Solo Monsters and the Risk of Boredom

Cross-posted from my WotC forum:

I think of everything in the game, solos have the most potential for a frustrating
fight. It's important that a solo fight take place in an environment that encourages
movement and interesting choices. Otherwise, you end up with the party standing
around, trading blows with one monster. Ideally, solos are designed themselves to
encourage movement, but that isn't always possible or plausible.

For example, let's take the dragon fight I designed for the Kobold Hall adventure.
Were I to do it again, I'd add the following to make the fight more interesting:

* An icy ledge around the edge of the chamber that a character can climb up to
snipe at the dragon, but the dragon can smash the ice and send the PC tumbling
to the floor if he doesn't keep moving.

* Pillars of ice that provide cover, but that can be destroyed with attacks to cause
minor cave-ins.

* Pools of water that flash freeze when the dragon breathes on them, trapping PCs
for a round. However, the dragon tends to stand so that the pools are the best
places for flanks, and the dragon can also be forzen in place with cold attacks.

* A visible treasure on the opposite side of the room, partially frozen in the ice,
that includes a weapon or implement that would be useful against the dragon.

* A thick snow drift that a PC can dive into, hide within, and then spring out of to
attack the dragon.

* Icicles hanging from the ceiling that a character can knock down to impale the
dragon.

I think that when you have a solo fight, you should look for terrain and other
features that:

1. Encourages movement.

2. Rewards risk taking (standing here might be a bad idea, but it gives a real
advantage for at least a short time).

3. Gives benefits for doing something other than attacking (spend a round to get
that nifty +2 sword).

4. Gives the characters "virtual powers", set pieces that you can use to attack so
that the characters aren't just grinding through the same sequence. You can also
create these to do some damage on a miss, to doubly reward PCs (they had a
good idea, and even on a miss that pays off).

5. Find uses for powers that the solo might shut down, like the freezing water
example above. Your ray of frost might not hurt the dragon, but you can still
freeze it in place.

In many ways, think of your terrain as filling all the gaps, and roadblocking any
potential lame-ness, that might come up in play.