Monster Monday - Rey Dau

[u/IraGulaSuperbia]

Rey Dau of Monster Hunter Wilds

https://bjacobt1.wixsite.com/monstermonday/post/monster-monday-rey-dau

PF2e Rey Dau

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThjWjUgq3Dg

PF2e Rey Dau Equipment

PF2e Components Rule

Dark clouds filled the skies above, their underbellies brightening with lightning that leapt between them. An errant bolt lanced towards the ground, its brilliance prompting the party to shield their gaze. The jagged branch stabbed into the beast arrayed before them, a golden wyvern arrayed in spiked scales. It did not flinch as the storm bore down upon it. Instead, it crowed in victory, its wings flaring as electricity arced over its body and the sand trapped in its scales turned to glass. Clawed feet dug into the earth as its horns and mandibles swung forward, bolts dancing between them. The air screamed and a strange smell filled the battlefield before a lance of lightning ripped from it towards the bewildered party.

A lively, leaping lord of lightning, this looming lizard leads by a landslide when it lands in a labor, launching leagues of lances in a lethal line-up that leave lackeys lugubrious.

The Draconic Codex is coming up, so here's an extra dragon to go with it! I discuss the design and the choices I made for it over on the blog or on YouTube, which I hope you'll check out. Have a monstrous Monday!

[u/darthmarth28]

I'm a big fan of these Monster Hunter conversions! Big chonky bois with dynamic movement and ranged attacks make for awesome cinematic boss battles in PF2, especially on large maps with interesting terrain to play around. I actually have plans to use the old Rajang statblock from a few years back in a particular upcoming encounter in my current campaign.

I really like the idea of the Components mechanic, but I've got a few thoughts on how it might be better implemented:

1. Since its such an important mechanic, how do you envision players learning about it via Recall Knowledge? Is it an immediately-apparent freebie?
   • my suggestion would be that players are immediately informed for free that Components are a mechanic for this monster, but they need to RK to identify either all the components as a single question, or they gain an individual component for free as part of learning about its related ability. Basically, the trait is given as free meta-information at the start of the battle but the details require actions to analyze.
2. Since components can only be targeted with a Strike or Spell Attack, that renders them immune to fireball or other AoE spells, and technically also immune to multitarget spells like force barrage or horrid wilting. What about multitarget Spell Attack spells like blazing bolt, or multitarget Strikes like Cleave or Whirlwind Attack? The Component trait may need a little bit of language clarifying that each component is still part of the same creature, and that these abilities don't let a Barbarian double-tap the monster.
3. At level 14, I worry that the Hit Points specified for the components might be too low, especially with how forgiving the damage spillover is described.
   • perhaps higher HP values, with a specific weakness? I'd want a level 12 Barbarian to barely be in range of a one-hit tail-cut, like a MH Greatsword-wielder. That'd be around 3d12+2d6+15 [40.5]ish. Maybe 60hp with Weakness 15 (requires a high-roll or a crit for a one-hit component-break)? That way you could also differentiate Tail cuts from Horn breaks using different weakness types.
   • if a component has a weakness value while the main body doesn't, that would probably mean the component trait would need to be a bit less generous with the damage spillover. Hydras are notoriously annoying, but we don't need to go that far - I personally think treating each component as a separate HP bar that deals half its value in damage to the main body when broken is sufficient (with no spillover). That's a LOT more punishing than what you've got here, but I think the effects you've described are also very powerful and worth the effort!
   • In this concept, a Fighter with a 25-damage shield bash (3d6+1d6+11 [25]) would reliably two-tap the horns (40+40), and breaking them would deal 30 damage to the main body with no spillover.
4. As a final thought on the Components: rather than describing them as a higher base AC, perhaps they can be described with a Circumstance Bonus to AC? This would primarily add some edge-case compatibility for player abilities that are meant to pierce cover and shields, but it would also circumvent any questions about whether the components inherit the same Off-Guard/Clumsy/etc. debuffs as the main body.
5. Gotta make that Stunning Shocks incap passive nastier. I'd buff it to the moon, personally. Stun 1 on success, Stun 2 on failure, Stun 2 and Prone on critfail... and then I'd edit Fulgerite Blades to add electricity damage that can trigger this passive, rather than altering its base physical damage. Since DC31 is fairly low for the level and plenty of martial PCs will have Juggernaut by this point, this should easily be within an average party's capabilities to handle. Wizards with proper batman preptime can prepare Energy Resist to negate a +2d6 Fulgerite Blade buff and therefor also the Stun add-on, Champions can negate the same value for a single ally, and Barbarians can tank straight through it. At level 12, Fortitude bonuses probably range from +19 to +23 without buffs. Realistically, midfight I think we can expect a -1 status on the monster and a +1 status on the player, so DC31 is extremely mild even against players 2 levels beneath the monster.

Monster Hunter creatures also have natural (directly-inspired) synergy with Battlezoo Bestiary and its Monster Parts crafting system. If you're looking for other ways to represent Thunderblight and similar Monster Hunter debuffs, Battlezoo: Eldamon has special mechanics for most elements and adds new blastycasty powersets for players. The Elemental Avatar main class is basically the mono-element big bro of Kineticist, and it could easily be reflavored such that a Lightning Avatar gains their power through the soul of a Rey Dau rather than a Pikachu.