Hey everyone! So i have a party of greens horns who have finally made there way to the Temple of Wrath. Actually, on a side note, why the hell does it seem to lead them straight to Erylium? You'd think the layout would make her last....ANYWAY, they're fighting her now. Due to their in-experience they are having a bit of a struggle.
Once they killed the sinspawn that she summoned they managed to get a good lick on her. Since she's a coward, she successfully used her cause fear ability and cleared the room. Anyway, long story short, they are about out of potions and Erylium has managed to regain full health. They are trying to figure out how to handle her from sniping them in and out of her invisibility.
So i was curious, what was everyone's experience with Erylium? Was it a struggle for you or your players? Whats the story?
As best as I can remember, my PC's readied actions for when she became visible, charged and grappled her, then drowned her. (Before that, they backed off and talked with her for a bit - she stayed invisible for that, of course.)
And yes, this one should be a struggle. Erylium is meant to be very frustrating, and to force your players to think about how to deal with her, rather than just wearing her down with damage. If your players are new, you can help them as they discuss their next moves by reminding them of the room features and asking if there's anything there that might help them. You can also encourage them to retreat and get advice from their friends in town, who might then mention drowning as an option.
(Flagged to move to the Rise of the Runelords forum.)
I wanted to save Erylium as a boss fight, so I made the passage from the chapel of Lamashtu to the Cathedral of Wrath a secret door with a high DC. I also put a secret passage from the meditation chamber to the northern closet. It made the dungeon much more of a railroad, but my players didn't seem to mind.
One other change I made: I put in a mechanism that Koruvus could trigger that would raise up the zombies, or at least most if them. The mechanism took three rounds to complete, giving the PCs a clock to work against, and reverse before having to fight a bunch of zombies.
I wanted to save Erylium as a boss fight, so I made the passage from the chapel of Lamashtu to the Cathedral of Wrath a secret door with a high DC. I also put a secret passage from the meditation chamber to the northern closet. It made the dungeon much more of a railroad, but my players didn't seem to mind.
One other change I made: I put in a mechanism that Koruvus could trigger that would raise up the zombies, or at least most if them. The mechanism took three rounds to complete, giving the PCs a clock to work against, and reverse before having to fight a bunch of zombies.
Dang, what a good idea. Wish i thought that one up. How did the fight with Erylium go?
It was a few years ago, but if I remember correctly, the barbarian used his Raging Leaper ability and was able to jump up and grapple her out of the air. (I think he used a Hero Point to assist.) Once the quasit was grappled, she didn't have much of a chance!
So i was curious, what was everyone's experience with Erylium? Was it a struggle for you or your players? Whats the story?
My PC's battled her to a standstill the first time and realized they didn't have anything that could take her out (Invisible, can fly, regenerate, DR, etc. is pretty ridiculous for a 2nd level group). I had rebuilt her as a 3rd level Cleric of Lamshtu with a focus on Summoning spells and Murderous Command, incidentally.
So they backed out and sealed the door to the Cathedral, jamming it shut and went back up to town to regroup. I had Brodert all ready to give them a scroll of Glitterdust (in exchange for an escort through the lair once they had cleared it for his research), but they came up with their own ideas. After an evenings rest, they petitioned the baker for sacks of flour and conscripted two of the guardsmen to enter behind them and begin filling the air with it... the Sorcerer had five sleep spells available and the Paladin had a Smite available. They had to kill her summoned creatures but after that, it didn't take much after that.
I suppose I could have given them grief over the use of the flour but I generally prefer to reward creativity.
One other change I made: I put in a mechanism that Koruvus could trigger that would raise up the zombies, or at least most if them. The mechanism took three rounds to complete, giving the PCs a clock to work against, and reverse before having to fight a bunch of zombies.
I made a change that was kind of similar. I had the zombie cages at regular level, and two Sinspawn tormenting them with their ransuers when the PC's came in (ransuers have reach). The battle was in moderately cramped conditions and anyone who ended their turn in a square adjacent to the cages where a zombie was kept was subject to an attack by it. Anyone including the Sinspawn. Made for a nice, dynamic little battlefield.
Well they were able to finish of the quasit. They backed out of the dungeon and bought a net. However, the net was pretty unwieldy for them and failed again and again.
They were able to drain the well while fighting the quasit. I saw no reason for her to continue the fighting once she was realizing she was out matched. So i had her make a break for it. She tried opening the ancient doors and was caught in between them by our Orc, who was crushing her with one leg.