Monday’s Monster Mash is a weekly series where monsters are selected from the three Monster Manuals and put together as an encounter group. A situation is discussed where these monsters would have been together and how their powers or status effects work together against the players.
The story...
Arcaniss, the Poisonscale Magus, had been charged with overseeing the construction and protection of the tomb for their recently deceased leader, Maekrix. With the majority of the construction complete, Arcaniss roamed the tomb deciding where various traps and constructs would be put in. As she silently moved from corridor to corridor, she felt as though she was being watched. Out of the darkness, a Su Sentinel came barreling towards her. She turned and caught him in a great hug. "Where have you been, Ir? You know you shouldn't be down here while I'm preparing the traps."
Ir was Arcaniss' personal guard. Several years ago, when venturing through the swamps, she came upon him caught in a snare laid by Yuan-ti. Arcaniss hid in the foliage until the Yuan-ti came. She watched as they taunted and teased the trapped Su Monster. Feeling a moment of compassion, she leapt upon the Yuan-ti and slaughtered the lot of them. As she freed Ir from his bonds, she tended to his wounds and spoke in soft, soothing tones to keep the Su Monster calm. In return, Ir followed Arcaniss out of the swamp and returned to the land of the Lizardfolk as her personal guard.
As Arcaniss began the rare and powerful ritual to bind an angelic spirit to the newly carved Sphinx statue, Ir's sat by waiting and watching for any signs of trouble or intruders. As she completed the ritual, Ir's senses alerted him to a nearby presence. Quickly, he pulled Arcaniss into the side chamber and quietly leapt into the rafters of the tomb...
The monsters...
Monster Manual | Monster Manual 2 | Monster Manual 3 |
| Sphinx Page 245 | Lizardfolk, Poisonscale Magus Page 156 | Su Monster Page 188 |
The powers...
First off, let's take a look at the Sphinx. These things are usually setup to guard a sacred or magical location, come in pairs usually, and like riddles. They have a power called Sphinx's Challenge, where they actually pose a question to the party. If the party answers correctly (or recites the required holy verse) the Sphinx lets them pass, but keeps a close eye on their activities. If they start to tear things up, the Sphinx immediately attacks with its Frightful Roar (close burst 10), with all targets taking a -2 penalty to their attack rolls.
Next, we have the Su Monster, Su Sentinel to be specific. Next to clowns, I find nothing more frightening than a monkey/fey panther hybrid with psonic powers (aka NIGHTMARE FUEL). These beasts move silently through trees, attacking from above with some very wicked moves. Psionic Boost (triggered action, recharged when takes psychic damage) is trigger when it lands a Claw (at will, melee) or Flashing Talons (at will, melee) attack and deals 2d6 additional psychic damage. The Su Sentinel also has a special Skirmish trait allowing its attacks to deal another 5 additional damage if it moves at least 4 squares from its starting square.
Lastly, we have the Poisonscale Magus. This is a poison dealing turret, essentially. Poison Blood (standard, at will, ranged): 1d6+3 poison damage with an ongoing 5 poison damage. If that's not bad enough, Corrupt Poison (minor, at will, ranged) slides the target 3 squares and slows them until they roll a save. Then, there's Poison Barrage (standard, encounter, area burst 3) which hits for 1d6+3 poison damage and the target takes a -5 vulnerability to poison until they roll a save. But, if Poison Barrage misses, it still deals half damage and the -5 vulnerability lasts until the end of the targets next turn.The encounter...
The party enters the tomb of a Lizardfolk king and are greeted by a Sphinx. After not being able to recite the king's motto in Draconic, the Sphinx attacks with its Frightful Roar as the Su Monster swoops in from the rafters with its Claw and Psionic Boost attacks. The Poisonscale Magus pokes her head out around the corner and beings launching volleys Posion Blood and Posion Barrage, draining the party of their precious life-force. With all the commotion in the tomb, the nearby Lizardfolk guards come to the aid of the Magus, only to find the broken bodies of the party members never made it past the entrance.
