A Look at 4e Forever's Epic Tier Monster Design

i am going to give yall another peek at my 4e Forever project and show you how one of the new monsters is built. the magazine deals exclusively with high paragon and epic tiers. one of things you will be seeing that is a little different than traditional 4e epic tier fare is that some typically mundane creatures are being elevated to epic status. i am really trying to get down to the pure old-school essence of these creatures, and trying to find a balance of simplicity and difficulty. and i must say i am having fun doing it.

i believe that most high level creatures need at least one go-to power that have built-in ways to mitigate conditions, such as being able to make multiple attacks and move as part of the attack. i also really do not want a lot of little attacks, utilities, and things to remember. the epic PCs will be giving the DM plenty of that as it is! so lets look at what i am doing with my own take on a Giant Crab.

part of the old-school vibe that translates well to epic tier is the multi-attack. claw/claw/bite, and the like. so for the crab i want a double attack, each claw. and of course i want it to grab the target, as it is the natural thing it would do. i want to make sure i am doing a lot of damage to balance out weak epic tier damage rolls. so on top of the two attacks, i added an auto-damaging mechanism. i find auto-damage a crucial component of epic tier games.

i am protecting the monster's ability to get the go-to attack off in a couple of ways. first, the attack is all one standard action, so it can happen in full even if dazed. second, i add some free movement into the power, as well as reach, to allow the crab mobility and a chance to reach most targets even if dazed. i want the grab to hurt, and this is epic tier after all, so i am saying the crab's grip is so powerful only a teleport can free a target. and just to be memorable and over-the-top i am going to add a little insult to injury with more auto-damage if they teleport. net effect: you do not want to get grabbed by this little guy.

considering movement and senses, i decide to give the crab a rubble walk ability and burrow speed to drive home the flavor. i also decide the crab is quite in touch with vibrations of the earth so i give it tremorsense; i like to have at least one creature per encounter have a way around perma-invisible types.  if it was a solo or elite i would add some immunities and the like, but for a standard this works nicely.

this guy shows up like a little bad-ass on  rocky beaches, surfacing from underground into the most advantageous spot to get his Claw/Claw off. 

i am also trying something new with monster skills. instead of breaking out all of the monster attributes and assigning skills, i am simply using the updated Moderate and Hard DCs of the monsters level -10 to derive the initiative and skill mods. i decide whether i want the creature to be very fast quick (+26 initiative) or standard (+17 initiative). i decide on the fly if a monster is 'trained' in a skill or not. if i decide it is, say if the monster is falling and i want it 'trained' in acrobatics, he gets a +26 mod (i.e. the Hard DC for Level 22 -10). if not trained i use the Moderate DC of the monster's level -10. in some cases you may decide that the monster cannot attempt a skill, for example i decide my crab cannot roll a religion check. in this way i can just work off of the skill DC chart and not have to worry about spelling out the rest. i think you will agree that the variation is not as important as the ease of use. somehow it works.

so what does it look like

Giant Crab
Level 22 Soldier    Large Natural Creature

Initiative +17       Senses Perception +26
HP 209; Bloodied 104
AC 38; Fortitude 35, Reflex 33, Will 34

Speed 6, Rubble Walk, Burrow 6
Special Senses: Tremorsense 15
Morale 9 ( for my Morale rules, see this blog entry)

Claw/Claw  (basic, standard, At-Will)

The Crab can shift up to its speed. After the shift the Crab makes the following attack

Reach 3, +27 vs Reflex, 2 attacks (one or two creatures)

Hit: 6d4 + 16 damage and the target is grabbed. If the target is already grabbed the Crab gets a +5 bonus to the attack roll. The grabbed target cannot attempt to escape the grab. If either the Crab or the grabbed target are subjected to forced movement, the creatures move together and the grab does not end. Blocking terrain ends the forced movement for all creatures. If a creature is not the original target of forced movement but is moved as a result of a grab, the DM chooses a square adjacent to the original target for that creature after the movement is completed. Teleportation ends a grab as normal. The Crab can have up to two creatures grabbed at one time, but the Crab cannot take a move action other than to stand when it has a creature grabbed.

