Any ideas for monster encounters... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Any ideas for monster encounters... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
synapse
07-18-06, 04:24 AM Im running planescape campaign thats just reached level 7. the characters are:

an elf warlock (level 6): strengths: hideous blow and greatsword
a bariaur truenamer (level 6, ECL 1): stengths: party support
a fire genasi psion telepath (level 6, ECL 1): strengths: pumped ming thrusts
a shadowswyft binder (level 3 binder, level 3 rogue, ECL 1): strengths: bound to Paiamon and insanely high Dex (high AC and to hit rolls)

anyway, though i had few problems at low level, now that theyve gone over the threshold to mid-level, im finding great difficulty finding characterful creatures (as opposed to random non-adventure related ones) that can pose a threat to to the party.

last session (the beginning of a dungeon) the party fought:

a necropolitan human wizard 6 and an ork rogue 6 - the combat was over in 3 rounds without the enemies even doing a single thing. Result: easy tresure :(

5 ghasts and an advanced spellstitched ghast - again, only one character failed a fortitude save for disease, whith the others barely even getting scratched. Result: easy XP :( :(

and finally a visage (a CR 9 creature from the libris mortis - an old favourate from 2nd ed planescape). again, thoug hid spent ages beforehand designing tactics and terrain to improve things for the opponent and make things ahrder for the PCs, they ended up destroying it in three rounds, none the less for their troubles.

now, i dont want to crete unbalanced encounters but that session was ridiculous. ive never had this problem before that a few tweaks between sessions havent altered but all combats have been easy so far. ?Ive increased the levels of classed NPCs the party is meant to fight, but to no avail. ive advanced creatures stats, even adding templates to make them more of a challenge but agai, to no avail.

My question: does anyone have any tips on certain creatures (preferrably undead or related to orcus/Tenebrous) that i can throw against the party. at least one combat that foils the partys strength is good to have. The party has no significant treasure (most of their wealth is in items currently being identified) and some dont even have staple items (magical weapons stat boosting items etc).
HELP!
BladefellMaster
07-18-06, 09:20 AM I'll post you some advanced monsters I've got worked up but I don't know when exactly. I've got to work tonight so maybe tommorrow morning or afternoon. You want one tied to Orcus huh? Got some good stuff for you then. I've got the Orog-hai (yes I know cheesy knock off) that are super orcs with both ogre and demon ancestry, but I'll have to convert them from 2nd ed. I've also got Dargauld Bloodfist, a half-fiend orc acolyte of the skin I made a couple of days ago using a homemade half fiend template, I think he's like a CR 12 though, not really sure.
Khael
07-18-06, 09:39 AM Swarm-shifter template (undead sand) from LM sounds about right. Immune to weapon damage, immune to mind-affecting abilities, does not attack by attack rolls.
It provides difficulties for three of your characters strengths, but they should be able to bring it down with some effort.

Take your pick on what it should be applied to though, any intelligent corporeal undead works, but from what you said, based on saves, maybe a vampire would be best. Not to mention this gives you a good (if cliched) BBEG.
synapse
07-18-06, 01:02 PM ive got no problems with the orog-hai :)
and ill have a look at the swarm-shifter... its pretty much the only creature i overlooked in LM. though i must say most the creatures (and especially the templates) are very cool in that book.

actually, swarms are the only thing the party is scared of... and i really mean scared! i prepared an encounter with an average cranium rat swarm and as the PCs saw the first of the critters emerge from cover they ran like hell! must be memories from bad experiences with 2 crow swarms (from ToM)!

thanks for the comments
BladefellMaster
07-19-06, 01:40 AM The half-fiend orc known as Dargauld Bloodfist claims to be the son of Orcus and uses his fiendish abilities to rule the Vilescar Clan. He has married the Shamaness of the tribe, a priestess of Orcus and the two of them lead their clan in raiding and terrorizing the surrounding country side. Dargauld's familiar is a Howler with the bonemail, undead skin, and vampiric fangs undead grafts; it's name is Spinerender. Spinerender often leads a pack of 1D4 awakened zombie howlers, created by the shamaness, in several hours of howling and quick skirmishes with encamped travelers before the Vilescar Raiders move in for the kill.
Dargauld's demonic patron is a Nalfeshnee Demon with 7 levels of Cleric of Orcus and 3 levels of Fiend of Blashemy known as Affier'itt, but when he communicates with Dargauld he calls himself Orcus. Affier'itt's cult now includes the entire Vilescar clan and a variety of hobgoblins, ogres, and corrupted humans. Affier'itt uses fiendish and undead grafts to reward the faithful and to create new monsters to terrorize the populace.

