Tuathan's can get a level 2 utility power that's at-will that lets them shape-shift into a Tiny natural or Fey creature, and at level... 5 or 10, they can get a character option that lets them shapeshift into a Tiny natural or Fey creature that can fly.
I think the way to do it would be to take cues from both the PH2 druid and the Protector. Have the daily power be essentially transformation powers where you temporarily are able to assume aspects of your draconic form. For utility powers just look at the changeling and dragonborn racial powers and for some clues. I'd do it like an Essentials class so like at some point you get natural claw attacks (which would let you use Ki implements)
So tonight I am working on a boss monster shadow dragon, which is one of the most important figures of the game. The players first encountered it at level 1 - nearly five years ago real time - and they will be ding to 28 when they finish the encounter. For the first ten levels of play, they were in the creature's thrall as geased pirates - it was itself the prow of the ship.
It's going to be a long night of fine-tuning this critter's abilities and environment to make it the most nightmare-inducing shadow dragon imaginable. They already fed its own granddaughter and daughter to it to give it a heart and flesh, and just finished a rather painful fight with a more or less normal shadow dragon in a haunted hatchery, after fighting two weaker dragons in a circulating fountain of treasure, so this encounter has to leave scars.
Since this is Epic, most of the hard work in a solo is making sure that the party is neither able to completely negate it nor does the solo completely negate their powers, nor is it boring when it says Psyche.
One such method I have devised for this:
Aura of Despair * Aura 3
Allies in the aura, including the dragon, gain partial concealment. Enemies in the aura do not gain the benefits of partial concealment against the dragon. Enemies that end their turn in the aura take 10 necrotic and cold damage.
Shadow Phoenix Rise * At-Will, Standard Action
Effect: The dragon can immediately save against any effect that a save can end, can stand up from prone as a free action, and doubles the size and damage of its aura until the end of its next turn.
Losing a standard action -hurts-, but this is a whole lot better than spending a standard action getting up from prone or going full defense because the party has applied every possible status effect including prone and then gotten well out of range or buffed their defenses into the stratosphere. When they see it once, though, the players will know they can still mess with it with careful hit-and-run.
I have some numbers I need to play around with, but this is what I'm working with for four level 26 characters to deal with:
Chaya ke Lavaka - The Harvester Level 30 Solo Controller
Gargantuan shadow magical beast (dragon)
Stage 1 HP 450, Bloodied 225 Initiative +20
Stage 2 HP 500, Bloodied 250
Stage 3 HP 500, Bloodied 250
AC 44, Fortitude 40, Reflex 42, Will 44 Perception +24
Speed 10, Fly 12 (hover), Teleport 6 Darkvision
Saving Throws: Stage 1: +2, Stages 2-3: +5; Action Point: 1 per stage
Resist 20 necrotic, 10 Cold, Vulnerable radiant, one of the dragon's Summoned Shadows ends. If there are no shadows, the aura is reduced by 1 square until the end of its next turn.
Traits
Aura of Despair * Aura 3
Allies in the aura, including the dragon, gain partial concealment. Enemies in the aura do not gain the benefits of partial concealment against the dragon. Enemies that end their turn in the aura take 10 necrotic and cold damage.
Taronvala's Cunning (Stage 1 only)
The dragon deals an extra 3d6 damage against a target it has combat advantage against.
Majestrix' Arrogance (Stage 2 only)
Targets that are hit by melee attacks can also be teleported into any square in a Summoned Shadow.
Harvester's Apotheosis (Stage 3 only)
The dragon's attacks can originate from any square of a Summoned Shadow.
Action Recovery
Whenever the dragon ends its turn, any dazing, stunning, or dominating effect on it ends.
Instinctive Shadow Summons
On an initiative of 10+ its initiative check, the dragon can use a free action to use Shadow Summons. If the dragon cannot use a free action to make this attack due to a dazing, dominating, or stunning effect, then that effect ends instead of the dragon using the ability.
Standard Actions
Basic Bite * At-Will
Attack: Melee 3 (one creature); +35 vs. AC (Crit on an 18-20)
Hit: 6d8+15 cold and necrotic damage and the target is weakened (save ends).
Basic Claw Strike * At-Will
Attack: Melee 3 (one or two creatures); +35 vs. AC (if attacking one creature, attack twice)
Hit: 4d8+10 necrotic damage, and the target is slowed until the end of its next turn. If the target is hit twice, it is instead immobilized.
Basic Spite of Magestrix * At-Will (Stage 2 only, only when no target is grabbed)
Attack: Melee 2 (one creature); +35 vs. AC
Hit: Stage 2: 3d8+10 damage and the target is pulled 1 square, and grabbed (DC 40). While grabbed, the target is restrained and suffers any effects currently affecting the dragon except forced movement. When moving or teleporting, the dragon can bring the target along as a free action.
Shadow Salvo * At-Will
Attack: 3x simultaneous Close burst 1 within 10, each within 5 of each other, +33 vs. Reflex
Hit: 3d6+5 necrotic damage, and the target teleports into another square within any of the bursts.
Breath Weapon * Recharge when bloodied or stage changed
Attack: Close blast 5; +33 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 6d10+10 cold and necrotic damage, the target loses a healing surge, and is weakened (save ends).
Aftereffect: The target's cold and necrotic resistance is negated until the end of the encounter.
Miss: Half damage.
