I'm looking for advice. The group of mine that is furthest along in the path is approaching the end of the Smoking Eye module, and I'm trying to come up with tactics for Kaurophon to use. The group he has to face is as follows:
Bugbear Bbn/Rog who has a cloak of enlargement and a maul (blunt greatsword stats)
Human->reincarnated to Bugbear (oh god) Fighter 2-bladed sword enthusiast, who also wields Alakast.
Elven Druid
Human Bbn1/Sorceror
Human Warlock
Trumpet Archon with a split personality...though that's because he's played by two people...when one person is there he weilds a greatsword and a longsword, when hte other person is there, he weilds just the greatsword.
Any thoughts on appropriate tactics? Granted, this would likely only be for the first round, but still, any advice helps. He knows the two most likely to damage him are the bugbears, but the large one has evasion, so has a good chance of not taking any damage from his evocations...
I just haven't really come up with anything that might work decently. So I come to the group for help. Thanks for any advice.
I'm in a simmialry possition...
I have a Elf monk (with alakast)
A Human fighter two weapon fighter with a +1 holy long sword and a +1 sword (i had a rust monster eat his +1 flaming longsword) this PC is pain he is under the affect of the elxier from demon scar and it wont shake off (+8 to str -4 wis) he is also maximised like you would not beleave
a Human scocer with some nasty spells including greater invisablity hast and orb of force (blased orb of force) he also has a cohort who is a 6th level ceric (i think) for pelor but his job is to heal he dose very little fighting
a Cleric of St. cuthbert (who dose not know how to be a good cleric)
and a asimar paladin (the player was a warlock but he got killed in a side adventure by a orb of acid) But looking at changing the player around a little because he made him on the spot he was to be some sort of small paldin that rides a med spider... we shall see
Here is how I would do it
Cast these spells before he enters the room Scyring to make sure he know what is going on in the chamber, Haste, can’s grace, resistance, mage armor, bears endurance, mirror image, displacement, then enter the room have some BBEG lines that sound like they are out of a James bond movie the cast invisibility
Round 1: Greater invisibility and more
Round 2: Web
Round 3 cone of cold
Round 4 mass suggestion (enter the flame)
Round 5: Dispel any obvious magic spells that have boosted players (if these has not happened more to next round)
Round 6: if players are not in web web them (if they are next round)
Round 7: Cone of cold
Round 8: try and bull rush weakest player
This should give an idea of what to do… and personally I will have him ready dispel magic to get ride of haste that my player use all the time if I can do it after he goes invisible
And keep using tactics like these to pound on the players
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I've been having similar issues...trying to figure out how best to handle the party, and coming up with imperfect solutions at best.
Here's my best ideas:
Round 0: Invisibility (maintained and re-cast since the Nexus room...explained as his getting "nervous" about this place and the things they're facing).
Round 1: Fly. I substituted this for Displacement on his list to make him a more viable foe. Take off out of sight.
Round 2: Disintegrate (via scroll) on the party's Warlock, who is the only one who can see invisible. Fly to most inaccessable position possible.
Round 3: Greater Invisibility, fly to elsewhere in room.
Round 4: Cone of Cold...take down as many as possible.
Round 5: Telekinesis (on someone with a poor will save), and hurl them into the Fountain.
Round 6: Repeat R4 or R5, depending on the number of survivors and the success/failure of the R5 tactic.
In a tight spot, also remember that he can Blasphemy 1/day (guaranteed he'll use this if he gets grappled).
While his first priority is to get the Sign, he also doesn't want others competing with him...so he'll hang around after a successful TK to strive for a TPK.
I gave him flight too and took out inviablity all together and just let him keep greater inviablty (it lasts long enough once he touches the nexus) and i have him buffed all the way before he gets in the room because he would be scrying on the party most of the time.
I gave him fly and gave him an diffeent offence spell in place of invaiablty (i think it was searing light or somthing like that can't remeber correct spell name right now) but our tactics seem the same for the most part
oh and the bull rush i but in my tacktics was suposed to be with teleciniss
Ok, so the situation has changed since I first posted. Having entered the skull, the party met Zaur Sza and Motruk...