Dargauld Bloodfist
Half-Nalfeshnee/Orc, Fighter 4, Sorceror 6, Acolyte of the Skin 4
Medium Outsider (Native)
Hit Dice: 10D4+4D10+56 (110hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 30ft
Armor Class: 22 (+4 DEX,+2 natural,+6 VampireHide), touch 17, flatfooted 18
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+15
Attack: +1 Profane Orc-axe of Speed +16/+16 melee (1D8+7 dmg plus 1D6 negative energy, crit 19-20/x3)
Full Attack: +1 Profane Orc-axe of Speed +16/+16/+11 melee (1D8+7 dmg plus 1D6 negative energy, crit 19-20/x3) & Bite +11 melee (1D8+3 dmg)
or 2 Claws +16 melee (1D4+6 dmg) & Bite +11 melee (1D8+3 dmg)
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special Attacks: Fiendish Glare, Smite Good x1 day, Spell-Like Abilities
Special Qualities: DR 10/ good or magic, darkvision 60ft, immune to poison, resist electricity & fire 20, resist acid & cold 10, SR 24
Saves: Fort +15, Ref +9, Will +12
Abilities: STR 22, DEX 18, CON 18, INT 14, WIS 12,CHR 16
Skills: Bluff +6. Climb +8, Concentrate +6, Craft(Alchemy) +10, Craft (Brewing) +7, Craft(Weaponsmith) +8, Handle Animal +5, Hide +14, Intimidate +8, Jump +8, Knowledge Arcana) +12, Knowledge(Planar) +12, Listen +8, Ride +6, Scry +4, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +10, Spot +8, Swim +6
Feats: Alertness(B), Brew Potion, Cleave(B), Corpsecrafter(B), Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Improved Critical (Orc-axe{B}), Improved Familiar, Power Attack(B), Skill Focus (Planar Knowledge), Tomb-Tainted Soul,
Tomb-Born Fortitude(B)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Challenge Rating: 12
Possessions: Vampire Hide Armor, +1 Profane Orc-axe of Speed, Cloak of the Bat, Ring of Spell Storing (Inflict Light Wounds x2 @ 8th level; Vampiric Touch @ 13th level), Dreadmaster's Crown (grants Corpsecrafter feat, Rebuke/Command Undead x6 day @ 12th level, Animate Dead x1 day @ 12th level), Earrings of Alertness, Rod of Undead Mastery, 4x Vial of Alchemist's Fire, 2x Embalming Fire,4x Potion of Inflict Moderate Wounds, 2x Potion of Inflict Serious Wounds, Potion of Firebreath, Potion of Gaseous Form.

Fiendish Glare(Su): Once per day Dargauld can deliver a horrible glare that promises deadly retribution, this attack has a range of 100ft. Victim's of the glare must succeed at a DC 20 Will save or suffer a -2 morale penalty on all saves, and attack and damagerolls for 10 minutes. A creature with 50 or fewer hit points is also stunned for 3D4 rounds, one with 51-100hp is stunned for 2D4 rounds, and one with 101-150hp is stunned for 1d4 rounds. Targets of the glare with more then 151hp are not stunned but still suffer the morale pelaties listed.
Spell-Like Abilities(Su): x3 day- Slow(DC 16), Unholy Aura; x2 day- Call Lightning(DC 16); x1 day- Feeblemind(DC 18), Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Teleport(self plus 50lbs of objects only), Poison (DC 18). Caster level 14th, The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Spellcasting: Dargaul casts spells as an 8th level Sorceror.
Spells per Day: 6/7/7/6/3
Spells Known: 8/5/3/2/1
0- Acid Splash, Arcane Mark, Daze, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Mending,
Ray of Frost, Read Magic. Save DCs 13.
1st- Enlarge Person, Magic Missile, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shocking Grasp,
True Strike. Save DCs 14.
2nd- Bull's Strength, Melf's Acid Arrow, Scorching Ray. Save DCs 15.
3rd- Fireball, Fly. Save DC 16.
4th- Animate Dead.

