Combining D&D monsters into a single monster

I create unique monsters by combining them into one multi-part monster.
Combining robots into one large robot is often found in fiction and I use it on D&D monsters.

You might know combiners from the Transformers franchise, Zords in Power Rangers and other fictional works. I bring this concept into D&D to create unique monsters and surprise the PCs.

Action Denying Conditions on PCs in D&D 4E

Action denying status effects deny player characters the use of their actions.
I examine stunned, unconscious, dazed, dominated, petrified, etc conditions.

Why action denial is problematic

Action Denial robs players of things to do during their turn.
Combat in D&D 4E at higher levels is often slow.
This means players are waiting a long time to do something.
Players generally get bored quickly this way.

Action Denial is tolerable if other PCs can help the afflicted PC.

Save Ends vs. End of next Turn

At higher levels, end of next turn is stronger than save ends because of many saving possibilities and bonuses. At lower levels, action denying effects that have save ends might take some turns to save against.

Stunned

"Free Falling - Explored" by SodanieChea on Flickr

This is the ultimate action denial, because stunned PCs can't take any actions.
I simply don't use this condition at all.

Dragons use this, I substitute it for a weaker condition like dazed and additional damage.

Unconscious

This is harsh action denial, but in some circumstances PCs can get rid of it by healing, heal checks or taking damage.
If there are no such circumstances I won't use the condition.

A Night Hag uses the unconscious and stunned conditions.

Dying

Dying PCs can't use any actions but other PCs heal them or use the healing skill on them.
So this condition isn't problematic.

Dazed

Dazed is great action denial. Melee characters out of melee range can't move and standard attack, but they can still charge or use a weaker ranged attack.

Swallowed 

Swallowed isn't an official condition but larger creatures like crocodiles or purple worms use it.
Swallowed PCs are restrained, take damage each turn and make a basic attack each turn.
The PCs are released only when the creature dies.

This can be boring because players have no choices, someone could roll for them and they go for a walk.

I solve this by allowing hard Athletics skill checks and successful attacks to escape the beast's stomach and mouth.

Dominated

Dominated is less of an issue as a player gets to do something.
I use it with moderation, it is a charm effect so saving against it is easier.

The PCs are out of action, players are not as they can attack their allies.

Petrified

A character gets Petrified in stages (slowed, immobilized, petrified) and the Remove Afflication ritual is house ruled to be usable in combat.

Cockatrices and Medusa cause this condition.
When these creatures are killed they provide a way to cure recently petrified PCs.
So I see no problem with this condition.


Do you use action denial conditions as written or do you have house rules for them?
If you have house rules, I'd love to hear them.

Benefits of Small D&D Parties

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I prefer playing with smaller parties.
There are benefits and drawbacks
to having fewer PCs.

A while back there was an article about
handling a solo party.
I've never run a solo party but I've played with a small amount of players.

I like smaller parties but I can imagine there are DMs that like larger parties because there are more player interactions and large scale battles.

Vampire in Wine Cellar Quest

The PCs face a vampire who mixes his blood into wine to weaken his prey.
Can they stop him and his thralls?

5 Minute Workday

The 5 minute workday refers to the PCs having daily powers which recharge after resting.
I discuss how often the PCs can rest.

Abstract Mechanics and unexplainable powers

Powers in D&D 4E allow for interesting tactical combat, explaining how they work is often impossible.


Why are Fighters only able to perform some attack once a day?
Why can a cleric only have one divine fortune per encounter?
If a cleric fires a lance of faith, will it reflect in a mirror?
How does one knock prone an ooze?
How does one sneak attack the undead?
etc...

Encounter Management: combat and role playing

Running encounters is at the heart of D&D.
Whether these are combat encounters or role playing,
the balance between those gives an adventure more depth.
They aren't mutually exclusive, as an encounter may start as a combat and end in a diplomacy session or vice versa.
Besides, combat encounters show many details about NPC opponents and the world.

Combat Encounters

I think combat is one of the most discussed topics of D&D 4E.
Other people have compiled a list of combat accelerators.

I like the tactical combat of D&D 4E and the combination of powers.
Each class is equal in number of daily resources which I find great.
But as our group levels up, combat starts to slow down.
Which isn't a surprise considering the number of powers each player has.

I have an encounter manager for managing initiative, monster attacks, monster health and skill checks.
That way the DMs turn is finished quite fast.
Having a laptop or PC is essential for this.