Special: The Crab can make this attack on a charge. This attack scores critical hits on an 18-20.

Squeeze (no action, once per round, At-Will)

Target-One or two grabbed creatures

Effect-The target takes 30 damage

Last Pinch (immediate interrupt, At-Will)

Trigger-A grabbed creature teleports or is teleported.

Effect- The target takes 50 damage and is slowed until the end of the encounter.

Alignment Neutral       Languages None

Trained Skill Mod (+26), Untrained Skill Mod (+17)

i hope this displays the approach i am taking with the monsters: keep them pure and simple while still keeping the difficulty level high enough to counteract epic tier imbalance. i would also love some feedback, so even if you hate it let me know what you think!

Memorable Mechanics Part 4: Over-the-Top Conditions

ok welcome to what i think might be the last in this series on memorable mechanics in your games, at least until im inspired to write another one. i am thankful for the comments and thoughts that readers have shared! 

so i want to talk today about using unusual conditions in your game. 4e did some amazing things for the game, not least of which is codifying certain conditions. what this means is that you can play at multiple tables all over the world and be truly playing the same game. it makes DMing easy even if you have never met the table of players you are about to run a game for. unfortunately it can also be pretty stale and not make for especially memorable gameplay for the player or the DM. do not get me wrong here, i would not have conditions any other way, i love that they are set in stone. still, i think every game can benefit from experimenting with odd or extreme conditions. i also like to look at working with the existing conditions, and combining them to make new ones.

the first thing i like to do is to really forget mechanics completely for a minute and think about what i want to do the the PC. that sounds pretty sadistic, and... it is a little. oh well! next i start to think of how to express that 'condition' in the game. this includes deciding whether to include existing conditions as part of the new 'condition'. the down side of using known conditions is that it tends to make it easier for PCs to overcome the condition with a power, feat, and the like. the plus side is everyone knows the conditions already so they are easier to communicate already. i then try to make sure there is some new flavor or quirk to the condition that makes it special.

i thought i would share a few random thoughts and  'quirks' that you can use to bring extreme conditions to life in your games. i have provided at least one example for each tip.

1. have things go from bad to worse very quickly

fourthcore is great at this. one failed save youre screwed, second failed save youre dead.

example-i decide i want the big bad end guy fire elemental to literally melt a PC. so im thinking of the PC gradually melting into a puddle. i want to hit hard from the get go and i damn sure do not want them to be able to get off the hook easily. i decide i do not want a saving throw to be able to end it, i want this to be severe. so i am thinking the first turn after the melt starts, the PC takes a -4 penalty to basically everything: attack and damage rolls, defenses, speed. second round is -8 (if you reach 0 you just stay at 0). third round -12. you are insubstantial and basically a puddle on the ground. everyone has to roll acrobatics checks to avoid slipping on you. remove affliction reverses the melting process.

2. unusually long delays before the condition really sets in
 
example-i want to thump a PC on the head, but i want it to be flavorful. how about a severe concussion? i decide i want to use existing condition (daze) as part of a new one. the player is hit in the head one session and dazed save ends; after that everything goes on as normal. the players forget it happened. but two or three sessions later the PC wakes up with a -10 in knowledge based checks and has to make a check against self-harm or harming a party member once a day. 

alternate example- the PCs are cursed by some hag. literally weeks of game time go by until the curse reveals itself in some delicate situation

3. hit them with permanent conditions

these are a titch tricky. the PC should still be playable, but significantly changed.

example-i decide i want to literally dismember a PC. like cut his legs clean off. i dont want him to be able to find the legs later. i decide i also do not want the condition to contain existing condition terminology. so, while i want to slow the PC as part of this condition, i do not want to use the word 'slowed' bc then the PC likely has a way around it. so instead of slowed i want to say 'the PCs speed is 2'. i decide the final condition is the PC has max speed (unless on a mount) of 2, regardless of feats. the PC also takes penalties to checks as per the DM. the PC is considered prone to enemies.

alternate example- a grotesque scar permanently effecting skill checks


4. the 'hidden in plain view' approach

with these you want to have the method of ending the condition be something simple. sometimes those are the hardest for PCs to deal with.