Spinerender
Large Outsider (Augmented, Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 6D8+18 (55hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 60ft
Armor Class: 22 (-1 size, +3 DEX, +10 natural), touch 12, flatfooted 19
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+19
Attack: Bite +14 melee (2D6+6 dmg)
Full Attack: Bite +14 melee (2D6+6 dmg) and 1D4 Quills +9 melee (1D6+3 dmg)
Space/Reach: 10ft/5ft
Special Attacks: Blood Drain, Howl, Quills
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft, resist criticals 25%
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +7
Abilities: STR 23, DEX 17, CON 17, INT 8, WIS 14, CHR 10
Skills: Climb +14, Hide +10, Listen +13, Move Silently +12, Search +8,
Spot +13, Survival +5(+7 following tracks)
Feats:Alertness(B), Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (Bite)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Challenge Rating: 4

Blood Drain(Ex): Against a pinned or helpless foe Spinerender can drain blood with his fangs at the rate of 1D4 Constitution drain per round. On each successful drain attack he gains 5 temporary hit points that last for 1 hour.
Howl(Ex): All beings other than outsiders that hear Spinerender's howling for an hour or longer are subject to its effect. Anyone within hearing range of him for a full hour must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or take 1 point of Wisdom damage. The save is repeated for each hour of exposure.
Quills(Ex): Spinerender's neck bristles with long quills. While biting he thrashes about, striking with 1D4 of them. An opponent hit by his quill attack must succeed on a DC 16 Reflex save or have the quills break off in their flesh. Lodged quills impose a _1 penalty on attacks, saves and chacks for each quill. A quill can be safely removed with a DC 20 Heal check; otherwise, removing a quill inflicts an extra 1D6 points of damage.

How's that for Orcus related challenges for your characters. This isn't even a new storyline, it just has some newer elements added into the old stories. Please respond and let me know what you think.
dugandudes
07-19-06, 11:02 AM how are the combat sequences playing out? are the PC's in a position where they can hit the monster with a volley of attacks before it attacks? how well do they fair against non-corporeal creatures? what magical items do they carry?

an idea i have is to use a CR 10 creature for a four person party with an average level of 6, but this is more a boss-fight creature as it would technically be the same strength as the party. 6+6=8, 8+8=10 and the rest.

now, if you're having a tough time giving magic items try this formula:
take the base XP for the currentlevel of the PC/PC's, in this example: 15,000.
next divide that amount by the current level, 15K/6=2,500. now you have a GP cap for the treasure they can have. reference your newly found GP cap with whatever treasure you're considering giving them. i've found that this works extremely well when i am trying to give out items, but don't want to give out something too small or too big in terms of power.

it's just an idea, and it'd be cool to hear feedback.
synapse
07-19-06, 02:35 PM how are the combat sequences playing out? are the PC's in a position where they can hit the monster with a volley of attacks before it attacks? how well do they fair against non-corporeal creatures? what magical items do they carry?

well, one of the character has +18 or so initaitive (hes a shadowswyft binder3 rogue3 Cipher...) so gets to act first in pretty much every round, dealing sneak attack damage (to non undead, of course :cool: ). he has a +1 rapier

As far as equipment goes, the elf warlocks main item is a +1 cold iron elven greatsword (i forget its name; its from Races of the Wild) that he uses in conjunction with his eldritch blast. that and high Dex means his attack roll is fairly good.

the bariaur truenamers main item is a wondrous item that increases his truespeak checks by +5 (much needed, and his capabilities would be greatly decreased without it). I wouldnt say the party has a problem with items (as i said before, most of the partys treasure is currently being identifed by an NPC

the psion (when he decides to do anything...) is a force to be reckoned with when using his pumped mind thrusts (Will saves are not usually the forte of an NPC whose role rarely goes beyond being killed in the next combat...)

