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Ichneumon
2010-01-31, 07:20 AM
So, I made the following monster for a campaign I'm planning and would like to know if it is balanced.

Tardigrada

http://www.focus.it/allegati/183697.JPG

Tardigrada are most at home in very hot climates. When the environment gets too hostile or too cold, they usually turn into a statue-like dormant state in which they can survive for thousands of years. They are round shaped bugs with stubby appendages and have a lumbering bearlike gait. They live in groups mostly.

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/8752/tardigrada.png

DiscipleofBob
2010-01-31, 09:11 PM
One major problem. Resist damage and regeneration on a minion doesn't do anything. Either a minion is hit and killed or it is not. Just say they're invulnerable to all damage while in their 'Dormant State.' Otherwise looks good.

Lunix Vandal
2010-01-31, 11:37 PM
Uh, no. Resist damage does help minions. If a PC's attack can't overcome that 25 DR, the minion takes no damage at all from the attack, and thus can't be killed by it. I will grant that the regen is meaningless, since it lacks the "I pop back up with positive HP" clause of (most) trolls (et cetera).

Incidentally, Wizards itself has produced minions with damage resistance. Off the top of my head, I know that the Legion Devil series from MM1 has 5-15 fire resistance, depending on tier. (Particularly useful for Legionnaires, since they can be summoned en masse by the Pit Fiend on the very next page. And then be made to explode via one of the Pit Fiend's minor-action 1/round at-wills. The fire resistance gives any other legionnaires caught in the blast close just under a 50% chance of surviving the 2d10+5 fire damage.)

DiscipleofBob
2010-02-01, 10:10 AM
Uh, no. Resist damage does help minions. If a PC's attack can't overcome that 25 DR, the minion takes no damage at all from the attack, and thus can't be killed by it. I will grant that the regen is meaningless, since it lacks the "I pop back up with positive HP" clause of (most) trolls (et cetera).

Incidentally, Wizards itself has produced minions with damage resistance. Off the top of my head, I know that the Legion Devil series from MM1 has 5-15 fire resistance, depending on tier. (Particularly useful for Legionnaires, since they can be summoned en masse by the Pit Fiend on the very next page. And then be made to explode via one of the Pit Fiend's minor-action 1/round at-wills. The fire resistance gives any other legionnaires caught in the blast close just under a 50% chance of surviving the 2d10+5 fire damage.)

Fine, it's not useless, just unnecessary and a generally bad idea for a minion, especially for such a low level. I stand by my opinion of just making Dormant State making the monster immune to damage while in the Dormant State.

The fire and cold resist isn't bad though.