ok my PC's are all level 9 and they are about to take on Nabthataron...I forsee DOOm. He is a CR 14 Deomn with many very stron powers....how did you guys handle this encounter...how many of your pc;s died? How did you alter the encounter...
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks!
ok my PC's are all level 9 and they are about to take on Nabthataron...I forsee DOOm. He is a CR 14 Deomn with many very stron powers....how did you guys handle this encounter...how many of your pc;s died? How did you alter the encounter...
Well, I'm just about to start the Demonskar Legacy, so my party haven't encountered Nabthatoron yet. If I remember correctly though, Nabthatoron is not interested in dealing with the party, he's just interested in making sure Alek doesn't get rescued. I think his tactics state that he won't bother with the PCs unless they do significant damage to him, and that he will teleport back to his lair as soon as he's killed Alek.
well thats sort of his initial tactic...it says he focuses on Alek until he is dead...then turns his wrath on the PC's...if he is brought down to 30 hp or below he then teleports back to his lair to plot his revenge.
I guess I could just have him pop in slaughter the paladin and then pop out...but it seems kind of unfair to the PC's....hmmm decisions decisions...
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Well my first question is how many players do you have? I had an above average size party (7 players) who were at the exact level they needed to be for the module. I can tell you that they wiped the floor with good ol' Nabby. I'm not sure exactly how it happened but in the first round he got tripped by the fighter and after that he really could not get back on his feet for more than a few seconds. It really wasn't the party size which did him in as he was beat up pretty much by the fighter who was getting way too excited at collecting her first demon head. That being said, there was no way for me to kill Alek and so he survived the mission. I really would not worry about him that much.
well thats sort of his initial tactic...it says he focuses on Alek until he is dead...then turns his wrath on the PC's...if he is brought down to 30 hp or below he then teleports back to his lair to plot his revenge.
I'm not sure if there's a difference between the magazine tactics and the HC tactics, but this is from the HC tactics section for Nabthatoron: "He has no real interest in the PCs, and if they don't seem to be able to hurt him, he teleports back to his lair with mocking laughter after he has slain the paladin...". They might have expanded his tactics section for the HC, but since I don't have the magazine in front of me at the moment I can't say for sure.
As an alternative, you could have Kaurophon turn up at an opertune moment (after Alek has died obviously) and have him aid the party. That should give you a seamless introduction into Test of the Smoking Eye. Of course, this way there is a very real chance that Kaurophon gets hurt (or dies), so be carefull with this one.
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In the FR, I've replaced Nabotharon with one of Ysvel the Black's undead apprentices -- a half-fiend werehyena juju zombie Druid 9 (no, I'm not kidding!). It's still CR 14, but a bit of a paper tiger with all those templates.
Also, keep in mind Nabotharon's Huge size gives the PC's a serious tactical advantage with terrain (he can't easily fit into all the rooms).
As an alternative, you could have Kaurophon turn up at an opertune moment (after Alek has died obviously) and have him aid the party. That should give you a seamless introduction into Test of the Smoking Eye. Of course, this way there is a very real chance that Kaurophon gets hurt (or dies), so be carefull with this one.
This is a good alternative, since it's easy to leave out the smaller demons that Kaurophon conjures up to "save" the party from.
My party had 13 characters of about 7th level for Nabthoron, so he gave them a nice fight, but a short one.
M
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ok my PC's are all level 9 and they are about to take on Nabthataron...I forsee DOOm. He is a CR 14 Deomn with many very stron powers....how did you guys handle this encounter...how many of your pc;s died? How did you alter the encounter...
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks!
Depending on the size of your party, this encounter can be deadly. I ran it with 4 PCs of the level recommended in the adventure. I also followed the tactics that were spelled out in the magazine version of the adventure. The end result: Nabthataron was driven off but not before Alek and the party’s barbarian/rogue were dead and the party’s paladin had been taken out by Nabthataron’s power word stun attack. Fortunately for my group, the party’s cleric survived and was able to use raise dead on the barbarian/rogue (they brought back Alek after they had completed the Test of the Smoking Eye.) so I was still able to make a smooth transition into the Test of the Smoking Eye. Without that, I would have introduced any new player characters after the party had transported to the Abyss. If you party is relatively small and you want to avoid party death, you could have Nabthataron teleport in, kill Alek, mockingly laugh at the party and then teleport out again. Be careful of your choice because your players may feel cheated by that. On the other hand, they may be relieved by it as well. I do know that when I was done running it, my players were relieved when Nabthataron finally teleported out.
IMC, one of the PCs was a page for Alek (who is a paladin of Heironeous). Thus, he was very interested in saving him when he was nowhere to be found.
During the battle, Kaurophon killed Alek, took the fight outside, reversed gravity and teleported away. Reverse gravity almost killed my party but I had accidentally given Nabathoroton telekenisis instead of telepathy (BIG D'OH) which let him move some folks outside, so I cut the party some slack.
The PCs were all mad about that encounter. The teleport in/out thing definetly didn't jive with them. BUT, since then, Nabathoroton has been at the top of their "hit list": as in, every time there is downtime in the game there has been some discussion of "Let's go get Nabathoroton." As morbid(?) stated above, I will be bringing him back after Karraan Kural. Has anyone done this well? I'm looking to make it a memorable encounter. Suggestions for terrain, etc?
Grunk
I will have 4 PC's and one Dungeon Master controlled NPC. The PC's are as follows: Human Fighter/Cleric 3rd/6th, Half-orc Monk 9th, Human Wizard (conjurer) 9th, and a Human Paladin of St. Cuthbert/ Knight of the Chalice 8th/1st.
The NPC is my halfling rogue/Cleric of Olidhamara 8th/1st
Thanks for the above description, his tactics they have indeed changed a little from the magazine's original printing. With which I disagree a little. I mean he's a demon. What demon wouldnt LOVE the chance to slaughter 2 paladins and a cleric all in a few minutes work, and complete his plan in the process?
Not sure how I'll handle this... I will have Nabthataron kill Alek...that is certain. I might have kauphron show up and aid them in their battle and be gravely injured (not killed), to help with the trust factor there.
The cleric and the paladin in my group, I think, will be eager to try to vanquish such a demonic threat, espicially one thats been plaguing the area for such a long time. I think if I have him taunt them (after beating on them for a few rounds) then port away that those two PC's will be upset. The other will probably be relieved. But looking at his stats...Im sure they definatly cannot kill him. he is a +5 CR monster.