The discussion...
- What other monsters do you think could add an interesting flair to this group and how would you work them into the story?
- What other strategies could this group of monsters use against the party?
- What are some possible defensive tactics the party could use against these monsters, especially with all the poison damage being dealt?
- How could different party make-ups be better or worse against these monsters?
First up, we have Gradak, the Silver Dragon. These magical beasts have two attacks to be weary of. First, all Silver Dragons, whether Young, Adult, Elder, or Ancient, have an attack called Wing Slice (melee, immediate reaction). This attack is trigger when the players are flanking the dragon and attacks it. The dragon stretches out its wings and slices at the attacker and one enemy flanking with the attacker. Even with the addition of the flanking bonuses, the party would not be able to stay in close because of the Wing Slice. Secondly, every Silver Dragon has the Dragon Onslaught (melee, at will) attack allowing them to make a claw attack (plus one bite a attack for the bigger dragons) against every enemy within reach.
Next up, we have Pruora, the Blizzard Dragon. Much like the Silver Dragons, all Blizzard Dragons share common attacks, regardless of their size. These elemental beasts have two attacks I want to touch on. First, is their Double Attack (melee, at will) which allows them use two standard actions every turn. What's worse than a dragon's bite? How about being bitten twice!?! Their second frightening attack is a triggered action called Chill Rebuke (ranged, recharged when first bloodied) which attacks with a close blast five when an enemy's melee attack deals damage to the dragon. This can spell trouble for the party if the tank has to get in close, potentially taking double attacks on the dragon's turn and causing damage to the entire party when landing a hit.
Last we have the Ice Archons. These elementals have two attacks the party should be deathly afraid of. Much like the Blizzard Dragon, the Ice Archon Hailscourge have a Double Attack, but with a different flavor. Their attack allows them to use their Ice Shuriken (standard, at will) ranged attack twice, much like the Ranger's Twin Strike attack. The second attack is called Hail Storm (standard) which allows the Ice Arcon to send out shards of ice in an area burst with a size of their choice: 1, 2, 3, or 4. Even if the attack misses, the players still take half damage.
First off, let's look at the Meazels. All Meazels have the Wretched Curse of Baalzebul (Aura 1) giving all players starting their turn within the aura a -2 penalty to all defenses and a vulnerable 5 to all damage. But it gets better...any ally starting its turn next to the affected creature also becomes affected by the curse. This is a nasty disease and would easily spread like wildfire, dropping the defenses of the party's tank(s) and melee striker(s). I would stick with the Meazel Bravos (brutes) and fill the encounter with some Meazel minions, who, don't forget, would also have the Wretched Curse of Baalzebul.
Second, we have the Phase Spiders. This spider has 2 attacks that make it a deadly enemy: Ethereal Bite and Ethereal Repulsion. Ethereal Bite allows this beast to teleport up to 10 squares and make its Bite attack, which slows the target (save ends) and has an additional effect of knocking the target unconscious if the first saving throw fails. Ethereal Repulsion is an immediate interrupt triggered by an enemy moving to any adjacent square. The spider actually teleports the enemy 4 squares away.
Third, we have the Firelashers. This elemental has an attack called Wildfire Cyclone (close burst 2) that pushes the target back 1 square and knocks them prone on a hit. A miss still deals half damage. I wouldn't start the encounter off with any Firelashers on the battlefield but actually create a new power for the Lich (Eladrin Wizard) to summon them in pairs within 10 squares as a standard action.
Finally, we have the Lich (Eladrin Wizard). This monster has a ranged attack called Necrotic Orb that stuns its target until the end of the Lich's next turn. Not only that, but as a Lich, this monster is Indestructible. When its hit points are down to zero, the body and all his possessions crumble to dust. He then reappears in 1d10 days next to his phylactery, unless the phylactery is destroyed, making him a great reoccurring villain in any campaign!
