Topic: Gigantic monsters in RMU

[Giovanni81]

One of the weak spots of D&D 3.X/5, in my limited experience of GM and player, is this: solo big bad guys always perform poorly.
In order to make them relevant it's almost mandatory to add some low level minions weak but dangerous to ignore: just to provide some other targets for the most powerful powers of the players.

My question is: How big bad guys perform in RMU?
It is possible to run an encounter between 4/5 adventurers and (I do not know) a very big troll, a giant spider, a young dragon without the need of any other antagonist?

I know that Creatures and Treasures is on the way together with Spell Law but maybe some play-tester is on the board and can/want respond.

Fact is that gigantic monsters are truly engaging for imaginative peoples so, for me, they should deserve a central place.

[I have read very positive stuff about RMU and i bought Core Law... Can't wait for the others books.]

[Hurin]

The new size rules do make solo bad guys more viable without resorting to the sort of cheats (such as lair actions) that 5e eventually had to invent.

It isn't just a matter of hit points either; big solos in RMU will also have crit reduction and higher bonuses in skills such as Fortitude which will enable them to shake off attacks more easily. Also, RMU's move to make stuns just a flat penalty (-25 to -75) is somewhat less of a detriment to solos that have high bonuses in general.

I literally just had one of my parties fight a War Troll, and the players (who have played a lot of D&D) were feeling pretty confident when fighting him until it was his turn to attack, and he dropped the party tank in a single multiple attack. They were not expecting that.

[jdale]

The limitation on big creatures is that if the PCs manage to get some stun and/or injury penalties in there, that may put a big foe off balance long enough that it never recovers (especially with stun since it also gives a bonus to hit the creature). So if you want it to have a chance, have a way to mitigate that. Could be high skill in Fortitude as Hurin notes, could be healing, stun relief abilities/item/herbs, could be immunity to stun, etc. Multiple attacks are also a good idea so they all need to think about defense instead of letting one person take the brunt (because if that person is doing a full parry or other extreme defensive maneuver, they could be ok).

Alternatively, have a few lesser minions to keep them from focusing completely on that single foe.

[Giovanni81]

an unrelated question....
considering Table 9-5: The Attack Roll, I cannot see penalties due to stun.
If a PC is stunned at -25 it meas that both OB and DB are at -25?

[Hurin]

an unrelated question....
considering Table 9-5: The Attack Roll, I cannot see penalties due to stun.
If a PC is stunned at -25 it meas that both OB and DB are at -25?

Just OB. You get your full quickness DB even when stunned. However, if you try to do an active defense such as parry, block, or dodge, the DB bonus you get from that would be reduced by the stun penatly, since stun penalties reduce active skill bonuses (as a general rule).

[Amano]

However, you also get +20 OB when attacking a stunned opponent, which is shown on table 9-5.