I'm running a Pathfinder-modified version of the Dungeon #90 adventure Elfwhisper (3.0, I believe), and the final boss encounter is set up to be a TPK against my party. I'd like to avoid that.
The party consists of a lvl.7 diviner with virtually no offensive spells (for house rule legacy reasons), a lvl.7 bow ranger, a lvl.6 antipaladin (who I'm allowing to smite evil for story reasons, with the use of hero points and some good RP), a lvl.6 shadow sorceror (with a shadow raven familiar), and a lvl.6 NPC cleric (their rogue is currently missing). They don't have a great deal of magical or alchemical equipment - only the ranger and antipaladin have low-grade magic weapons. They do have the aid of a dying lvl.4 NPC bard, who was attacked by the boss, and the antipaladin is being protected by elven spirits as though he were under a stacking mage armor effect. The party has proceeded to attack the boss over a harp of charming it has.
The boss is an advanced half-fiend shambling mound with some odd powers. It has fire resistance 30 and cold and acid resistance 20, a fairly high AC and attack as well as hps, and the thing that concerns me most: its spell-like abilities, which it uses as a 14th level sorceror. The one that concerns me most is blasphemy. That one, cast at such a high CL, could be a TPK on its own. If you have the magazine, you can see the others, but they don't concern me as much (except maybe for unholy aura, which would grant it SR 25 vs good spells/spells cast by good creatures once cast!). Honestly, the spells appear to be chosen out of a hat full of "let's destroy the party." On top of that, the boss is supposed to be able to use the harp of charming, which might conceivably take out the party's main firepower/muscle if they fail their saves. Its main concern is to kill the sorceror, who is an elf. She has currently gotten too close, and is grappled. Did I mention that it has a reach of 20'?
I don't want to nerf the encounter entirely, as it should be hard, but obviously I don't want to slaughter the party. On top of that, they've been grumbling about not succeeding at their other quests, so they probably will be unhappy even if they survive this unless they defeat the boss somehow. Since the game is supposed to be fun for them, and we've been playing a long time (pbem) without what they consider significant victories, I want to make it possible for them to defeat the boss - but I don't want to make the boss a pushover, either. I hinted earlier in the game that the boss could be controlled by the harp it now has, but a) they don't seem to think they can get the harp without killing the boss, though the familiar is holding it along with the boss, and b) they don't seem to have realized that the boss IS the boss I hinted about.
Since they aren't carrying much in the way of offensive power that can defeat the mound, especially with its fire resistance (which might as well be immunity when it's that high), their choices are to simply run away and come back better equipped, which they don't want to do because they're in the middle of tracking down the missing rogue, or abandon the harp entirely, which they don't want to do because they think it's important to the plot. OR... we're looking at TPK material. Or I DM fiat that they win somehow, which is a pretty hollow victory.
Other details:
- the boss can speak so long as it's within a 40'r of a dead tree (unhallow tongues effect), in the center of a clearing in some ruins, which is its lair. It doesn't want to go too far from the tree due to the SA spells centered on it, but can be lured away because it's not too bright (though it doesn't speak like a caveman or anything). It has dropped some plot hints about the antipaladin, and wasn't inclined to attack him (or anyone but the bard (a half-elf) and the elf PC) at first, but now he has attacked it and the gloves are off.
- the boss has, in the story, been killing off elves in the region for a long time. Not just once long ago, but continuously since it arrived; it just arrived so long ago that, combined with general hostility towards elves in the area, most of the killing was long ago, and no one worries about a missing elf here or there now. The harp is instrumental to keeping it under control, and the boss knows that the harp can do that. The boss is actually the pawn of a greater power, the true villain of the campaign, which the party doesn't know about yet (though the missing rogue does).
- there is an escape hatch nearby (within the clearing): a fairy ring that leads to the outer part of the forest. I've described a desecrate effect on the dead tree as the Weave unravelling into wild magic just around it, again for story reasons. (The diviner can see this.)
