Darkmantle CR [Archive] - Wizards Community

Darkmantle CR [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Kurikin
11-08-07, 06:45 PM Tomorrow I'm going to be using a Darkmantle in an encounter and I was wondering if it seemed overpowering, or at least higher than CR 1, to a group of 4 or 5 first level characters.

The room its in is a quadrilateral that's sides are 2x 30ft, 80ft and 10ft with 4ft poles randomly spaced sticking down from the ceiling, one of which is the Darkmantle, DC 20 spot to see the difference.

Once the last person walks in the door, on the 10ft long wall, slams shut. DC 11 reflex to avoid or take 1d6 + 1 damage.

If it gets spotted or after 3 rounds it casts Darkness then flies to a new spot. Each subsequent round it goes around owning up on whoever is closest.
Dead_Weasel
11-08-07, 07:24 PM Tomorrow I'm going to be using a Darkmantle in an encounter and I was wondering if it seemed overpowering, or at least higher than CR 1, to a group of 4 or 5 first level characters.That ought to be fine; even inexperienced players should be able to figure out what is happening, so long as they have enough space to get out of the darkness effect.The room its in is a quadrilateral that's sides are 2x 30ft, 80ft and 10ft with 4ft poles randomly spaced sticking down from the ceiling, one of which is the Darkmantle, DC 20 spot to see the difference.What? That room is not even two-dimensional, it is a line. Draw it if you think that I am wrong. Use real shapes, not non-euclidian ones! Preferably rectangles, but whatever floats your boat.Once the last person walks in the door, on the 10ft long wall, slams shut. DC 11 reflex to avoid or take 1d6 + 1 damage.You need to have a good reason for the door to close, and a good reason for the party to be incapable of opening it again. Either the save DC or the damage should go down - an inexperienced party is liable to put its weakest member at the rear, and this just might remove that character from the fight.If it gets spotted or after 3 rounds it casts Darkness then flies to a new spot. Each subsequent round it goes around owning up on whoever is closest.My reading of the darkmantle's tactical info leads me to believe that it would attack one target until it renders that character unconscious, before moving on to the next. Not a big deal though.
Kurikin
11-08-07, 09:22 PM I just realized something, I was thinking of deeper darkness and how it could cover the ENTIRE room, regular darkness only has a 20ft radius.

A quadrilateral is a square with uneven sides. so 2 sides are 30ft long, one side is 10ft and the last is 40ft (I did my math wrong when counting squares, before I said it was 80ft.) Its shape is a equilateral triangle (all sides the same length) with one point chopped off.

The ceiling height is 8ft.

All the doors in this section of the dungeon slam shut like this. Each room has an objective to complete before it opens back up. The party is all people who have played for 1-2.5 years, so they know not to put the weakest in back.

I meant by it moving onto the next that it does so when its done with the current target.
Talisman
11-08-07, 10:26 PM Why such a strange-shaped room? Just curious...

Once the door slams shut, can it possibly be opened? If the answer is "no," I say this is bad. The party should always have a chance to do something...it may not be a good chance, but if the barbarian decides to hack the hell out of the door, the GM shoulnd't just say "You can't." Just MHO.

As far as the darkmantle, your PCs should be fine, if the dice don't betray them. Remember, 3.5 darkness is actually more like "dimness"...a mere 20% miss chance. What's really dangerous is the darkmantle's attack + grapple + constrict combo, which can easily deal 13 points of damage in a round (1d4+4, average 2.5 + 4 (=6.5), x2, total 13). That's enough to drop most 1st-level PCs and many 2nd-level PCs.