I increase monster attack and damage while reducing defense,
somewhat similar to monster manual 3. I end pointless combats early.
I avoid effects that prolong combat like stun, blind, unconscious, etc.
So combat encounters are very offensive, a lot of damage gets tossed
around in a short time.

Role playing

The most important thing I did was having less combats but making them count more.
If PCs would have 8 combat encounter per character level like the Dungeon Master's Guide recommends we would barely get 2 encounters done per session.

Many encounters are role playing, information gathering, exploration, etc.
A sort of informal skill challenges (no number of successes or misses).
I think there are about 4 combat encounters per character levels.

This also prevents repetition, something I noticed in published adventures like Kobold Hall, Keep on the Shadowfell, etc.
Some encounters feel like filler to get to the 8 combat encounters.

Maps and tracking status

Maps are created in Gimp and projected by an overhead projector on the table.
Miniatures are from HeroQuest, although we sometimes use coins, bottle caps, etc.
That way a combat starts very fast, keeping the momentum of the game.

We mark only the bloodied status, other statuses are remembered by the players.
There is a public initiative list with defenses of all the monsters and PCs.
This speeds up combat and makes it easier for players to plan their strategy.

The Deserter quest

The Deserter

The PCs come upon a poster hanging in town:
Jared
Crime:    desertion
Wanted:  alive
Reward: 400 gp

with the face of blond haired middle-aged man on it.

A Streetwise check easily gives the following information:
Jared deserted his post. There was an incident
where some citizens were fighting amongst themselves.

He got a wound and fled into the sewers and hasn't come
back for 2 weeks now. Because of that the other guards
were in danger. People can't imagine him being
in the sewer for so long due to the crocodiles.
None of the other guards know him well, he seemed a bit odd.
The last weeks he seemed more off than usual.
His nickname was Crazy Jared.

To navigate the sewers use Dungeoneering. The stench in here is
quite overwhelming. Nature checks help with tracking.
Nature DC 20 finds him directly, any lower than that and the PCs spend several hours marching in the sewers and lose a healing surge.
A Dungeoneering or History DC 18 lead to the PCs being able to map the sewers. This means no lost healing surge for failing the nature check.

Finally they find him in a barely closed of room.
He's in there with 3 Fey Crocodiles (see monster manual).

Stats

Crazy Jared level 10 Skirmisher
Medium humanoid
Initiative +9           Senses Perception +12

HP 104; Bloodied 52
AC 26, Fortitude 23, Reflex 27, Will 22
Speed 6
Longsword (At-Will),   +15 vs. AC,    1d8 + 7 damage
Twin Strike (At-Will; 2 attacks),    +16 vs. AC,    1d10 + 8 damage
Shadow Wasp Strike (Encounter),    +16 vs. AC,    2d10 + 10 damage

Level 11 Encounter:

• Crazy Jared
• 3 Fey Crocodiles

There are 3 waterfalls converging into 1 stream here.
The waterfalls are difficult terrain and grant complete cover.
The streams are shallow water but are slippery: Acrobatics DC 15 when
crossing a stream to prevent falling prone or Athletics DC 20 (10 when running start).
All perception checks take a -5 penalty due to the noise.
Jared is sitting on a rotten chair. In the south-western corner
is some wood that appears to be used as a bed.
He wears a rusted scale mail and rags. He uses 2 broadswords as weapons.

The deserter fled into the Sewers because he has gone bonkers.
He believes he's a king.
The entrance is hidden to be safe from other sewer dwellers.
He has attracted Fey Crocodiles, he's a ranger multiclassed
to druid and thinks he can shapeshift into a crocodile.

If found out he shouts phrases such as:
"Onward my knights! For Anduria!"
"I won't let you kill my subjects!"
He lives under the delusion that he is King Jared IV, King of Anduria.
If one of the crocodiles gets bloodied or killed he screams:
"John, you will not have died for nothing"
"How dare you rebels hurt my noble knights"
If defeated, he mumbles:
   "How can this be?"
   "I am not worthy to be king, please take my crown..."

If brought back, he's sent to the asylum.
He carries with him:

• decayed rat meat
• bronze crown worth 100 gp

Hidden monster in a house quest

Quest

A cleric of Erathis named Melissa meets up with the PCs and asks
them to come along to her temple.
In the small temple lies a body, prepared for burial.