example-i want to burn a PCs eyes with acid. i decide to use an existing condition (blind) along with some massive ongoing damage. this makes it easy to track and explain to the player. if the PC has anything to use vs blindness or to resist the ongoing damage for a time, he can. but the interesting part is there is no save from the blindness or ongoing damage; outside of combat the PC is still blind and takes the damage every ten minutes. the condition can be ended immediately if the eyes are simply flushed with water. if the PC asks if it is 'save ends'...answer with a cryptic 'i dont know yet'. or 'ill tell you when'.


you can go on endlessly in every direction with these. what kind of memorable conditions have you used in your game? what ideas would you add to the list?

Tiny 4e Forever Preview

so i have been steadily working on 4e Forever, my upcoming fanzine, but it sometimes feels like i have not gotten anywhere. there is a lot left to do but i wanted to share a sneak peek at one of the monsters in the adventure in the first issue, the Gaartal Bruiser. i will hold off giving you ecology or details about the monster right now so as not to reveal too much. i hope you like it, bc your PCs certainly won't!

Gaartal Bruiser preview pdf

Gaartal Bruiser preview monster file

Memorable Mechanics Part 3: Roll a Ton of Dice

Just a short one today about how to make the act of rolling damage a memorable one. Simply put: roll tons of dice. Players respond to seeing the DM pick up a massive pile of dice. This is not something you want to do with every damage roll because it makes the damage a bit swingier, but 4e PCs are pretty darn durable and it is an almost guaranteed eye opener when you go for the dice. This is just a minor way you can psychologically torment your players; maybe shake your head like you feel sorry for them as you put your fistful together. Ask to borrow dice from all of the players. Milk it.

One thing you can do is look at the damage expressions for your monsters (published or otherwise) and make small edits. If you see 3d8+10, try a 6d4+10. If you see 4d12+12, try 8d6+12. I realize this adds a couple of points of damage here and there, but big whoop they can take it. Its the visual of all those dice that is the key.

To really make this dramatic, take the whole expression, static damage and all, and convert to one massive damage roll with no static damage. So say the starting damage roll is 3d12+13. That's 32.5 damage on average. I might decide to just roll 10d6 or 7d10 by itself instead. Crits are brutal.

You can also look for moments to use unique damage rolls that do not correspond with recommended damage expressions. That trap that sprays acid and melts skin? Just grab a handful of dice and see what happens. Seriously.

I do not recommend this for every roll or even most rolls, but I encourage you to look for opportune moments in your games to use tons of dice. Such a simple little thing can make it more memorable for the whole table.

Ever done something along these lines? Leave a post!

Memorable Mechanics Part 2: Disease

so my series on using unusual mechanics in 4e games continues today with the subject of disease. on paper, i kind of like the look of how 4e handles disease. gone are the absurd "realistic" diseases of the 1e days (kidney infection? fun!). still, the 4e system has the disease affect the PC in stages. this is where the problems come in. i have yet to see a PC hit the late stages of a disease. between saving throw bonuses and wonky endurance dcs, it is rare that a PC contract a disease at all. this defeats the purpose. furthermore, keeping track of stages is kind of annoying to begin with. so, here are my ideas on how to include diseases in your 4e game.



you get no save. you have the disease, period
pretty simple, the diseased bat bites you, you have the disease. might sound harsh but, hey, thats disease.

the disease has no 'stages'. it is what it is
it is my advice to go ahead and get straight to the juicy stuff. ravage the PCs body with disease while you have the chance. severe is good. severe is memorable. nobody remembers the time they got stage one of some wussy disease that gave them a -1 Fort for 6 hours. they DO remember that time their body parts started falling off and they had to carry them in their backpack. for published diseases, go straight to the final stage

after an extended rest, make a hard endurance check
if the pc passes the check, they are cured. if they fail, they arent. you can have the PC die after failing an endurance check if you like, or it can just be chronic until they beat the dc. nice and simple. no stages to track. allies can treat disease as normal.

thats pretty much it. i promise you you will see more ritual use in your games after a disease or two like this! making diseases memorable starts with simply making diseases a threat, and the way the rules currently play, disease is no threat at all to a group of PCs. lets change that.

do you have any memorable disease stories? please leave a post!

