waiph |
I am starting off a campaign, and wanted to start with a bang! So I'm attaching my party's ship with grindylow, and want to give one of them a class level.
My party is a 6-man 15 point buy with a 2hand fighter, Rogue, Druid, Cleric, Wizard, and Alchemist.
Grindylow are CR 1/2 but adding the stats and class make the hit more like a CR 2, but has 1hd. He's a Ranger, so there is an octopus pet with him. I'm thinking him, his pet and 2 grindylow make a CR3 encounter or should I add a third standard Grindylow?
The Grindylow have a Swift action trip, and the pet has grab, (only going to work on my alchemist cause he is the only small one) but there are 7 bodies on the party side cause the druid has a wolf that will be a big threat to my precious octogoblins.
I don't want them to roll this fight too easily but the class level is looking like a big boost in power (+3 attack, +2 damage) but only 3 more HP. I could give my ranger armor so they don't drop him too quick, but that's a lot of potential...
Darksol the Painbringer |
Grindylows are Small in size, which means they can trip up to Medium-sized creatures, and Grapple works on creatures of all sizes; in other words, your tactics will work on the other guys as well. Of course, size differences will definitely work against you, but since it is basically free (what else are you going to use the Swift Action for?), it adds an extra level of danger to the encounter, since lower levels generally mean one-shots from anything, and a trip is basically a death sentence if the party isn't careful.
Honestly, having only 5 hit points means even a max damage magic missile, a couple of cantrips, or a decent arrow shot equates to a dead Grindylow, much less a hit from the fighter, so these guys are definitely squishy (as they should be).
Remember that only one enemy (or in this case, 2) against a party of 6 really works the action economy against them, so they will definitely overwhelm him in a couple of rounds simply because they can do so much more in so little time, not to mention the power of spells at this level can end encounters with just a single cast. If the party is optimized this will become easily apparent; if not, then this might be just fine. Since they are on a ship, running away from the encounter isn't really an option. Additionally, the Grindylows move very slow on land, half the speed of a regular joe, meaning the party with the right tactics should come out unscathed.
That being said, a level 1 party of 6 (each level 1 about a CR 1/2, increasing by that amount) equates to a CR 3 party, probably even higher depending on their optimization skills. A Grindylow Ranger class with a pet would equate to either still being a CR 1/2, or at best a CR 1, so him and his pet would get crushed quite easily by an otherwise CR 3 party.
I'd throw on a Grindylow Druid with an octopus pet as well, and about 2-3 regulars, each carrying javelins/spears/harpoons/etc., call it a raiding party who seizes inbound ships of their goods, and the party will have to defeat them.
waiph |
Darksol, you were right about the druid... Had to be druid to give them a companion.
This fight has been brutal. I rolled well and kept half the party prone, the alchemist grabbed and the heavy hitters pretty well locked down.
Then the wizard survived a crit and colors prayed them, and the fighter killed one, so there's one left...
I think it was a good, party s+%#s bricks fight.