The Misery Siktempora never saw play before it was published.
It has a spammable DC 22 Will save ability attached to it's attacks that makes the target take a -4 on their d20 rolls... including Will saves vs this ability. Which heals it for 5 every time you fail the roll while under the effect. If you're under this effect, you're considered flat-footed vs it's sneak attacks.
It can confuse a character as a swift action.
Every character who has the Time Lost campaign trait takes a -4 vs it's abilities.
It has Evasion.
It can Whirlwind. It has 15' reach. It's in an enclosed space the PCs drop down into (at least when we encountered it). It has the aforementioned DC 22 Will save ability attached to it's melee attack against the entire party with that Whirlwind. It's almost certainly sneak attacking everyone with the Whirlwind.
Nobody ever playtested a combat against this creature before the book was published. I strongly doubt anyone with any Pathfinder mastery wrote it.
|
So, it seems pretty similar to an adult brass dragon (CR11).
Of course, dragons are over-powered for their CR.
I think the main problem is putting the foe in it’s perfect environment and the weird -4 (which in the rules only applies to its creator).
They did this is RotRL: a tough foe made crazy by the tough environment.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lest I misremember, you meet one at level ten. It should be fine, even if the creature is a bit too good. Pathfinder AP's normally include a few difficult encounters, it keeps the players honest.
Lest I misremember, you meet one at level ten. It should be fine, even if the creature is a bit too good. Pathfinder AP's normally include a few difficult encounters, it keeps the players honest.
I mean we lived, but only just barely. My point isn't that Paizo's encounter design is incredibly uneven, that's a given.
Lamia Matriarchs do a point of WIS drain every time they hit, and have mind-affecting effects at the same level. So if she hits you twice (which will happen, in all probability) you'll have a -1 to resist her effects, not a -4. She doesn't get sneak attack dice because she hit you with an effect. She doesn't have a spammable swift-action Confusion. She doesn't get to Whirlwind as a standard action at any time. She doesn't heal when you fail a save. She doesn't have Evasion.
Misery Siktempora is nonsense that would have immediately revealed itself as such with the first playtest. That's my point. My opinion is it's irresponsible of them not to do a bare minimum playtesting before publication.
So, it seems pretty similar to an adult brass dragon (CR11).
Of course, dragons are over-powered for their CR.I think the main problem is putting the foe in it’s perfect environment and the weird -4 (which in the rules only applies to its creator).
They did this is RotRL: a tough foe made crazy by the tough environment.
An adult brass has a DC 20 frightful aura; nobody in the party has a -4 to resist that. The Misery Siktempora's abilities are DC 22 and the people who took the Time Lost campaign trait have a -4 vs her abilities from jump. The irony here is that Time Lost can make the GM reroll 2/book, but this isn't a GM roll you're dealing with, but a saving throw. Anyone failing a save is now subject to it's sneak attacks and has a -4 to saves vs it's abilities (which, if they fail, heals it for 5). Unlike the brass, the Misery Siktempora is constantly spamming those DC 22 Will saves. Anyone failing the brass' frightful presence can be recovered with a 1st level spell: Remove Fear.
The dragon has sleep breath at DC 22: it's not spammable, and a companion that passes the save can wake a sleeping companion as a standard action. (Not to mention that a brass that puts the whole party to sleep somehow isn't going to kill them unless they've done a lot to convine it there's no other option.) Nobody can help you with Misery Siktempora's spammable ability if you fail the save, and the DC now jumps to 26 for you. Not to mention the sneak attack dice it gets against you for failing.
Misery Siktempora lacks the dragon's bad touch AC. The Misery Siktempora has fast healing 10. The Misery Siktempora has Evasion. The Misery Siktempora is immune to mind-affecting. The brass doesn't have quickened Vanish 3/day. The Misery Siktempora's Ref and Will saves are better than the dragon's. The dragon has more attacks, but doesn't have 4d6 sneak attack that works regardless if the opponent is flat-footed or flanked. The dragon never has a standard action Whirlwind.
To paraphrase a famous line, these creatures aren't only not in the same ballpark, they're not even in the same sport.
Add to that that the Misery Siktempora, unlike Xanesha for example, is not the end fight in the dungeon; you've got more fighting to do before you're done for the day in Return.
It just highlights the poor publication process Paizo uses. It's really not a burden to get 5 people to sit for 15 minutes and run through an encounter to see how a new creature's abilities snowball the party unfairly.
My group fought a Misery Sektempora at L.9 or L.10, and it was a challenging fight (CR 12 should be), but not anywhere near Xanesha levels. They fought another at L.12 and had very little trouble.
Quickened Vanish does very little because it *wants* to take AoOs, and competes for the swift action.
It's damage is decent, but spread out if it's using Whirlwind, and only average if it's not (even with sneak attack, which is hardly certain). It does an average of 13, 27 with sneak attack, to whomever it can hit. A brass dragon does 30 with fire breath to whomever it can line up.
It's "Miserable Source" quality does *not* mean every character with Time Lost takes a -4. Only a *single* creature in existence takes the -4.
Overall, maybe CR 13 instead of 12. And darn fun and flavorful.