Memorable Mechanics Part 1: Forced Movement

hello, this is the first in a series on this blog about using unusual mechanics in your games. i decided to break it into parts so it wouldnt be too much of a wall of text.

the past few days i have been thinking about player assumptions in 4e. basically, 4e has codified conditions; they do the same thing table to table. this is good, bc you can just tell a player they are slowed and everyone knows what that means. on the flip side, with limited conditions in the game, a player can basically prepare for everything. i have a high level fighter that can avoid daze, stun, immobilize, restrain, slow, etc etc. and thats absolutely fine, but this series is about defying the usual mechanics and bringing things your players have never seen to the table. in this first part we are looking at forced movement.

forced movement in 4e games is usually something you see more from a players side, like that mage that has the at-will slide 7, or a polearm build that slides, marks, and prones. monsters usually only do a push 1 here or a slide 2 there. i urge you to shock your players with forced movement. take their expectations and rip them apart.


crazy pulls

here is one from my home game. i had a frog-like beast that had a ranged 10 tongue attack that targeted 2 creatures. on a hit it obviously did damage, but also pulled them up to 10 squares into an auto-damaging fly vomit aura. another idea i am working into the 1st 4e Forever adventure involves a powerful magnet. any pc with metal weapons or armor gets pulled to it, regardless of distance, taking damage as they slam against it. pull the pcs completely across the battlemat; the whole table will love it.

absurd control

so here is another way to use forced movement to startling effect. the next time you have the pcs facing a controller type, shock them with cartoonish control. try a power (possibly named "can you fly, billy?") in which the pc takes damage from an attack and is hoisted 6-12 squares in the air. at the start of the pcs turn, he falls. you can also use wind or other environmental features to add some wild movement to an encounter. perhaps the pcs have to roll an acrobatics check at the start of their turns or be tossed into the air and over a cliff

push pcs into things 

to get more flavor out of a push (or slide), push the pcs into things, and push them far. for example, consider the push actually pushing them across the mat and several squares into a wall. it damages them greatly obviously, and costs them extra movement to climb out of the wall. the squares around the new hole now have rubble and stone (difficult terrain) from where the pc smashed into it.

teleport the hell out of them

teleport the pcs into bad spots. think about this when you design your terrain. for example, instead of giving them a save by teleporting them into a lava river, teleport them onto the small rock in the center of the lava river. teleport them next to other monsters. teleport them into a cage.

use helpless pcs as weapons

the psion has a power that allows it to use an enemy as a living missile to attack other creatures. i love it; it is great flavor. the next time you have a strong creature, say an ogre or dragon or what have you, have them grab, damage, and daze a pc on a hit. then allow them to throw the pc at his allies. the further you throw them, the better. maybe an area burst 1 within 10. use the pc as a weapon.

i hope you have enjoyed reading these ideas. i am sure many of you have used some things like this in your home games, so please leave a post and tell me about them! look for part 2 of this series coming soon!

Fixing Passive Perception in 4e

passive perception isnt a bad idea in and of itself. it has a lot going for it: it originates from old school versions of the game where certain races had a chance to notice something just by passing by it. using passive skills also rewards players who spend resources trying to improve a skill. and lastly it can in some instances save the dm some time, as he doesnt have to call for a check. but somewhere along the way it all went wrong. in this post i am looking at what the problem is with passive perception (and other passive skills to some extent), and how to fix it.

so what is the problem in the first place? well to put it as simply as possible, it is hard to threaten pcs with traps using the rules as written. even casual groups can produce a pc whose passive perception is consistently above the moderate difficulty check, and often even a hard check. i also want players to explore their environment and not have everything handed to them automatically.

