So our party had been hired to take care of an undead threat that had been plaguing this town. A NPC was sent along with us to make certain we did the job.
Long story short we took care of the threat and then the NPC collapsed the tomb in on us to trap us inside.
Obviously the party is none too pleased by this. So, we know the NPC is a Monk (or at least primarily Monk) but we don't know his exact level. Given what he's done so far he's probably in the 10-12 range. He seems to have a high AC in the upper 20s and is rather tough overall.
Our group had now leveled to 8 and will have a month of downtime to create magical items and weaponry and the like.
I play a Magus 7/Ranger 1 (we have no rogue so I took the Ranger archetype for trap finding), we also have a Cleric 8, a Bard 8, an Inquisitor 8, and a Paladin 8 (although we have yet to play a game with all of us there at once, usually we manage 3 or 4 of the 5).
This is a NPC who had been a thorn in our sides in a previous campaign with different characters so now that he's once again proven to be an evil SOB to this set of characters we're all rather eager to kill him.
With a month of in game time to plan I fully intend to spread some gold around to gather as much information in character about him as possible but at the moment I don't know a great deal.
I'd love to hear any suggestions or ideas for giving us an edge against the guy!
Kerbouchard
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killing a monk will be very difficult for a low level group. they have the saves to stop casters, the mobility to evade melee and the second highest ac in the game with defenses against ranged characters.
unfortunately i cant tell you what to get to stop the monk because i dont know how he was built, but what i can tell you is create hindering terrain as much as possible, stone call is a great spell for this because it hits a large area and does not allow a save. flank him and make sure you dont try to stand toe to toe with him, as a high level flurry can kill a lower level character that doesnt have an insanely high ac. force him to move as much as possible and buy potions of expeditious retreat so you can catch him if he tries to run away.
Cast Terrible Remorse on him to make him feel the sorrow of causing so much trouble for everyone...
He will most likely make the save, at which point he will be unable to act for a round, then you surround him and beat him down. After all, even very high AC is not unbeatable AC :)
I'm assuming in the end it will come down to us beating on him, but, I'm just looking for anything (spells, magic items, etc) to give us an edge. He will definitely be hard to hit but I'm sure we'll have time to buff to help with that.
As for Aram Zey's Focus, its really only a stopgap measure. When we run into traps they're usually spaced out and as limited as the Bard is with spells having him able to cast other things would be more useful (and he has a 7 wisdom so spotting the traps in the first place can be a problem). Honestly our group doesn't play super optimized characters for the most part so even losing a level of spellcasting I do quite well. And the extra class skills from Ranger don't hurt.
Stone Call is an interesting option. I'm thinking of using Frigid Touch on him. I'm assuming he has no SR as he's shown no indication of it so I don't have to worry about that side of things. With a special blade my DM gave me in loot when I keen my scimitar I crit on a 13 so I have a very good chance of Staggering him for a full minute.
Terrible Remorse could definitely be helpful as well as it gives us a round to get into position even if he does make the save. I'll mention it to the Cleric.
Thanks for the ideas, keep 'em comin'!
Kerbouchard
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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Just beat him down over time. He either stands and trades with your or he hops in and out. The latter is slower, but the end result is the same. If you mitigate his damage at all it is easy. For example, stoneskin and basically ignore most of his damage.
You can magic missile if your concern is hitting touch AC or saves.
The paladin can almost assuredly hit with smite.
The cleric/inquisitor can almost assuredly turn off the monk's AC with dispel magic. I.e. he has like 22 AC max before items (10 base +2 monk bonus + 5 wisdom +5 dex). The rest comes from gear and consumables. He probably lacks enough cash to kit himself out in permanent gear. So, some of his AC probably comes from consumables. Dispel that and knock his AC down considerably. When his AC becomes more manageable, say 25, the paladin and inquisitor will murder him.
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It always amazes me...half the time when 'monk' gets mentioned, the assertion is that they're worthless...the other half of the time, it's 'godlike'.
He'll be a tough fight...but the first thing you'll want to do is pin him down. Monks are notoriously fast. Make the terrain work to your advantage by making sure to get him into the smallest possible area. Next, look at ways to make him flat-footed, and watch his AC evaporate.
Pile on.
If he's a standard, I do believe he gets SR at 11th, or thereabouts...
Greater Dispel Magic or Antimagic Zone. That way all his magic items stop working.
