DruchiiConversion
2010-05-10, 07:53 AM
(Note: If you are currently playing in a tabletop campaign in which the phrases "Nethel's Lair", "freakishly tall", and "jade pyramid" are relevant, this thread probably is not for you.)
I've been running a campaign for a fair while now, and the PCs are reaching 12th level. They've been through a fairly long and hideously convoluted plot, mostly because I run the majority of the sessions on the fly, with vague ideas of what's going to happen. However, everything's starting to come to a head now, I've got a very good idea of what state the world is in, and what problems they're going to need to overcome.
One such problem is the figurehead of the bad guys' army, an Ancient Black Dragon they've thoroughly vexed. Specifically by killing his child, skinning the corpse, and selling it to make dragonhide armor while he was out. In any case, the details aren't too important so long as it is known that both he is aware of the party, and the party is aware of him. However, he believes (for good, logical reasons) that the party is invulnerable to Scrying and Divination magics of all kinds.
Unfortunately, I hit a snag here in that one of my players (the Whisper Gnome Druid) knows the rules a good deal better than I do - not to the point that it's bad for the session, I know the rules reasonably well, and am happy to have a better rules lawyer alongside me to give answers I'm not aware of. However, I certainly don't know all the Druid spells, and nor would I say I know all the options available to the party - they're pretty well-optimized though notably lack an arcane caster.
In any case, they'll be up against this Big Bad, but they'll have -lots- of time to research him, so they'll know almost all the relevant stats and abilities he's used in the past, being a famous figure and all.
So basically, what I wanted to ask was if there were any really obvious weaknesses I should address in the following character:
Nethelihidhaurokosh, Arch-Tyrant
Ancient Black Spellhoarding Spellstitched Phrenic Loredracolich
Huge Undead
Hit Dice: 31d12+186 (387 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 60ft; Fly 150ft (perfect), Swim 60ft.
Armor Class: 40 (-2 size, +32 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 40
Base Attack/Grapple: +31/+50
Attack: Bite +42 melee (2d8+11 plus 1d6 Cold, Paralysis 2d6 rounds (DC29 Fort negates))
Full Attack: +42/+37/+32/+27 bite (2d8+11 plus 1d6 Cold, Paralysis 2d6 rounds (DC29 Fort negates)), +40/+40 claw (2d6+5 plus etc), +40/+40 wing (1d8+5 plus etc), +40 tail slap (2d6+16 plus etc)
Space/Reach: 15ft/10ft (15ft bite)
Special Attacks: Breath weapon, control undead, darkness, corrupt water, plant growth, insect plague, crush, frightful presence, paralyzing gaze, paralyzing touch, spell-like abilities, psi-like abilities.
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 10/Magic, 5/bludgeoning, 5/magic and silver, Blindsense 60ft, Undead Traits, Immune to Acid, Cold, Electricity, Polymorph, Poison, Mind-Affecting, Sleep, Paralysis, Srun, Disease, Death Effects, Critical Hits, non-lethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, massive damage, low-light vision, Spell Resistance 29, Power Resistance 41, Turn Resistance +2
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +21, Will +23
Abilities: Str 33, Dex 10, Con -, Int 26, Wis 19, Cha 26
Skills: Autohypnosis +14, Concentration +42, Craft: Arcanum +42, Decipher Script +32, Disable Device +34, Forgery +42, Intimidate +42, Knowledge: Arcana +42, Knowledge Geography +42, Knowledge: History +42, Knowledge Psionics +42, Knowledge: The Planes +42, Search +42, Sense Motive +38, Spellcraft: +47, Use Magic Device: +42
Feats: Multiattack, Practiced Spellcaster, Quicken Breath, Stand Still, Dimensional Jaunt, Power Attack, Flyby Attack, Adroit Flyby Attack, Leap Attack, Shock Trooper, Survivor's Luck, Unbelievable Luck
Environment: The Isle of Thanatos
Organization: Massive army.
Challenge Rating: -
Treasure: Enough.
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Advancement: Best not.
Breath Weapon: 20d4 acid, DC31
Frightful Presence DC31
Spell-Like Abilities:
Conviction 4/day, resurgence 4/day, divine insight 4/day, lion's charge 4/day, magic vestment 2/day, greater mage armor 2/day, freedom of movement 2/day, delay death 2/day, swift etherealness 2/day, dispelling breath 2/day, swift dimension door 1/day
Psi-Like Abilities: (as Phrenic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/phrenicCreature.htm) template)
Wizard spellcasting, caster level 19. 6 0th, 8 1st, 8 2nd, 8 3rd, 8 4th, 7 5th, 5 6th level spells. Signature spells include Benign Transposition, Baleful Transposition, Scintillating Scales, Chain of Eyes, Scrying.
I can see a fair few obvious weaknesses (orbs of fire in particular) but without a dedicated arcane caster, that still ought to make for a reasonable-length fight, which the PCs will find difficult - and he's massively over-CRed for their level simply because they get to prepare like that. He's got immunities to a lot of the typical dragon-slayers (shivering touch is blocked by immunity to ability damage, and cold immunity :smallwink:) and save-or-die spells are weakened by his relatively okay saves (fort aside) as well as four immediate action resurgence effects, the immediate action psionic powers like empty mind, intellect fortress, and tower of iron will, plus those three saving throw rerolls from Survivor's Luck and Unbelievable Luck. There's a couple of dodgy feats in there that he doesn't qualify for, but that's what Rule 0 is for...
