Solo Creatures (4e Guideline)

Solo Creatures

Examples to aid design of 4e solo creatures. These features are to help the solo be the equivalent of 5 standard creatures by increasing the number of attacks, damage output, and by providing mobility and additional defenses against conditions that can lock it down.

All solo creatures gain a +5 bonus to saving throws and 2 action points.

Traits

Action Recovery: Whenever the creature ends its turn, any dazing, stunning, or dominating effect on it ends.

All-round Vision: Enemies can't gain combat advantage by flanking the creature.

Bloodied Frenzy: While bloodied, takes an extra minor action during its turn.

Damaging Blood: Whenever the creatures takes damage while it is bloodied, each creature adjacent to it takes elemental damage).

Damaging Wounds: While the creature is bloodied, any enemy that ends its turn in the aura takes damage. Examples:

• Aura 1; ongoing 5 damage per tier (save ends)
• Aura 5; 5 damage per tier

Instinctive Action: On an initiative of 10 + it's initiative check, the creature can use a free action to perform some effect. If the creature cannot use a free action to make this attack due to a dominating or stunning effect, then that effect ends instead of the creature making the attack.

Examples of effects:

• Use an at-will or recharge attack (if recharged)
• Charge
• Move up to its speed without provoking opportunity attack
• Use a particular move-and-attack power
• Move up to its speed as a free action. Can move through enemies' spaces and gains resist 5/tier to all damage during the move. Each time the creature enters an enemy's space for the first time during the move, it can use a melee attack against that enemy. If the attack hits, the target also falls prone.

Many Headed: While stunned or dominated, the creature can take free actions

Ponderous: Can take immediate actions while stunned, dazed or dominated.

Savage Blood: While bloodied, can score a critical hit on 17-20

Threatening Reach: Creature can make opportunity attacks against enemies within its reach.

Attacks

Two Attacks: At-Will; various methods:

• attack that targets one or two creatures; If only one creature targeted, can make this attack twice against that creature.
• effect: use a melee attack that targets one creature, twice

Multi-Attack: Use an at-will attack a number of times equal to the number of heads/arms it currently has. If it only has two heads/arms, it gains a +5 bonus to damage rolls. If it only has one head/arm, it gains a +15 bonus to damage rolls.

Creature has some way of losing or regenerating heads/arms. Example: Start encounter with four heads. At 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 hit points, one head is destroyed and creature grows two heads at start of next turn unless it takes fire or acid damage before then.

Devour Whole: At Will; vs. Fortitude; Average damage, and the target is swallowed (escape DC) While swalloed, the target does not occupy a square and has neither line of sight nor line of effect to anything except the creature and other creatures swallowed by the creature; in addition, nothing has line of sight or line of effect to the target except other creatures swallowed by the creature. If the target attacks the creature using a close or an area attack, that attack targets all other swallowed creatures. While swallowed, the target takes 30 acid damage at the end of its turn. When the effect ends or the creature drops to 0 hit points, the target appears in an unoccupied square of its choice adjacent to the creature.

Optionally Regurgitate, at-will minor action, spit out a swallowed creature, and it takes damage.

Immediate Reaction Attacks: At-Will; average damage; Example triggers:

• enemy hits the creature while flanking it;
• an attack hits the creature; average damage.
• an enemy ends its turn in threatened reach

Recharge Attacks that cause high damage to one target, or can hit multiple targets.

Other Actions

Bloodied Recharge: Trigger: Creature is first bloodied; Effect: Free Action Recharges an encounter or recharge power and uses it.

Mobility

Flyby: Standard action; Creature flies up to its speed, ignoring slowing effects during the movement. The creature can use a particular attack(s) at any point during the move.

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