You've met the mountain, now meet it's keeper...
So, last week, we had the idea of making one white dragon encounter that actually took up an entire days’ worth of standard 4e encounters at once, about 5 encounters’ worth of creatures and XP all jammed into one truly epic battle against the menacing foe and its hazardous environment. We decided to make it using the 4 Elements of 4e, because the goal is to jam together multiple kinds of encounters into one big one.
The first rule we came up with was to reflect the icy terrain that threatens to plunge the PC’s to their doom, without necessarily making it a one-time save-or-die effect:
Rule #1: Slipping and Sliding
At the end of a character’s turn, where that character moved, Icy Terrain makes a Reflex attack (+7), targeting that character. On a hit, the character falls pone, and must spend a Healing Surge to avoid falling to their death. If you are out of healing surges, take your Surge Value in damage instead (this cannot be reduced in any way). If you cannot spend your Surge Value in HP, you fall to your death.
The glacier does contain zones where the traction isn’t so bad, and the cracks are not so frequent. In order to find these zones, you must make a DC 16 skill check as a standard action. Success means you can move without becoming a target for the Icy Terrain. Skills such as Nature, Athletics, and Acrobatics are especially relevant. If you are trained in one of these relevant skills, and make 4 checks, you don’t have to make any more checks: you’ve found a safe enough zone that you can move without trouble. A character not trained in one of the relevant skills can find the zone, too, but it takes them 6 checks. A character can also make checks on their turn to count as a success for another character (ie: a character can make a check to find themselves safe ground, or to help someone else find safe ground), even after they’ve found safe ground.
Once every party member overcomes the Icy Terrain, the party has found common ground, and each party member gains the benefits of a Short Rest.
(true fans will notice a slight tweak to that….thanks, @Olgar Shiverstone!)
We also came up with a rule to handle the howling blizzard that threatens to freeze the characters solid:
Rule #2: Sound and Fury
At the end of a character’s turn, the Howling Blizzard makes a Fortitude attack (+7), targeting any one character. If the character is resistant to Cold damage, they get a +2 bonus to defenses against this attack. On a hit, the character is blinded until the end of their next turn, and loses a healing surge. If you can’t lose a surge, you take damage equal to your Surge Value. If this reduces you to 0 hp, you begin dying of exposure. While blinded due to the Howling Blizzard, creatures that are not adjacent to you are considered hidden.
The blizzard is an effect a character can learn to shrug off. Doing this involves making a DC 16 skill check as a standard action. Success means you cannot be a target for the Howling Blizzard until the end of your next turn. Skills such as Nature, Endurance, and Perception are especially relevant. If you are trained in one of these relevant skills, and make 4 checks, you don’t have to make any more checks: you’ve learned to work with the blizzard, anticipating its movements. A character not trained in one of the relevant skills can develop this, too, but it takes them 6 checks. A character can also make checks on their turn to count as a success for another character (ie: a character can make a check to learn to negotiate the blizzard, or to help another character do the same), even after they’ve learned to shelter themselves from the blizzard.
Once every party member overcomes the Howling Blizzard, the clouds part, revealing a shimmering sun that reflects off the ice in a diamond sparkle, and each party member gains the benefits of a Short Rest.
You Are Here.
Through these two rules, we had two “encounters” that could be placed within a third.
And we left off thinking about what the dragon itself could be like. Which brings us to this week.
Claw/Claw/Bite/Wing/Wing/Tail plus Breath Weapon and a Quickened Fireball
The dragon we’re making has to, itself, represent 3 encounters, and allow two “short rests worth” of healing. An easy way to do this is to use “phases:” once the dragon loses, say, one-third of its overall HP, it triggers a surge of hope and optimism in the party, allowing them to gain the benefits of a short rest. This could be simply tied to HP, but it would be nice if the event was punctuated with something…so let us just use the iconic breath weapon of the white dragon to make that happen. Rather than make it recharge at random, it will replenish at the start of each phase.
