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Monster Enhancers - Blogs - Loremaster
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Amazing Triangle

Monster Enhancers

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Amazing Triangle
, 06-04-2011 at 10:25 PM (2932 Views)
Players get bored when they have to see the same monster over and over again. So as a DM I keep trying to find little quirks that can throw my players off. It started in DMG2 themes, now Dark Sun.
So I have farmed some sources for you of some of my favorites:
Growth - When the creature gets bloodied it gets +1 size, +1 reach, and I actually think a damage boost works better than temp HP which is what is recommended.
Action Point - There is nothing like an Action Point to shake up an encounter, the fear that comes out when a creature has 2 is so much fun.
Dual Brain - While this from the book it is to get rid of daze the idea could be used to get rid of any single effect.
Mad Alchemist - While the majority of this one is tough to use all the time the ranged power of 1d6 random effects can be fun to give a group of monsters and then have the PCs roll the d6 to see what they do.

The power I pilfer most often is from the Shadar-Kai Chainfighter, and can be found on many monsters in slightly different forms. It allows a monster to shift and make extra attacks. I steal this one anytime I need a super mobile attacker.

Now don't go thinking I haven't made any of my own.
I personally have a soft spot for brutes, I love big damage numbers, so I devised a power that would help them
Blood Focus - Minor Action - The creature takes 5/10/15 damage and gains a bonus to hit and damage +2/+4/+6
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Comments

  1. Matt James's Avatar
    I dig this.
  2. Amazing Triangle's Avatar
    Thanks while not all original I thought I would consolidate so others could find inspiration or use them for their games.
  3. Julius Smith's Avatar
    Changing up the mosters with unique powers is a great idea. nothing is more aggrivating than sitting across the table from a part time dm who knows every power and weakness of the monsters our "inexperienced" lvl 2 players are fighting. changing up the monsters weakness or strength even a little keeps his dm knowledge from ruining the learning experience its supposed to be for our characters. Not every player memorizes the monster manual and we shouldnt.
  4. gaming tonic's Avatar
    [FR][FR][/FR][/FR]
    Quote Originally Posted by Julius Smith
    Changing up the mosters with unique powers is a great idea. nothing is more aggrivating than sitting across the table from a part time dm who knows every power and weakness of the monsters our "inexperienced" lvl 2 players are fighting. changing up the monsters weakness or strength even a little keeps his dm knowledge from ruining the learning experience its supposed to be for our characters. Not every player memorizes the monster manual and we shouldnt.
    I think I might have played with this part time DM player in the past. The what comes next is the best part of rpg's and should never be minimized. Changing powers is a good move. For simplicity you can change the monster with another one of appropriate level. I use goblins as human roguish acrobats for example. It throws off bad players that give all the secrets away.
  5. Amazing Triangle's Avatar
    I play with at least 2 of these people (both by accident) and this helps to keep it fresh and keep them surprised. That and creating monsters from scratch.
  6. gaming tonic's Avatar
    Now you have me pining for the old monster builder. It was so much more effective. Perhaps I am now an old curmudgeon and just don't want to learn any fancy new monster builders.
  7. Darth Jerod's Avatar
    I do this quite frequently. Yesterday I had three Dragonborn that the group encountered along with a bunch of human sentries. I decided that the best thing to do because up to this point my group was defeating everything quickly and realizing a lot of the opponents they were fighting all had similar abilities and were getting very cocky.

    I held off one of the Dragonborn in reserve for round three. I made him a solo and gave him an ability that when he got bloodied his ability to push people increased by +1 and he gained the additional ability to follow up and shift into those vacated spaces. The addition of 2 AP made this a fun encounter.

    They were saying "we got this no problem" double iron doors open and out steps the BBEG for the day. They really enjoyed the encounter after it was complete, they were scared though cause I was smiling and that sometimes bodes ill for them.