The trumpet archon bit it from a series of powerful hits by the giant. Zaur Sza plane shifted away.
They made it through the clay golem without a problem, but then spent a long time dealing with the throne, enough that Myaruk in the next room was able to get out all of his summons...
In that combat, Bugbear Fighter was held, then Bugbear Bbn/Rogue was dismissed. His luck check had him appearing directly in front of the Church of St. Cuthbert, but that's not exactly going to help. Fighter breaks free, moves up, gets nailed with the lich touch, and is paralyzed. Kaurophon bull rushes Myaruk out of the flame. (Myaruk then continues to use very poor tactics due to my not wanting to kill entire party and doesn't step back in). Druid falls to a Slay Living. Myaruk hits the bbn/sor with a harm, dropping him to 1hp, but then dies to a well-placed fireball from Kaurophon, ending the combat.
So the situation in the skull, 1 room away from the final room is now this.
Kaurophon is alive, with around 20 hp of damage. He remains invisible, but has now used 2 fireballs (but no CoC yet).
Warlock is alive and unharmed.
Sorceror is alive, but at 1 hp.
Fighter is paralyzed.
Druid is crispy crittered.
They have no healing powers, save for some wands that may or may not have survived the fireballs that went over the dead druid's corpse. Now here's the issue. They will likely hole up in one of the side passages of that room for rest.
Does Kaurophon know enough of the test to drag the paralyzed fighter upstairs and throw him in the fire while the other two spellcasters (neccessarily) rest?
And...any ideas of how to move around this near TPE and get the players back into the game?
Kaurophon should not know about the final leg of the test. His textblock for the final test indicates such. You have a number of options open to you. If the party saved the Coutal in the cyst field, he could appear to help. If Kaurophon still believes he needs the party, he could plane shift out and back with healing supplies and possibly your missing member. Otherwise, if you realy want the party to succeed, theres the old wandering do gooder. Possibly another good aligned adventurer who happens to be trying to redeem occipitous as well. If your Druid player wants a new caharacter, now would be the time.
Here is how I would do it:
Round 1: Greater invisibility and more
Round 2: Web
Round 3 cone of cold
Round 4 mass suggestion (enter the flame)
Round 5: Dispel any obvious magic spells that have boosted players (if these has not happened more to next round)
Round 6: if players are not in web web them (if they are next round)
Round 7: Cone of cold
Round 8: try and bull rush weakest player
Here's a rhetorical question, Molay...
- If you cast Mass Suggestion and have them enter the plasma, has Kaurophon won by sacrificing them, or does the first player to enter win by sacrificing themselves (and inadvertently sacrificing all who follow, as well)..??
Regardless, it wouldn't be fair to have Kaurophon cast buff spells before the last mummy announces the last test, because he has never been here and has no foreknowledge of the impending fight. Any buff spells he would cast would have to be already in effect from the fight with the Lich (in which I plan to have him "conveniently" buff up as much as he can, due to the size of the group he'll face in my game).
M
I had not thought of that.... interesting way to look at things... I have a two week break with my party. They are just finished with the fight with the black dragon and about to endter the skull so i have some time to revise my tacktcis witch i think that will do now... thanks i like that... I aslso plan on doing the bull rush idea that was sataed on a different thread and ask for healing form the party cleric...
Thanks
Ok, a few things.
1) My party hasn't gotten there yet. Due to a combination of poor attendance and apathy, the group is just past the Golem and preparing to take on the Lich. Alas, that won't be much of a fight, due to Magic Circle vs Evil (grumble).
2) Kaurephon has every reason to buff up to max. This place is extremely nasty, and he wants to stay alive. Anything that's minute-per, rather than round-per, he's going to recast until he runs out of resources.
3) In the situation described above (party in deep crud), I'd think Kaurephon would go invis, sneak upstairs VERY cautiously, ready to flee at a moment's notice. Upon arriving, he finds out what the deal is, says "just one moment" to the mummy, goes back downstairs, and TKs the fighter along back upstairs.
An alert PC who is on watch could be given a check to notice Kaurephon when he leaves, and would definately need to be silenced when he comes back to collect the fighter. If the PCs trust Kaurephon enough to leave him alone on watch, they deserve to lose another member (and K can just Plane Shift away after "succeeding", not needing to bother with the PCs).
