Memorable Mechanics Part 1: Forced Movement

Hello, this is the first in a series on this blog about using unusual mechanics in your games. I decided to break it into parts so it wouldn't be too much of a wall of text.

The past few days I have been thinking about player assumptions in 4e. Basically, 4e has codified conditions; they do the same thing table to table. This is good, bc you can just tell a player they are slowed and everyone knows what that means. On the flip side, with limited conditions in the game, a player can basically prepare for everything. I have a high level fighter that can avoid daze, stun, immobilize, restrain, slow, etc etc. and that's absolutely fine, but this series is about defying the usual mechanics and bringing things your players have never seen to the table. In this first part we are looking at forced movement.

Forced movement in 4e games is usually something you see more from a players side, like that mage that has the At-Will slide 7, or a polearm build that slides, marks, and prones. Monsters usually only do a push 1 here or a slide 2 there. I urge you to shock your players with forced movement. Take their expectations and rip them apart.

Crazy pulls

Here is one from my home game. I had a frog-like beast that had a ranged 10 tongue attack that targeted 2 creatures. On a hit it obviously did damage, but also pulled them up to 10 squares into an auto-damaging Fly-Vomit Aura. Another idea I am working into the 1st 4e Forever adventure involves a powerful magnet. Any PC with metal weapons or armor gets pulled to it, regardless of distance, taking damage as they slam against it. Pull the PCs completely across the battlemat; the whole table will love it.

Absurd control

So here is another way to use forced movement to startling effect. The next time you have the PCs facing a controller type, shock them with cartoonish control. Try a power (possibly named "Can You Fly, Billy?") in which the PC takes damage from an attack and is hoisted 6-12 squares in the air. At the start of the PCs turn, he falls. You can also use wind or other environmental features to add some wild movement to an encounter. Perhaps the PCs have to roll an Acrobatics check at the start of their turns or be tossed into the air and over a cliff.

Push PCs into things 

To get more flavor out of a push (or slide), push the PCs into things, and push them far. For example, consider the push actually pushing them across the mat and several squares into a wall. It damages them greatly obviously, and costs them extra movement to climb out of the wall. The squares around the new hole now have rubble and stone (difficult terrain) from where the PC smashed into it.

Teleport the hell out of them

Teleport the PCs into bad spots. Think about this when you design your terrain. For example, instead of giving them a save by teleporting them into a lava river, teleport them onto the small rock in the center of the lava river. Teleport them next to other monsters. Teleport them into a cage.

Use helpless PCs as weapons

The psion has a power that allows it to use an enemy as a living missile to attack other creatures. I love it; it is great flavor. The next time you have a strong creature, say an ogre or dragon or what have you, have them grab, damage, and daze a PC on a hit. Then allow them to throw the PC at his allies. The further you throw them, the better. Maybe an area burst 1 within 10. Use the PC as a weapon.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these ideas. I am sure many of you have used some things like this in your home games, so please leave a post and tell me about them! Look for part 2 of this series coming soon!

Morale in 4e

*NOTE: THE FINAL MORALE RULES APPEAR IN ISSUE #1 OF 4E FOREVER**


Hello again. So I thought I'd throw some ideas out that are related to combat length in 4e. Lots of people complain about it, but outside of my game I have hardly EVER seen DMs have monsters flee. I mean the thrill is over, the monsters are not going to win, its in the grind stage, and yet the monsters are still there fighting. Other times, you want to get through a good bit of a dungeon or what not and you know that if you have two full combats you won't get there that night. Or you would really like to have wandering monsters but the thought of another combat on top of the ones you have planned makes your eyes glaze over.

Well, some of the old versions of D&D (and many retro-clones) have a morale system. Basically, this is a way besides intimidation and/or DM whim to give creatures a chance to flee. As a DM you basically accept the fact that some encounters might end pretty quickly, but you still retain the control to make some encounters be played through til the end.

Morale can change the way 4e is approached. You can still have your grand, planned-out encounters, but also throw in some random monsters without guaranteeing never ending combat. But how would this work?