Given that you've got the party trapped and forced to fight (i.e., they can't just flee) and given that the darkmantle has a pretty good chance at a surprise attack (all those 4' poles, and a DC 20 Spot is hard at 1st level), I'd give the PCs extra XP for the darkmantle having a tactical advantage...say, +25% to +50%.
Talisman
11-08-07, 10:33 PM Double-post; please ignore.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kurikin 11-08-07, 06:45 PM	Tomorrow I'm going to be using a Darkmantle in an encounter and I was wondering if it seemed overpowering, or at least higher than CR 1, to a group of 4 or 5 first level characters. The room its in is a quadrilateral that's sides are 2x 30ft, 80ft and 10ft with 4ft poles randomly spaced sticking down from the ceiling, one of which is the Darkmantle, DC 20 spot to see the difference. Once the last person walks in the door, on the 10ft long wall, slams shut. DC 11 reflex to avoid or take 1d6 + 1 damage. If it gets spotted or after 3 rounds it casts Darkness then flies to a new spot. Each subsequent round it goes around owning up on whoever is closest.
Dead_Weasel 11-08-07, 07:24 PM	Tomorrow I'm going to be using a Darkmantle in an encounter and I was wondering if it seemed overpowering, or at least higher than CR 1, to a group of 4 or 5 first level characters.That ought to be fine; even inexperienced players should be able to figure out what is happening, so long as they have enough space to get out of the darkness effect.The room its in is a quadrilateral that's sides are 2x 30ft, 80ft and 10ft with 4ft poles randomly spaced sticking down from the ceiling, one of which is the Darkmantle, DC 20 spot to see the difference.What? That room is not even two-dimensional, it is a line. Draw it if you think that I am wrong. Use real shapes, not non-euclidian ones! Preferably rectangles, but whatever floats your boat.Once the last person walks in the door, on the 10ft long wall, slams shut. DC 11 reflex to avoid or take 1d6 + 1 damage.You need to have a good reason for the door to close, and a good reason for the party to be incapable of opening it again. Either the save DC or the damage should go down - an inexperienced party is liable to put its weakest member at the rear, and this just might remove that character from the fight.If it gets spotted or after 3 rounds it casts Darkness then flies to a new spot. Each subsequent round it goes around owning up on whoever is closest.My reading of the darkmantle's tactical info leads me to believe that it would attack one target until it renders that character unconscious, before moving on to the next. Not a big deal though.
Kurikin 11-08-07, 09:22 PM	I just realized something, I was thinking of deeper darkness and how it could cover the ENTIRE room, regular darkness only has a 20ft radius. A quadrilateral is a square with uneven sides. so 2 sides are 30ft long, one side is 10ft and the last is 40ft (I did my math wrong when counting squares, before I said it was 80ft.) Its shape is a equilateral triangle (all sides the same length) with one point chopped off. The ceiling height is 8ft. All the doors in this section of the dungeon slam shut like this. Each room has an objective to complete before it opens back up. The party is all people who have played for 1-2.5 years, so they know not to put the weakest in back. I meant by it moving onto the next that it does so when its done with the current target.
Talisman 11-08-07, 10:26 PM	Why such a strange-shaped room? Just curious... Once the door slams shut, can it possibly be opened? If the answer is "no," I say this is bad. The party should always have a chance to do something...it may not be a good chance, but if the barbarian decides to hack the hell out of the door, the GM shoulnd't just say "You can't." Just MHO. As far as the darkmantle, your PCs should be fine, if the dice don't betray them. Remember, 3.5 darkness is actually more like "dimness"...a mere 20% miss chance. What's really dangerous is the darkmantle's attack + grapple + constrict combo, which can easily deal 13 points of damage in a round (1d4+4, average 2.5 + 4 (=6.5), x2, total 13). That's enough to drop most 1st-level PCs and many 2nd-level PCs. Given that you've got the party trapped and forced to fight (i.e., they can't just flee) and given that the darkmantle has a pretty good chance at a surprise attack (all those 4' poles, and a DC 20 Spot is hard at 1st level), I'd give the PCs extra XP for the darkmantle having a tactical advantage...say, +25% to +50%.
Talisman 11-08-07, 10:33 PM	Double-post; please ignore.