[DF] Ideas for an Air Elemental Worthy/Boss

Stripe · 07-28-2014, 11:28 PM

Greetings!

I'm seeking inspiration, ideas and advice for a Dungeon Fantasy air elemental enemy combat encounter. It's not quite boss, but it's close to it. It's one of four elemental-themed mini-bosses. You can guess the other three. All four must be defeated before a portal opens to the next area.

I'll need to have it made before our weekly game session Saturday.

It doesn't have to be an air elemental. The water boss is a serpent with regeneration and Body of Water alternate form powers. The fire boss might be a fire-breathing creature (and perhaps a demon); not sure yet. The earth boss was already smashed to rubble by the time the PC's arrived, but was probably a stone golem.

The PC's have a high Banish spell as well as a Cleric, so demons and elementals are at risk of being one-shot'ed. However, if they aren't slain, they can return in time and it doesn't count as being "defeated."

I'm thinking a diffuse monster would work best. The Scout will have plenty of targets elsewhere and can play a role other than ranged damage dealer for this one, if need be.

The room is kinda small for a good boss encounter, but I only had so much room in which to work. The other three had suitable space.

Edit: I also think it needs to directly guard an interesting and valuable treasure, like have it visible in the same room. This dungeon needs a bit more treasure not found in chests.

What I'm thinking is to have the room filled with sand and the air elemental will whip it around, causing damage and poor vision.

I'm seeking Afflictions (page references are nice, especially when using Powers) and general traits, as well as ideas to make the encounter more fun and interesting.

The encounter should be roughly balanced to challenge four beginning PC's—a Knight, Cleric, Scout and Wizard.

Thanks!

Dammann · 07-29-2014, 01:02 AM

A magic using djinn might be a good air boss. It would engage the Wizard more directly (same benefit as a diffuse enemy), and could have spells hung for use against the Knight that are more charged up (Lightning to bypass any pesky metal armor?). The Scout might find himself up against Reverse Missiles, and the Cleric isn't going to be any more effective against a djinn than other spirits, at least. It is kind of a boss where casters get to shine, while the fighters are more readily countered.

Stripe · 07-29-2014, 01:10 AM

Hey, I really like that idea! I don't think I have a real good spotlight for the mage yet.

Thanks a lot!

Anthony · 07-29-2014, 01:52 AM

A lazy but reasonable way to build an elemental villain is to just look in GURPS Magic and say something like 'Skill 21 with all Air magic'. Body of Wind is a sort of broken spell, but works okay for a bad guy, and spells such as Sandstorm seem to cover some of your other interests.

Dammann · 07-29-2014, 02:17 AM

There are templates for a couple different takes on djinn in Banestorm (p 188) and Fantasy (p 107). I like the straight Fantasy ones, but YMMV.

I like to subvert tropes in my DF game, like putting the boss djinn in a lamp that the Wizard can detect as magical via a Per+Magery roll. He thinks he's found treasure, but then it tries to kill him- hilarious, about once a year, but players can get fed up with that stuff. I try to have some subversions work out in their favor or neutral.

Gold & Appel Inc · 07-29-2014, 02:28 AM

Here's what I used the last time this came up (in Shadowrun, so you might actually need to scale back to DF here):

Air Elemental (Monster) [750]:

Attributes: ST 40 (NFM -40%, Size -10%) [150]; DX 12 (NFM -40%) [24]; IQ 10 [00]; HT 14 [40];

Secondary: SM +1 [00]; Dmg 4d+1 / 7d-1; BL 320#; Spd 9.0 [50]; Move: Flying: 20 [4]; HP 60 (Size -10%) [36]; FP 18 [12]; Per 11 [5]; Will 14 [20];

Advantages: Detect Astral Phenomena (Magical -10%, Sense-Based: Vision -20%, Temp Disadvantage: Dual-Natured if Not Astral -9%) [19]; Doesn't Breathe [20]; Doesn't Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn't Sleep [20]; DR 12 (Can't Wear Armor -40%, Physical Only -20%) [24]; Flight (Lighter Than Air -10%) [36]; Immunity: Metabolic Hazards [30]; Injury Tolerance (Diffuse) (Infiltration +40%) [140]; Insubstantiality (Magical -10%, Temp Disadvantage: Choice of Blind vs Substantial or Dual-Natured -5%) [68]; Invisibility (Access: Only on Astral Plane -30%, Magical -10%, Temp Disadvantage: Mute w/ Vs Substantial Only -22%, Vs Substantial Only -10%) [12]; Regeneration (Fast) (Fatigue +100%, Environmental -10%, Magical -10%) [80];

Disadvantages: Dependency (Mana, All The Time) [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Noisy X2 [-4]; Short Attention Span (15-) [-5]; Vulnerability X2 (Vacuum and Wind Attacks) [-20];

Skills: Aerobatics (H) DX [4]-12; Occultism (A) (IQ) [2]-10; Savoir-Faire (E) (Spirit Court) IQ+2 [4]-12; Sumo (A) DX+6 [24]-18;

Features: Affected by Pentagrams, Banishment, Etc [00]; No Legs (Aerial) [00];

Notes: Your high-end Air Elemental is old, fast, tough, cunning, and willful. It can be spontaneously summoned anywhere there is a powerful wind, and is sometimes bound by the strongest and boldest conjurers. It attacks with punches using its basic DX and shoves and slams using its masterful Sumo, and recovers from injuries and exhaustion rapidly when exposed to a steady wind.