Oh...and definately have him bug the Warlock to Use Magic Device the healing wand on him.
4) A Mass Suggestion to walk into the geyser wouldn't work, as Suggestion can't be used to suggest anything inherently suicidal (which the nature of the encounter makes quite obvious). A Mass Suggestion, however, to go away from the chamber as quickly as possible and never return, would likely work...and he can either pick off the slowest PC in the party or the one that makes his save against the suggestion for flame bait.
Nevermind that I won't be using Mass Suggestion AT ALL ()%#&))#)% Magic Circle vs Evil!)
So is magic circle Vs. evil a regualar spell they are using? or dose someone have a magaic item or what? and that really sucks for the lich fight the whole point of that encounter is to fight a bunch of low level summons then fight a lich
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From my reading, Magic Circle v. Evil only functions v. effects that give continual control over the individual (dominate is given as the example). Suggestion & Command are both short-term, one-shot efefcts, so I do not believe MC or Prot. would effect them in any way: Remember, it isn't Mind Blank, so it can't stop every mind-affecting spell that would cause a party member to act irrationally.
From my reading, Magic Circle v. Evil only functions v. effects that give continual control over the individual (dominate is given as the example). Suggestion & Command are both short-term, one-shot efefcts, so I do not believe MC or Prot. would effect them in any way: Remember, it isn't Mind Blank, so it can't stop every mind-affecting spell that would cause a party member to act irrationally.
I disagree, here is the quote:
Second, the barrier blocks any attempt to possess the warded creature (by a magic jar attack, for example) or to exercise mental control over the creature (including enchantment (charm) effects and enchantment (compulsion) effects that grant the caster ongoing control over the subject, such as dominate person).
So the protection includes (but is not limited to) enchantement (charm) effects and enchantment (compulsion) effects that grant the caster ongoing conrol over the subject.
Command and suggesttion would be included in "any attempt to exercise mental control over the creature" part of the spell.
So is magic circle Vs. evil a regualar spell they are using? or dose someone have a magaic item or what?
Last time she leveled, the 9th level Favored Soul became a Favoured Soul 9/Fist of Raziel 1.
First level class benefit of the Fist of Raziel is a continuous Magic Circle vs Evil effect.
:(
And I knew she was going to be getting this...it was part of the initial character concept, reviewed and oked by myself from the start. My disappointment for the lich fight will be made up when she has to deal with the ethical dilema the final test presents.
First level class benefit of the Fist of Raziel is a continuous Magic Circle vs Evil effect.
And I knew she was going to be getting this...it was part of the initial character concept, reviewed and oked by myself from the start. My disappointment for the lich fight will be made up when she has to deal with the ethical dilema the final test presents.
No need to fret that your player has made a good choice. Just run the encounter differently.
Important consideration for Protection from Evil: "Good summoned creatures are immune to this effect. The protection against contact by summoned creatures ends if the warded creature makes an attack against or tries to force the barrier against the blocked creature. Spell resistance can allow a creature to overcome this protection and touch the warded creature."
Presumably the lich will realize the Magic Circle vs. Evil is in effect as soon as the first summoned creature is unable to penetrate it. He can still keep the evil summoned creatures around the encounter area, which will prevent the Fist of Raziel from manuevering much (you can't force a Magic Circle vs. Evil into creatures). Other players who move outside the circle will be open to attacks. If everyone huddles together they should be a great target for range attacks and area effects (I don't remember whether he has any or not, but perhaps he should have a few, and perhaps there are some creatures he can summon that do). Some of the creatures may have spell resistance, too.
Also, check the first sentence above. Summon Monster lets you summon any monster on the list, of ANY alignment. Evil clerics might be restricted, because summoning a good creature is a good spell, but a sorceror lich is not so restricted. A celestial polar bear would have fun with the Fist of Raziel, walking right through the protection.
Alas, it's not a Sorceror lich...it's a cleric lich.
The battle went down much as expected. As summonings weren't doing a dang thing, the lich took matters more directly in hand, cast Slay Living, and took a 5' step (out of the vortex) to smack the favored soul personally. She saved, took the damage, and slapped him back with a Cure Critical.
