Critique a recurring solo:

[kieza]

I've got a monster that I'm writing for an upcoming session. This is a younger son of one of the Sidhe lords of Faerie, who has come to the Material Plane with the Wild Hunt. The plan is for him to harass the party for most of a day:

The first time he encounters them is an ambush just after the party has fought another encounter, with no time to rest. The second time, he ambushes them again while the party is separated on opposite sides of a ravine. The third time, having been badly injured, the party tracks him down and corners him before he can escape back into Faerie.

In the first encounter, he starts with the full 120 HP, and fights until bloodied at 60 HP, then he escapes using Fey Stride or Vanishing Strife. In the second encounter, he starts with 90 HP but all powers refreshed, and fights until he's down to 30 HP. In the third encounter, he starts bloodied at 60 HP, but has all of his powers again. The third time, he fights to the death.

The party knows that they're up against fey, and that they're vulnerable to cold iron, but the party only has the funds to get cold iron weapons or implements for two of the four party members. Here's the question: Is this a remotely fair fight? I'm particularly worried about throwing something with resist all 5 at a level 1 four-person party, especially when I plan to give him an ambush in the first two fights.

Oh, and just so it's clear: "charmed" is a condition based on the 5e condition. A charmed creature takes a -2 penalty and cannot gain combat advantage on attacks against the creature that charmed it. Also, the "Warfare" skill covers knowledge of tactics, weapons, and the command of armed forces.

Sidhe Lordling Solo Controller 1
Medium fey humanoid 500 XP

STR 10 DEX 14 WIS 8
CON 14 INT 14 CHA 18

Initiative +2
Perception +4, Acrobatics +7, Arcana +7, Diplomacy +9, History +7, Intimidate +9, Nature +7, Stealth +7, Warfare +7
HP 120, bloodied 60
Resist all 5
Vulnerable to cold iron: damage dealt using a cold iron weapon or implement ignores and suppresses the Sidhe Lordling’s damage resistance until the end of the attacker’s next turn.
AC 16; Fortitude 12, Reflex 12, Will 16
Speed 6

Standard Actions
(B) Longsword +3 vs. AC: 1d8 damage
(W) Imperious Will +4 vs. Will: The target is charmed by the Sidhe Lordling until the end of the Sidhe Lordling’s next turn, and must make a basic attack against a creature of the Sidhe Lordling’s choice.
(E) Sidhe Fascination +4 vs. Will: 1d8 + 4 psychic damage, and the target is charmed by the Sidhe Lordling (save ends).

Move Actions
(R 3-4) Fey Stride: The Sidhe Lordling teleports 6 squares.

Minor Actions
(E) Vanishing Strife (Close burst 2) +4 vs. Will: The target must make a basic attack against a creature of the Sidhe Lordling’s choice. Effect: The Sidhe Lordling teleports 6 squares and becomes invisible until the end of the encounter or until it makes an attack.

Immediate Actions
(R 5-6) (Trigger: The Sidhe Lordling is the target of an attack by a creature within 5 squares.) Regal Presence (Close burst 5) (Targets the triggering attacker) +4 vs. Will: The triggering attack misses and the target is charmed by the Sidhe Lordling (save ends). If the target was already charmed by the Sidhe Lordling, it is instead dominated (save ends).

Equipment
Leather regalia, longsword, hunting horn, birch coronet

[Inevitability]

Give him ways to do things outside of his turn or minor action attacks, a way to resist things as daze/stun and more damage.

[Yakk]

Level 1 HP is too low: a decent party could kill your lordling in 1-2 rounds. A difficult fight should be a level+2 to +4 encounter in total. Does the lordling have allies?

Your powers seem to be missing melee/range descriptors.

The basic attack accuracy is too low, as is its damage.

It has too many single-target abilities and/or its damage output is way too low for a solo.

R 3-4 is not a thing. I assume the idea is you roll once, and on a 3-4 it recharges, and on a 5-6 another power recharges?

With a mere +7 stealth, if you use hidden rules as RAW then vanishing stride is far from good enough to hide from the party. Assuming one perceptomancer, we get:

+4 (wisdom) +2 (racial) +5 (trained) +2 (background) = +13 perception, or a passive perception of 23.