GodBeastX · 07-29-2014, 08:14 AM

Why have it be one boss? I'm reminded of an episode of Teen Titans that had two brothers that were basically one encounter.

Could have two elementals that aren't just "AIR ELEMENTAL" but maybe different facets of air/storm?

Thunder and Lightning always go together after all.

sir_pudding · 07-29-2014, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anthony

A lazy but reasonable way to build an elemental villain is to just look in GURPS Magic and say something like 'Skill 21 with all Air magic'. Body of Wind is a sort of broken spell, but works okay for a bad guy, and spells such as Sandstorm seem to cover some of your other interests.

For DF you can get good results by using the elementals and lenses from Summoners.

martinl · 07-29-2014, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stripe

Edit: I also think it needs to directly guard an interesting and valuable treasure, like have it visible in the same room. This dungeon needs a bit more treasure not found in chests.

What I'm thinking is to have the room filled with sand and the air elemental will whip it around, causing damage and poor vision.

The sand is a mix of meteoric iron filings, paut dust, and ground dragonbone. If collected and sorted it is worth a small fortune. It also it abrades like crazy, is poisonous as heck, and rips magical effects to tatters (each hex of range is -5 rather than -1).

A Ladder · 07-29-2014, 09:54 AM

You could have the room be an area with suspended rope bridges or swing platforms which are going ot be constantly buffeted by Air Blasts (Cones of No Wounding and Double knockback) or the Air Boss moving through them and “grappling” them and throwing them off the platforms. This could result in the PCs falling, having to make acrobatic / DX checks to stay on the platforms and require them to think of clever ways to move around and engage the boss. Falling is either annoying ( the PC is out of the fight for a few turns) or lethal (falling damage and the PC is out of the fight for a few rounds).

I was always a fan of Air Elementals sucking the breath out of PCs (Affliction: Suffocation +75%, see hazardous conditions? IDHMBWM), or the air in the general area. Basically this gives a -1 to FP every round and puts a clock on the PCs to defeat the boss.

07-28-2014, 11:28 PM	#1
Stripe Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Midwest, USA	[DF] Ideas for an Air Elemental Worthy/Boss Greetings! I'm seeking inspiration, ideas and advice for a Dungeon Fantasy air elemental enemy combat encounter. It's not quite boss, but it's close to it. It's one of four elemental-themed mini-bosses. You can guess the other three. All four must be defeated before a portal opens to the next area. I'll need to have it made before our weekly game session Saturday. It doesn't have to be an air elemental. The water boss is a serpent with regeneration and Body of Water alternate form powers. The fire boss might be a fire-breathing creature (and perhaps a demon); not sure yet. The earth boss was already smashed to rubble by the time the PC's arrived, but was probably a stone golem. The PC's have a high Banish spell as well as a Cleric, so demons and elementals are at risk of being one-shot'ed. However, if they aren't slain, they can return in time and it doesn't count as being "defeated." I'm thinking a diffuse monster would work best. The Scout will have plenty of targets elsewhere and can play a role other than ranged damage dealer for this one, if need be. The room is kinda small for a good boss encounter, but I only had so much room in which to work. The other three had suitable space. Edit: I also think it needs to directly guard an interesting and valuable treasure, like have it visible in the same room. This dungeon needs a bit more treasure not found in chests. What I'm thinking is to have the room filled with sand and the air elemental will whip it around, causing damage and poor vision. I'm seeking Afflictions (page references are nice, especially when using *Powers) and general traits, as well as ideas to make the encounter more fun and interesting. The encounter should be roughly balanced to challenge four beginning PC's—a Knight, Cleric, Scout and Wizard. Thanks! __________________ . "How the heck am I supposed to justify that whatever I feel like doing at any particular moment is 'in character' if I can't say 'I'm chaotic evil!'"? —Jeff Freeman Last edited by Stripe; 07-29-2014 at 01:14 AM.*

07-29-2014, 01:02 AM	#2
Dammann Join Date: May 2011	Re: [DF] Ideas for an Air Elemental Worthy/Boss A magic using djinn might be a good air boss. It would engage the Wizard more directly (same benefit as a diffuse enemy), and could have spells hung for use against the Knight that are more charged up (Lightning to bypass any pesky metal armor?). The Scout might find himself up against Reverse Missiles, and the Cleric isn't going to be any more effective against a djinn than other spirits, at least. It is kind of a boss where casters get to shine, while the fighters are more readily countered.

