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So for the first time in my gaming career our party is actually taking on the tarrasque, instead of just talking about how nasty he is.
The party is an average of 18th level, Includes a half ogre barbarian, a dwarven defender, a radiant servant of pelor, a rogue, and my character, a wizard/beguiler/ultimate magus/archmage.
I'm thinking even with the barbarian swinging a great hammer (50ish damage on a normal hit and 170 or so on a crit) trying to match damage output with the big guy is not a good idea. I'm wondering if anyone has gone through this scenario, and what tactics you used.
Maneuverability and range. With only a 40 movement the tarrasque has a weakness against the scouts. Yes the DR and regen mean it doesn't really care about such things and it only enrages it more. These scouts corralled the terrible beast in range of the catapults equipped with vats of tanglefoot shots. The enraged engine of destruction writhed in the hardening pools as shot after shot riddled its body. It managed to break free from the mass and leaped into the bombard and while it destroyed the siege weapons and the soldiers running it the casters were exhausting scroll and spell trying to get through with a death effect.
Eventually a death effect managed to get through, leaving it laying there. Since it would rise from the dead in 3 rounds unless continued to be damaged, and fall backs such as lava and acid pools would not defeat it, the soldiers and scouts hacked at its body, racing to keep it damaged so it would not rise. Massive lances were impaled into its body and shackles built from adamantine and enchanted to grant them greater strength were fixed to the creature holding it in placed. Still the beast threatened to wake. The soldiers began to tire, unable after so long to maintain the force of the blows required to penetrate its hide.
The darker arts were called upon, dread pacts made and the fallen soldiers were risen as undead, ones that would not tire. A couple powerful constructs were employed as well to continue the assault on the slumbering nightmare.
None of this will kill the tarrasque, and the country lives in terror of the day the undead sentinals crumble, the day the golems finally wear themselves broken. Storms ravage the lands, brought on by a magical item placed here to generate lightning strikes that connect with the lances.
The tarrasque sleeps in tortured pain as the ravages being done to its body. Ash, dust and winds have begun to cover its body, the relentless remains of the undead spasm as they are compelled to continue the assault, many of the golems have been recalled to their masters, needing them against immediate threats to their lives and nations.
Their measures falter, and soon it will rise again.
I ran the Tarrasque as the penultimate BBEG for my last campaign. The best tactic that the party used was wall of forces to pen him in, and then hit him with all the damage they could. The cerebremancer allowed himself to be swallowed, could absorb the hp damage from being inside (can't remember how, to be honest) and then started doing damage from the inside. Add that to the damage taking on the outside from being penned in, and it was quite the memorable battle.
Anyway, the wall of forces were an ingenious idea, as far as I'm concerned.
Greg
Alternatively, in a pre-pathfinder campaign we battled a terrible lich who claimed the tarrasque was imprisoned in a "trap the soul" gem integrated into its phylactory.
"Go on, destroy me. Do and you unleash a nightmare upon this land that has lain dormant for centuries."