Vanishing gives invisibility, but not hidden. And you know where everything not hidden is, even if invisible. So the lord now has to move action to hide. At the end of that move (of 3 squares), the lord rolls (d20+7) and has to beat every PC's passive perception. If successful, the players know where the lord moved to, but lose track of him then. The lord can now move again -- so long as he moves only 3 squares, he does not have to (nor does he get to) reroll his stealth check.

So the lord has to minor, move, move to be untracked, **and* get a good stealth roll.

So now the lord is ~12 squares away, in a ~7x7 square area, but most likely in the 3x7 area furthest away from the players.

The players can then make active perception checks against the lord's stealth, and move after the lord, if they have lost track.

The lord only has a 24% chance of beating the above perceptomancer on the first roll. If the lord beats the perceptomancer, the perceptomancer has a 45% chance for the first minor action perception check to win anyhow -- so the lord has an 87% chance of burning at most an entire minor action from one member of the party!

Even if the lord rolls a 20, 3 minor actions gives the perceptomancer a 73% chance to spot the lord.

To flee successfully, you'll need more than just invisibility (by the rules as written). And as it is pretty easy for PCs to pick up invisibility, making it a "nobody can detect you" houserule might be a bit of a bad idea.

In 4e, Invisibility makes you about as hard to find as being in a pitch black room -- total concealment. Players can hear you, notice your footsteps on the ground, feel the wind of your passage, etc. And teleporting is not undetectable (as it grants no stealth advantage over walking) by default.

Read up on the 4e hidden club rules.

With 2-3 players being able to shut down the resist all, it shouldn't be a problem, especially with those defences.

[kieza]

Level 1 HP is too low: a decent party could kill your lordling in 1-2 rounds. A difficult fight should be a level+2 to +4 encounter in total. Does the lordling have allies?

The lordling enters combat for the first time right after the party has taken on a pack of hunting hounds (an equal-level encounter) and before they get to refresh their powers. The second time he fights them, he takes them on with the advantage of terrain: the party will be crossing a ravine, and he enters combat when the party is split half on each side, attacking whichever side appears weakest. He also has some traps that he set up previously: a couple of snares that restrain (save ends) and a deadfall that causes the edge of the ravine to collapse, dropping the party into the ravine. The third time, the party is intended to curb-stomp him. (Catharsis!)


The basic attack accuracy is too low, as is its damage.

It has too many single-target abilities and/or its damage output is way too low for a solo.

With a mere +7 stealth, if you use hidden rules as RAW then vanishing stride is far from good enough to hide from the party. Assuming one perceptomancer, we get:

I'm not really concerned about damage output; I want him to be frustrating and annoying to fight, not particularly deadly--this is a sidequest, and the goal is to get the party invested in killing him. Also, this is a level 1, relatively low-op group. I think the best perception they have is a +7.

However, I've moved Imperious Will to a minor action and given him a new ability, Deadly Grace:

Sidhe Lordling Solo Controller 1
Medium fey humanoid 500 XP

STR 10 DEX 14 WIS 8
CON 14 INT 14 CHA 18

Initiative +2
Perception +4, Acrobatics +7, Arcana +7, Diplomacy +9, History +7, Intimidate +9, Nature +7, Stealth +7, Warfare +7
HP 120
Resist all 5
Vulnerable to cold iron: damage dealt using a cold iron weapon or implement ignores and suppresses the Sidhe Lordling’s damage resistance until the end of the attacker’s next turn.
AC 16; Fortitude 12, Reflex 12, Will 16
Speed 6

Standard Actions
(B) Longsword +3 vs. AC: 1d8 damage
(E) Sidhe Fascination (Area burst 2 within 10) +4 vs. Will: 1d8 + 4 psychic damage, and the target is charmed by the Sidhe Lordling (save ends).
(E) Vanishing Strife (Close burst 2) +4 vs. Will: The target must make a basic attack against a creature of the Sidhe Lordling’s choice. Effect: The Sidhe Lordling teleports 6 squares and becomes invisible until the end of the encounter or until it makes an attack.

Move Actions
(R 3-4) Fey Stride: The Sidhe Lordling teleports 6 squares.

Minor Actions
(W) Imperious Will (Ranged 10) +4 vs. Will: The target is charmed by the Sidhe Lordling until the end of the Sidhe Lordling’s next turn, and must make a basic attack against a creature of the Sidhe Lordling’s choice.

Immediate Actions
(R 5-6) (Immediate Interrupt, Trigger: The Sidhe Lordling is the target of an attack by a creature within 5 squares.) Regal Presence (Close burst 5) (Targets the triggering attacker) +4 vs. Will: The triggering attack misses and the target is charmed by the Sidhe Lordling (save ends). If the target was already charmed by the Sidhe Lordling, it is instead dominated (save ends).

Special Qualities
Deadly Grace: Once per round when the Sidhe Lordling is missed by an attack, he may shift 1 square as a free action and force the attacker to reroll the attack against a creature adjacent to the Sidhe Lordling.

Equipment
Leather regalia, longsword, hunting horn, birch coronet


As you can see, a lot of his damage output comes from getting the party to attack each other.

[Surrealistik]

Put this together; hopefully it has some elements you can use:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZBaGWxNiFg6RA4asn70gAMhpm1cCc7wdOnSQcRIJfU4/edit

[Echobeats]

My observation is that this guy is more like an Elite that the party fights three times, rather than a Solo. By removing him from the fight after he has lost 2x standard hp (rather than 4x as with a normal Solo) you are effectively changing his status from Solo to Elite. Just a point to bear in mind when considering XP budgets and awards. I would give him some minions and award 200 XP (plus whatever his allies are worth) each time he is defeated.

I think his MBA accuracy is too low. Other Level 1 Solos (of which there are 3 in the online monster list) have +6 vs AC, +4 vs Ref/Will. You have the latter but only +3 vs AC. As has already been said, it would be better if he had a double attack standard action like pretty much every other Solo. You could fluff it as being hit with the blade of the longsword for 1d8+n and then with the pommel (same or different target) for 1d6+n. For example.

I realise you plan to create most of his damage output by making the party attack each other, which is a great idea, but I think there should be a backup in case this goes wrong. Hence repeating the recommendation for a double attack. For example, if your party get wise to his tactics (which they should do by the second fight) they will try to avoid being within melee range of each other. So the melee fighters will essentially be immune. This could be resolved by giving him an ability to make enemies move (say half their speed?) to attack their closest ally if the Lordling chooses an MBA rather than an RBA. Or the option to choose a charge.

Also, I assume your two burst standard action attacks target all enemies in the burst? It doesn't say.

Out of interest, what treasure will the PCs get when he is defeated? Are the hunting horn and birch coronet usable magic items?

[kieza]

I think his MBA accuracy is too low. Other Level 1 Solos (of which there are 3 in the online monster list) have +6 vs AC, +4 vs Ref/Will. You have the latter but only +3 vs AC. As has already been said, it would be better if he had a double attack standard action like pretty much every other Solo. You could fluff it as being hit with the blade of the longsword for 1d8+n and then with the pommel (same or different target) for 1d6+n. For example.

I realise you plan to create most of his damage output by making the party attack each other, which is a great idea, but I think there should be a backup in case this goes wrong. Hence repeating the recommendation for a double attack. For example, if your party get wise to his tactics (which they should do by the second fight) they will try to avoid being within melee range of each other. So the melee fighters will essentially be immune. This could be resolved by giving him an ability to make enemies move (say half their speed?) to attack their closest ally if the Lordling chooses an MBA rather than an RBA. Or the option to choose a charge.

I WANT to reward the party for understanding this guy's strengths and weaknesses, and adapting their tactics. If they figure out that weakness and use it against him? That's GREAT. If they do that and he suddenly busts out a previously-unseen melee ability, that's cheating the party out of a deserved sense of triumph.

Really, my main concern here was that the resist all 5 might be hard to deal with at level 1. But, as was pointed out, with two players able to shut it down, it should be relatively easy to deal with. (it should only be functioning about 25% of the time, when both players miss with their cold-iron attacks.)


Out of interest, what treasure will the PCs get when he is defeated? Are the hunting horn and birch coronet usable magic items?

No, I just like to include flavorful items (yay art objects!) in the loot. The lordling is on a hunt, and he's minor nobility in Faerie. The party might take the horn and coronet as trophies, they might be able to sell them to a collector of sidhe lore, or they might decide to keep the horn for its mundane utility.

The party will be getting some valuable gems, which I didn't include in the equipment because I haven't decided on the exact total yet. It'll probably be around 240-360 gold--that's a third to a half of the total monetary reward for level 1. The adventure after this sidequest will have plenty of magical items in it.

[Kimera757]

I think you're using pre-MM3 monster values.



Sidhe Lordling Solo Controller 1
Medium fey humanoid 500 XP

STR 10 DEX 14 WIS 8
CON 14 INT 14 CHA 18

Initiative +2
Perception +4, Acrobatics +7, Arcana +7, Diplomacy +9, History +7, Intimidate +9, Nature +7, Stealth +7, Warfare +7

In 4e, History is the tactics skill. (Apparently even the best tacticians are copycats.)


HP 120, bloodied 60
Resist all 5
Vulnerable to cold iron: damage dealt using a cold iron weapon or implement ignores and suppresses the Sidhe Lordling’s damage resistance until the end of the attacker’s next turn.
AC 16; Fortitude 12, Reflex 12, Will 16

Monster AC is 14 + level for controllers. The lordling should have an AC of 15. (Pre MM3 solos often have defenses that were too high.) His NADs should average 13, but should be something like 12/13/14.

IME 1st-level solos pound PCs whereas 7th-level solos are beaten by PCs. So following the rules strictly might actually be counterproductive. But I do wonder where these figures are coming from.


Speed 6

Standard Actions
(B) Longsword +3 vs. AC: 1d8 damage

The damage is too low. Controllers aren't really great in melee, but average damage should be 9 (level + 8, so for example 1d8 + 5), or less if there's a strong control effect (1d8 + 2 and some nasty control effect). Instead of giving him a longsword, I'd steal a fey hexblade at-will ability as that's fairly thematic. That usually gives a small boost such as +2 to the next attack roll, or something like that.

In addition, a solo needs to replace 4 or 5 monsters, so he needs some sort of multiattack.


(W) Imperious Will +4 vs. Will: The target is charmed by the Sidhe Lordling until the end of the Sidhe Lordling’s next turn, and must make a basic attack against a creature of the Sidhe Lordling’s choice.

You've defined charm earlier, but this needs to target multiple PCs to be worth it. (IME, some PCs start dropping their weapons when attacked by this kind of monster.)


(E) Sidhe Fascination +4 vs. Will: 1d8 + 4 psychic damage, and the target is charmed by the Sidhe Lordling (save ends).

Needs to be multi-target. Perhaps have a not-as-nasty ability as charmed. More to the point, a solo should never have just an encounter ability. This should recharge every time he takes 40 damage instead.


Move Actions
(R 3-4) Fey Stride: The Sidhe Lordling teleports 6 squares.

Works pretty well for a powerful eladrin.


Minor Actions
(E) Vanishing Strife (Close burst 2) +4 vs. Will: The target must make a basic attack against a creature of the Sidhe Lordling’s choice. Effect: The Sidhe Lordling teleports 6 squares and becomes invisible until the end of the encounter or until it makes an attack.

At present, the lordling can only attack twice per turn. This is a pretty cool control effect.


Immediate Actions
(R 5-6) (Trigger: The Sidhe Lordling is the target of an attack by a creature within 5 squares.) Regal Presence (Close burst 5) (Targets the triggering attacker) +4 vs. Will: The triggering attack misses and the target is charmed by the Sidhe Lordling (save ends). If the target was already charmed by the Sidhe Lordling, it is instead dominated (save ends).

This should say whether it's an interrupt or a reaction. Also this should be an at-will because solos need multiple attacks.


Equipment
Leather regalia, longsword, hunting horn, birch coronet

You have a three-stage format going on here, so I would add a triggered ability:

Safe Escape (teleportation) * At-Will. (Technically at-will, this is basically a 2/encounter ability.)
Trigger: The Sidhe Lordling drops to 80 or 40 hit points. Effect (Free Action): Vanishing stride recharges, and the Sidhe Lordling uses it. The Lordling teleports an extra [however many] squares when using safe escape.

[Yakk]

Monster AC is 14 + level for controllers. The Lordling should have an AC of 15. (Pre MM3 solos often have defenses that were too high.) His NADs should average 13, but should be something like 12/13/14.
Most controllers are not melee. As this is a melee controller, +1 to AC is reasonable.

Level+12 NAD is typical, but your "strong" NAD should be 1-2 points higher by the guidelines I have read. Again, another +1 to a strong NAD and -1 to others is a good thing, especially if it is somewhat obvious from the creature type and behavior, as this lets smart players penetrate the target's NADs easier.

In addition, a solo needs to replace 4 or 5 monsters, so he needs some sort of multiattack.
So part of the problem is that the Longsword, while a basic attack, should not be what the creature uses. On the other hand, with numbers that abysmal, you should just delete the ability -- +3 vs AC and 1d8 damage is not worth writing down.

For me, what I'd do is:
Special: The Lordling has combat advantage on any charmed foe who the Lordling has not yet attacked this round.

Standard Actions:

Basic Attack -- Thunder Longsword +6 vs AC, 1d8 damage, then Close Burst 2 +4 vs Fortitude, push 1d6 squares and take the number of squares pushed in thunder damage.

(Recharge 1) Sidhe Fascination: Close Blast 10. +4 vs Will, 1d8 psychic damage, and target is charmed (save ends).

(Recharge 2) Vanishing Strife: The Lordling becomes invisible.
Close Burst 3 +4 vs Will, target must make a basic attack or charge against a creature of the Lordling's choice.
Effect: The Sidhe Lordling makes a stealth check, with a +5 bonus against anyone hit by this power or hit by targets hit by this power, then teleports 6 squares. The invisibility lasts until the end of the encounter, or until the Lordling makes an attack.

Move Actions:
(Recharge 3-4) Fey Step: The Lordling teleports 6 squares. The Lordling may make a basic attack, or use Imperious Will, as a free action.

Minor Actions
(At-Will) Imperious Will (Ranged 10) +4 vs Will, the target must make a basic attack against a creature of the Lordling's choice, and becomes charmed (save ends).

Triggered Actions
(Recharge 5-6) Regal Presence: (Immediate Interrupt, Trigger: The Lordling is attacked) (Close Burst 10) +4 vs Will: The triggering attack is redirected to a target within burst (if the power is an area power, the Lordling picks a new valid area), and the attacker is charmed (save ends). If the target was already charmed by the Lordling, it is instead dominated (save ends).

(At-Will) Deadly Grace: (Free action, 1/round, Trigger: the Lordling is missed) Shift 1d4 squares and make a basic melee attack at any point during, before or after the shift.

...

You'll note that almost all of the damage this guy does comes from creatures who attack him.

I increased the radius and range of a number of powers, added recharges to a bunch (basically, roll 1d6, and one of your powers recharge each round).

Note that **all** charmed is (save ends), which actually simplifies condition tracking. If you are charmed, make a save at the end of your turn to shrug it off, period. No (save ends) and (end of next turn) tracking.

If we want to be evil:
Charmed: For some strange reason, you find the creature that charmed you pleasant and friendly. You take a -2 penalty to attacking the creature that charmed you.
Each Failed Save: You have a -1 penalty to all future saves against charmed and dominated effects from the creature that charmed you.
Modified save roll 0 or under (at end of turn): You become dominated (save ends).

And being repeatedly "Charmed" becomes a slow, slow spiral into complete mental control. Note that failed saves only "count" if they are end-of-turn saves. When they fail the save, hand them a physical counter, and say "you now suffer a -1 penalty to saves against charmed and dominated from this guy. Forever."

It should scare them far more than the actual in-game impact.

Also note that failed saves against dominated do not generate these tokens.

[Echobeats]

If we want to be evil:
Charmed: For some strange reason, you find the creature that charmed you pleasant and friendly. You take a -2 penalty to attacking the creature that charmed you.
Each Failed Save: You have a -1 penalty to all future saves against charmed and dominated effects from the creature that charmed you.
Modified save roll 0 or under (at end of turn): You become dominated (save ends).

And being repeatedly "Charmed" becomes a slow, slow spiral into complete mental control. Note that failed saves only "count" if they are end-of-turn saves. When they fail the save, hand them a physical counter, and say "you now suffer a -1 penalty to saves against charmed and dominated from this guy. Forever."

It should scare them far more than the actual in-game impact.

Also note that failed saves against dominated do not generate these tokens.

Love it.

(What, I can't make a post less than 10 characters?)