The other thing that the dragon must do is match the action economy of the party – that is, in order to be a true “encounter,” the dragon needs to act like more than one monster at a time, in each phase. Fortunately, dragons are bristling with natural weaponry, so we can give them the ability to use these attacks nigh-instantaneously, out of turn, rather than all at once on their turn.
Finally, the consideration falls to combat magic and other combat-specific, limited-use abilities. While dragons only had spellcasting in 2e and 3e, 4e dragons often had certain limited-use powers aside from their breath weapon. Because the dragon is meant to stay around for some time, giving it some extra abilities isn’t the worst idea – it’ll make the critter more dynamic and flexible. However, to limit analysis paralysis, and to build up the tension gradually, we can link these to the phase as well.
So, what do we have? Keeping it at level 4, something a bit like this:
Rule #3: Running the Dragon
The dragon has 198 HP, an AC of 20, a Fortitude of 18, a Reflex of 14, and a Will of 16. It has a Damage Reduction of 5 against all damage, except fire damage.
When the dragon is reduced to 132 HP, and again when it is reduced to 66 HP, the party gains the benefit of a short rest.
The first time in any creature’s turn that the dragon is attacked, it can immediately make a melee basic attack – this can be at the attacker, or against another target that the dragon can reach. The dragon’s melee basic attack is a +11 vs. AC attack that deals 2d8+2 damage.
The dragon has a breath weapon that it can use against every party member at once, as a minor action on its turn. This is an attack at +9 vs. Reflex, targeting every PC, that deals 6d6 damage on a hit, and half damage on a miss. It can use this attack once. When the dragon is reduced to 132 HP, and when the dragon is reduced to 66 HP, it can gains another use of this attack.
When the dragon takes a move action, it can actually take two move actions, combining a large size with powerful wings.
The dragon has the following special abilities, each of which it can use once in the encounter:
This feels a lot more smoothly and naturally paced.
And An Abstract Area
So, while we haven’t used much of the rules for fighting colossal creatures, you can see the first hint there above: the dragon’s attacks either target one creature, or they target ALL the creatures.
The PC’s can be moving around the battlefield as if it is abstract, like when fighting colossal creatures. Presumably, the dragon is colossal enough! This means that moving is essentially in 3 zones: adjacent to the dragon (“engaged”), in close range (about 6 squares), or at long range (about 12+ squares). A move action changes the range you are in relation to any other creature. So, on the dragon’s turn, if it is at long range in relation to a character it can use two move actions to engage that character. If the dragon is at close range to a character, it can make a single move action to engage. If a character is engaged with the dragon, they can make a single move action to enter close range instead. You can use the squares above as a guideline for how ranged attacks, and bursts and blasts, work. An attack that’s Ranged: 10 will work at long range, but an attack that’s a Close Burst 1 will only work when engaged, and an attack that’s a Close Blast 3 is fine at close range. You can consider the dragon flanked if at least two characters are engaged with it.
Because the Icy Terrain “encounter” only happens if the PC’s move, many of the dragon’s abilities are dedicated to ensuring that the PC’s should be spending move actions. The dragon covers a lot of ground, fast (big creatures have much bigger steps!), and has several attacks that disengage enemies (moving them instantly to close range). The Howling Blizzard also encourages characters to move into melee range (only to occasionally be bumped back). The overall battlefield strategy is to keep characters who would prefer to fight at range up close, and to keep characters who would prefer to be up close continually provoking from the environment.
A Truly Epic Fight?
So, we started this trying to build a better dragon encounter, something more dynamic and interesting and threatening than your average grid-bound slog-fest. So, does this sound better than punching a bag of hit points for an hour or so? Was I successful in my attempt? Let me know down in the comments!
So, last week, we had the idea of making one white dragon encounter that actually took up an entire days’ worth of standard 4e encounters at once, about 5 encounters’ worth of creatures and XP all jammed into one truly epic battle against the menacing foe and its hazardous environment. We decided to make it using the 4 Elements of 4e, because the goal is to jam together multiple kinds of encounters into one big one.