- I do allow hero points to be used to get hints on how to deal with situations.
So... is there a way to save this situation without being extremely heavy-handed with hints and cheating in favor of the PCs? They do have plenty of hero points (due to an old house rule that removed the limitation of max.3), so they can avoid insta-death, but... well, they haven't come up with anything clever and neither have I. Best-case scenario at the moment is that the boss crushes the elf, then drops her and leaves her for dead (though with judicious use of hero points she wouldn't be) and... I don't know, goes away for some reason. Maybe they even sever the branch holding the harp before it can use it (the ranger severed the vine it used to grab the harp before, but no one got to it before the boss picked the harp up again - not sure why she thinks it won't work again), and grab the harp. But I doubt they'd let it go (or use the harp to control it, since they don't seem to have understood that this is the boss the harp was meant to control, and with the bard dying and no one inclined to help him, no one can play it anyway), and if they did, they'd be unhappy about another "defeat." Quandary!
TL;DR: The boss is too tough for the party (with their limited resources) to win at the moment, but I don't want to nerf it too much. I would prefer that they have some sort of victory, even if they don't manage to destroy the boss. Ideas on how to achieve this? I'm no good at building monsters, which is why I used a published one in the first place. I suspect a story solution is called for, I just can't see the forest for the shambling mound. :P
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I hate to say it... but it sounds like you need a bit of fiat. Just for a round, at least, put emphasis on the fact that the Sorcerer's familiar is fighting with the mound for control of the harp, pecking at an arm-branch that's reaching over to swat the bird away and play it.
The distraction causes the boss to loosen its grip on the Sorcerer (lowering its CMB so that she has a chance to escape.)
I hate to say it... but it sounds like you need a bit of fiat. Just for a round, at least, put emphasis on the fact that the Sorcerer's familiar is fighting with the mound for control of the harp, pecking at an arm-branch that's reaching over to swat the bird away and play it.
The distraction causes the boss to loosen its grip on the Sorcerer (lowering its CMB so that she has a chance to escape.)
Not a bad idea, but that still leaves the rest of the battle, during which it's bound to be Bad News for the party unless rebuilt somehow...
Just going to remind myself of what shambling mounds have, first...
14 HD is +5 HD over what a shambling mound usually gets.
20' reach suggests Gargantuan size, so +8 Con there. Either +2 or +4 from half-fiendish.
So +5d8 averages +22.5 hp; +10-12 Con* is +70-84 hp = 92.5 - 106.5. This should be a rough +6 CL... and then +3 for half-fiend of 11+HD...you have an undergeared APL 6 party fighting a CR 15 monster! Plus its unique weakness is not in play, because it's holding the Harp - and the only character that could use the Harp is about to die.
The party cannot win without fiat on the level of "Mordenkainen appears and starts casting spells named for himself."
Since there's no valid mechanical way for the party to overcome this, I'd spin it like this: they need to choose an objective with which they'll be satisfied as a minor victory, and then execute. Thieve harp, escape, return to rain righteous vengeful destruction wrath upon the squisher of friendly sorcerers a later day. If they can snatch the harp *and* somehow recover the sorcerer, it would be prudent to skedaddle by the quickest means available.
Don't feel badly if your characters get offed with this encounter. If they aren't judicious enough to survive by means of the better part of valor, then tie the new PCs to the deceased by means of good story (blood kin, old army buddies, contemporaries at the mage academy, whatever) to give them motive to deal with the great shambling scourge. If hero points are solid enough to avoid the finality of a squishing death, maybe they could be solid enough to transmit a telepathic message to at least one backup character that has ties to a party member.
The *only* way for such a party to defeat such a foe is by means of INFORMATION. They, interestingly enough, have a great deal of that information now -- I think they should regroup and build a plan of attack. If that's not good enough, the only other thing I can think of would be some way of giving them the opportunity to break the half-fiendish template on the beast. And that still won't do enough to save them . . . .
