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A PC who can knock mobs prone or force their movement can wreck an encounter singlehandedly.

So...thinking of ways to get around this, other than the bad idea of completely neutralizing the power by giving the mobs a cheesy "immune to forced movement" attribute, what are some ways to make a mob more dangerous and/or punish the PC who knocks it down or slides it around the battlefield?

I don't want to completely eliminate the controller's ability to shove the mobs around, just make them think twice about it and have to make a hard choice.

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Why not use just ranged monsters?

I don't see forced movement as a problem for the most part. Typically its used to either move monsters away from ranged characters or towards melee characters (or away from the weak or injured). However, if you use monsters that are effective at range, or effective in both close quarters and at range then you will solve this problem easily.

Who care whether the monster can move or needs to spend his turn standing up if he has an effective ranged attack.

Also, monsters that are able to charge effectively are also a good use here. "You just move me 2 squares away? who cares I stand up then charge you and still do a big chunk of damage."

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Because I was hoping to have a line of brutes or soldiers guarding some fragile artillery. Still I think this is the best way to do it. \$\endgroup\$ – Snowbody Feb 10 '12 at 16:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Snowbody minions might actually help here (fairly tough ones) they tend to clog up the battle field rather nicely... \$\endgroup\$ – wax eagle Feb 10 '12 at 16:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ They would have to be tougher than the average mob; my party's barbarian sees minions and immediately thinks "free thp". Maybe have the minions have a triggered-on-death attack (explosion style). \$\endgroup\$ – Snowbody Feb 13 '12 at 15:51
  • \$\begingroup\$ those work, or yes overlevel minions (maybe with high AC weak NADs or 2-hit minions). \$\endgroup\$ – wax eagle Feb 13 '12 at 15:55
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Well... just a thought here. If your PCs are knocking your monsters prone... what about this?

Have them get ambushed by a creature that can burrow underground and comes in swarms of 5, 10 or 20 at a time? Make it rather long, say two feet or so, with a light natural armor or slightly tough hide, and piranha-like teeth with an appetite to match. It is naturally coated in a slime coat for ease of movement, and are attracted to sounds / vibrations. The eyes would be covered over during the moment of attack but the things would have a sensitivity to light and ice, but could shrug off fire and blunt weapons.

This way the creatures attack from below.

Something along those lines as a concept anyway.

Though I also like what @wax eagle said about using monsters with a nice ranged attack, also!

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Dark Sun's Silt Horror.

Burrows underground, and spawns tentacles.

Source: Dark Sun Creature Catalog, p86

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