The rules are basically identical to those of B/X. Assign a morale score. When the situation calls for a morale check, roll 2d6. If the roll is higher than their morale score, the monsters attempt to flee, surrender, or otherwise end the encounter; if it is equal to or less than the score, they stay and fight. There is no need to roll for 2s and 12s. For Solos and Elites, or if you want a monster to fight to the death, Assign the creature(s) a 12 morale (will never flee) or make them immune to fear. On the flip side, if it is some random monsters that are not very tough, are lower level than the PCs, etc etc,  give them a lower score. Here are the morale scores and how to use them:

12-Will not flee or surrender and/or immune fear, Solos, Elites
9-11-Unlikely to flee
6-8-Average
3-5-Weak willed; flees easily
2-Always surrenders or flees after the first death of an ally

This might appear to be slanted towards having a monster stay in the fight, but notice that you will check morale more than once.

-Roll once when the first monster is killed

-Roll once when half of the monsters have been killed, or less than half remain if you started with an odd amount

If the monsters have not failed a morale roll after this point, they will fight to the death unless intimidated (if possible) or otherwise made to surrender, flee, or what have you by the DM. Minions do not affect morale. When it is time to check morale, only roll once for the entire group of monsters; use the highest morale score of whichever monsters are left.

You may find it helpful to assign a creature variable morale; for example, a pack of bandits start with a morale score of 9, so as long as most of their allies are still alive, they are likely to stay in the fight. Later in the encounter, when half of the bandits are killed, their morale score is lowered to 4 for the second check, and they will likely flee. You could also look at just giving creatures a minor bonus or penalty to their morale score based on the circumstances of the encounter.


Example: Say I have a Solo that is going to fight the PCs. I assign it a 12 morale; there is no situation in which it would ever need to check morale. So, Solos typically don't flee unless the DM wants them to.

Example 2: Say I have 5 orcs and 2 bugbears, none of which are Minions, along with an Elite ogre. I give them all a 7 morale score except the Elite, who has a 12. The PCs fight the monsters and kill a bugbear. Since 1 monster has been killed, I would normally check morale, but as I use the highest remaining monster's morale score (the ogre's 12), there is no point in rolling. The fight continues. Over the next two rounds the PCs finish off the ogre and 2 orcs.1 bugbear and 3 orcs are still standing, half the number that started. I check morale again and get a 9, higher than the remaining monsters' score of 7. The monsters flee.

That's basically it. The DM has the control of which monsters will or will not flee, and Elites and Solos are already pretty much protected from fleeing. Yet it also allows for some encounters to end without turning to a slog. This of course then frees a DM to use larger populations for dungeons, to use wandering monsters, etc etc.

Morale allows the DM to be a bit looser with the number of creatures encountered, balancing the use of large numbers of creatures by assigning them a lower morale score. You can let the monsters hit harder at the beginning of an encounter, and 'get out' before it gets into a slog

You will see more of this in my upcoming zine. This is a way to get some old-school flavor in your game, while still allowing for set-piece planned encounters that 4e does so well. It also will help the game keep flowing and moving forward. This will, in my estimation, dramatically improve many published 4e adventures as well as home games. Please do not feel tied to this if you use it; if you want an encounter to keep going, just keep going.

I'm interested in what you think! Leave a post!

Quick Fixes To Old Crappy Monsters

Hello there. As work continues on my zine, I thought I would post some more monster tips. I realize not everyone really wants to go back and edit old monsters in detail to bring them up to the errata (and they are still too weak even then), so I thought I would share some easy tips to help use pre-MM3 monsters with the least amount of work. You can do these on the fly with no need to make notes or edits. This should work pretty well up until very high levels, where you won't be able to get away with it as easily, and you'll need more damage. 



1. Add 1/2 their level to the damage rolls. Simple.

2. Double check the attack bonuses and adjust them if needed. Easy thing to fix. Use their Level + 5 vs AC and Level +3 vs NADs.

3. Lower the recharge number of powers by one. So a recharge 5 power becomes a recharge 4. Encounter powers change to recharge on a 6. Easy to remember.