Shadow Phoenix Rise * At-Will
Effect: The dragon can immediately save against any effect that a save can end, can stand up from prone as a free action, and doubles the size and damage of its aura until the end of its next turn.
Breath Weapon * Recharge when bloodied or stage changed.
Move Actions
Shadow Walk (teleportation) * At-Will
Effect: If the dragon is in at least one square of a Summoned Shadow, it can teleport to any other Summoned Shadow within line of sight. It must end this move in at least one square of that Summoned Shadow.
Minor Actions
Shadow Summons At-Will 1/Round
Effect: Area burst 3 within 20; this power creates a Summoned Shadow zone that remains in place until the end of the dragon’s next turn. The zone blocks line of sight for all creatures except the dragon. Any creature entirely within the area (except the dragon) is blinded. Enemies that end their turn in the zone are slowed until the end of their next turn. This effect does not trigger opportunity attacks.
Sustain: Minor
Stage 3: The dragon can conjure two Summoned Shadows per use, and can sustain two per Minor action used.
Triggered Actions * Recharge on a Miss
Deepen Fear * At-Will, Psychic, Fear
Trigger: An enemy within the dragon's aura shifts to a square in the aura that is not closer to the dragon.
Attack (Immediate Reaction): Close burst aura size (triggering creature); +33 vs. Will
Hit: The target takes 2d6 psychic damage and dragon slides the target 5 squares.
Shed Burdens
Trigger: The dragon's current stage is reduced to 0 hit points.
Effect (No Action): The dragon moves to the next stage, is no longer dazed, stunned, or dominated, and uses Shadow Phoenix Rise as a free action.
Skills: Insight +23
Str 27 (+19) Dex 24 (+18) Wis 20 (+16)
Con 26 (+19) Int 18 (+15) Cha 17 (+14)
Given the sheer power and self-support this critter has, it's going to be fighting solo. I'll give it a slightly complex lair environment, but one that doesn't horribly favor the dragon. I expect that the players will over-commit on their dailies around the second stage, and that by the third stage they're going to be running low on whammies and will be forced to go tactical to finish it off now that the dragon is basically everywhere. I expect the battle will mostly be one of movement and position with the dragon trying either to isolate someone in the shadows or get them to cluster up for a bunch of overlapping AOE.
If you have a beefy leader in the party, consider tossing on a version of the Autumn Nymph's Whisper Game power. Basically, someone gets hit with it, takes a little bit of damage, and has lingering ongoing damage. The fun part comes when they save, the effect automatically transfers to the nearest ally, and continues to do so until the monster dies. It basically guarantees someone always has a save to make, and depending on how you adjust the damage it could actually require some strategy.
I've used things like they before, and it is indeed quite fun. Today's game went quite well, with tons of positioning going on. The party behaved mostly as predicted, and when the third form started going they freaked out a little until someone figured out why it could attack but they couldn't feel it out by its aura. The battle never got super dangerous numbers-wise, due to a double defense schtick, but they have been fighting these things since heroic and they actually use a lot of the same tactics themselves.
Well, the party at level 28 still decided that diving into a pit to fight a god-touched (:winky:) dragon that had control over an entire massive island city was not something they wanted to do... so after subjecting it to a guilt trip they are now off to go find a McGuffin from the corpse of Erek-Hus, the primordial that split Io into Bahamut and Tiamat, as it should be able to break deity-made barriers.
Oh and they finally released the god essence that was playing evil genie in the lamp they've been carrying since level 5 or so. The bad guy has more or less won already...
Posts
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
For this encounter, I am finally unboxing Icingdeath: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeankes/2138236332
It's going to be a long night of fine-tuning this critter's abilities and environment to make it the most nightmare-inducing shadow dragon imaginable. They already fed its own granddaughter and daughter to it to give it a heart and flesh, and just finished a rather painful fight with a more or less normal shadow dragon in a haunted hatchery, after fighting two weaker dragons in a circulating fountain of treasure, so this encounter has to leave scars.
One such method I have devised for this:
Aura of Despair * Aura 3
Allies in the aura, including the dragon, gain partial concealment. Enemies in the aura do not gain the benefits of partial concealment against the dragon. Enemies that end their turn in the aura take 10 necrotic and cold damage.
Shadow Phoenix Rise * At-Will, Standard Action
Effect: The dragon can immediately save against any effect that a save can end, can stand up from prone as a free action, and doubles the size and damage of its aura until the end of its next turn.
Losing a standard action -hurts-, but this is a whole lot better than spending a standard action getting up from prone or going full defense because the party has applied every possible status effect including prone and then gotten well out of range or buffed their defenses into the stratosphere. When they see it once, though, the players will know they can still mess with it with careful hit-and-run.
It also looks effing rad in the mind's eye.
Given the sheer power and self-support this critter has, it's going to be fighting solo. I'll give it a slightly complex lair environment, but one that doesn't horribly favor the dragon. I expect that the players will over-commit on their dailies around the second stage, and that by the third stage they're going to be running low on whammies and will be forced to go tactical to finish it off now that the dragon is basically everywhere. I expect the battle will mostly be one of movement and position with the dragon trying either to isolate someone in the shadows or get them to cluster up for a bunch of overlapping AOE.
Oh and they finally released the god essence that was playing evil genie in the lamp they've been carrying since level 5 or so. The bad guy has more or less won already...