Do not attempt to trip/grapple.
True Strike...spell, potion, or wand.
Haste.
Slow.
We don't have access to Stoneskin at this level. Its possible I can get my hands on a scroll but I have a failure chance in casting it.
Magic Missile I considered but I'm pretty sure he had a Brooch of Shielding.
Buffed we should have a decent chance to hit (I'll be up around +16 or so). I'm not sure if he's got Crane Wing or not. Dispel Magic is a good idea and I'm sure we'll throw some of that in there to help bring his abilities down.
EldonG, the problem with the Monk is he has trouble hitting and doing damage. If a target has any sort of DR that kills Monk damage output. Their maneuverability and high AC makes them harder to kill, though. When they're three or four levels above you that helps them and makes their Stunning Fist actually a danger. Any of us would probably have a 50/50 chance of making the save against it. And of course in the hands of a DM dice rolls can easily be fudged in the favor of the Monk! Heh.
We should be able to pick our time to attack so I'm hoping we'll be able to pick terrain in our favor. I'm sure he'll have minions to deal with as well, though. Pinning him down will be the hardest part.
Standard Monks the SR hits at 13th level which is why I'm pretty sure he's not 13th because he's had magical things affect him. Possible the attacker got over his SR but I'm thinking no.
We don't have access to Greater Dispel or Antimagic Zone. The Antimagic would kill our defense and damage output as well. I've considered True Strike (which can be handy for a Magus) and we can Haste. Slow would be a good idea as well.
Kerbouchard
It always amazes me...half the time when 'monk' gets mentioned, the assertion is that they're worthless...the other half of the time, it's 'godlike'.
If built to Not Die, monks can be really good at Not Dying.
This isn't very useful when the villain can just walk around you, ignore your attacks, and kill the rest of your party, leaving you unable to stop their evil plans alone because you can barely even hit them. This is very useful if your only goal is to run away from a party of adventurers trying to assassinate you and you don't have a party of your own.
Even then, a wizard still does it better.
We don't have access to Stoneskin at this level. Its possible I can get my hands on a scroll but I have a failure chance in casting it.
Magic Missile I considered but I'm pretty sure he had a Brooch of Shielding.
Buffed we should have a decent chance to hit (I'll be up around +16 or so). I'm not sure if he's got Crane Wing or not. Dispel Magic is a good idea and I'm sure we'll throw some of that in there to help bring his abilities down.
EldonG, the problem with the Monk is he has trouble hitting and doing damage. If a target has any sort of DR that kills Monk damage output. Their maneuverability and high AC makes them harder to kill, though. When they're three or four levels above you that helps them and makes their Stunning Fist actually a danger. Any of us would probably have a 50/50 chance of making the save against it. And of course in the hands of a DM dice rolls can easily be fudged in the favor of the Monk! Heh.
We should be able to pick our time to attack so I'm hoping we'll be able to pick terrain in our favor. I'm sure he'll have minions to deal with as well, though. Pinning him down will be the hardest part.
Standard Monks the SR hits at 13th level which is why I'm pretty sure he's not 13th because he's had magical things affect him. Possible the attacker got over his SR but I'm thinking no.
We don't have access to Greater Dispel or Antimagic Zone. The Antimagic would kill our defense and damage output as well. I've considered True Strike (which can be handy for a Magus) and we can Haste. Slow would be a good idea as well.
Kerbouchard
Dispel the amulet, then cast magic missile. If it's not a brooch then its likely an amulet of mighty fist, or an amulet of natural armor. No matter what it is, you have helped yourself for 1d4 rounds.
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It always amazes me...half the time when 'monk' gets mentioned, the assertion is that they're worthless...the other half of the time, it's 'godlike'.If built to Not Die, monks can be really good at Not Dying.
This isn't very useful when the villain can just walk around you, ignore your attacks, and kill the rest of your party, leaving you unable to stop their evil plans alone because you can barely even hit them. This is very useful if your only goal is to run away from a party of adventurers trying to assassinate you and you don't have a party of your own.
Even then, a wizard still does it better.
Oh, I understand where the dichotomy comes from...and I'm not even saying it's absolutely wrong...but I've seen a monk be the one that decided the battle too many times to believe it's any sort of absolute...and I've seen them fall plenty, too.
Assuming he has good AC, just Summon Swarm him to death, bypasses AC and deals damage.