsters (who gets the right amount of hp per role), worth a total of 3000XP. That’s 500 XP more than a typical solo, and it is just slightly stronger, too.
I do agree with the resist 10/all, though. I would probably make it 5, myself, or maybe add a way to get rid of the resistance, like a trigger event or a minor skill challenge.
As for the two full rounds, ettins can do it, too, so why can’t a boss monster?
PS. I like how the minion is a “rechargable power.” 😉
Dave
May 20, 2011
Ettins don’t have move, minor and trigger attack powers though
beej
May 21, 2011
Well, yeah, but I for one, think that they should have something for minor, at least. >.> Two minor actions per round are wasted on them.
Upper_Krust
May 20, 2011
Thanks for the feedback guys.
Technically it is slightly more powerful than a level 10 solo (and the XP total reflect this).
While the two turns thing may seem excessive I have removed powers that have multiple attacks. I think its very tough…but fair. Although I’ll certainly listen to more feedback on the matter.
I agree the Resist all 10 may be a tad problematic though…Maybe if I added Vulnerable 20 Critical to counter it…? Or I may remove it altogether or come up with a new power that better represents its stony nature.
I’ll also try and clarify the Animation of the swords (you were correct in how they work).
I will probably also drop its Action Points to 1 per form. I actually meant to do that before posting it.
Dave
May 20, 2011
UK:
Multiple attacks vs. turns:
I thought the all the standard powers attacked all targets in the burst?
Damage Resistance vs. Hit Points:
I actually like the resist 10 all to reflect the stoney nature, I would just reduce the total hit points. However, if you found another way to make it feel rock solid, I would be fine with the hit points. I just think the too together is a bit much.
Actions points:
I missed that, I per form is better.
Simon
May 20, 2011
Hmm, those stat blocks look awfully long!
Dave
May 21, 2011
Simon:
There are only 7 powers on the stat block (not including the traits), that is not very long, IMHO.
If you are talking about all three together, well it doesn’t play that way. From a DM management persepective it plays like 3 separate elite monsters (and I guess 6 minions).
Simon
May 20, 2011
It doesn’t need DR 10 (all); ‘stony’ just means it should have a decent AC and better Fort than Ref.
Dave
May 21, 2011
Simon:
I don’t like simply increasing AC and Fort to represent “stony” mechanically myself. AC, despite its name, is not just armor strength, and resist all is the common 4e mechanic for stone objects (look at gargoyles) I believe.
That being said, I really think you achieve the “stony” fell by the description of the monster and battle. I don’t know if there is a particular mechanic that will make it feel stoney. I think of stone as being easy to hit, but able to take a lot of damage (with small chips and chunks flying off), then cracks appear and shortly thereafter it shatters.
How you do that mechanically I am not sure, but I think a 3 phase monster can replicate that better than one without phases. So mabe here is an idea to produce “stony”:
Phase 1:
Immune disease, poison
Resist 10 all (to reflect that it can take a lot of hits with little apparent effect)
Phase 2:
Immune disease, poison
No general resistance (cracks are starting to appear)
Phase 3:
Immune disease, poison
Vunerable 10 all (it is starting to crumble)
If I think about it some more I might add more immunities, and/or increase resistance to things like fire, cold, etc. that don’t overly bother stone. I might also add a vulnerabilty if fire and cold are used in successive attacks to represent thermal shock. But maybe that is getting to complex.
Upper_Krust
May 21, 2011
@Dave
Great idea Dave (re: different levels of resistance/vulnerability for each phase).
@Simon
As Dave noted, its really three Elite stat blocks.
They also probably look artificially long because the Boss Monster and Boss Resilience Traits take about ten lines to explain and I repeated those in each stat block. Plus the Monster Manual 3 stat-block layout is on average 10% longer because of seperate lines for attack and damage (etc.) and also the action dividers.
Simon
May 21, 2011
I guess it might be ok. It looks like a level 8 group could easily take 3 hours to defeat this monster, which I’d be a bit concerned about. I’ve started routinely halving all monster hit points and fights can *still* drag a bit.
Dave
May 21, 2011
Simon:
Well I think length of encounter time is really dependent the group. When my group is focused (including me – the DM) we can get through a lvl+3 encounter in about 30-45min. When we are off – it will take 1-1.5 hours. I once had an encounter take 2hrs, but never three, and I have never had a solo last more than an hour.
That being said, I would prefer my solo encounters last longer, as long as they are interesting and exciting. With MM1 and MM2 solos you had to modify them, use terrain, minions, etc. to make the battle interesting. I think the Idol of Kali would be interesting straight out of the box.
It doesn’t really fit into my campaign, but I might reskin it an use when my PCs gain a few levels.