rockdeworld
2013-09-18, 11:18 PM
In case you're not familiar, Krune, aka Sloth, the Runelord (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2py0f?The-Waking-Rune-GM-Prep-MANY-SPOILERS), is the level 17 Conjurer BBEG in Pathfinder Society's season 4. PFS is like Pathfinder, except with less plot, as you can (and I have) sit down at a table with different party members for most adventures, which may be entirely disconnected, from different seasons, and each grant 1 EXP (of which you need 3 to level up, no matter your level). In PFS, you start at level 1, and if you die, you stay dead. When you reach level 12, you can't play your character anymore and have to start a new one to keep playing.
I got motivated to do this the other day, at our local Season 5 opening event, when I saw another group playing The Waking Rune and facing Krune. It took them hours to finally, barely, beat him. Remembering that NPCs are rarely optimized, I thought "surely I could do better than that." Then I started checking out Krune's stats and I got really excited. AC 33. Fort/Ref/Will 17/16/22. Initiative +8 (mine is +13 right now). Few stat-resisting buffs and a meh contingency. I figure that's bad enough for an 11th level wizard to deal with them, possibly 9th or 10th. After that I'd have no problem retiring my character in glory - I figure it's either that, or I abuse Pathfinder's lack-of-actual-banned-schools for wizards in my last adventure before level 12 to Dominate my party and have my wizard start overturning the Society so the world can be free of its criminal influence (if you've played PFS, you'll know what I'm talking about).
What I want to do is solo The Waking Rune on the highest tier (regardless of my level), Hard Mode, with no runes deactivated. The highest-level DM in the area also loves optimizing, and we're on friendly terms, so he'd probably be willing to DM the scenario for me if I asked.
What I have right now is a Wizard 4 specializing in the Teleportation subschool of Conjuration (which just makes the idea of crushing Krune all the more hilarious, since he's a Conjurerer too and supposed to be unbeatable in his own domain), so I have a lot of time to prepare.
This is my current build:
Elf Teleporter 4 (Osirion faction)
"Barred" schools: Enchantment, Evocation
Str 7/Dex 16/Con 12/Int 23/Wis 11/Cha 7
Feats:
1 Improved Initiative
Bonus Spell Focus: Conjuration (PFS replaces Scribe Scroll with this as crafting feats are banned :smallyuk:)
3 Toughness
Traits: Reactionary, Tomb Raider
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana, Engineering, Nature, Planes, Religion) 4 ranks, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Local) 1 rank, Linguistincs 2 ranks, Perception 4 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks
Notable Class features: Spellcasting 4/6/5, Jaunt (swift action, Su, teleport 15 ft, 9 times per day), Compsognathus familiar (+4 initiative), Summoner's Charm (summons last 2 extra rounds), favored class Wizard (HP +4)
Notable Items: Headband of Vast Int +2, Rod of Lesser Extend Metamagic, Pearl of Power 1st
My plan by level 11:
Elf Teleporter 11 (Osirion faction)
"Barred" schools: Enchantment, Evocation
Str 7/Dex 16/Con 12/Int 28/Wis 11/Cha 7
Feats:
1 Improved Initiative
Bonus Spell Focus: Conjuration
3 Toughness
Bonus Reach Spell
5 Spell Penetration
7 ?
9 ?
Bonus Quicken Spell
11 ?
Traits: Reactionary, Tomb Raider
Skills: Fly 7 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana, Engineering, Nature, Planes, Religion) 11 ranks, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Local) 1 rank, Linguistincs 2 ranks, Perception 11 ranks, Spellcraft 11 ranks
Notable Class features: Spellcasting 4/8/7/7/6/5/3, Jaunt (teleport 50 ft, 12 times per day), Compsognathus familiar (+4 initiative), Summoner's Charm (summons last 5 extra rounds), favored class Wizard (HP +11)
Notable Items: Headband of Vast Int +6, Rod of Lesser Extend Metamagic, Rod of Lesser Silent Metamagic, Cloak of Resistance +5
Obviously, I haven't fully fleshed out my build, and could use some help. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Krune, on the other hand, is a 17th level wizard with access to Wish (and presumably the cash to pay for it), all the conjuration spells I have, an intelligent spear that casts Slow 3/day and apparently also acts as a Greater Rod of Maximize, Empower, and Widen, plus being his item familiar. He can cast Acid Fog + Black Tentacles, Cloudkill, Summon Monster VII, and a single Maximized Empowered Horrid Wilting for ~130 damage. Unlike me, he didn't specialize in teleportation, so instead of being able to teleport as a Su swift action, he can throw around 1d6+9-damage acid darts. He can teleport as a standard action, but it's an SLA and so vulnerable to AoOs and concentration DCs, which he has +27 for. However, even unoptimized he's tough by virtue of being a Conjurer with tactics that actually make sense
Update: Apparently he starts out dead, and doesn't revive until another NPC dies. So maybe he can be killed by Magic Jar-ing her and ripping his body apart.
