[3.5]Using an Iron Maiden as a weapon plus some campaign advice.

[dethkruzer]

Okay, so i've been working on some antagonists for my current campaign, and I decided that one of them would be this massive hulking monstrosity of a man/goliath/something, who is a a Disciple of Dispater, and drags around an Iron Maiden, which is also used as a weapon of sorts.

Now, according to Complete Warrior, an Iron Maiden weighing 250 lb. would deal 5d6 damage, and i'm cool with that. But what I was thinking about was: How would the Iron Maiden affect anyone inside it while being swung around. By standard rules, an Iron Maiden deals damage every round, depending on how tightly shut it is, but this is assuming it remains still, And i imagine being inside the thing while it gets swung around can deal some rather... Gruesome damage. So any help on that would be appreciated.


Another thing I was thinking about: The campaign is currently at a crossroads, with the PC having three dungeons that would need to be roamed through. For one of these dungeons, I was thinking of sticking a dozen or so rust monsters, and an annihilator(Like a rust monster, but disintegrates ANYTHING with it's antennae). However, it would be shortly after all the monsters that the party would face a plot related boss battle, a warblade/warlock/lifedrinker vampire along with a few nightshades.

Now i was worried about how well they could survive the rust monsters with their gear intact, and still survive the boss battle. At the moment the Party is level 15, consisting of three members.

[LongVin]

For anyone inside first I would add the weight of the person to the damage...as for the damage done to him, perhaps apply the same hit damage as well as adding the regular iron maiden damage per round.

[Fouredged Sword]

I would have the Iron maiden use the rules for improvised weapon based on size and weight and then have the monster have something special becuse of it's ability to enclose people.

Some variation of the swollow whole rules? Dangerous if the party doesn't have a comprehensive set of short range teleports to get out of it though.

[dethkruzer]

For anyone inside first I would add the weight of the person to the damage...as for the damage done to him, perhaps apply the same hit damage as well as adding the regular iron maiden damage per round.

You mean that anyone inside would take as much damage as some getting hit with the Iron Maiden?

[LongVin]

You mean that anyone inside would take as much damage as some getting hit with the Iron Maiden?

Yep, Correct

[Moogleking]

You mean that anyone inside would take as much damage as some getting hit with the Iron Maiden?

On top of the normal per-round damage, this seems good.

Maybe a Fort save to half it?

[GodGoblin]

Maybe you could just use it as a type of great club and re fluff the Swallow whole ability the Tarrasque has or something to represent imprisonment? Might not be perfect but its simple!

[Darrin]

You mean that anyone inside would take as much damage as some getting hit with the Iron Maiden?


Yes, but per footnote #1 on the Improvised Weapon Damage table (Complete Warrior p. 159), I'd consider the inside of the iron maiden as a "sharp object" and toss a couple more d6 on there... maybe 6d6 or 7d6.

[dethkruzer]

I was really thinking more along the lines of this antagonist simply grappling people and then stuffing them in the iron maiden.

[WinWin]

A spell storing weapon enhancement + baleful transposition would work. Depends on whether a corpse is still a valid target...the spell text does not specify living creature.

Smiting spell might do the same thing, as would a class like kensai. Fairly straigtforward via magical means. Not especially helpful for a Disciple of Dispater though.

[Fouredged Sword]

a feral giant of some kind would get improved grab and claw attacks to grab people (with snatch to not count as grappled himself.) and stuff them in the iron maiden (likely a pin action).

Once inside give them a penelty to excape artist or grapple rolls to excape and constant damage.

remember that this whole time the giant doesn't count as grappled, so maintains his dex to ac and ability to attack others.

Give him some big irom claws straped to his natural claws to make them count twards dispater stuff.

[dethkruzer]

This has all been very helpful, but which book has baleful Transpostion?

Also, I believe the Disciple of Dispater's Iron Power class feature applies to any iron weapon, including the massive iron brick that is an iron maiden.

At the moment I really can't toss in any more templates without either making the CR too high, or without giving him fewer Disciple of Dispater then i'd like. Grappling shouldn't be an issue, this guy has a strength of around 40+.


Now that this issue has been adressed, I was hoping on hearing some opinions on the rust monster problem (See OP).

[Fouredged Sword]

Rust monsters are a gygaxian nightmare that should not be!

I have had a party charm monster one and store all thier gear while throwing it GP to keep it pacified until they got all the vulnerable stuff in extradementional spaces.

[dethkruzer]

any suggestions on something to replace them with? Also, the Annihilator worries me a bit, the thing can dish out two save or die attacks a round, and the DC was relatively high.

[GodGoblin]

If you want a 'boss' rust monster maybe have a druid or other non metal using character use one as a mount? Then you dont have to worry about the Annihilators save or dies but still have an imposing rust monster based challenge!

[Nachtritter]

Iron Maiden??

EXCELLENT!!

http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/bill-and-ted-excellent-adventure-movie-image-alex-winter-keanu-reeves-01.jpg

[Prime32]

How much does an iron maiden weigh? (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/openClose.htm)

[Adindra]

That is an amazing idea i may have to steal it for the game im running! :smallwink:

[dethkruzer]

That is an amazing idea i may have to steal it for the game im running! :smallwink:

Sure, have fun.

Also, the Rust monster riding druid sounds good. I'd say CR 13 to 16 would do nicely. I'll have to work on it.

[KillianHawkeye]

A spell storing weapon enhancement + baleful transposition would work. Depends on whether a corpse is still a valid target...the spell text does not specify living creature.

Corpses are objects, not creatures. Nonliving creatures are things like constructs and undead (or anything else that lacks a Con score).

[WinWin]

corpses are dead creatures. Special case. Defined nowhere, yet referenced by many spells.

Unless you can provide a citation proving otherwise, I'm just going to flat out say that you are wrong. They may be treated as objects, but they remain creatures. Dead creatures.

The spell is in spell compendium by the way.

[dethkruzer]

okay, thanks for the spell compendium thing.

Now that I've been working on this druid riding a rust monster, and ended up wth a rust monster advanced to 12 HD, and I tossed in the Monstorous beast template just for fun (even though it doesn't qualify as an aberration). The DC for Rust was bumped up to 25... Well it's only a single rust monster, maybe the party will live.

The druid is gonna be a shifter Druid/MoMF.