New GM, Hydra Encounter...

[gdoggcasey]

Hey guys,

First post here on the site but I have read several threads in the past.

I am a relatively new GM and am currently running a new group of players through Jacob's Tower (an adventure meant for new gm's and players) It is great so far! On the second floor the PC's are to fight a 5 headed hydra that has had some of its heads severed after some riddles are successfully answered.

As a new GM myself, I have never run a hydra encounter so I apologize if this is kinda stupid or mega noobie of me.

JACOB’S 5-HEADED PYROHYDRA CR 6
XP 1,200
N Huge magical beast (fire)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent;
Perception +10

DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 9, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +6 natural, –2 size)
hp 47 (5d10+20); fast healing 5
Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +3

OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee 5 bites +8 (1d8+4)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks pounce, breath weapon (15-ft. cone,
DC 16, 3d6 fire, usable every d4 rounds)

STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 12, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 9
Base Atk +5; CMB +11; CMD 22 (can't be tripped)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Iron Will, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Perception +10, Swim +12; Racial Modifiers
+2 Perception
SQ hydra traits, regenerate head

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Fast Healing (Ex) A pyrohydra's fast healing ability is equal to its current number of heads. This fast healing applies only to damage on the pyrohydra's body. Hydra Traits (Ex) A hydra can be killed by severing all of its heads or slaying its body. Any attack that is not an attempt to sever a head affects the body. To sever a head, an opponent must make a sunder attempt with a slashing weapon targeting a head. A head is considered a separate weapon with hardness 0 and hit points equal to the hydra's HD. To sever a head, an opponent must inflict enough damage to reduce the head's hit points to 0 or less. Severing a head deals damage to the hydra's body equal to the hydra's current HD. A hydra can't attack with a severed head, but takes no other penalties. Regenerate Head (Ex) When a pyrohydra's head is destroyed, two heads regrow in 1d4 rounds. A pyrohydra cannot have more than twice its original number of heads at any one time. To prevent new heads from growing, at least 5 points of acid or cold damage must be dealt to the stump (a touch attack to hit) before they appear. Acid or cold damage from area attacks can affect stumps and the body simultaneously. A pyrohydra doesn't die from losing its heads until all are cut off and the stumps seared by acid or fire.

OK There is the stat block for reference. At the time the PC's encounter the hydra he will have either 1 or 2 heads left. Will the hydra still have 47 HP even though it has lost a few heads? )(Those heads will not regrow btw due to story elements or how they were lost) If they sunder all the heads and don't use fire or acid to sear the wound, do they keep attacking the body until more heads regrow or it dies? I don't see any attack for the hydra's body so that would seem to create a few awkward rounds on attacking the body and doing damage until it dies or the heads regrow?

My main concern is the HP as I am really unsure if the hydra loses HP after losing heads, or if the HP is specific to the body and only the body. Anything else I should know about attack PC's with a hydra?

Again I am sorry if this is a silly question, and the wall of text...just wanted to provide as much content as possible to help you answer my questions.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Arloro]

For each head removed, the hydra should have 5 damage done to it (It takes damage equal to its HD for each head it loses).

If they sunder all of the heads, it dies. You can kill it by dealing it's HP in damage to its body, or by cutting off all of its heads.

[Dave Justus]

Riddles in a game can be tricky. Personally, I love them both as a GM and as a player, but there are plenty of players who hate them.

One thing that is a valid criticism, is how to handle player ability vs. character ability in this situation. A player who isn't very good at riddles with a INT 20 wizard may well just want his character to answer it, and their aren't any great mechanics for that. Conversely, how will you adjudicate a player who is quite clever at riddles, but is playing the INT 7 Barbarian? another problem can be that a lot of riddles depend on either language or cultural context and 'American English' riddles can be immersion breaking.

I don't know their is any perfect answer for any of the above. How it goes will depend a huge amount on the temperaments of your individual players. All I would advise is keep a close eye on the game, and if the Players aren't enjoying the riddle challenge (and perhaps even more if all but one or two aren't enjoying it and aren't into it) then cut it short and move the game along.

[gdoggcasey]

Arloro wrote:

For each head removed, the hydra should have 5 damage done to it (It takes damage equal to its HD for each head it loses).

If they sunder all of the heads, it dies. You can kill it by dealing it's HP in damage to its body, or by cutting off all of its heads.

Ok that makes sense. Thanks for your input!

[gdoggcasey]

Dave Justus wrote:

Riddles in a game can be tricky. Personally, I love them both as a GM and as a player, but there are plenty of players who hate them.

One thing that is a valid criticism, is how to handle player ability vs. character ability in this situation. A player who isn't very good at riddles with a INT 20 wizard may well just want his character to answer it, and their aren't any great mechanics for that. Conversely, how will you adjudicate a player who is quite clever at riddles, but is playing the INT 7 Barbarian? another problem can be that a lot of riddles depend on either language or cultural context and 'American English' riddles can be immersion breaking.

I don't know their is any perfect answer for any of the above. How it goes will depend a huge amount on the temperaments of your individual players. All I would advise is keep a close eye on the game, and if the Players aren't enjoying the riddle challenge (and perhaps even more if all but one or two aren't enjoying it and aren't into it) then cut it short and move the game along.

Yeah I am learning that haha. Luckily the players have enjoyed the riddles so far and were excited to answer them correctly. The Jacob's Tower adventure includes a mechanic where making a DC INT check reveals the first letter of the answer and a DC WIS check reveals how many letters in the answer. They solved one of them this way. I find I struggle with the time limit, because we play online, one of the players likes to type out the riddle so they can study it. Then they wanna make their INT and WIS rolls and the riddles are supposed to vanish after a period of time. I have resorted to making them think there is a time limit so they have a sense of urgency, but in reality I let them take as much time as they want :P

[Megistone]

Dave Justus wrote:

Riddles in a game can be tricky. Personally, I love them both as a GM and as a player, but there are plenty of players who hate them.

One thing that is a valid criticism, is how to handle player ability vs. character ability in this situation. A player who isn't very good at riddles with a INT 20 wizard may well just want his character to answer it, and their aren't any great mechanics for that. Conversely, how will you adjudicate a player who is quite clever at riddles, but is playing the INT 7 Barbarian? another problem can be that a lot of riddles depend on either language or cultural context and 'American English' riddles can be immersion breaking.

I don't know their is any perfect answer for any of the above. How it goes will depend a huge amount on the temperaments of your individual players. All I would advise is keep a close eye on the game, and if the Players aren't enjoying the riddle challenge (and perhaps even more if all but one or two aren't enjoying it and aren't into it) then cut it short and move the game along.

I tend to favor the group with riddles. First I let the players try to solve them: if they do, that's fine.

If they don't solve it, I allow their characters INT or WIS checks.