4. Give the monsters a "Double Attack". Give creatures a single Standard Action that allows them to make two RBAs and/or MBAs. This dramatically increases accuracy obviously, and that is a balance vs the weaker damage. So if you see a Basic Attack, just tell yourself you can also make it twice. Pretty simple. You may want to designate a ranged At-Will as a Basic Attack on some older monsters.

5. If they still look too weak, or don't play tough enough, let them Free Action attack when they are bloodied and/or when they die.

There you go, nice and easy. It's not perfect, but it's quick, you don't need to consult errata, and the monsters now are worth something.

I often use some of these tweaks on even 'updated' monsters, and I would recommend you do the same, especially giving them Double Attacks and lowering the recharge numbers.

As I mentioned earlier, both these and my 'Savage' monsters work best from Heroic to about 15th level. from there you likely need to pile on some auto-damage, even if you have updated the damage expressions.

A Sample Savage

So, here is a sample of the new monster type I am working on. I mention it in an earlier post. Check out how it is all incorporated.

The creature I made is named Sorin Yeate. He is a half-orc with a major skin disease. As a result, he not only lives far from civilization, but he is also just dangerous to be near, as his condition gives off a poisonous and acidic mist of vapor. The properties of the mist can also be hallucinogenic. He uses this condition to protect himself. Unfortunately he is also deranged and will not listen to reason.

Sorin is a good creature to use if the PCs are in an isolated region. If they stumble on his lair, they will certainly smell an acrid stench if they get within 10 squares of him.

I would be interested if anyone has thoughts. I have attached a pdf of the creature. I have given him just the bare minimum to qualify as a Savage so that the features are clearly represented. This creature has a chance to hit the PCs fairly hard without taking all night.

Tactics are simple-spend your action points as quickly as possible and make as many attacks as possible in order to get the best use out of Savage. This should run really well against 5 Level 8 PCs; that would be the "sweet spot". Obviously, the higher the PC level, the easier it will become. This will be too easy for PCs over level 10.

Note-I have updated the pdf, and I also have a link to download the monster file, so you can easily put it in your games.

Sorin Yeate Monster file

Sorin Yeate PDF update

A New 4e Monster Type: The Savage

I have been playing around with a new monster type, the Savage. A Savage is an Elite monster that is buffed up enough to challenge a party as a Solo. They can hit hard without taking without taking all night to run. Since they die more quickly than a traditional Solo monster, you can afford to be a little swingy with their offensive power; their lower hit points are balanced by their "savagery".

 A Savage will typically have many, if not all, of these features:

-Immunity to status effects such as stun and dominate
-Saving throws at the beginning and end of turn
-Attacking at their Initiative and Initiative + 10
-Multiple attacks per turn as a single Standard Action and/or Minor and Free Action attacks
-Elusiveness
-Free Action attacks when bloodied and/or dying
-2 action points
-An auto-damaging Aura or the equivalent

I'm using them in Ravenloft currently and they can hit you hard without taking all day.

Look for some example Savages on my blog soon!

Brutal Minions

rarely do I use a minion these days that doesn't have some kind of extra oomph.

try having minions explode in an aura 1, leaving a zone (noxious fumes perhaps?) that does level appropriate damage when a creature starts in it or enters it. it changes the movement strategy of the pcs quickly and makes it more interesting.

another favorite is having your minions attack everything adjacent to them when they die, berserker style. or mix the two; when you kill one minion it chain reaction kills the other which explodes into noxious gas. try using a ton of these on the table for an unpredictable explosion of violence.

make those little suckers count.

Simple Solo and Elite "Templates"

As everyone knows, Solos and Elites get locked down and abused waaay too easily. Here are simple "templates" to boost Solos and Elites that are easy to remember.

-Elites-Immune stun, dominate

-Solos-Immune stun, dominate; save at beginning and end of turn

-Give them both a multi-attack if they don't have one.

-Add an aura or effect that does automatic damage if the creature doesn't already have one. about 10 damage at the end of heroic, 15ish by the end of paragon, and 20+ at epic depending on your party.


These things are easy to remember and they work. You have probably started doing some of these things already.