As the party approached the Dwarven settlement, they found a dead Dwarf with a letter in his pack. The letter stated the settlement had been attacked by a group of Kobolds and a Dragon, all of which were taking orders from an Orc. The party made quick work of the enemies, freed the Dwarves, and found an entrance to the Underdark [1st entrance found]. After a good night's rest (and fresh dragon-wings for Methos) they headed back to Alistaire's tower with Jacob and the other surviving members of the Everlund City Guard. With the letter from the dead Dwarf and the word of the members of the Everlund City Guard, Alistaire became even more adamant about stopping the pending Orc invasion. Alistaire told the party about a magical battle map that would show the location of all enemy forces in battle. He believed it could be used to not only convince the guard captain of the pending invasion, but help once the attack came. Alistaire's old teacher Araldil had it in his tower to the north east of Everlund. There was a knock at the door the next morning and Bo Jangles entered the scene. He was sent my Kron Thunderheart to deliver the Thunderheart Battle Standard and join the party. The party decided to escort the Everlund City Guards back to town and met with the guard captain. He was grateful for their help but still did not believe any concern about an Orc invasion was warranted. He asked if the party would be willing to work for hire on a few local problems he had been dealing with, to which the party agreed.
The guard captain told them about some recent killings in the town where the victim had a certain message cut into their flesh. He offered the party a small amount of pay but said they could keep whatever loot they found. The party tracked the message back to an old continent-wide thieves guild and a curse that was put on the seven thief kings' graves. Once the cemetery was found, the party cleaned it out and headed back to town.
The Goblin led the party to what turned out to be a slave camp. The party decided to free the slaves before continuing on their journey. OttO, who was captured and chained with the other slaves, changed into his bear form and helped defeat the slaver guards. Walter Bellhaven, the leader of the slavers, got a few of his mercenaries but not before they were able to knock Tutela unconscious and kidnap him. The party tried to follow Walter and his gang into the cave system, but lost their trail pretty quickly as the caves led into the Underdark [2nd entrance found]. They then decided to escort the slaves back to their home village and OttO decided to join the group.
Once at the fishing village, the town elders were greatful for the work the party had done but worried the slavers would come back in force. The party quickly devised a defense plan and was able to fend off the slavers' attack. Walter and part of his group did survive and get away, but not before revealing Tutela had escaped them. The party decided to continue on to Araldil's tower.
Upon arriving at Aradil's tower, the party realized something must be wrong. The tower was overgrown, broken, and looked uninhabited. As they entered the tower they were attacked by all kinds of vines and plant creatures. Making their way through the various levels to the top, they found a witch and a huge plant beast. As it turns out, the witch was Aradil's other apprentice and she had commissioned the old blacksmith's guild in Everlund to create a special device that would help her turn Aradil back into a human. After delivering the device from the guild's storage, Aradil was transformed into his human self and offered the magical battle map as compensation along with several other items. He also told the party that the map only works partially without the ocular piece, which could only be found in Longtooth's Labrynth.
The party finally made it to the labyrinth, defeated the various enemies, and faced off against Longtooth. They found the ocular piece needed to make the battle map work fully. When they exited the labyrinth, they were met with a small Minotaur hunting party led by the huntress Buttersworth. She asked, "Does my brother Longtooth live?" The party, unsure of how she would react, lied and told her they paid him several gold to set them free. She then revealed her hunting party was there to slay him as their village had come under a curse, which they thought Longtooth had put on them. Once the party came clean about killing Longtooth, Buttersworth asked them to accompany her to the village and help stop whatever was going on there. Bo Jangles took a look at the battle map through the ocular and could see the placement of all the Orc troops. The majority were up in the Orcish lands to the north, but there were a few small bands peppering the area, one of which was at the same location as the Minotaur settlement. The party discussed this out of earshot of the hunting party and decided to go with them and stop the Orcs there, but did not want to tell Buttersworth the Orcs were the cause.