Armour is irrelevant since im using the Defence Bonus rules from Unearthed Aracana (the campaign has a pretty urban theme, and armour doent suit it that much), so AC is quite high (the Binder/Rogue is about to take a level of fighter... upping his AC to the mid 20's)

At the mo they are exploring dungeons, which means, depending on how loud/queit they are, the opponents in coming rooms may get to hear them which means they have a chance to prepare (casting spells, drinking potions, rasing alarms and so on)...

but once it comes to combats the party just seems to be dominating combats they should not be (not that i want all combats to be overpowering, far from it). Ive tried simple things like giving monsters and opponents Iron Will (a useless idea, ive discovered, against the psion and truenamer); greater numbers; extra hit dice and elite stats... none have worked so far!

Im working on an encounter with a Young (CR 8) Taretrian Dragon (the party is on its way to Carceri), and ive increase its size to Huge (increasing its CR to 9). it has flyby attack and various other move feats designed to keep ity out of harms way... il lsee how that goes (knowing my luck itll end up wiping out the PCs!)

The climax of the adventure (lets hope theyre not reading this :P ), which should be level 7-8 will involve many wraiths (lowered HD so i can ahve loads of them...), a Tenebrous Apostate (Clr2/Binder5/Ten Ap4) and a visage (possibly with the incorporeal template) so a few experiments with incorporeal creatures would be help to gauge the partys strength
synapse
07-19-06, 02:40 PM How's that for Orcus related challenges for your characters. This isn't even a new storyline, it just has some newer elements added into the old stories. Please respond and let me know what you think.

sounds interesting.. and its just about the right evel to challenge them in a few levels when im planning on increasing the party's contact with Orcus and his worshippers... ill see about incorporating that into the adventure
BladefellMaster
07-19-06, 05:50 PM great! just make sure you blame it all on me! just tell them you got some help from this *****#*!+ on the net. hehe hehehehe!
I've done it master. Almighty Orcus, I will bring about your resurection!
Orcus will walk the planes ag..... What are you still here?
:mage: *banishment*

Now that thats taken care of.....
:mage: *teleport*
synapse
07-20-06, 05:47 AM I've done it master. Almighty Orcus, I will bring about your resurection!