When she lifts the veil covering it, there are bite and claw marks
on the body of the human male.
She tells the PCs:
"This body was found 4 days ago in a dark alleyway.
His name is Kris, a baker nearby. We don't know who would want him
dead, so I prayed to the gods for an answer.
They show me visions of a house nearby, I know where it is.
I know the inhabitants, a nice couple:
a female Tiefling named Hope is in there with a human male named Brandis.
I didn't go to them yet because the monster might still be there and
attack on being provoked.
And I don't want to worry them by telling this, for now they seem safe.
I tried to get them out of the house but they wouldn't leave.

So could you go to the house and look if my visions about the monster are correct?

As a reward I'll give you a free Holy Water (level 11; see Divine Power rituals)"
The Holy Water is also for sale at 350 gp.

Examining the body

A Nature DC 15 reveals that the bite marks are quite small, so the monster may be a small creature or a creature with a small mouth.
A Heal DC 16 reveals some necrotic residue in the claw and bite marks.
A Religion DC 16 with the necrotic residue points to the monster being undead.

Going to the House

The neighborhood in which the house is located is filled with
Tieflings and halflings and they notice the PCs entering and leaving.
Hope answers the door, she doesn't want anyone entering the house but will
eventually let the PCs in.

A female Tiefling named Hope is in here with a human male named Brandis.
They have an adopted human child named junior.
The windows are barricaded shut, Brandis is busy in the kitchen chopping up meat and junior is crawling through the residence.
There is one large bed for the couple and a small bed for junior.
There are 2 closets containing used clothes.
There is only one light source in the building, the brander.

Hope is sitting at a table and invites the PCs to sit down.

There are some forks, knives and plates on the table with
the forks and knives becoming a bit rusted.
She has a high Bluff (Insight DC 21) and will say she knows
nothing about the murder or the monster.

When her Bluff fails her or Brandis comes back from the kitchen,
the following events happen:
Junior takes out a filthy razor from inside his clothes
and (surprise) attacks one of the PCs.
Brandis takes out a large kitchen knife and Hope kicks down the
brander, making the room pitch dark.
Hope grabs one of the rusted knives and attacks the PCs.

Combat Encounter

The parents are unrisen Adults, the child is a Corrupted Offspring.
They can be found in Open Grave under Unrisen.
Unrisen are people who came back wrong after a Raise Dead ritual.
They are undead but look normal, they try to fit in.
As undead they possess darkvision and have the advantage with the lights out.
There is only one light source in the building, the brander.
Their tactics is to let the child surprise attack one of the PCs and then put out the light, then use their darkvision to kill them.
Unrisen look normal in all ways. They can be detected with
Holy water (a few drops are enough) or the Corpse Light ritual.
When they are near defeat, they try to run outside and make the neighborhood side with them.
Should that happen Melissa will help the PCs when asked and use drops of Holy Water to prove the nature of the unrisen.

Level 10 encounter:

• Corrupted Offspring (vulnerability to radiant reduced to 5)
• 2 Unrisen Adults (same stats as Corrupted Offspring, except they have only this attack:
  Rusted Knife (At-Will), +16 vs. AC,    3d6 + 6 necrotic damage

Valna, Elven Druid

Valna, Elven Druid

Valna was born in the forests west of Fallcrest and raised in a
large community of elves dedicated to the primal forces of nature.

She trained herself as a druid, protecting nature from threats
of undead, civilization and other destruction.
Her community and the forest weren't really under a lot threat.

As Valna discovered her beast form, that of a bear, she compared
herself to other druids as to who had faster or agile beast forms.
She also looked at various animals in the woods and wondered
if there were ways to have the best of both worlds.
For example the strength of a bear with the agility and speed of a tiger.

So she began crossbreeding related species and became
frustrated by the time it took to achieve anything.
Valna choose to look at insects and saw ants carrying a
wounded butterfly to their nests.
She took them all and managed to transplant the butterfly wings
to a large ant.
Happy with this success, she started experimenting on larger
animals. This went on until the other druids found out and banished her.
With most of per druid powers stripped from her and the loss
of her community, she obsessively started focusing on grafting,
transplanting body parts from one creature to another.

She wants the to create more powerful grafts and hybrid creatures to
finally impress her former community, even by force.

Role in a campaign

Valna is doesn't back out from a fight, so she won't be a big bad.
Her actions may impact the PCs long before they meet her:
hybrid creatures, grafts, mutilated creatures due to experiments, etc.
She is suited as support for an organization.

