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NecroRebel
2009-06-18, 12:59 PM
My players from SotAS group 1 should probably stay out :smallsmile:








So in a game I'm running on these forums, I've gotten the players to the point where they're part of a defense force against a sizable army, roughly 200 strong, while the defenders are about 60 strong including the PCs. I want this to be a mildly challenging battle, but I'm not sure what to do about some of the creatures' stats.

Here's what I have so far:
Defenders include:
4 Iron Golems (level 20 elite soldier; MM2)
12 Eladrin archer swarms - these I don't have stats for; aiming for Large level ~20, Artillery role.



Attackers include:
7 ships (the fortress that is being defended is an island), each with:

1 Angel of Vengeance (level 19 elite brute; MM1)

3 Death Hags (reflavored as Eladrin elite warriors, level 18 soldier; MM1)

2 Eladrin soldier swarms - these I don't have stats for; aiming for Huge level ~20, minion soldiers.

This puts the encounter at just under level 23 for a level 22 party, and since the ships won't be coming in more than 2 at a time, it shouldn't be bad.



What I need, and don't have, are stats for the defending Archers, and the attacking soldiers. So:

Level 20 Artillery
Large sized
Ideally, swarm type
Eladrin or general Fey flavor

Level 20 Minion soldier
Huge sized
Ideally, swarm type
Eladrin or general Fey flavor





I could just use any other level 20 artillery for the former and simply flavor it as a mass of archers, but there aren't any Huge minions yet published AFAIK, and not even any non-elite/solo Huge monsters in the right level range. So, I have to homebrew. Suggestions as to what stats to use for either? General suggestions on how to run this? Any advice?

Arbitrarity
2009-06-18, 01:13 PM
Hm.
Fundamentally, the archers are artillery. So, I'd put AC at about 32, defenses about the same (higher will (34), reflex(32). Low fort(29?)).
About +26(ish) to hit, maybe in a area 2 in 20?
140ish health.
Damage should be similarly normal, which I don't recall immediately. 1d10+8 seem reasonable, or too high?

As actual monsters, they need some special abilities. Fey step, obviously, but what else?
They need some sort of close defense, maybe give them the classic swarm attack, with longswords. Aura 2, Melee basic (+25 to hit, 1d8+6).
Maybe an encounter power of focus fire, with a bonus to hit, deals a lot more damage to a single target, maybe immobilize? Say, +28, 4d10+8, immobilize(save ends).
You could give them one more encounter power, let's see.... What about some sort of "covering fire", immediate interrupt, +26 to hit, 2d10+8 damage, lets all allies adjacent to the target shift 3 squares? (or, slides the target).

Now, minion swarms. You can give them the swarm attack, as usual. Longspears and Longswords, give them the same aura 2, but lowered damage, as minions. Say, melee basic, +27 to hit, 7 damage? AC 38, fort 33, ref 34, will 36?
Give them all move speed 6, fey step, and LL vision, and I think that should be enough.

Actually, I just thought of a few things. First, minion swarms are weird. I'd give them resist 20 to ranged/melee damage, just so 1 arrow doesn't necessarily scatter them, unless it's a solid arrow. Alternatively, give them a bit of health, with enough vulnerability to AOE that they'll drop. Remember to give the archer swarm half damage from melee/ranged, and vulnerability 10 to close/area attacks.

NecroRebel
2009-06-18, 03:55 PM
Hm.
Fundamentally, the archers are artillery. So, I'd put AC at about 32, defenses about the same (higher will (34), reflex(32). Low fort(29?)).
About +26(ish) to hit, maybe in a area 2 in 20?
140ish health.
Damage should be similarly normal, which I don't recall immediately. 1d10+8 seem reasonable, or too high?

As actual monsters, they need some special abilities. Fey step, obviously, but what else?
They need some sort of close defense, maybe give them the classic swarm attack, with longswords. Aura 2, Melee basic (+25 to hit, 1d8+6).
Maybe an encounter power of focus fire, with a bonus to hit, deals a lot more damage to a single target, maybe immobilize? Say, +28, 4d10+8, immobilize(save ends).
You could give them one more encounter power, let's see.... What about some sort of "covering fire", immediate interrupt, +26 to hit, 2d10+8 damage, lets all allies adjacent to the target shift 3 squares? (or, slides the target).

That's all good, but... Well, I'm not sure about how balanced that would be. It looks roughly equal to other level 20 artillery monsters, such as the Primal Storm Living Breath from the Draconomicon. The damage seems very high on that "focus fire" power, though; that would take down one of the angels, who are supposed to be the attackers' heavy hitters, in 15 shots. With 12 of these things, and only 1-2 angels appearing simultaneously, and with the PCs and golems engaging as well, there's really very little threat to anyone.

Y'know what? I think I'm just gonna reflavor the Primal Storm Living Breath for my purposes, take away the lightning resistance, switch their powers to physical damage, remove the fly speed, reduce normal speed to 8 (they're high-Paragon Eladrin, so high speed), and beef up their AC to 34 to compensate.


Now, minion swarms. You can give them the swarm attack, as usual. Longspears and Longswords, give them the same aura 2, but lowered damage, as minions. Say, melee basic, +27 to hit, 7 damage? AC 38, fort 33, ref 34, will 36?
Give them all move speed 6, fey step, and LL vision, and I think that should be enough.

Actually, I just thought of a few things. First, minion swarms are weird. I'd give them resist 20 to ranged/melee damage, just so 1 arrow doesn't necessarily scatter them, unless it's a solid arrow. Alternatively, give them a bit of health, with enough vulnerability to AOE that they'll drop. Remember to give the archer swarm half damage from melee/ranged, and vulnerability 10 to close/area attacks.

That actually sounds good. LL vision and perception won't be issues as they'll be fighting in daylight, but the rest should be good.



Thanks for your help :smallsmile: