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Danielqueue1
2019-05-16, 03:26 PM
I am currently building a campaign and one of the enclaves in the setting are trying to build a doomsday failsafe device that is essentially time travel. if successful Messages could be sent from the future to warn of impending doom and such. if unsuccessful it could make a tear in continuity that warps reality and possibly creates the doomsday they were trying to prepare against. and if in the hands of the corrupt, could be used for manipulating markets and kingdoms by knowing what would happen next. the party's interactions with each enclave can push things in different directions so they will have to make significant decisions affecting groups who's actions affect the whole world. there will most likely come a time when the party will either have to combat the enclave, the corrupt members of the enclave, or the abominations that come from a failed test.

all of these are in the Idea phase so other ideas and recommendations greatly welcomed.

Enemy 1: light melee fighter affected by time magic. At the end of this creature's turn roll 1d6 (maybe a d8?) and add it to their initiative. if this creature was already first in initiative subtract the initiative of the highest initiative opponent from their initiative and adjust accordingly.

notes: this enemy would be rather unpredictable able to "lap" characters in initiative and the unpredictable nature of the way their initiative is modified means a party facing them could not rely on turn order to coordinate abilities. (can still do it, but might get interrupted)

Enemy 2: Summoned group of enemies either through damaged continuity or Enclave specialist. easy to take down initially, but increase in power quickly. Weak attack but it makes a number of attacks equal to the number of rounds it has been active. if it is active more than 1 minute it explodes damaging everything in a 10 foot radius.

Notes: I was thinking of having this creature's AC, movement and maybe damage modifier also increase per round, but I'm not sure how much of that would be overkill. naturally running the creatures I would have them all summoned/form at the same time to make it easier to track. An Enclave specialist could use them to distract the party long enough to escape or hope the party focuses on something else long enough for them to build up power. It would also be unlikely for a specialist to summon some before combat starts due to the explosion.

Enemy 3: Lightning Bruiser. Moves fast and hits hard dealing lightning damage with melee attacks that have the same effect as shocking grasp. If it gets hit hard in turn, can use its action to teleport back to where it was at the start of its last turn with the health it had last turn with the ability recharging on a 6. (stolen blatantly from overwatch think Doomfist with Tracer's rewind)

Notes: I would be using Roll20 for the campaign so it will be straight forward to keep the position and health on the GM layer

the enclave would be mostly full of civilians, common soldiers and such with the above enemies as leaders, shock troops etc.

suggestions and new ideas welcome.

JNAProductions
2019-05-16, 06:02 PM
I'd lean against number two.

One and three sound pretty good, though!

Danielqueue1
2019-05-16, 06:43 PM
I'd lean against number two.

Fair, it did seem to be the most Swingy. any Ideas for a thematic summon that would reinforce the whole time manupulation theme?

MrStabby
2019-05-17, 05:27 AM
I really like number 1. I think a d8 is the better die here as it makes it's ability more pronounced. To be honest, I would not make this an ability on a specific enemy, but to make it an ability on ALL of the enemies of this faction. It is pretty cool and it ties together as a theme. If not, then maybe take these but add more powerful leaders with better attacks and a more powerful die size for the time-shift.



Other ideas:

Aura of slowing - enemies with an aura that forces a save at the start of a players turn if within the radius or be effected by the slow spell

Time lock - enemy skips their next turn on a failed intelligence save. Possibly delivered on a successful attack like a monk stunning strike. Whilst under this effect they cannot be harmed.

Build a caster with thematic spells:
Misty Step, Paralyse, Slow, Haste...

Precognition - whenever this creature is the target of a spell or a spell is cast with this creature within it's area of effect this creature may use its reaction to move up to its speed.

Zanthy1
2019-05-17, 06:40 AM
Love the first one, but I have an addition that could be insane.

If they have more than double (or triple) the initiative of the next highest foe, they can roll a second initiative die, given them another turn (think legendary actions perhaps?).

Another idea is have them roll 2 initiatives at the start of combat anyways, but make them hit significantly softer.

Deox
2019-05-17, 07:29 AM
One really cool monster (albeit from 3.5 edition) is the Phane, from the Epic Level Handbook. If you have access to it, I suggest taking a look into it for some really thematic ideas.

Innocent_bystan
2019-05-17, 09:42 AM
Fair, it did seem to be the most Swingy. any Ideas for a thematic summon that would reinforce the whole time manupulation theme?
Sure, themselves, from the next round. They get 2 full actions now and they don't exist in the next round. Play up the flawless cooperation. Both instances of the same enemy share the same hp pool, so double damage from AoE is possible.

Gorgo
2019-05-17, 09:56 AM
I'll recommend the Netflix series "Travelers" as a source of inspiration for this plot concept. Very similar basic idea, only with sci-fi time travel and a lot of clever explanation of how it could go right/wrong. Also, just a good show all around.

Vogie
2019-05-17, 11:01 AM
Enemy 1: light melee fighter affected by time magic. At the end of this creature's turn roll 1d6 (maybe a d8?) and add it to their initiative. if this creature was already first in initiative subtract the initiative of the highest initiative opponent from their initiative and adjust accordingly.

notes: this enemy would be rather unpredictable able to "lap" characters in initiative and the unpredictable nature of the way their initiative is modified means a party facing them could not rely on turn order to coordinate abilities. (can still do it, but might get interrupted)

I love this idea, and my Timebreaker roguish archetype (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?571232-Roguish-Archetype-based-on-LoL-s-Ekko-amp-Overwatch-s-Tracer-Timebreaker-(PEACH))uses a variant as well.

I think the ability should be slightly unstable, and disrupt-able by the PCs. Maybe they advance by 1d8, but every time they're hit by an attack, their initiative knocks back by 1, or knocks back by 1d4 for every 10/20 damage taken (depending on the CR level of the creature).

If the party knocks the monster to Initiative 0, it is stunned for 1 round, then rolls 2d8 to rejoin initiative order.


Enemy 2: Summoned group of enemies either through damaged continuity or Enclave specialist. easy to take down initially, but increase in power quickly. Weak attack but it makes a number of attacks equal to the number of rounds it has been active. if it is active more than 1 minute it explodes damaging everything in a 10 foot radius.

Notes: I was thinking of having this creature's AC, movement and maybe damage modifier also increase per round, but I'm not sure how much of that would be overkill. naturally running the creatures I would have them all summoned/form at the same time to make it easier to track. An Enclave specialist could use them to distract the party long enough to escape or hope the party focuses on something else long enough for them to build up power. It would also be unlikely for a specialist to summon some before combat starts due to the explosion.

I'd use a fairly weak, maybe even 4e Minion mechanic (full creature with a single hit point and avoidance) but with the Momentum Mechanic (https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=15235). That is, each round, the to-hit and damage increases by 1. And probably the hit points and speed go up by 5...


Enemy 3: Lightning Bruiser. Moves fast and hits hard dealing lightning damage with melee attacks that have the same effect as shocking grasp. If it gets hit hard in turn, can use its action to teleport back to where it was at the start of its last turn with the health it had last turn with the ability recharging on a 6. (stolen blatantly from overwatch think Doomfist with Tracer's rewind)


I don't mind it taking an action to turn back time, but I'd make it a time warp field... so when it reverses, anyone in the immediate area around where it was, would also move backward in time a bit - healing up (likely just by a hit die), returning a spell slot spent, and returning ammunition and thrown weapons.

Alternatively you could use the mechanic from the Fringe Episode White Tulip (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Tulip), where each time it goes back in time it scars the landscape... thus moving the creature into or holding it in one of those scars stops it from being able to reverse time until it moves out.

Particle_Man
2019-05-17, 12:36 PM
For option 2 (or a variant) what if instead of the minion changing stats, more minions appear, but they are all the same minion? Keep track of each one's "minion number". If a certain minion is killed (say #3), then all "higher numbers" also disappear immediately, since their "past self" got killed.

Another fun option if the pcs need help:

Ally 4: Have an ally appear that helps them in the combat, saying "it is so good to see you all again!" and having detailed knowledge of their back stories: "Of course I know that! We stole those apples from Granny's garden together, don't you remember?" and early adventuring careers; have this ally disappear after a while, as they are no longer part of the party's continuity (their past was rewritten to exclude that ally). This might be poignant, and might drive home a threat that *they* could disappear from continuity.

This works even better if one of the characters has as part of their backstory an ally, relative, lover, etc., who died before the party got together. What if that person had not died but had adventured with this group, but continuity got rewritten so that they died in the party's now-continuity?

Alternatively, you could "Its a Wonderful Life" the whole party, showing them the world where they were never born (and thus never saved day). This would be reversible, but should drive home the stakes.