Forgive me if im wrong, but didnt Quah-Namog bring Orcus back already?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
synapse 07-18-06, 04:24 AM	Im running planescape campaign thats just reached level 7. the characters are: an elf warlock (level 6): strengths: hideous blow and greatsword a bariaur truenamer (level 6, ECL 1): stengths: party support a fire genasi psion telepath (level 6, ECL 1): strengths: pumped ming thrusts a shadowswyft binder (level 3 binder, level 3 rogue, ECL 1): strengths: bound to Paiamon and insanely high Dex (high AC and to hit rolls) anyway, though i had few problems at low level, now that theyve gone over the threshold to mid-level, im finding great difficulty finding characterful creatures (as opposed to random non-adventure related ones) that can pose a threat to to the party. last session (the beginning of a dungeon) the party fought: a necropolitan human wizard 6 and an ork rogue 6 - the combat was over in 3 rounds without the enemies even doing a single thing. Result: easy tresure :( 5 ghasts and an advanced spellstitched ghast - again, only one character failed a fortitude save for disease, whith the others barely even getting scratched. Result: easy XP :( :( and finally a visage (a CR 9 creature from the libris mortis - an old favourate from 2nd ed planescape). again, thoug hid spent ages beforehand designing tactics and terrain to improve things for the opponent and make things ahrder for the PCs, they ended up destroying it in three rounds, none the less for their troubles. now, i dont want to crete unbalanced encounters but that session was ridiculous. ive never had this problem before that a few tweaks between sessions havent altered but all combats have been easy so far. ?Ive increased the levels of classed NPCs the party is meant to fight, but to no avail. ive advanced creatures stats, even adding templates to make them more of a challenge but agai, to no avail. My question: does anyone have any tips on certain creatures (preferrably undead or related to orcus/Tenebrous) that i can throw against the party. at least one combat that foils the partys strength is good to have. The party has no significant treasure (most of their wealth is in items currently being identified) and some dont even have staple items (magical weapons stat boosting items etc). HELP!
BladefellMaster 07-18-06, 09:20 AM	I'll post you some advanced monsters I've got worked up but I don't know when exactly. I've got to work tonight so maybe tommorrow morning or afternoon. You want one tied to Orcus huh? Got some good stuff for you then. I've got the Orog-hai (yes I know cheesy knock off) that are super orcs with both ogre and demon ancestry, but I'll have to convert them from 2nd ed. I've also got Dargauld Bloodfist, a half-fiend orc acolyte of the skin I made a couple of days ago using a homemade half fiend template, I think he's like a CR 12 though, not really sure.
Khael 07-18-06, 09:39 AM	Swarm-shifter template (undead sand) from LM sounds about right. Immune to weapon damage, immune to mind-affecting abilities, does not attack by attack rolls. It provides difficulties for three of your characters strengths, but they should be able to bring it down with some effort. Take your pick on what it should be applied to though, any intelligent corporeal undead works, but from what you said, based on saves, maybe a vampire would be best. Not to mention this gives you a good (if cliched) BBEG.
synapse 07-18-06, 01:02 PM	ive got no problems with the orog-hai :) and ill have a look at the swarm-shifter... its pretty much the only creature i overlooked in LM. though i must say most the creatures (and especially the templates) are very cool in that book. actually, swarms are the only thing the party is scared of... and i really mean scared! i prepared an encounter with an average cranium rat swarm and as the PCs saw the first of the critters emerge from cover they ran like hell! must be memories from bad experiences with 2 crow swarms (from ToM)! thanks for the comments
BladefellMaster 07-19-06, 01:40 AM	The half-fiend orc known as Dargauld Bloodfist claims to be the son of Orcus and uses his fiendish abilities to rule the Vilescar Clan. He has married the Shamaness of the tribe, a priestess of Orcus and the two of them lead their clan in raiding and terrorizing the surrounding country side. Dargauld's familiar is a Howler with the bonemail, undead skin, and vampiric fangs undead grafts; it's name is Spinerender. Spinerender often leads a pack of 1D4 awakened zombie howlers, created by the shamaness, in several hours of howling and quick skirmishes with encamped travelers before the Vilescar Raiders move in for the kill. Dargauld's demonic patron is a Nalfeshnee Demon with 7 levels of Cleric of Orcus and 3 levels of Fiend of Blashemy known as Affier'itt, but when he communicates with Dargauld he calls himself Orcus. Affier'itt's cult now includes the entire Vilescar clan and a variety of hobgoblins, ogres, and corrupted humans. Affier'itt uses fiendish and undead grafts to reward the faithful and to create new monsters to terrorize the populace. Dargauld