Design & Development: Elite Bulette

[PnP News Bot]

Check out this new article Wizards of the Coast posted recently:

Design & Development: Elite Bulette

The bulette is back! Check out how this classic D&D monster is updated in 4th Edition, and get a sneak preview of what we mean when we call a monster "elite."

[Moritz]

They mean it's going to have a silver or gold dragon around it's picture-icon-avatar.

[Digital Arcanist]

Did you read the battle description Mo? They are making these things pretty wicked. I still don't know why they need to add elite monsters to the mix. I guess they are following the trends of MMO's....

I can't wait until the first Level ??? Humanoid appears!

[Farcaster]

So, are we talking about an elite version of the monster, or all bulettes are elite?

I'm also a little confused about this quote, "Fourth Edition has such elite monsters because you don’t always want a straight one-on-one fight -- sometimes a monster should just be bigger, tougher, and scarier than the norm." Can't I do the same thing in 3rd edition by advancing a monster's HD?

[InfoStorm]

It's Advertising speak. To me it almost sounds like monsters may have a list of optional special abilities that can be added. That rock-shower thing is definately not in the 3x version.

Yea, I currently have fun with advancing critters, using templates, etc is I want something meaner and tougher, but I only do so for "climax battles" and such.

[Digital Arcanist]

So, are we talking about an elite version of the monster, or all bulettes are elite?

I'm also a little confused about this quote, "Fourth Edition has such elite monsters because you don’t always want a straight one-on-one fight -- sometimes a monster should just be bigger, tougher, and scarier than the norm." Can't I do the same thing in 3rd edition by advancing a monster's HD?

Exactly!!!! There are a ton of ways to increase the difficulty of a monster without labeling it "elite."

[Farcaster]

Well actually, in 3.5, elite does mean something. It would mean that the creature has the elite array of stats, giving it a +4, +4, +2, +2, +0, -2 spread. I've created a number of "advanced elite so-and-so" varieties of monsters. Heck the problem that I always had is that there are so many cool critters to throw at the party and only so much time to do it in. Having a mechanic for advancing and adding templates is a huge help.

And really, who doesn't like facing advanced-elite-paragon beholders every once in a while?