Stats

Valna level 14 Elite Controller
Medium Fey
Initiative +13            Senses Perception +18
HP 150; Bloodied 75
AC 29, Fortitude 24, Reflex 27, Will 30
Speed 7
Action Points 1
Saving Throws +2

Standard Actions

 

Scythe (At-Will),    +15 vs. AC,    2d4 + 9 damage
Savage Rend (At-Will; Beast Form),   
                         +18 vs. Reflex,   
                         1d8 + 14 damage, target slides 1 square
Fire Hawk (At-will; Range 10),    +18 vs. Reflex,    2d8 + 14 fire damage
Thorn Spray (Encounter; Close Blast 5),   
                         +18 vs. Reflex,   
                         1d6 + 14 damage, target takes -4 to defenses until end of next turn
Clinging Drones (Encounter; Close Blast 5; Beast Form),   
                         +18 vs. Fortitude,   
                         2d8 + 14 damage, target is slowed and can't shift (save ends both)
Sun Beam (Encounter; Area burst 2 within 10),   
                         +18 vs. Will,   
                         1d10 + 18 damage, target is blinded (save ends)
Floating Death (Encounter; Burst 1; Beast Form),   
                         +18 vs. Reflex,    
                         4d6 + 24 damage, druid shifts 4 squares
Wall Of Stone (Encounter; Range 10),
                         solid stone wall with 100 hit points is formed around target creature

Minor Actions

Central Eye (At-will; minor; Range 10), +18 vs. Will, target is dazed until druid's next turn

Drink Potion (Encounter; minor), Valna gains 40 hit points and saves against condition
Telekinesis Ray (twice per encounter; minor; Range 10),
                          +18 vs. Fortitude,
                          target is pushed 4 squares
Hold Ray (twice per encounter; minor; Range 10),
                     +18 vs. Reflex, 
                     target is restrained (save ends)
Confusion Ray (twice per encounter; minor; Range 10),
                     +18 vs. Will,
                     target charges nearest ally and makes melee basic attack
Death Ray (twice per encounter; minor; Range 10),
                     +18 vs. Fortitude,   
                     2d8 + 9 necrotic damage, if target is bloodied it becomes dazed (save ends);
                     first failed save: dazed and weakened; second failed save: death

Change shape (At-will; minor): change between human and Beast form and shift 1 square,
                          has central beholder eye grafted in chest in both forms.

Reactions

Autonomous Eye (free; when enemy starts turn within 5 squares),   
                     +18 vs. Will,
                          target is dazed until end of next turn

Alignment Lawful Evil Languages Common, Elven
Nature +20, Heal +20, Insight +18

Tactics

Valna isn't that powerful in a fight. She has a central Beholder Eye grafted in her chest and smaller beholder eyes on her arms.
She keeps these eyes hidden except when she has to fight.

In a combat encounter, she'll hold back at first and let her creatures attack while she attacks in human form at a range.
Defenders will be targeted by her Stone wall.
Once one of her creatures gets bloodied, she'll change shape and get up close
to be able to use her beast form powers and autonomous eye.

Example Encounter

Valna is working in her private room.
Several dead creatures like cockatrices and magic hounds are lying dead on the table.


There are 5 cages:

• upper large cage holds kobolds and goblins, mostly with arms and legs removed
• upper left cage holds 2 medium-sides beholders with eyes removed, scared of any sound or gesture
• upper right cage holds 3 blinded Medusa
• lower left cage holds several dire rats
• lower right cage is empty

Most creatures are famined or near-dying.
When Valna gets hit they cheer.


Level 16 Encounter:

• Valna
• Chimera (found in Monster Manual)
• 2 Owl Bears (found in Monster Manual; level them up 6 levels)

Nim, Gnome Illusionist

Nim, Gnome Illusionist

Nim never knew his real parents.
His first memory was feeling hungry in an alleyway in a city.
When he begged for food, some people gave him food, most didn't.

He noticed quickly that he could change his appearance at-will,
looking like another small creature.
Like this, he started pretending other people and tricking others
into giving him food, clothes, gold, whatever he wanted.

After a few months of hide and seek with the city guards, he was
caught. Instead of jail, a wizard living in the city agreed to take
him as an apprentice.
He learned there that he is part doppelganger.

After many years he became a powerful wizard, but was still
a trickster at heart.
He desires more wealth and finds misleading those he thinks dumber than him immensely satisfying.

Role in a campaign

Nim can be used as the main villain, but is more suited to being the spy/infiltrator of the big bad.
He interacts with the PCs before his final battle with them,
and many players will want to bring him down.

