I was going to base the possesed shifters on the possession rules in ECS v3.5 specificaly the ally entry (p101). In short this grants a certain bonus too an ability score. And here comes the quirk, how much extra xp should this bonus be worth when calculating encounters?
If not, my simple answer would be to, based on my knowledge of the stat gain to the possessed. I would suggest a CR increase of 1 level, like a template.
So yes I'm running this in 4th edition.
1. you can simply go with the Shifter monsters from the MM without any stat changes and use the "Cosmetic Changes" concept to flavor the possession aspect.
2. you can increase the Shifters level (
DMG p.174
increase its attack rolls, defenses, and AC by 1 for every level you add. For every two levels, increase the damage it deals with its attacks by 1. The monster also gains extra hit points at each level, based on its role
It would seem that the shifters described in the MM is too high lvl for my players, so I have to make them from scratch, at least if I want to give them the option of winning.
Thanks Gilo for knocking some sense into me.
It would seem that the shifters described in the MM is too high lvl for my players, so I have to make them from scratch, at least if I want to give them the option of winning.
Here is the Longtooth Hunter scaled down from level-6 to level-1 using the DMG DM's toolbox (tho I did a mistake of not scaling down the initiative it should be lowered to +2) :
your best bet is to use the monster creation rules from DMG 184. The possession is a cosmetic change, so if you want to have some other physical manifestation, just give them some sort of psychic power. All of this while using the rules on DMG 184.
just give them some sort of psychic power. All of this while using the rules on DMG 184.
I think the nice thing about creating a new Functional Template (DMG pages 176-182) such as a "Quori Possessed" template - it can be later applied to give the same powers to other monsters the PC might encounter.
I think the nice thing about creating a new Functional Template (DMG pages 176-182) such as a "Quori Possessed" template - it can be later applied to give the same powers to other monsters the PC might encounter.
Its a good point, especially since I'm planning to use the inspired on more than one occasion in the future, they are more of a recurring villain than a random encounter.
Now how would a quori possession look mechanical wise and fluff wise?
This is what I'm thinking:
A fixed bonus to AC and will defense, explained through the link between possessor, and possessed.
A fixed bonus to attack, not too sure about this one though.
A visible effect happening when the mob reaches bloodied.
And here is my sugestion:
Quori possession:
When a person that is not an inspired freely open up his mind to be possessed by a quori spirit. The person grants the spirit a limited mental control over the possessed being through the forging of a mental bond
between the quori spirit and the subjects soul. (the strength of this bond increases the more physically exausted the subject is).
+1 to AC and Will defense given through the bond between quori and the subject.
when first bloodied the subject releases a wave of built up psychic energy in an area damaging its enemies [close burst 2]. Dealing 1d6 psychic damage (increase to 2d6 at lvl 11 and 3d6 at lvl 21).
And for the rest of the encounter the possessed creature gains a +1 to hit and damage.
What do you people think? Totally unusable or am I on too something? And how much would this add too the XP cost of the monster? I wish to make something that makes the monster quite noticeable different, but still not so hardcore that it is almost always unusable.
Quori possession:
When a person that is not an inspired freely open up his mind to be possessed by a quori spirit. The person grants the spirit a limited mental control over the possessed being through the forging of a mental bond
between the quori spirit and the subjects soul. (the strength of this bond increases the more physically exausted the subject is).
+1 to AC and Will defense given through the bond between quori and the subject.
when first bloodied the subject releases a wave of built up psychic energy in an area damaging its enemies [close burst 2]. Dealing 1d6 psychic damage (increase to 2d6 at lvl 11 and 3d6 at lvl 21).
And for the rest of the encounter the possessed creature gains a +1 to hit and damage.
What do you people think? Totally unusable or am I on too something? And how much would this add too the XP cost of the monster? I wish to make something that makes the monster quite noticeable different, but still not so hardcore that it is almost always unusable.
Your template looks good, tho I think a burst-1 instead of burst-2 will be more 'fair' on melee classes - it will allow them to shift back or use reach weapons so that they can try and avoid the burst damage once the monster reach blooded state (which makes the fight more tactically challenging for them).
I believe with this template applied to a monster it becomes an Elite - meaning you pickup the Elite XP from the DMG table p.120 (e.g the above level 1 Shifter will become 200XP instead of the normal 100XP).
the thing with templates is they make a creature an elite. But you may also want non elite creatures to be possesed, where you'll be back to the drawing board.
Well, I think that if your adding powers to a normal MM monster you should increase its XP value (or risk unbalancing the encounter) and stating in the template Elite XP is the simplest way to achieve it.
I wonder if the fact that XP is a field in the Functional Template suggest that you can give a different XP value then "Elite XP" - It was probably done so you can define Solo monster templates too - but can you define an XP increase which is less then the Elite value: something like worth +2 levels more of XP ?
Your template looks good, tho I think a burst-1 instead of burst-2 will be more 'fair' on melee classes...
Yes that seems like a more fair deal for everyone. To be frank I just set a number when I created the template without thinking to much about it.
I believe with this template applied to a monster it becomes an Elite...
Yes I completely agree. And to Serpeth, I thought of redesigning the monster, but I don't have time to redesign every monster I'm going to use down the road. Thus I made this template.
But I still don't feel that its quite finished yet. Its lacking something that makes it an elite on later levels. I'm thinking one number beyond the burst damage that increase by level.