The first rule we came up with was to reflect the icy terrain that threatens to plunge the PC’s to their doom, without necessarily making it a one-time save-or-die effect:
Rule #1: Slipping and Sliding
At the end of a character’s turn, where that character moved, Icy Terrain makes a Reflex attack (+7), targeting that character. On a hit, the character falls pone, and must spend a Healing Surge to avoid falling to their death. If you are out of healing surges, take your Surge Value in damage instead (this cannot be reduced in any way). If you cannot spend your Surge Value in HP, you fall to your death.
The glacier does contain zones where the traction isn’t so bad, and the cracks are not so frequent. In order to find these zones, you must make a DC 16 skill check as a standard action. Success means you can move without becoming a target for the Icy Terrain. Skills such as Nature, Athletics, and Acrobatics are especially relevant. If you are trained in one of these relevant skills, and make 4 checks, you don’t have to make any more checks: you’ve found a safe enough zone that you can move without trouble. A character not trained in one of the relevant skills can find the zone, too, but it takes them 6 checks. A character can also make checks on their turn to count as a success for another character (ie: a character can make a check to find themselves safe ground, or to help someone else find safe ground), even after they’ve found safe ground.
Once every party member overcomes the Icy Terrain, the party has found common ground, and each party member gains the benefits of a Short Rest.
(true fans will notice a slight tweak to that….thanks, @Olgar Shiverstone!)
We also came up with a rule to handle the howling blizzard that threatens to freeze the characters solid:
Rule #2: Sound and Fury
At the end of a character’s turn, the Howling Blizzard makes a Fortitude attack (+7), targeting any one character. If the character is resistant to Cold damage, they get a +2 bonus to defenses against this attack. On a hit, the character is blinded until the end of their next turn, and loses a healing surge. If you can’t lose a surge, you take damage equal to your Surge Value. If this reduces you to 0 hp, you begin dying of exposure. While blinded due to the Howling Blizzard, creatures that are not adjacent to you are considered hidden.
The blizzard is an effect a character can learn to shrug off. Doing this involves making a DC 16 skill check as a standard action. Success means you cannot be a target for the Howling Blizzard until the end of your next turn. Skills such as Nature, Endurance, and Perception are especially relevant. If you are trained in one of these relevant skills, and make 4 checks, you don’t have to make any more checks: you’ve learned to work with the blizzard, anticipating its movements. A character not trained in one of the relevant skills can develop this, too, but it takes them 6 checks. A character can also make checks on their turn to count as a success for another character (ie: a character can make a check to learn to negotiate the blizzard, or to help another character do the same), even after they’ve learned to shelter themselves from the blizzard.
Once every party member overcomes the Howling Blizzard, the clouds part, revealing a shimmering sun that reflects off the ice in a diamond sparkle, and each party member gains the benefits of a Short Rest.
You Are Here.
Through these two rules, we had two “encounters” that could be placed within a third.
And we left off thinking about what the dragon itself could be like. Which brings us to this week.
Claw/Claw/Bite/Wing/Wing/Tail plus Breath Weapon and a Quickened Fireball
The dragon we’re making has to, itself, represent 3 encounters, and allow two “short rests worth” of healing. An easy way to do this is to use “phases:” once the dragon loses, say, one-third of its overall HP, it triggers a surge of hope and optimism in the party, allowing them to gain the benefits of a short rest. This could be simply tied to HP, but it would be nice if the event was punctuated with something…so let us just use the iconic breath weapon of the white dragon to make that happen. Rather than make it recharge at random, it will replenish at the start of each phase.
The other thing that the dragon must do is match the action economy of the party – that is, in order to be a true “encounter,” the dragon needs to act like more than one monster at a time, in each phase. Fortunately, dragons are bristling with natural weaponry, so we can give them the ability to use these attacks nigh-instantaneously, out of turn, rather than all at once on their turn.
Finally, the consideration falls to combat magic and other combat-specific, limited-use abilities. While dragons only had spellcasting in 2e and 3e, 4e dragons often had certain limited-use powers aside from their breath weapon. Because the dragon is meant to stay around for some time, giving it some extra abilities isn’t the worst idea – it’ll make the critter more dynamic and flexible. However, to limit analysis paralysis, and to build up the tension gradually, we can link these to the phase as well.