Without the stats of the creature its hard to say, but your problem seems to be that you set a creature the pc's cannot fight against them in a situation were they need to fight it, and then are surprised they can't fight it.
You could just switch to a Pathdinder based half fiendish Shambling mound which would be a level appropriate encounter instead of whatever random set of stats it has
Unnamed Hero
Half-fiend shambling mound (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, 246)
N Large outsider (plant, native)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +12
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 21, touch 10, flat-footed 20 (+1 Dex, +11 natural, -1 size)
hp 76 (9d8+36)
Fort +10, Ref +6, Will +6
DR 5/magic; Immune electricity, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, stunning; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 19
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (good), swim 20 ft.
Melee bite +11 (1d8+6), 2 claws +11 (1d6+6), 2 slams +12 (2d6+6 plus grab)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks constrict (2d6+6), smite good
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th; concentration +9)
. . 3/day—darkness, poison
. . 1/day—contagion, desecrate, unholy blight
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 23, Dex 12, Con 19, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 11
Base Atk +6; CMB +13 (+17 grapple); CMD 24
Feats Cleave, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (slam)
Skills Acrobatics +1 (-3 to jump), Fly +3, Perception +12, Stealth +9 (+17 in swamps or forest), Swim +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Stealth, +8 Stealth in swamps or forest
Languages Common, Sylvan (can't speak)
SQ electric fortitude
Other Gear 150 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Cleave If you hit a foe, attack an adjacent target at the same attack bonus but take -2 AC.
Contagion (1/day) (Sp) Granted by Half-Fiend heritage.
Infects subject with chosen disease.
Damage Reduction (5/magic) You have Damage Reduction against all except Magic attacks.
Darkness (3/day) (Sp) Granted by Half-Fiend heritage.
20-ft. radius of supernatural shadow.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Desecrate (1/day) (Sp) Granted by Half-Fiend heritage.
Fills area with negative energy, making undead stronger.
Electric Fortitude (Ex) Shambling mounds take no damage from electricity. Instead, any electricity attack used against a shambling mound temporarily increases its Constitution score by 1d4 points. The shambling mound loses these temporary points at the rate of 1 per hour.
Energy Resistance, Acid (10) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Acid attacks.
Energy Resistance, Cold (10) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Energy Resistance, Fire (10) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Fire attacks.
Flight (40 feet, Good) You can fly!
Grab: Slam (Large) (Ex) You can start a grapple as a free action if you hit with the designated weapon.
Immunity to Electricity You are immune to electricity damage.
Immunity to Mind-Affecting effects You are immune to Mind-Affecting effects.
Immunity to Paralysis You are immune to paralysis.
Immunity to Poison You are immune to poison.
Immunity to Polymorph You are immune to Polymorph effects.
Immunity to Sleep You are immune to sleep effects.
Immunity to Stunning You are immune to being stunned.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Poison (3/day) (Sp) Granted by Half-Fiend heritage.
Touch deals 1d10 Con damage, repeats in 1 min.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Smite Good (1/day) (Su) +0 to hit, +9 to damage, +0 deflection bonus to AC when used.
Spell Resistance (19) You have Spell Resistance.
Swimming (20 feet) You have a Swim speed.
Unholy Blight (1/day) (Sp) Granted by Half-Fiend heritage.
Harms and sickens good creatures (1d8 damage/2 levels).
Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.
The monster is listed as CR8, and I'm not that experienced a DM (which is why I was using a published adventure), so I didn't realize how horridly it was overpowered before too late. I have no idea how this monster got published.
Syrus: I'd really prefer not to kill anybody because I made a dumb mistake... though dropping a few more hints about the knowledge they already have might be a good idea.
Thanks for that rebuild, JohnHawkins! That's extremely helpful! :) (Though the look on their faces if it started flying around would be priceless.)