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5 months ago ::
Jan 03, 2013 - 7:24PM
#11
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Date Joined:
Nov 28, 2012
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Without going into a lot of detail ... although I can if so desired... they aren't going to be in the maze for long. The bugbears work with/are run by the Minotaur. They are just hold up with a hostage for the time being, then will be moving on. I want to throw my PC a curve ball, as in most of the pics of bugbears I have seen they sort of already look like a werewolf ...  This for example. So I thought why not mess with the PC a bit. They go through slicing and dicing up bugbear after bugbear, then get to a room with a bugbear that is a werewolf. They would look really similar. PC is too carefree ... and bam ... trouble hits when this thing doesn't go down in a hit or two. In fact it gets angry and starts to shred through the party. I figure Minotaurs are know to be smarter than most PC give them credit for, this one just so happens to be a pioneer in crossbreeding. And it holding hostages to get some ransom to fund some more projects of his. He finds great irony in being in a maze, but his home is 30 or so miles away in a tower.
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5 months ago ::
Jan 03, 2013 - 7:56PM
#12
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Date Joined:
Aug 11, 2006
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A single werewolf bugbear isn't going to be that much stronger than a single ordinary bugbear - not enough that the encounter difficulty would go from 'easy slaughter' to 'scary' just by plopping a single werewolf bugbear down in front of them, anyway. You'd need to use a pack of the things, at least.
What level are the PCs?
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They... don't look all THAT similar, at least going by all of the art I've seen (large, hairy goblin vs digitigrade wolf-man). It's still a reasonable encounter concept, but when the things shapeshift to hybrid, the difference will be obvious.
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5 months ago ::
Jan 03, 2013 - 8:35PM
#13
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Date Joined:
Nov 28, 2012
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PC are level 4.
And I realize that one yes I know ... but a room full of them maybe. Make the PC be a little more cautious, and give me a new plot hook to throw at them in the process.
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5 months ago ::
Jan 03, 2013 - 8:40PM
#14
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Date Joined:
Aug 11, 2006
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If you want to get the idea across that these guys are scary (compared to the regulars) then a narrative illustration might work better:
The PCs are wading through the 'regular' bugbears when a new squad arrives - their outfits are clearly different (designed to accomodate shapeshifting, although that might not be immediately obvious), and the moment they make an appearance the rest of the bugbears start scrambling to get out of their way (disengaging from the PCs as needed to clear a path for the new guys).
IOW, the bugbear grunts are clearly more scared of these bugbears than they are of the PCs, and the reason why soon becomes evident...
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5 months ago ::
Jan 04, 2013 - 6:31AM
#15
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Date Joined:
Jan 13, 2012
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> This.
Except that simply proclaiming the self-evident "Do whatever you want," doesn't actually answer the OP's question about the rules-assumed state of affairs.
Of course it doesn't. I wasn't claiming that it did. Only expressing the hard truth that sometimes, people get so caught up in the numbers that they forget it's a completely subjective game. Is this what the OP is doing? I don't know. YOU don't know. Despite the fantastic advice you gave to him on how to make his goal achievable within the bounds of the rules, it is always possible and sometimes recommended that we forget the rules and play how we want to play. Regardless, I am perfectly allowed to "second" anyone else's thought process that I wish, instead of going on to repeat the same comment for a second (or third) time. Forums are sweet like that.
Have a great day!
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5 months ago ::
Jan 04, 2013 - 7:16AM
#16
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Date Joined:
Oct 15, 2012
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A single werewolf bugbear isn't going to be that much stronger than a single ordinary bugbear - not enough that the encounter difficulty would go from 'easy slaughter' to 'scary' just by plopping a single werewolf bugbear down in front of them, anyway. .
Sure it would, so long as the DM wanted to play it that way. Kailmung, you're creating a whole new race of monster; have fun with it. Maybe there's something about lycanthropy in bugbears that makes them really nasty creatures. You could have a standard attack + charge as an at-will that would give it some pretty good mobility and show it as distinct from the get-go. Depending on if you want this minotaur to be a BBEG, rather than a one-shot villain, You've now introduced a threat that will require the PCs to power up before they're able to leave the maze and take on the minotaur in his own house.
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5 months ago ::
Jan 04, 2013 - 2:21PM
#17
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Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2004
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> This.
Except that simply proclaiming the self-evident "Do whatever you want," doesn't actually answer the OP's question about the rules-assumed state of affairs.
The what?
If you mean "the way the rules about lycanthropy actually work," then there's nothing to give the OP other than that "self-evident" advice. The rules make no assumptions about what the OP wants to do, because as far as I can tell it's a unique and creative idea. The rules might give some inspiration, but trying to follow them will lead to blockage of the idea, which would be a shame.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
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