Monster Missions !

[Polarkin]

Monster Missions/Challenges

Have an out-of-body experience and live an adventure thru the eyes of your foe's!

The idea: Give players the ability to run some familiar adventures only this time they are the monsters!

Example scenario 1: The Kobold Liberator
Players 1 to 6
Player NPC Characters: Kobold Chieftain*, Kobold Shaman, Kobold Warrior, Kobold Thower x2, Kobold Sneak
* mandatory for adventure

Objective: As the new chieftain of the Snaggletooth clan you are outraged to find the upstarts from Stormreach enslaving your brothers to mine crystals in the dangerous lava caves. Liberate at least 5 kobold workers from their Stormreach masters before time runs out.

NPC Character Details:

Kobold Chieftain - Paladin class sword & board style. Has a "Liberation" aura that will convert any kobold that stays within the aura for 10 seconds to your cause. NPC template gives player choices to buff up hitpoints, aura area of effect, aura strength, or npc speed.

Kobold Shaman - Divine class can choose from limited special feats and spells to be either healing focused or damage focused. NPC template gives player choice of Maximize or Empower Heal and choice of 2 spells at each of 4 spell levels.

Kobold Warrior - Fighter Class melee. NPC template gives player choice to select TWF or THF style, buff hitpoints or enhance combat tactics.

Kobold Thrower - Ranged dps Class. NPC template gives player choice to be Kobold Ranger (shortbow, endless element-type damage arrows, Manyshot feat on 2min timer) or a Kobold Artificer (light repeater, endless element-type damage bolts, Endless Fusilage feat on 1 min timer) or a Kobold Monk (Shuriken (choose from type a, b, c), 10k stars feat on 1 min timer)

Kobold Sneak - Rogue Mechanic-type Class. NPC Template gives player choice of 3 different traps or diversions (example: a Crowd Control type trap, a diversion trap that when planted will periodically or single use cause a diversionary event that will make the Stormreach masters abandon their mining lines to investigate)

How it works: The 1 to 6 players in the party start the Monster Mission(MM) quest and are ported into the quest instance. Initially each player is presented with the NPC Character selection screen where they must select which of the 6 available kobold npc's they will be playing. Only the Kobold Chieftain is mandatory. Once everybody has selected their character they are presented with their NPC template where they choose from a specialized and extremely limited set of choices for feats, abilities/spells. Each template has pre-determined gear that is autoequipped and player chosen gear, spells, traps, etc... that is given based on their selected feats/abilities/spells. Once the party is initially ported into the instance they have 3-5 minutes to select their NPC character and any/all customizations from the template before the adventure begins. Players also have the ability to save the template so that they can use it again the next time they go into the mission.

Mission play: The stormreach masters have 10 kobolds they are forcing to mine their crystals. Your job is to lure at least 5 of those kobold miners away from mining to your liberation point AND keep the stormreach party from discovering and re-enslaving your liberated miners within x period of time. Use your mad-god given kobold skills to sneak, lure, kite, distract, or kill the stormreach enslavers. Use the random encounters of the lava caves to your advantage as most of the other inhabitants of the lava caves don't care about you as long as you aren't carrying crystals or don't present yourself as a threat.

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One advantage (besides the obvious fun of playing a monster) of Monster Missions is that it levels the playing field. Player gear/stats aren't carried over to the monster NPC's. Devs can design adventures both balanced and challenging to casual players and power gamers alike (although the trickier part will likely be making both extremes *want* to do MM's.. i.e. rewards)

[Polarkin]

Any feedback or opinions at all??? Is my description lacking or is there another deficiency in my post?

[Silverwren]

An interesting idea.

What's the reward for completion?

[somenewnoob]

This is what challenges should have been!