However, I have this horrid nagging feeling that I'm missing a really obvious weakness. So my question is - as an ECL 12 party, given this much information about this enemy, how would you go about mopping up the opposition?
I've been running a campaign for a fair while now, and the PCs are reaching 12th level. They've been through a fairly long and hideously convoluted plot, mostly because I run the majority of the sessions on the fly, with vague ideas of what's going to happen. However, everything's starting to come to a head now, I've got a very good idea of what state the world is in, and what problems they're going to need to overcome.
One such problem is the figurehead of the bad guys' army, an Ancient Black Dragon they've thoroughly vexed. Specifically by killing his child, skinning the corpse, and selling it to make dragonhide armor while he was out. In any case, the details aren't too important so long as it is known that both he is aware of the party, and the party is aware of him. However, he believes (for good, logical reasons) that the party is invulnerable to Scrying and Divination magics of all kinds.
Unfortunately, I hit a snag here in that one of my players (the Whisper Gnome Druid) knows the rules a good deal better than I do - not to the point that it's bad for the session, I know the rules reasonably well, and am happy to have a better rules lawyer alongside me to give answers I'm not aware of. However, I certainly don't know all the Druid spells, and nor would I say I know all the options available to the party - they're pretty well-optimized though notably lack an arcane caster.
In any case, they'll be up against this Big Bad, but they'll have -lots- of time to research him, so they'll know almost all the relevant stats and abilities he's used in the past, being a famous figure and all.
So basically, what I wanted to ask was if there were any really obvious weaknesses I should address in the following character:
Nethelihidhaurokosh, Arch-Tyrant
Ancient Black Spellhoarding Spellstitched Phrenic Loredracolich
Huge Undead
Hit Dice: 31d12+186 (387 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 60ft; Fly 150ft (perfect), Swim 60ft.
Armor Class: 40 (-2 size, +32 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 40
Base Attack/Grapple: +31/+50
Attack: Bite +42 melee (2d8+11 plus 1d6 Cold, Paralysis 2d6 rounds (DC29 Fort negates))
Full Attack: +42/+37/+32/+27 bite (2d8+11 plus 1d6 Cold, Paralysis 2d6 rounds (DC29 Fort negates)), +40/+40 claw (2d6+5 plus etc), +40/+40 wing (1d8+5 plus etc), +40 tail slap (2d6+16 plus etc)
Space/Reach: 15ft/10ft (15ft bite)
Special Attacks: Breath weapon, control undead, darkness, corrupt water, plant growth, insect plague, crush, frightful presence, paralyzing gaze, paralyzing touch, spell-like abilities, psi-like abilities.
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 10/Magic, 5/bludgeoning, 5/magic and silver, Blindsense 60ft, Undead Traits, Immune to Acid, Cold, Electricity, Polymorph, Poison, Mind-Affecting, Sleep, Paralysis, Srun, Disease, Death Effects, Critical Hits, non-lethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, massive damage, low-light vision, Spell Resistance 29, Power Resistance 41, Turn Resistance +2
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +21, Will +23
Abilities: Str 33, Dex 10, Con -, Int 26, Wis 19, Cha 26
Skills: Autohypnosis +14, Concentration +42, Craft: Arcanum +42, Decipher Script +32, Disable Device +34, Forgery +42, Intimidate +42, Knowledge: Arcana +42, Knowledge Geography +42, Knowledge: History +42, Knowledge Psionics +42, Knowledge: The Planes +42, Search +42, Sense Motive +38, Spellcraft: +47, Use Magic Device: +42
Feats: Multiattack, Practiced Spellcaster, Quicken Breath, Stand Still, Dimensional Jaunt, Power Attack, Flyby Attack, Adroit Flyby Attack, Leap Attack, Shock Trooper, Survivor's Luck, Unbelievable Luck
Environment: The Isle of Thanatos
Organization: Massive army.
Challenge Rating: -
Treasure: Enough.
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Advancement: Best not.
Breath Weapon: 20d4 acid, DC31
Frightful Presence DC31
Spell-Like Abilities:
Conviction 4/day, resurgence 4/day, divine insight 4/day, lion's charge 4/day, magic vestment 2/day, greater mage armor 2/day, freedom of movement 2/day, delay death 2/day, swift etherealness 2/day, dispelling breath 2/day, swift dimension door 1/day
Psi-Like Abilities: (as Phrenic (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/phrenicCreature.htm) template)
Wizard spellcasting, caster level 19. 6 0th, 8 1st, 8 2nd, 8 3rd, 8 4th, 7 5th, 5 6th level spells. Signature spells include Benign Transposition, Baleful Transposition, Scintillating Scales, Chain of Eyes, Scrying.
I can see a fair few obvious weaknesses (orbs of fire in particular) but without a dedicated arcane caster, that still ought to make for a reasonable-length fight, which the PCs will find difficult - and he's massively over-CRed for their level simply because they get to prepare like that. He's got immunities to a lot of the typical dragon-slayers (shivering touch is blocked by immunity to ability damage, and cold immunity :smallwink:) and save-or-die spells are weakened by his relatively okay saves (fort aside) as well as four immediate action resurgence effects, the immediate action psionic powers like empty mind, intellect fortress, and tower of iron will, plus those three saving throw rerolls from Survivor's Luck and Unbelievable Luck. There's a couple of dodgy feats in there that he doesn't qualify for, but that's what Rule 0 is for...
However, I have this horrid nagging feeling that I'm missing a really obvious weakness. So my question is - as an ECL 12 party, given this much information about this enemy, how would you go about mopping up the opposition?