Not liking that (plus the claw damage from the Dracotaur, plus the Eldrich Blast from the Warlock), he stepped back into the flames.
Courageous as ever, and knowing full well just how NASTY this stuff was, the Favored Soul responed with another Cure Critical, stepped up, reached into the flames, took the damage, and took out the Lich.
Kaurephon helped finish off the summoned creatures, with a somewhat sheepish "oops" for blasting the rogue with his cone of cold (she was hiding out of sight at the time), and used recovering the lich's stuff from the vortex as an excuse to touch it, and ask to be healed.
So far, so good. The Cleric is languishing in severe negative level territory (5), the Monk was Dismissed back to her home (easy way of handling an absent player). Wands were employed to get everyone as healthy as could be...which isn't saying much...and the group pressed onwards once more, at the insistant urging of Kaurephon.
(scorecard: Dracotaur, Warlock, Gnome Rogue/Blade Bravo and Favored Soul/Fist of Raziel with 5 neg levels).
They reach the eye room, listen to the spiel from the mummy. The group begins to debate about who is going to allow themselves to be sacrificed for the good of the group, while Kaurephon casts fly and drifts up out of the way (I had the good sense to not have him blurt out something terribly stupid, as in the description).
Nobody is bothered by Kaurephon's actions...they're assuming he just wants nothing to do with the discussion. So they're all COMPLETELY caught off guard when he 15th-level Cone of Colds their hind ends.
Warlock: In the negs (-2)
Favored Soul: In the negs (-9, action point spent to stabilize)
Blade Bravo: Evades the whole thing.
Dracotaur: Takes the damage, still up.
The Dracotaur darts over to just underneith Kaurephon, looking up at him. The Blade Bravo digs out a potion to feed to the Favored Soul, desperate to get her back on her feet.
Kaurephon uses Telekinesis on the Blade Bravo, hoping to fling her into the flame. She makes her save.
The Dracotaur darts up the wall, across the ceiling, and lets go, hoping to grab ahold of Kaurephon on the way down. I decide to give him an attack roll...and he rolls a 2. Splat. The Blade Bravo stuffs a CLW down the Favored Soul's throat, but it's not enough to bring her around.
Kaurephon fires off his second TK, grabs ahold of the Bravo, and floats her halfway to the flame.
The Dracotaur leaps up to grab at her ankle...and falls short. She fires her crossbow at him in desperation...but doesn't pierce his DR. He hurls her into the flame, and gains the Sign.
Kaurephon, at this point, tells the Dracotaur that he can leave with his life, and his companions if they still live...they've done their part.
So he does. He brings them 'round halfway down the stairs, they assess their chances (not knowing that K's out of 5th level spells by now), and decide they CAN'T take him. So they use one of the four scrolls of Plane Shift to return home.
Jaw hits floor. Kaurephon isn't SUPPOSED to win!
Well, the group...they did me proud in the long run. They found a major city, swapped a Plane Shift for a Teleport straight across, met an Elven Warmage who agreed to go with them, Plane Shifted BACK to Occipitus, Teleported straight into the chamber, and (of all people) it was the brand new WarMage who winds up sacrificing himself before the rest of the group can finish with teary goodbyes and precautionary spells.
Boom...they have someone with the flaming eyeball trick, they Plane Shift one last time, and they're back on track to return to Cauldron, none the worse for the experience...more or less.
I love it! great discriptions and an unespected ending. It would be great if you braght the K man back with a few more levels in Sor later ither "there is to be only one ruler of Occipitus" or when you get free rain to bring back charaters in the last adventure (when the bring back valadru with TSE tempelt) Or just bring him back to mess with the PC's it would be great!
It'll lose something if there are no surviving PCs in the party between now and then...it's been known to happen, as my group tends to have high turnover.
I was actually trying to figure out how to involve K in the final fight with Adamarchus when I realized that he was going to win...perhaps he can show up just as the PCs are heading for Carceri with a "Yes, I know I stabbed you in the back, but I can't get HIM out of my head...I must see him destroyed, and so must you, so we're working together like it or not".
If somehow the PC who did gain the Sign manages to get permanently removed, I'll keep that on a back burner.