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Originally Posted by
Debihuman
I didn't say he was typical; I said his was unbalanced.
You said my monster design could use better balance, which I interpreted as a general statement, but ok, I guess you just meant for this monster.
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The balor just kills him over and over for fun while the PCs leave. Once they see him reform, they'd just sneak off and ignore the encounter.
That is incredibly unlikely. Much more likely is that the balor and the PCs will fight. Also, with his Dimension Door ability, Verayanos could go elsewhere within most types of encounter areas, unless it's a featureless plain. Perhaps when he was first learning to use his powers something like that happened, but that's backstory, not something that would happen in a game.
Also remember, he is unlikely to be encountered alone. He will usually be with an arcane caster and with some animated undead.
Also, for three reasons, the party will not just leave. One, most PCs are very reluctant to back down form an encounter even if they really should - their ego won't let them. Two, if they do just leave, they won't get xp for defeating him. Three and most important, they will have a duty to prevent him from wreaking havoc, whether simply on nearby townspeople or if he is involved with some greater plot of the type that is common in high level campaigns.
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Moreover, he might be crippled but you overcompensate by giving him DR 15/epic except at CR 20 I'm betting the PCs have epic weapons so they'd just "kill" him with a volley of arrows as he only has 21 hit points and then sneak away while he reforms. Again, not a memorable encounter.
At level 20, most parties will not have epic weapons. Of course, they can blow through DR 15 without much trouble, but he will re-form. I already explained why 'sneaking away' is not something the party will do.
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he's not challenging enough for CR 20.
Perhaps. That's the first criticism you made that isn't obviously false. That doesn't mean it's true, though. Summoning the Balor certainly is part of the reason for the CR, but he has some decent SLAs, and of course beating him means finding a way to neutralize him without killing him.
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I like the idea of a "crippled imp" but the execution is where it fails. Form follows function. It doesn't matter that he isn't perfect in form because he makes up for it in highly overpowered ways.
The extremely powerful mutant with an obvious defect also due to being a mutant is actually a fairly common idea in fantasy and science fiction, and it makes perfect sense. Being "different" is rarely an advantage in all ways, even when it does come with powerful benefits. This imp is thus a perfect example of "Form follows function".
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If you are giving your monsters overpowered abilities, then I have to assume that the PCs would be similarly outfitted.
That's not how this works. When designing a monster, I always assume a typical party would face it when determining CR. If anything, I assume less PC optimization than what I often see on this board. This imp has powerful abilities, but they are neither overpowered nor underpowered if the CR is correct. A 20th level party can defeat him, but not without any effort unless they know more about him in advance than they are likely to. And if they have to flee, prepare, and then return to deal with him, that's surely a memorable encounter.
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It doesn't make for a fun adventure or even a memorable encounter as written and that's my problem with it.
I think you are not giving it a fair chance. You are trying to find things to criticize. If you were instead to try to find an interesting way to use this monster, I am sure you could.
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Here's the other issue: not one of his abilities is actually unique.
Even if that were true - and I would argue that the way his Rejuvenation works is certainly a unique spin on that ability - I don't see why that would be an "issue".
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What is the type of poison, does it have a name?
It's identical to that of a standard Imp, just slightly more potent due to his HD and feat, which an advanced but normal Imp could also get. Very few monsters have a name for their poisons.
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Spell-Like Abilities (Sp):
At will—detect good, detect magic, dimension door, summon swarm, summon undead V, contagion (Fort DC 19), horrid wilting (20d6, Fort half DC 23); 1/day—animate dead, dominate monster (Will DC 24). Caster level 20th. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Why these particular spells. detect good, detect magic, and dimension door make sense the rest don't seem to fit except possibly horrid wilting but that doesn't seem particularly useful.
Horrid Wilting is a pretty good attack spell. Dimension Door is similar to the Teleport that most fiends have, but shorter range. The summoning spells and other abilities can harass a party. Dominate lets him turn the tables on the trope of an arcane caster with an imp familiar. In any case, each type of fiend has a particular mix of SLAs; there's no particular need to justify it in just his case and not for all of the fiends in the MMs.
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Rejuvenation (Ex): If Verayanos is slain, his body vanishes in a puff of smoke. 1d4 rounds later, he will reappear, alive and in full health. If this happens, he will continue to fight and should not be considered defeated.
Rejuvenation is a Divine Salient ability. I don't think it's fitting for this creature at all. Maybe call it something else. Also, no creature should be immune completely from death. Can't be slain, but can it die from being poisoned? Being slain means it cannot die from violence, so poison and cold and other effects could possibly kill it. Will consider this one.
As Metastachydium pointed out, you can find examples of monsters with Rejuvenation even in the original Monster Manual.
Verayanos, however, has a unique form of the ability that is very powerful. This is the foundation of his entire concept, and he was invented to embody it, so it literally could not be more fitting.
He is indeed completely immune to death. He is also immune to poison, just as all devils are. Cold would be no different from any other death to him; if the wording is not clear on that, I can fix it.
Of course, there are still ways to defeat him. He could be stranded somewhere, affected by a supernatural ability that petrifies him or the like, tied up and left in a place where magic doesn't work, etc. It's up to the party to think of something, and up to the DM to make sure the task is possible but not too obvious.
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Spell Immunity (Su): Verayanos is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance.
Fairly standard.
This is important to pair with his Rejuvenation. He needs it so a simple Stone to Flesh spell or the like isn't going to work.
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Alternate Form (Su): Verayanos can assume another form at will as a standard action, chosen from the following list: Small or Medium monstrous spider, rat, and boar.
Interesting but probably not very useful other than for spying but boar? Why a boar? They're not terribly interesting or useful. I'm guessing just window dressing.
A standard Imp can assume one or two forms from the following list: Small or Medium monstrous spider, raven, rat, and boar. Verayanos, as a super Imp, can assume four of the five forms. The one form that is denied to him - the raven - is the one he would most want, since unlike a standard Imp, he can't fly.
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What he lacks is a way to follow PCs if they happen to gate out.
The Tarrasque has the same lack. I guess no one ever talks about that monster since it therefore makes for a boring encounter.