07-29-2014, 01:10 AM	#3
Stripe Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Midwest, USA	Re: [DF] Ideas for an Air Elemental Worthy/Boss Hey, I really like that idea! I don't think I have a real good spotlight for the mage yet. Thanks a lot! __________________ . "How the heck am I supposed to justify that whatever I feel like doing at any particular moment is 'in character' if I can't say 'I'm chaotic evil!'"? —Jeff Freeman

07-29-2014, 01:52 AM	#4
Anthony Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Berkeley, CA	Re: [DF] Ideas for an Air Elemental Worthy/Boss A lazy but reasonable way to build an elemental villain is to just look in GURPS Magic and say something like 'Skill 21 with all Air magic'. Body of Wind is a sort of broken spell, but works okay for a bad guy, and spells such as Sandstorm seem to cover some of your other interests. __________________ My GURPS site and Blog.

07-29-2014, 02:17 AM	#5
Dammann Join Date: May 2011	Re: [DF] Ideas for an Air Elemental Worthy/Boss There are templates for a couple different takes on djinn in Banestorm (p 188) and Fantasy (p 107). I like the straight Fantasy ones, but YMMV. I like to subvert tropes in my DF game, like putting the boss djinn in a lamp that the Wizard can detect as magical via a Per+Magery roll. He thinks he's found treasure, but then it tries to kill him- hilarious, about once a year, but players can get fed up with that stuff. I try to have some subversions work out in their favor or neutral.

07-29-2014, 02:28 AM	#6
Gold & Appel Inc Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: One Mile Up	Re: [DF] Ideas for an Air Elemental Worthy/Boss Here's what I used the last time this came up (in Shadowrun, so you might actually need to scale back to DF here): Air Elemental (Monster) [750]: Attributes: ST 40 (NFM -40%, Size -10%) [150]; DX 12 (NFM -40%) [24]; IQ 10 [00]; HT 14 [40]; Secondary: SM +1 [00]; Dmg 4d+1 / 7d-1; BL 320#; Spd 9.0 [50]; Move: Flying: 20 [4]; HP 60 (Size -10%) [36]; FP 18 [12]; Per 11 [5]; Will 14 [20]; Advantages: Detect Astral Phenomena (Magical -10%, Sense-Based: Vision -20%, Temp Disadvantage: Dual-Natured if Not Astral -9%) [19]; Doesn't Breathe [20]; Doesn't Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn't Sleep [20]; DR 12 (Can't Wear Armor -40%, Physical Only -20%) [24]; Flight (Lighter Than Air -10%) [36]; Immunity: Metabolic Hazards [30]; Injury Tolerance (Diffuse) (Infiltration +40%) [140]; Insubstantiality (Magical -10%, Temp Disadvantage: Choice of Blind vs Substantial or Dual-Natured -5%) [68]; Invisibility (Access: Only on Astral Plane -30%, Magical -10%, Temp Disadvantage: Mute w/ Vs Substantial Only -22%, Vs Substantial Only -10%) [12]; Regeneration (Fast) (Fatigue +100%, Environmental -10%, Magical -10%) [80]; Disadvantages: Dependency (Mana, All The Time) [-25]; No Fine Manipulators [-30]; Noisy X2 [-4]; Short Attention Span (15-) [-5]; Vulnerability X2 (Vacuum and Wind Attacks) [-20]; Skills: Aerobatics (H) DX [4]-12; Occultism (A) (IQ) [2]-10; Savoir-Faire (E) (Spirit Court) IQ+2 [4]-12; Sumo (A) DX+6 [24]-18; Features: Affected by Pentagrams, Banishment, Etc [00]; No Legs (Aerial) [00]; Notes: Your high-end Air Elemental is old, fast, tough, cunning, and willful. It can be spontaneously summoned anywhere there is a powerful wind, and is sometimes bound by the strongest and boldest conjurers. It attacks with punches using its basic DX and shoves and slams using its masterful Sumo, and recovers from injuries and exhaustion rapidly when exposed to a steady wind.

07-29-2014, 08:14 AM	#7
GodBeastX Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Behind You	Re: [DF] Ideas for an Air Elemental Worthy/Boss Why have it be one boss? I'm reminded of an episode of Teen Titans that had two brothers that were basically one encounter. Could have two elementals that aren't just "AIR ELEMENTAL" but maybe different facets of air/storm? Thunder and Lightning always go together after all.

07-29-2014, 09:54 AM	#10
A Ladder Join Date: Dec 2012	Re: [DF] Ideas for an Air Elemental Worthy/Boss You could have the room be an area with suspended rope bridges or swing platforms which are going ot be constantly buffeted by Air Blasts (Cones of No Wounding and Double knockback) or the Air Boss moving through them and “grappling” them and throwing them off the platforms. This could result in the PCs falling, having to make acrobatic / DX checks to stay on the platforms and require them to think of clever ways to move around and engage the boss. Falling is either annoying ( the PC is out of the fight for a few turns) or lethal (falling damage and the PC is out of the fight for a few rounds). I was always a fan of Air Elementals sucking the breath out of PCs (Affliction: Suffocation +75%, see hazardous conditions? IDHMBWM), or the air in the general area. Basically this gives a -1 to FP every round and puts a clock on the PCs to defeat the boss.