Bloodfist Half-Nalfeshnee/Orc, Fighter 4, Sorceror 6, Acolyte of the Skin 4 Medium Outsider (Native) Hit Dice: 10D4+4D10+56 (110hp) Initiative: +4 Speed: 30ft Armor Class: 22 (+4 DEX,+2 natural,+6 VampireHide), touch 17, flatfooted 18 Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+15 Attack: +1 Profane Orc-axe of Speed +16/+16 melee (1D8+7 dmg plus 1D6 negative energy, crit 19-20/x3) Full Attack: +1 Profane Orc-axe of Speed +16/+16/+11 melee (1D8+7 dmg plus 1D6 negative energy, crit 19-20/x3) & Bite +11 melee (1D8+3 dmg) or 2 Claws +16 melee (1D4+6 dmg) & Bite +11 melee (1D8+3 dmg) Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft Special Attacks: Fiendish Glare, Smite Good x1 day, Spell-Like Abilities Special Qualities: DR 10/ good or magic, darkvision 60ft, immune to poison, resist electricity & fire 20, resist acid & cold 10, SR 24 Saves: Fort +15, Ref +9, Will +12 Abilities: STR 22, DEX 18, CON 18, INT 14, WIS 12,CHR 16 Skills: Bluff +6. Climb +8, Concentrate +6, Craft(Alchemy) +10, Craft (Brewing) +7, Craft(Weaponsmith) +8, Handle Animal +5, Hide +14, Intimidate +8, Jump +8, Knowledge Arcana) +12, Knowledge(Planar) +12, Listen +8, Ride +6, Scry +4, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +10, Spot +8, Swim +6 Feats: Alertness(B), Brew Potion, Cleave(B), Corpsecrafter(B), Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Improved Critical (Orc-axe{B}), Improved Familiar, Power Attack(B), Skill Focus (Planar Knowledge), Tomb-Tainted Soul, Tomb-Born Fortitude(B) Alignment: Chaotic Evil Challenge Rating: 12 Possessions: Vampire Hide Armor, +1 Profane Orc-axe of Speed, Cloak of the Bat, Ring of Spell Storing (Inflict Light Wounds x2 @ 8th level; Vampiric Touch @ 13th level), Dreadmaster's Crown (grants Corpsecrafter feat, Rebuke/Command Undead x6 day @ 12th level, Animate Dead x1 day @ 12th level), Earrings of Alertness, Rod of Undead Mastery, 4x Vial of Alchemist's Fire, 2x Embalming Fire,4x Potion of Inflict Moderate Wounds, 2x Potion of Inflict Serious Wounds, Potion of Firebreath, Potion of Gaseous Form. Fiendish Glare(Su): Once per day Dargauld can deliver a horrible glare that promises deadly retribution, this attack has a range of 100ft. Victim's of the glare must succeed at a DC 20 Will save or suffer a -2 morale penalty on all saves, and attack and damagerolls for 10 minutes. A creature with 50 or fewer hit points is also stunned for 3D4 rounds, one with 51-100hp is stunned for 2D4 rounds, and one with 101-150hp is stunned for 1d4 rounds. Targets of the glare with more then 151hp are not stunned but still suffer the morale pelaties listed. Spell-Like Abilities(Su): x3 day- Slow(DC 16), Unholy Aura; x2 day- Call Lightning(DC 16); x1 day- Feeblemind(DC 18), Greater Dispel Magic, Greater Teleport(self plus 50lbs of objects only), Poison (DC 18). Caster level 14th, The save DCs are Charisma-based. Spellcasting: Dargaul casts spells as an 8th level Sorceror. Spells per Day: 6/7/7/6/3 Spells Known: 8/5/3/2/1 0- Acid Splash, Arcane Mark, Daze, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Mending, Ray of Frost, Read Magic. Save DCs 13. 1st- Enlarge Person, Magic Missile, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shocking Grasp, True Strike. Save DCs 14. 2nd- Bull's Strength, Melf's Acid Arrow, Scorching Ray. Save DCs 15. 3rd- Fireball, Fly. Save DC 16. 4th- Animate Dead. Spinerender Large Outsider (Augmented, Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar) Hit Dice: 6D8+18 (55hp) Initiative: +7 Speed: 60ft Armor Class: 22 (-1 size, +3 DEX, +10 natural), touch 12, flatfooted 19 Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+19 Attack: Bite +14 melee (2D6+6 dmg) Full Attack: Bite +14 melee (2D6+6 dmg) and 1D4 Quills +9 melee (1D6+3 dmg) Space/Reach: 10ft/5ft Special Attacks: Blood Drain, Howl, Quills Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft, resist criticals 25% Saves: Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +7 Abilities: STR 23, DEX 17, CON 17, INT 8, WIS 14, CHR 10 Skills: Climb +14, Hide +10, Listen +13, Move Silently +12, Search +8, Spot +13, Survival +5(+7 following tracks) Feats:Alertness(B), Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (Bite) Alignment: Chaotic Evil Challenge Rating: 4 Blood Drain(Ex): Against a pinned or helpless foe Spinerender can drain blood with his fangs at the rate of 1D4 Constitution drain per round. On each successful drain attack he gains 5 temporary hit points that last for 1 hour. Howl(Ex): All beings other than outsiders that hear Spinerender's howling for an hour or longer are subject to its effect. Anyone within hearing range of him for a full hour must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or take 1 point of Wisdom damage. The save is repeated for each hour of exposure. Quills(Ex): Spinerender's neck bristles with long quills. While biting he thrashes about, striking with 1D4 of them. An opponent hit by his quill attack must succeed on a DC 16 Reflex save or have the quills break off in their flesh. Lodged quills impose a _1 penalty on attacks, saves and chacks for each quill. A quill can be safely removed with a DC 20 Heal check; otherwise, removing a quill inflicts an extra 1D6 points of damage. How's that for Orcus related challenges for your characters. This isn't even a new storyline, it just has some newer elements added into the old stories. Please respond and let me know what you think.