so thats the problem. what then is to blame? the 4e dcs? after all they have been changed twice over the last few years and even now can still be called 'wonky'. but maybe it isnt the dcs fault...maybe a set dc chart is not a one-size-fits-all for 4e groups. maybe the way trap detection is presented is a problem as well. or the way 4e players have been trained. maybe its a mix of all of these. so here are my ideas

use the hard dc of a traps level as the default
i want most hidden traps to be hard to detect. otherwise theres not much point in hiding them. i mean, sure i want to reward players for spending feats and such to help boost their skills, but the bottom line is some groups skills are so high they will always beat dcs. here is what i recommend for dcs. well constructed traps can be detected passively with the hard dc of the traps level+1. so for example the passive perception score to detect a well hidden level 9 trap is 26. note that you will still have players that beat dcs passively, and thats ok; see the rest of this post. if a trap is of lesser quality, use the moderate dc of the traps level+1, but note that there are very few times that i want to use a lesser quality trap. maybe for flavor reasons, or when using traps in an already difficult encounter, or to lull the players into a false sense of security regarding their skills. otherwise i want them to explore the environment in order to detect traps.

require exploration
i hate the idea of a pc just entering a room and then based solely on his passive skill, being able to spot traps throughout a huge area, or even just a regular sized room. here is my idea for detecting traps passively. to detect a trap passively, a pc has to either be adjacent to the trigger or triggering area, or otherwise nearly trigger the trap. for example, i had a room of a dungeon with random squares trapped. using this rule they could only be detected passively when adjacent to a trigger square, so due to the spread out placement of the traps they would have to be detected individually. so the guy with high perception is rewarded if he steps a little close, but his allies could be in trouble. another example, you have a trap on a door that is detected. everyone steps away while the thief disables it. little do they know there is a pit trap on the other side of the door. another party member who lacks a passive score high enough to detect it walks in first and falls in the trap. note that if it is physically impossible to be next to a trigger or triggering area, or if the trap is not triggered by a physical action, the pc with the passive skill high enough to detect the trap should be warned individually by the dm. 

limit a pcs ability to rely on passive checks
this is another one that has an old-school vibe. if a pc rolls an active check, use that dc until they leave the area; they no longer qualify for their passive score while in that area. so say they announce they are looking for traps and roll a 2, dont let their score all of a sudden improve while they are still in the rough area. by rolling low they have set their score lower than their passive score. even if they announce they are rolling another check and then do so, use their first roll.

use skills other than perception
flavor your traps with different skills needed to detect. maybe perception doesnt work on some of them; they require dungeoneering training. or the old holy symbol is seen plain as day, but it took religion to recognize it is trapped

use higher level traps
since we are basing the dcs off of the trap level, you can throw higher level traps at the pcs to help make detection more difficult. you can also make a mental note of what level trap the pcs cannot detect passively if you want to make sure passive detection is impossible. if this sounds metagamey....thats bc it is

reward exploration
the obvious flip side of all of this is to reward exploration when deserved. this is the kind of rule that doesnt necessarily fit the codified rules approach of 4e, but occasionally, if you have a group of adventurers that are showing caution, playing attention to clues, and roleplaying, and they make a group check and fail, consider giving them a small bonus to their check, or even an automatic success. dont do this every time; rely on 'feel' to tell you when this is appropriate.

try an alternate approach
another way to do it is to require only a moderate dc, but to roll a hidden roll to determine if the qualifying pc notices a trap. in other words, their passive perception allows them a chance to detect but doesnt guarantee success. this is kind of like an old school game, like an elf determining a hidden door without trying on a dms roll of 1 or 2 in 6. if a pcs passive score is high enough to beat the dc to detect the trap, make a hidden percentage dice roll. the pc has a 80% chance to notice a trap of average construction, and a 50% chance to notice a well constructed trap. this method allows pcs to just blindly walk around and still have a chance to detect traps passively as written, but it adds a chance of failure on the back end. pcs will not like this method, but there is no reason for them to know what youre doing anyway. this is basically a way of assigning them a random chance...only to even get a random chance they have to be highly trained. as above, this method favors the traps but this one also gives you an added old-school vibe

to summarize, i really dont want to come off as wanting to punish players. i just want to reward actual exploration and give pcs a chance of failure when it comes to trap detection. these ideas put power back into the dms hands and make traps less soft than in the average game of 4e.

as always i am interested in feedback and opinions. do you have your own method for passive perception? leave a post!