Gan The Grey
2015-03-04, 06:13 PM
Hello, fellow playgrounders! It's been some time since I last posted, but I'm about to start a new game with a new group, and I need some advice! The game centers around a town built on the edge of the frontier, and the players will likely become members of one of three adventurer's guilds. One of the main purposes of these guilds will be the hunting of Marks - elite monsters guilty of terrorizing the land or possessing unique and desirable qualities. These monsters are designed to be more of a slog-fest than your traditional combat.
However, it is difficult to design a four or five on one combat that lasts long enough to feel challenging and interesting without creating a monster that can just instagib a player with a single attack. Thus, after skimming some old notes, I discovered the Defiant template:
A Defiant creature is one that is extremely hard to kill. They cling to life (or unlife) with a tenacity unheard of by lesser creatures. The reasons are many. They may be chosen by destiny, favored by some higher power, powered by some unspeakable ritual magic, driven by their sheer bloody-minded will to survive or they may simply be preternaturally fortunate.
The Defiant Template can be applied to any creature, hereafter referred to as the Base Creature. This template can be applied up to five times (or more if the party size is larger).
All statistics are as the base creature except:
HD: A Defiant creature always has maximum hit points. A Defiant creature's hit points are divided into blocks, with the base creature's maximum hit points forming the first block. For each time this template is taken, it gains an additional block of hit points equal to its maximum hit points. When one block is reduced to 0, damage transfers immediately to the next one.
These are not temporary hit points and are treated as regular hit points; if the creature's Constitution is reduced (or any other stat that applies to its hit points), the base and the blocks are all reduced accordingly. Effects that reduce a creature's hit points to 0 or 1 (e.g. Harm, suffocation) instead reduce the current block's hit points to 0 or 1. Effects which likewise function on current hit points only treat the current block's hit points. The creature's HD remains unaffected.
Defiant creature hit points are indicated with the format x+x, where x is the base creature's maximum hit points, with each block being separated by the plus sign.
Special Qualities: As the base creature plus the following special ability.
I Got Better (Ex): Once per encounter per template application, if the Defiant creature fails a saving throw, it can reroll its save as a free action, taking the higher of the two rolls. It cannot reroll any one occurance more than once. Each time it uses a reroll, it takes a cumulative -1 penalty to attack rolls, skill and ability checks, opposed checks and saves.
At the end of its turn, as a Swift action, the Defiant creature can expend an amount of hit points equal to 5 times its HD to negate any one negative condition, power, spell or other negative effect currently affecting it. This effect on the creature ends immediately.
Any time the Defiant is subject to a non-hit-point-damaging effect that kills it outright or leaves it otherwise Confused, Cowering, Dazed, Helpless, Nauseated, Paralyzed, Petrified (or similar), Polymorphed or Stunned, it may expend an amount of hit points equal to 5 times its HD to negate that portion of the effect.
I feel like I may have stolen this from somewhere, but it's been so long, I can't remember. Anywho, thoughts?
However, it is difficult to design a four or five on one combat that lasts long enough to feel challenging and interesting without creating a monster that can just instagib a player with a single attack. Thus, after skimming some old notes, I discovered the Defiant template:
A Defiant creature is one that is extremely hard to kill. They cling to life (or unlife) with a tenacity unheard of by lesser creatures. The reasons are many. They may be chosen by destiny, favored by some higher power, powered by some unspeakable ritual magic, driven by their sheer bloody-minded will to survive or they may simply be preternaturally fortunate.
The Defiant Template can be applied to any creature, hereafter referred to as the Base Creature. This template can be applied up to five times (or more if the party size is larger).
All statistics are as the base creature except:
HD: A Defiant creature always has maximum hit points. A Defiant creature's hit points are divided into blocks, with the base creature's maximum hit points forming the first block. For each time this template is taken, it gains an additional block of hit points equal to its maximum hit points. When one block is reduced to 0, damage transfers immediately to the next one.
These are not temporary hit points and are treated as regular hit points; if the creature's Constitution is reduced (or any other stat that applies to its hit points), the base and the blocks are all reduced accordingly. Effects that reduce a creature's hit points to 0 or 1 (e.g. Harm, suffocation) instead reduce the current block's hit points to 0 or 1. Effects which likewise function on current hit points only treat the current block's hit points. The creature's HD remains unaffected.
Defiant creature hit points are indicated with the format x+x, where x is the base creature's maximum hit points, with each block being separated by the plus sign.
Special Qualities: As the base creature plus the following special ability.
I Got Better (Ex): Once per encounter per template application, if the Defiant creature fails a saving throw, it can reroll its save as a free action, taking the higher of the two rolls. It cannot reroll any one occurance more than once. Each time it uses a reroll, it takes a cumulative -1 penalty to attack rolls, skill and ability checks, opposed checks and saves.
At the end of its turn, as a Swift action, the Defiant creature can expend an amount of hit points equal to 5 times its HD to negate any one negative condition, power, spell or other negative effect currently affecting it. This effect on the creature ends immediately.
Any time the Defiant is subject to a non-hit-point-damaging effect that kills it outright or leaves it otherwise Confused, Cowering, Dazed, Helpless, Nauseated, Paralyzed, Petrified (or similar), Polymorphed or Stunned, it may expend an amount of hit points equal to 5 times its HD to negate that portion of the effect.
I feel like I may have stolen this from somewhere, but it's been so long, I can't remember. Anywho, thoughts?