Under the tactics for the night twist, the author indicates that it will use Circle of Death v. the PCs. But, if one reads that spell description in the PH one finds that it is completely useless v. 9 HD or greater creatures. Of course, this would include any PC likely to be playing the LOLR. Has anyone else noticed this? Am I missing something? Is there some other comparable power I could give this night twist if, indeed, it won't be able to use this spell on my PCs? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Scott
Yes, Circle of Death is worthless against everything but a hard-core summoner/druid. IIRC, the tree always goes down like a chump, and usually quite anti-climaticlly at this level. I upped mine slightly, mainly because I was running six PCs. I had a thread about it, here>
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/archives/changingTheTreeO fDeathAncientNightTwist
Night Twist went down pretty quick in my campaign as well if I recall. Not a big deal though - throw the players a bone and give them a few easy ones; they seem to become more and more rare.
There's more than one challenge on this rock.
This was an interesting fight, since it essentially was between the Night Twist and our party's mage: Everyone else having been affected by the Twist's song.
You have to think about it multidimensionally:
Ineffective against the PC's? Physically perhaps.
Works great against anyone with them I bet. Cohorts, minions, animal companions, familiars. Anything they've formed a significant relationship with or invested emotional time into.
In a hack & slash, it's useless; in a real campaign, it's devastating.
The Night Twist couldn't even injure a single PC in my game. Complete fodder.
The Night Twist couldn't even injure a single PC in my game. Complete fodder.
I'm mostly likely going to be running that tonight or tomorrow and that's just what I'm afraid of. Thank you, Rakshaka, for your suggestions for amping that guy up.
I actually replaced the tree with an advanced blackroot marauder 14th level cleric with Extraterrestrial template from d20 modern. The party will should face it next week.
It keeps the flavor with the spell selection while making it a tougher melee opponent. I had to up the combat power of the thing to survive it getting wasted by the party and their cohorts.
My party killed it fairly easily, thanks to the warmage from an incredible distance, but not before it killed the archer. After being affected by it's song the archer used his improved Cloak of the Montebank to get right up next to it. And he has promptly brought down by it's ridiculous number of attacks.
When my group got within range of the Night Twist, I started humming. I kept it up throughout the encounter, as long as the thing was "singing." Only one PC (out of 6) made the save; he managed to help a couple of others with Magic Circle Against Evil, and that half of the group was able to finish it off fairly easily. But they were absolutely terrified of it.
That was most of a year ago now, and recently I was running a scene (new campaign, much lower level characters) where the PCs heard singing as they moved through a marsh. It was harpies in the distance, trying to lure them in - but three members of the group started talking about that tree, really worried, and massively relieved when it turned out to be "just harpies."
So ultimately, this scene is one of those that comes down to the initial saves. The more people who fail (short of the entire group, of course), the more memorable the scene.
Well, my players (total of 6, counting cohorts) faced off against my replacement for this beast. The battle lasted only 5 rounds but resulted in two near PC deaths and a general pounding all around. I had the blackroot marauder speak in a moaning tone to "mimic" the mournful sound of the night twist.
The Marauder's biggest weakness is its low Concentration skill. It is not likely to able to cast spells in Combat, but if the party gives it an opening it can cause a lot of damage. I started it out by casting animate plant which scattered the group a bit, but they managed to regroup fairly quickly.
Advanced Extraterrestrial Blackroot Marauder CR 20
(Dragon Compendium/d20 Future)
NE Huge Construct Cleric 14
Init +1; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, tremorsense 60 ft., Listen +17, Spot +2
Languages Common
AC 28, touch 11, flat-footed 27 (–2 size, +1 Dex, +22 natural)
HP 276 (38 HD); DR 5/ -
Immunities Construct immunities, immune to electricity
Resistances Resist acid, cold, and fire 10
Fort +17, Ref +15, Will +21
Spd 30 ft.
Melee 2 Claws* +28 (1d8+22/19-20 plus poison)* Includes a 10-point Power Attack
Ranged Thorns +19 (2d6 plus poison)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Base Atk +28; Grp +46
Attack Options Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Power Attack
Special Actions Command/rebuke undead, detect good
Spells (CL 14) 7th – animate plant D, destruction, mass inflict serious wounds (DC 21) 6th – create undead D, greater dispel magic, harm (DC 20) 5th – greater command (DC 19), true seeing, wall of thorns D 4th – air walk, command plant D, divine power, freedom of movement, giant vermin 3rd – bestow curse (DC 17) x2, deeper darkness x2, magic circle against good D 2nd – death knell (DC 16) x2, desecrate D, shatter (DC 16) x2, silence (DC 16) 1st – bane x2, bless, divine favor, entangle D, shield of faith 0 – detect magic x3, read magic x3D: Domain spell. Domains: Evil, Plant
Abilities Str 34, Dex 12, Con -, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 10
Special Qualities Natural camouflage, restful state
Feats Ability Focus (poison), Cleave, Great Cleave, Eschew Materials, Improved Critical (claws), Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Improved Toughness, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Stealth, Track, Toughness
Skills Concentration +7, Hide +20 (+28 in wooded areas), Knowledge (religion) +7, Listen +17, Move Silently +9, Survival +18
Posion (Ex) Injury, Fortitude DC 18, initial and secondary damage is 1d8 hit point damage.
Thorns (Ex) A blackroot marauder can fire a volley of thorns at a single foe within 30 feet.
Natural Camouflage (Ex) As long as a blackroot marauder remains still, it gains a +8 bonus to all Hide checks made in wooded surroundings.
Restful State (Ex) Unlike other constructs, a blackroot marauder can heal 5 hit points per day it remains stationary in soil capable of supporting trees.
Command/Rebuke Undead (Su) 3/day; turn check +0, turn damage 2d6+14