An easier mind flayer? [Archive] - Wizards Community

An easier mind flayer? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
JD
10-09-05, 05:01 AM I'm currently planning a short adventure for my gaming group, and I need a boss monster for them to face at the end. The main stipulations are that it must be highly intelligent and capable of leading and commanding troops (probably orcs). A mind flayer fits the bill perfectly, but they're CR8, and I expect the party to consist of a paladin, fighter and monk at level 6, and a sorceror at level 5. A standard mind flayer would destroy them.

So how would I go about cranking the difficulty down a notch? I'm thinking of removing charm monster entirely - the fighter's already been charmed once before, and that almost destroyed the entire party. I was also thinking of tweaking all the other will save DCs down by a point or two.

What do you think? Will this make the mind flayer a tough but beatable opponent for this kind of party? Or should I go with a different kind of monster altogether? Any suggestions, please post them.
eagleye
10-09-05, 05:23 AM You could always create a high int vampire ofcourse. The template has CR +2, so you can take the base class as high as you desire. The vampire can have some vampire spawns, and it could have some dominated persons, which could also be some NPCs to lead your players in your trap..
JD
10-09-05, 05:43 AM Yes, I'd considered a vampire. They fit the flavour pretty well too... I'll brush up on negative levels, I think.
Nevynxxx
10-09-05, 07:35 AM Party is basically level 6? Mind Flayer is level 8?

I'd say that should be ok, so long as they aren't complately reduced as far as hitpoints/spells go.

Make sure the creatures they fight just before it have some healing potions and you should be fine.

My 4 - 3rd level pc's just faced off 3 goblins riding worgs (I'm not even sure what the CR of that is!) but they survived, and went on t kill some more goblins. Granted that was the first violent encounter of the day, but they enjoyed it.
Darien Felspar
10-09-05, 09:24 AM According to the DMG a CR 8 encounter should be fine as a BBEG for a 6th level party providing a difficult challenge and dealing serious damage to the party, hopefully without killing them.
Vestigial_Thumb
10-09-05, 09:24 AM Party is basically level 6? Mind Flayer is level 8?
Nah, Mind Flayer's actually ECL 15. CR 8 is the appropriate challenge for a party of 8th level.
JD
10-09-05, 09:30 AM Well, I thought a lot about the kind of feeling I want to create with the adventure, and the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a big dumb brute of a vampire who (on the BBEG's orders) has been kidnapping academics from the nearby city and using them to carry out his plan.

I read a little more mind flayer stuff, and the one thing I don't like about them is that a classless flayer is an all-or-nothing type bad guy. That is, most of their attacks (most notably mind blast) are to do with stunning their opponents for long enough to chow down on their brains. The only real exception is damage dealt as a result of charm monster.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JD 10-09-05, 05:01 AM	I'm currently planning a short adventure for my gaming group, and I need a boss monster for them to face at the end. The main stipulations are that it must be highly intelligent and capable of leading and commanding troops (probably orcs). A mind flayer fits the bill perfectly, but they're CR8, and I expect the party to consist of a paladin, fighter and monk at level 6, and a sorceror at level 5. A standard mind flayer would destroy them. So how would I go about cranking the difficulty down a notch? I'm thinking of removing charm monster entirely - the fighter's already been charmed once before, and that almost destroyed the entire party. I was also thinking of tweaking all the other will save DCs down by a point or two. What do you think? Will this make the mind flayer a tough but beatable opponent for this kind of party? Or should I go with a different kind of monster altogether? Any suggestions, please post them.
eagleye 10-09-05, 05:23 AM	You could always create a high int vampire ofcourse. The template has CR +2, so you can take the base class as high as you desire. The vampire can have some vampire spawns, and it could have some dominated persons, which could also be some NPCs to lead your players in your trap..
JD 10-09-05, 05:43 AM	Yes, I'd considered a vampire. They fit the flavour pretty well too... I'll brush up on negative levels, I think.
Nevynxxx 10-09-05, 07:35 AM	Party is basically level 6? Mind Flayer is level 8? I'd say that should be ok, so long as they aren't complately reduced as far as hitpoints/spells go. Make sure the creatures they fight just before it have some healing potions and you should be fine. My 4 - 3rd level pc's just faced off 3 goblins riding worgs (I'm not even sure what the CR of that is!) but they survived, and went on t kill some more goblins. Granted that was the first violent encounter of the day, but they enjoyed it.
Darien Felspar 10-09-05, 09:24 AM	According to the DMG a CR 8 encounter should be fine as a BBEG for a 6th level party providing a difficult challenge and dealing serious damage to the party, hopefully without killing them.
Vestigial_Thumb 10-09-05, 09:24 AM	Party is basically level 6? Mind Flayer is level 8? Nah, Mind Flayer's actually ECL 15. CR 8 is the appropriate challenge for a party of 8th level.
JD 10-09-05, 09:30 AM	Well, I thought a lot about the kind of feeling I want to create with the adventure, and the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a big dumb brute of a vampire who (on the BBEG's orders) has been kidnapping academics from the nearby city and using them to carry out his plan. I read a little more mind flayer stuff, and the one thing I don't like about them is that a classless flayer is an all-or-nothing type bad guy. That is, most of their attacks (most notably mind blast) are to do with stunning their opponents for long enough to chow down on their brains. The only real exception is damage dealt as a result of charm monster.