A Boss monster book would be good to have

[InexplicableVic]

Originally Posted by Polkageist

Is that the same system where you boil down the damage, active defense, DR, HP, etc. into an offensive rating (OR) and defensive rating (DR) and use that to balance encounters?

I recall that it was really hard to use off the cuff, like a lot of GURPS things it's front-loaded math.

My close-enough method for a fight is to generally shoot for 1:1 parity in enemies to players, and use the guideline of damage being able to penetrate DR ~50% of the time for the expected PC it'll engage, and for its DR. That puts most of the heavy defensive lifting on the active defenses, and those are easy enough to fudge or use optimally/non-optimally to pace the fight.

Just check out this page—Charles Saeger has done all the work for you! http://gurpshexytime.blogspot.com/20...sters-and.html

[b-dog]

Is there a way to have a boss monster but also include his security system (alarms, scying, magical detection etc. ) and then also his response to intruders like sending guard monsters, or traps etc. That way a boss monster could easily be inserted into a dungeon and also have his defense system too. An orc boss monster is pretty easy but also including some of his traps and tricks in a dungeon would be useful along with how his alarm system works. A lich would be much more complex and his alarm system and security system would be great to have statted up. It could h a useful book of monsters for me.

[tbone]

Originally Posted by b-dog

Is there a way to have a boss monster but also include his security system (alarms, scying, magical detection etc. ) and then also his response to intruders like sending guard monsters, or traps etc. That way a boss monster could easily be inserted into a dungeon and also have his defense system too. An orc boss monster is pretty easy but also including some of his traps and tricks in a dungeon would be useful along with how his alarm system works. A lich would be much more complex and his alarm system and security system would be great to have statted up. It could h a useful book of monsters for me.

I think that's getting outside the realm of a Monsters book, and more into an Encounters book.

Which would be a fine thing to have! Even a very niche book: Encounters: Lairs.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by b-dog

Is there a way to have a boss monster but also include his security system (alarms, scying, magical detection etc. ) and then also his response to intruders like sending guard monsters, or traps etc. That way a boss monster could easily be inserted into a dungeon and also have his defense system too. An orc boss monster is pretty easy but also including some of his traps and tricks in a dungeon would be useful along with how his alarm system works. A lich would be much more complex and his alarm system and security system would be great to have statted up.

I know you're more dungeon-oriented than this, but are you familiar with Autarch's Lairs & Encounters for ACKS? Is something like that (take a look at the preview) up your alley?

[b-dog]

Originally Posted by tbone

I think that's getting outside the realm of a Monsters book, and more into an Encounters book.

Which would be a fine thing to have! Even a very niche book: Encounters: Lairs.

If a book like that was called lairs or encounters it wouldn’t matter much to me. The useful thing for me is to have some active monsters in dungeons along with the standard spider or other monster waiting in his room for the PCs to come along and fight. I just imagine a lich that moved into a dungeon or cavern system would not be only waiting for the PCs to arrive instead he would be actively keeping an eye on any intruders and if alerted he would have some sort of security system in place to attack the PCs. There would be other monsters in the dungeon that are only concerned about finding prey or are guarding something that would not have any security system but I feel that the boss monster should. The boss monsters that might have security systems might be mind warpers, ancient dragons, powerful undead, powerful demons, and evil men like wizards and evil clerics. So an encounter with this kind of boss monster would include his surveilance abilities and security system too. Maybe something of a crossover with Action might be useful because these types of boss monsters would be similar to the bad guys in Action IMO.