Stats

Nim level 14 Elite Controller
Small Fey
Initiative +14                Senses Perception +16, low-light vision
HP 140; Bloodied 70
AC 30, Fortitude 24, Reflex 28, Will 28
Resist 10 Psychic
Speed 5
Action Points 1
Saving Throws +2

Standard Actions

Quarterstaff (At-Will),    +18 vs. AC,    1d8 + 10 damage
Phantom Bolt (At-Will),    +18 vs. Will,    1d8 + 14 psychic damage, target slides 1 square
Grasping Shadows (Encounter; Area burst 2 within 10), 
                                   +18 vs. Will,    
                                   2d8 + 14 damage, target is slowed until end of next turn
Visions of Treasure (Encounter; Area 2 square within 10; Sustain minor: Close Burst 5), 
                                   +18 vs. Will,  
                                   target is pulled 3 squares; target that ends its turn in zone 
                                   becomes  immobilized (save ends)
Enemies Abound (Encounter; Area burst 2 within 20), 
                                   +18 vs. Will,    
                                   2d8 + 14 psychic damage, target is treated as ally for flanking
Taunting Phantoms (Encounter; Area burst 2 within 10), 
                                   +18 vs. Will, 
                                   target makes a melee basic attack against a creature (even itself) 
                                   and takes 5 damage each time it misses with a melee attack (save ends)
Vanishing Act  (Encounter; Range 10), 
                                   +18 vs. Will,    
                                    3d6 + 14 damage, Nim becomes invisible until the start of his next turn
Mesmeric Hold  (Encounter; Range 10; up to 3 creatures), 
                                   +18 vs. Will,    
                                   2d6 + 14 psychic damage, target is immobilized until end of next turn

Illusory Wall  (Encounter; Wall 8 within 20; Sustain minor), 
                                   +18 vs. Will, 
                                   wall blocks line of sight for enemies; enemy can pass through
                                   if it resists attack
Greater Invisibility (Encounter; Sustain minor),  
                                   Nim is invisible until end of next turn or until he attacks

Minor actions

Deceptive Veil (At-will; minor),
                                   Nim gains the appearance of any humanoid race of the same size category
                                   as himself. His clothing and equipment alter appearance
                                   to reflect this change.
Drink Potion (Encounter; minor), Nim gains 25 hit points and saves against a condition
Ghost Sound (Encounter; minor)

Reactions

Fade Away (Recharge 5 6; immediate reaction when damage is taken),
Nim is invisible until end of next turn or until he attacks

Shield (Encounter; immediate reaction): if hit by an attack raise AC and Reflex by 4 until end of next turn

Alignment Lawful Evil Languages Common
Bluff +20, Stealth +17, Endurance +17

Tactics

Nim can use his Deceptive Veil to infiltrate an organization, posing as another small creature (gnome, halfling) or a child. His high Bluff skill helps him with this.

His Ghost sound combined with Taunting Shadows  can make it look like a betrayal, for example city guards turning against civilians.

As a wizard, he can use several interesting rituals:

• Hallucinatory Creature
• Hallucinatory Item
• Secret Chest

The illusions set up enemies of him against each other, or create distractions so he can escape.
Secret Chest is used for escaping when given enough time to cast it.

When Nim is attacked, he escapes easily:
Illusory wall with Greater Invisibility: illusory wall stops attackers from following him and Greater Invisibility combined with his high Stealth makes him unfindable.

When Nim cannot escape combat he tries to avoid damage by turning invisible and immobilizing enemies.
Nim can use Shield and drink potion to protect himself.

When near death he tries feigning his own death.
When an attack damages so that he's near death, he'll bluff falling to death.
With his Endurance he can stop breathing for a while and temper his blood flow to fool enemies.

Example Encounter

The map below is used for this example encounter.

The brown colored doors are made from wood.
The PCs enter by the south west door.
The black squares indicate solid stone.
The grey twirly squares contain hallucinatory items,
meaning they look like solid stone to others (Insight DC 30).

The Hallucinatory Creatures ritual creates decoys, preferably transparent
undead like wraith in the central hallway near the northern door.
Fake walls are Hallucinatory Items that have been made permanent and
take an Insight DC 30 to see through.
Nim uses Ghost Sound to make the wraith illusions more believable.