So, what do we have? Keeping it at level 4, something a bit like this:
Rule #3: Running the Dragon
The dragon has 198 HP, an AC of 20, a Fortitude of 18, a Reflex of 14, and a Will of 16. It has a Damage Reduction of 5 against all damage, except fire damage.
When the dragon is reduced to 132 HP, and again when it is reduced to 66 HP, the party gains the benefit of a short rest.
The first time in any creature’s turn that the dragon is attacked, it can immediately make a melee basic attack – this can be at the attacker, or against another target that the dragon can reach. The dragon’s melee basic attack is a +11 vs. AC attack that deals 2d8+2 damage.
The dragon has a breath weapon that it can use against every party member at once, as a minor action on its turn. This is an attack at +9 vs. Reflex, targeting every PC, that deals 6d6 damage on a hit, and half damage on a miss. It can use this attack once. When the dragon is reduced to 132 HP, and when the dragon is reduced to 66 HP, it can gains another use of this attack.
When the dragon takes a move action, it can actually take two move actions, combining a large size with powerful wings.
The dragon has the following special abilities, each of which it can use once in the encounter:
- Terrible Fury: The dragon deals an extra 1d8+1 on any one attack of its choice. It can use this ability from the start of combat. A creature hit by this attack is disengaged from the dragon.
- Shattering Blow: The dragon gains the use of this ability when it first hits a bloodied character. It can use this ability, once gained, on any hit it makes with a single-target attack. The target of the attack takes an additional 2d8+2 damage, is disengaged from the dragon, and is knocked prone. It takes a -2 penalty to AC (save ends).
- Roar Louder Than The Storm: The dragon gains the use of this ability when it first reduces a character to 0 hp. It can use this ability, once gained, as a standard action. When used, the ability attacks every character at +9 vs. Fortitude. A hit deals 3d12+2 thunder and psychic damage, with half damage on a miss. Any target hit by this attack is stunned (save ends), with an aftereffect of being dazed (save ends). Those missed by the attack are simply dazed (save ends). Any target of this attack becomes disengaged from the dragon.
This feels a lot more smoothly and naturally paced.
And An Abstract Area
So, while we haven’t used much of the rules for fighting colossal creatures, you can see the first hint there above: the dragon’s attacks either target one creature, or they target ALL the creatures.
The PC’s can be moving around the battlefield as if it is abstract, like when fighting colossal creatures. Presumably, the dragon is colossal enough! This means that moving is essentially in 3 zones: adjacent to the dragon (“engaged”), in close range (about 6 squares), or at long range (about 12+ squares). A move action changes the range you are in relation to any other creature. So, on the dragon’s turn, if it is at long range in relation to a character it can use two move actions to engage that character. If the dragon is at close range to a character, it can make a single move action to engage. If a character is engaged with the dragon, they can make a single move action to enter close range instead. You can use the squares above as a guideline for how ranged attacks, and bursts and blasts, work. An attack that’s Ranged: 10 will work at long range, but an attack that’s a Close Burst 1 will only work when engaged, and an attack that’s a Close Blast 3 is fine at close range. You can consider the dragon flanked if at least two characters are engaged with it.
Because the Icy Terrain “encounter” only happens if the PC’s move, many of the dragon’s abilities are dedicated to ensuring that the PC’s should be spending move actions. The dragon covers a lot of ground, fast (big creatures have much bigger steps!), and has several attacks that disengage enemies (moving them instantly to close range). The Howling Blizzard also encourages characters to move into melee range (only to occasionally be bumped back). The overall battlefield strategy is to keep characters who would prefer to fight at range up close, and to keep characters who would prefer to be up close continually provoking from the environment.
A Truly Epic Fight?
So, we started this trying to build a better dragon encounter, something more dynamic and interesting and threatening than your average grid-bound slog-fest. So, does this sound better than punching a bag of hit points for an hour or so? Was I successful in my attempt? Let me know down in the comments!
And the intent with the moving parts is that this keeps a long combat dynamic. If the conditions are changing and there's a lot of things to do, that keeps it from slogging too bad.
