DMs Only (spoilers!) Whalebone Pilk combat actions

[Obbu]

Quick question for those who have run the whalebone pilk fight:

massive spoiler for the fight, so if you arent a DM - go no further!

Spoiler:

The encounter says that the PCs can reach pilk after killing the brine zombies, but every 6 rounds, more spawn.

Does this mean pilk does not fight until the initial zombies are dead: and that the 6 round timer does not start until the first wave dies?

I'm buffing the zombies/pilk with advanced templates and max hp, due to my group size/makeup: I'm also inclined to simply have pilk harpoon first round, then get stuck in, but I'd like to hear from anyone who's run the encounter before?

Did the fight last more than 5 rounds for you? As written, pilk looks nasty enough, if he doesnt get killed within 4 rounds: but if he doesnt fight until his minions die, his health pool doesnt seem to have much room for delaying a barbarian from ending the encounter in short order.

Also: i'm planning to just use the zombies slams, instead of the rusty cutlasses, as they arent proficient with them, and the cutlass damage is less anyway...

[Atticus Bleak]

Obbu wrote:

Quick question for those who have run the whalebone pilk fight:

massive spoiler for the fight, so if you arent a DM - go no further!

** spoiler omitted **

I just recently ran this one!

:

When I ran the encounter, the party spent a number of rounds trying to take out the zombies while Pilk stood on the stern castle. When three of the zombies were dead I had Pilk attack the fighter with his Steal Air and nearly took him out of the fight while the rest of the party turned on Pilk. I had the next set of zombies purposely try to get in the way and protect Pilk, forming walls and guarding the stairs. The fight ended up lasting a while, and the party loved it especially after they figured out the bell.

What makes you say they aren't proficient with the cutlass? They get the same bonus to them as they do their slams. +3 BAB +2 strength, their statblock doesn't reflect a non-proficiency penalty. Our Dex-fighter loved the sword wielding zombies because he could still disarm them and stuff. Made them feel more like zombie PIRATES instead of just zombies.

[LoboStele]

I ran this part a couple months back for my group.

my story:

I had a slightly easier time of getting Pilk into combat a little early, because one of my players is a Strix, and decided to try and fly the wizard over so they could attack the captain while everyone else dealt with the zombies.

My group didn't have too much trouble with the zombies themselves, so they did OK even with 2 PCs at the other end of the ship (I have 6 PCs total though). And yes, I did scale up the encounter some because of the extra PCs, but I just did it with additional Zombies. I didn't change their stats at all.

I ended up using Pilk's harpoon to snag the Strix and reel him in, to prevent further shenanigans with the wizard. That left the Strix by himself (and the Wizard in the water, incidentally), and created some urgency for the rest of the party to reach him.

So I would highly recommend the use of the harpoon. Could make for a fun element where Pilk drags someone through the melee, while a path opens up and the zombies move aside to let the harpooned target slide through. Then they close ranks again to repel the PCs.

Overall, this is still probably one of the most memorable fights for my group.

[Paladin of Baha-who?]

Undead are automatically proficient in any weapon listed in their entry. If the book says they're wielding cutlasses, then they're proficient.

[Obbu]

Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:

Undead are automatically proficient in any weapon listed in their entry. If the book says they're wielding cutlasses, then they're proficient.

Oh Great, thanks for that :D

I'm definitely looking forward to running this one!

[Munkege]

I just ran this encounter this weekend. Remember that Pilk has a seeking harpoon tied to the mainmast. I had him throw it, try to impale the biggest threat, then if he didn't, haul it in the next round.

I use the boarding action map pack, which has set gangplanks from one ship to another. The party was hesitant to board the zombie ship, so most of the fighting was done going back and forth on the gangplanks. (The player's captain got bullrushed into the briney deep, but luckily had Besmara's tricorn which I allowed him to turn into a raft.)

After a few rounds I had Pilk come down to get in range for his Steal Air ability. It is nasty, but most of the melee player shrugged it off after one round or before it could stick.

The bell is the main part to focus on. If they don't destroy it, he WILL be back. I had it drawn on the mat to draw their eyes to it. I also drew 6 ropes that attached the two ships. When Pilk was struck down, it was a race to destroy the bell (the bard was smart enough to make a knowledge check to know the story of Pilk)and also cut the boat free. One of my players made a profession sailor check to see if they knew how long before the ship sank, and when they learned it was less than a minute at that point it really kept them on their toes.