He has 2 fake illusionary creatures of himself with fake shield guardian.
It takes Insight DC 30 to see through. One copy is in the north western part of the room, the other in the eastern part of the room.
Nim is hiding behind in the northeastern part of the room with his shield guardian. The Air Elementals are spread throughout the room and will only attack after Nim does.

They are to shoot anyone entering the central hallway and he will shoot
at the same person so that there are 3 attacks on one person (2 fake, 1 real).

Level 14 encounter:

• Nim
• Shield Guardian (found under guardian entry in Monster Manual)
• 3 AirElementals (found under elemental entry in Monster Manual 3;
     need to be upped 4 levels)

Common Magic Items

Common Magic Items in D&D 4E

Choosing magic items

I use the following method for giving out magic items:
1) I look at the theme a character is going for and whether
the magic item enforces that theme.
For example: doing massive damage per turn
                      be good in knowledge skills
                      be a sneaky thief
                      be good against certain type of enemies
                      enhance a favorite attack

2) The magic items used for attacks (weapons, implements) have useful properties and powerful powers.
Armors and the other equipment slots would be filled with
simple items that:

• increase defenses
• increase skills
• gives resistances
• enhances saving throws
• enhances healing surges or healing surge value

An explanation for the choices

First of all, I like the strength of a character to come
from a character, not from his or her magic items.
I dislike the character to be a figurative Christmas tree
to be effective.

There are enough powers for a character to choose from,
especially at higher levels.
I don't want to burden players with an overabundance of powers.
This should also speed combat.

These common items are not as exciting as rares with amazing
daily powers, but as I see them, they aren't supposed to be.
They are treasures and rewards, the players never
seem to mind those.

Shortage of common magic items

When Essentials came out, magic items were divided
in common, uncommon and rare items.
Common magic items have simple properties like described above.

Unfortunately, there aren't many common magic items.
An overview can be found here:
http://www.captainspud.com/4ecommons/

I suppose I can create my own common magic items,
unfortunately the character builder doesn't support
them.
Our group uses the offline character builder,
and we manage to work around some of the issues.
I don't have much experience with the character builder,
so a more in-depth discussion can be found here:
http://dungeonsmaster.com/2009/08/does-character-builder-limit-creativity/

Expertise Feats and Buffing Monsters

Expertise Feats and Buffing Monsters

Player's Handbook 2 gives us the Implement Expertise and Weapon Expertise feats.
They give a +1 to attack at level 5
                   +2 to attack at level 15
                   +3 to attack at level 25

Player's Handbook 3 gives us Versatile Expertise which
works for both implements and weapon groups.

I dislike how the expertise feats are done:

• Characters with different weapon or implement types need to take the feats multiple times.
  For example: Cleric with weapon and implement or rogue with melee weapon and ranged weapon.
• Characters with racial abilities are also at a disadvantage.
  For example a Dragonborn breath attack will not benefit from the bonus.
• Casual players who don't like to take too much time building a character  or like more flavourful feats are also at a disadvantage.

My Solution

In my games I just lower the monster defenses
  by 1 at level 5
  by 2 at level 15
  by 3 at level 25

The levels refer to character levels and assume that everyone in the party
has the same level.
Characters can't take any expertise feats.
Players in my group don't use Essentials expertise feats, which if I'm correct give additional bonuses.
If players want to take those feats, a group discussion about this subject is warranted.

What about the poor monsters

The solution proposed above also makes characters more powerful.
At higher levels the PCs absolutely trash an equal level encounter.
So I make the monsters more threatening.

Depending on the party composition some monsters are easier to defeat.

Divine characters: because most undead are vulnerable to radiant damage
                   I usually give them additional hit points to compensate.

Controllers: are good against minions,
             so I usually add a greater amount of them.

I give all my monsters

• Attack bonuses, usually 1 (heroic tier) to 3 (epic tier)
• Double damage

Some monster abilities may be frightening to PCs:

• draining healing surges
• redirecting attacks
• eating magic items (see Rust monster in Monster Manual 2)
  use this with care
• underwater fights which can be hard on PCs
• transmitting diseases
• create spawn: create a copy of themselves
  whenever they kill a humanoid creature (see wraiths).
• attacking dying PCs - it's best to discuss this beforehand with the players.
  For example: zombies, ghouls, etc may want to eat a fallen PC.

Faster Combat

All these changes make combat more aggressive and faster.
This changes the pace of combat, which is why I allow players
more freedom to change feats or powers.
This is so they can adjust to the different pace.