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I've read thru this set of encounters and I am contemplating replacing the Archer Ghasts with Advanced Arrow Demons (MM III). They can fill the same CR and role as the Ghasts and I think they are a better "fit"; the undead are Demogorgon's enemy Orcus' purview and the dual bow use of Arrow Demons to my mind follows Demogorgon's dual nature.
So, I am wondering if there is a particular reason for the Archer Ghasts, what do they bring to the party that make the encounter more interesting? Are they required for Nulonga's possession feature? Is there something about Ghasts that poses a better challenge to a level 19+ party?
No need for the spoiler warning, this is basically DM forum, and 99% of the topics are filled with spoilers and PCs shouldn't be here anyways (even the names of topics are sometimes spoilers).
Well, since current occupants of Wat Dagon are St. Kargoth and Nulunga it's only natural that the place will be filled with undead. As for Nulunga's possession ability, it works on any humanoid corpse, so Arrow Demons will do, too.
But you're overthinking the issue, since neither ghasts nor arrow demons will present ANY challenge to PCs at this point. I'd be surprised if they deal a hit point of damage to my group. They're just there to make the party waste a spell or two, really.
Heheh, I have had complaints about posting spoilers in a spoiler tag on this forum, so I will err on the side of caution.
I realize the defenders outside of Wat Dagon are merely a speed bump, I was just curious if I was missing something.
There were some talk a while back about adding some variety to the battles. Players getting tired of fighting the same demons, like Vrock, all the time.
Looking for a place to unleash a squad of Carnage demons as well, just for added variety.
Agree; despite being cheesed up for their CR, Arrow Demons should be toast for a 19th level party. I ran a number of them (advanced a bit, IIRC), with a good cleric, against a group of around 12th level PC's (the Castle Greyhawk super-adventure book), and that was super-challenging, mainly due to the huge damage output of the arrow demons and the fact that demons in general have few weak points (just like dragons). But I suspect that at 19th level, they will struggle to hit anyone unless you advance their HD a lot.
My intent was to advance them to at least equal the Ghast Archers attack bonus of +22/+17/+12 and damage with the +7 strenth bows as written. Since the Arrow Demons dual wield Large bows, they will be +22/+22/+17/+17/+12/+12 and 2d6+7 damage. They will have significantly better HP as well, nearly double the ghasts I think, but that won't matter much either to level 19 or 20 PCs.
This sizable advancement should net a few feats too, and I may go beyond the +22 attack bonus so that I can get a few hits in.
With a volley of 2 dozen arrows a round, who knows what kind of reaction they will have.