dugandudes 07-19-06, 11:02 AM	how are the combat sequences playing out? are the PC's in a position where they can hit the monster with a volley of attacks before it attacks? how well do they fair against non-corporeal creatures? what magical items do they carry? an idea i have is to use a CR 10 creature for a four person party with an average level of 6, but this is more a boss-fight creature as it would technically be the same strength as the party. 6+6=8, 8+8=10 and the rest. now, if you're having a tough time giving magic items try this formula: take the base XP for the currentlevel of the PC/PC's, in this example: 15,000. next divide that amount by the current level, 15K/6=2,500. now you have a GP cap for the treasure they can have. reference your newly found GP cap with whatever treasure you're considering giving them. i've found that this works extremely well when i am trying to give out items, but don't want to give out something too small or too big in terms of power. it's just an idea, and it'd be cool to hear feedback.
synapse 07-19-06, 02:35 PM	how are the combat sequences playing out? are the PC's in a position where they can hit the monster with a volley of attacks before it attacks? how well do they fair against non-corporeal creatures? what magical items do they carry? well, one of the character has +18 or so initaitive (hes a shadowswyft binder3 rogue3 Cipher...) so gets to act first in pretty much every round, dealing sneak attack damage (to non undead, of course :cool: ). he has a +1 rapier As far as equipment goes, the elf warlocks main item is a +1 cold iron elven greatsword (i forget its name; its from Races of the Wild) that he uses in conjunction with his eldritch blast. that and high Dex means his attack roll is fairly good. the bariaur truenamers main item is a wondrous item that increases his truespeak checks by +5 (much needed, and his capabilities would be greatly decreased without it). I wouldnt say the party has a problem with items (as i said before, most of the partys treasure is currently being identifed by an NPC the psion (when he decides to do anything...) is a force to be reckoned with when using his pumped mind thrusts (Will saves are not usually the forte of an NPC whose role rarely goes beyond being killed in the next combat...) Armour is irrelevant since im using the Defence Bonus rules from Unearthed Aracana (the campaign has a pretty urban theme, and armour doent suit it that much), so AC is quite high (the Binder/Rogue is about to take a level of fighter... upping his AC to the mid 20's) At the mo they are exploring dungeons, which means, depending on how loud/queit they are, the opponents in coming rooms may get to hear them which means they have a chance to prepare (casting spells, drinking potions, rasing alarms and so on)... but once it comes to combats the party just seems to be dominating combats they should not be (not that i want all combats to be overpowering, far from it). Ive tried simple things like giving monsters and opponents Iron Will (a useless idea, ive discovered, against the psion and truenamer); greater numbers; extra hit dice and elite stats... none have worked so far! Im working on an encounter with a Young (CR 8) Taretrian Dragon (the party is on its way to Carceri), and ive increase its size to Huge (increasing its CR to 9). it has flyby attack and various other move feats designed to keep ity out of harms way... il lsee how that goes (knowing my luck itll end up wiping out the PCs!) The climax of the adventure (lets hope theyre not reading this :P ), which should be level 7-8 will involve many wraiths (lowered HD so i can ahve loads of them...), a Tenebrous Apostate (Clr2/Binder5/Ten Ap4) and a visage (possibly with the incorporeal template) so a few experiments with incorporeal creatures would be help to gauge the partys strength
synapse 07-19-06, 02:40 PM	How's that for Orcus related challenges for your characters. This isn't even a new storyline, it just has some newer elements added into the old stories. Please respond and let me know what you think. sounds interesting.. and its just about the right evel to challenge them in a few levels when im planning on increasing the party's contact with Orcus and his worshippers... ill see about incorporating that into the adventure
BladefellMaster 07-19-06, 05:50 PM	great! just make sure you blame it all on me! just tell them you got some help from this ****#!+ on the net. hehe hehehehe! I've done it master. Almighty Orcus, I will bring about your resurection! Orcus will walk the planes ag..... What are you still here? :mage: banishment Now that thats taken care of..... :mage: teleport
synapse 07-20-06, 05:47 AM	I've done it master. Almighty Orcus, I will bring about your resurection! Forgive me if im wrong, but didnt Quah-Namog bring Orcus back already?