The key to designing interesting and varied groups of
monsters for an encounter lies in the monster roles:
artillery, brute, controller, lurker, minion, skirmisher,
and soldier. Each role has its own place in a typical
encounter. The role of every monster is given in a monster
entry at the top right of the creatureÆs statistics
block in the Monster Manual. Most combat encounters
involve groups of monsters occupying different roles. A
group of varied monsters makes for a more interesting
and challenging encounter than a group of identical
foes.
In the context of monster roles (here and elsewhere
in the game rules), the terms ôcontrollerö and
ôleaderö have meanings and applications that are different
from the class roles of controller and leader, as
described in Chapter 4 of the PlayerÆs Handbook.
Artillery
Artillery monsters excel at ranged combat. These
creatures rain arrows, explosive fireballs, and similar
attacks on the party from a distance. TheyÆre well protected
against ranged attacks, but more vulnerable in
melee. They often spread damage out over multiple
characters in an area.
Use artillery monsters in an encounter to hang
behind soldiers and brutes and rain damage down
on the characters from protected positions. Because
theyÆre more fragile than average monsters, they count
on being protected by a line of brutes or soldiers, or
skirmishers that help them to draw off attacks.
Brute
Brute monsters specialize in dealing damage in melee.
Brutes have relatively low defenses but high hit points.
They donÆt hit as often as other monsters, but they deal
a lot of damage when they hit. They donÆt move around
a lot, and theyÆre often big.
Use brutes in an encounter to threaten the party
while shielding other monsters with their great size
and imminent threat. Brutes are easy to run, so put
multiple brutes of the same kind in an encounter to
provide the baseline muscle for the monsters.
Controller
Controller monsters manipulate their enemies or the
battlefield to their advantage. They restrict enemy
options or inflict lasting conditions, alter terrain or
weather, or bend the minds of their adversaries.
Position controller monsters just behind a front line
of melee-focused monsters, and use them to attack
the PCs at short range with their control powers. Most
controllers can stand their ground in melee, so they
often wade right in beside the brutes and soldiers.
Controller monsters can be complex to run in numbers,
so limiting an encounter to one or two controllers
of the same type is usually a good idea.
Lurker
Lurker monsters have some ability that lets them avoid
attacks, whether by striking from hiding or by turning
into an invulnerable statue while regaining strength.
They usually deliver one devastating attack every few
rounds, while concentrating on defense in between.
Use lurkers as surprise additions to encounters
with other monsters or as sneaky assassins that circle
around the main action of a fight, darting in from time
to time with a well-timed strike. Lurkers study the
party while the player characters are busy handling
brutes and soldiers, gauging the PCsÆ weaknesses.
Minion
Sometimes you want monsters to come in droves
and go down just as fast. A fight against thirty orcs
is a grand cinematic battle. The players get to enjoy
carving through the mob like a knife through butter,
feeling confident and powerful. Unfortunately, the
mechanics of standard monsters make that difficult. If
you use a large number of monsters of a level similar
to the PCs, you overwhelm them. If you use a large
number of monsters of much lower level, you bore
them with creatures that have little chance of hurting
the PCs but take a lot of time to take down. On top of
that, keeping track of the actions of so many monsters
is a headache.
Minions are designed to serve as shock troops and
cannon fodder for other monsters (standard, elite, or
solo). Four minions are considered to be about the same
as a standard monster of their level. Minions are
designed to help fill out an encounter, but they go
down quickly.
A minion is destroyed when it takes any amount of
damage. Damage from an attack or from a source that
doesnÆt require an attack roll (such as the paladinÆs
divine challenge or the fighterÆs cleave) destroys a minion.
If a minion is missed by an attack that normally deals
damage on a miss, however, it takes no damage.
Use minions as melee combatants placed between
the PCs and back-rank artillery or controller monsters.
Skirmisher
Skirmisher monsters use mobility to threaten the
player characters. Their combat statistics define the
baseline for monsters, but their mobility is their defining
feature.
Use skirmishers as the mobile strikers in an
encounter, the creatures that move to attack vulnerable
PCs from the sides and rear. They often have
powers that let them dart in, attack, and retreat in
one action. Skirmishers like to fight alongside soldiers
and brutes because those monsters tend to stay in one
place and draw a lot of the partyÆs attention, giving the
skirmishers room to maneuver around this front line.
Soldier
Soldier monsters specialize in drawing the charactersÆ
attacks and defending other monsters. They have high
defenses and average hit points. Their attacks are
accurate, but they donÆt do exceptional damage. They
tend not to move around, and they often have powers
that hinder other creatures from moving around them.
Use soldiers in an encounter to keep the party in
place, preventing its members from attacking the
artillery or controller monsters behind the soldiers or
chasing after the skirmishers. Soldiers often have abilities
that allow them to work well together, so a group
of identical soldiers works well in an encounter with
other monsters.
Elite Monsters
Elite monsters are tougher than standard monsters
and constitute more of a threat than standard monsters
of their main role and level. An elite monster
counts as two monsters of its level. Elite monsters are
worth twice as many XP and are twice as dangerous.
Elite monsters make great ômini-bosses,ö allowing you
to add a tougher opponent to a mix of monsters without
creating an entirely new monster. A group of ogres
led by an elite ogre reduces the number of ogre figures
on the table without diminishing the encounterÆs level.
Solo Monsters
Solo monsters are specifically designed to appear as
single opponents against a group of PCs of the same
level. They function, in effect, as a group of monsters.
They have more hit points in order to absorb the
damage output of multiple PCs, and they deal more
damage in order to approximate the damage output of
a group of monsters.
A solo monster is worth the same amount of XP as
five monsters of its level. It provides the same level of
challenge as five monsters.
A solo monster might have tendencies that flavor it
toward the brute, soldier, skirmisher, lurker, artillery,
or controller role. Each type of chromatic dragon, for
example, leans toward a different role. Red dragons
have soldier tendencies, while blue dragons behave
much like artillery monsters. However, a solo monster
can never completely take on a different role, because
the roles are largely defined by how monsters interact
with other monsters in an encounter. Every solo monster
has to be able to stand and fight on its own.
Leader
ôLeaderö is not a stand-alone role. It is an additional
quality or subrole of some brutes, soldiers, skirmishers,
lurkers, artillery, and controllers.
Leaders are defined by their relationship to the
monsters under their command. A leader monster, like
a leader PC, grants bonuses and special abilities to its
followers, improving their attacks or defenses, providing
some healing, or enhancing their normal abilities.
Aside from one special ability to enhance its allies, a
leader functions as its primary role indicates.
Add a leader to an encounter with monsters that
gain the greatest benefit from the leaderÆs abilities. For
example, a leader that gives a defense bonus to nearby
creatures is a great leader for brutes, who have weak
defenses otherwise.