Krune's stats:
HP >300
AC 33
Fort/Ref/Will 17/16/22
Initiative +8
Immune to poison
Ring of Freedom of Movement
Ring of Spell Turning
Contingency set to Dispel any effect which would impede him from teleporting
Spellcasting: CL17, DC 20+spell level saves
Pearl of Power, 8th level
Dimensional Steps 510 ft./day
Concentration +27 (enough to auto-succeed most concentration checks)
Dragontooth Spear - intelligent, can cast Slow 3/day and Telekinesis at will
Greater Rod of Maximize, Empower, and Widen
Bonded Object (one extra spell of anything on his spell list)
Augment Summoning feat
Likely buffs:
Foresight, True Seeing, Globe of Invulnerability, Freedom of Movement (from ring), Spell Turning (from Ring) Stoneskin, Protection from Energy, Shield
Notable Spells:
3x Wish
Horrid Wilting
Acid Fog
Empowered Cloudkill
Cloudkill
Black Tentacles
Quickened Glitterdust
Summon Monster IX
Summon Monster VII
My current plan:
Bind a Movanic Deva, a Glabrezu, and 5 Magnesium Spirits*. Have the Movanic Deva ready an action to use Antimagic Field when it enters the coffin, and the Glabrezu ready an action to grapple Krune if he sees him. Cast Hold Portal on the coffin. Use Dimensional Steps to take the Movanic Deva into the coffin. Have the Magnesium Spirits attack him while he's still in his coffin from either through the sides or through the floor, and the Deva attempt to grapple him while in the coffin.
Set my contingency to "If I'm about to be inside antimagic or dead magic, cast teleport to behind the nearest wall." Which would put me outside the coffin.
The only thing left to deal with is the artifact spear that can still cast spells in the AMF, specifically Telekinesis. It can probably kill us all or destroy the coffin lid and then propel Krune out of it. The former is dealt with by me being outside the coffin first, and I can retreat second, and summon more creatures. In the latter case, the Glabrezu grapples Krune first - so I need to check if TK beats grappling.
Alternatively I can Jaunt into the coffin while Krune is still dead, take the spear, Jaunt out, and chuck it. Even if it tries to stop me, the best it can do is TK.
Chance of Success: Moderate. He has 18 Str, so 4 attacks on average will rend him unconscious, and allow him to be coup-de-grace'd by the Deva or Glabrezu. He has touch AC 23 outside the AMF, lower inside, and I can bind 5 Magnesium Spirits with spell slots alone, each of which hits on a 15, or 30% of the time, for a 0.83% chance of succeeding in the first round. However, if the angel-in-the-coffin trick works, I'll have plenty of rounds to deal with him. The Glabrezu's +24 CMB grapples Krune on a 14, or 35% of the time, outside the antimagic field, but the AMF cuts off Krune's stat bonuses, so as long as I can keep him within 10 ft of the Deva he'll be grappleable, provided I do it before he casts Freedom of Movement, but since he has that on a ring he almost certainly doesn't have it prepared, so that should be fine. Then he should be completely locked down from the Antimagic Field/Grapple combo and I can kill him at leisure.
*Need to check if Magnesium Spirits exist in PFS.
Other ideas:
-Cast scrying every day until he fails his save, then bind an imp and make a deal to have it teleport with a gem to the location I specifically describe (where Krune is), then leave. Cast Magic Jar on the gem, and attempt to possess Krune.
Chance of success: pretty low unless I can spike the DC somehow, since it'd only be 24 with my current build. Also needs some way to get around his Spell Turning.
-Cast Rock to Mud on his coffin and surrounding stone, let it sink, then cast mud to rock. Revive him and let him suffocate.
Chance of success: 100%, defeats all his defenses, but doesn't involve me actually facing him, so I won't do it. Ditto for disintegrating his body, or similar effects.
-Buy 110 cubic feet of wheat (1320 lbs) for 13.2 gp. Cast Fabricate to turn it into Saffron (990 lbs). Sell it for 14,850gp. Repeat a few times, then buy a ton of candles of invocation.
-Buff myself to hell and go toe-to-toe with him.
Chance of success: Decent. I at least know how to buff better: Skinsend/Shadow Projection, Contingency (teleport away if I'm about to go unconscious or be stunned/paralyzed/dominated), Getaway, Protection from Evil, True Seeing, bind a Movanic Deva (or 10) to stand next to him with Antimagic Field up, Invisibility, Fly, Mirror Image, Phantom Steed, Darkvision, Cat's Grace, Anticipate Peril.
Then I can try spamming him with Dispel Magic, Circle of Death, and Enervation. If he puts up defenses, I can teleport/astrally walk/rope trick out and come back 2 hours later, then go at it again (this defeats Spell Turning too).
On the other hand, I need a way to survive a 130 damage Horrid Wilting twice, and DC29 vs. being Wish'd to the center of the sun 3 times.
To get to Krune: Him being dead, and thus an object, to start with complicates the plan somewhat, but makes it simpler in other ways. Find out the entrance to wherever he's staying. If nothing else, use Locate Object on his body, but preferably Contact Other Plane to ask a bunch of demigods where Krune's body is (I can ask the DM if Nethys would give me an easier int check since I worship him, but that's purely roleplaying and likely disallowed). Spam Clairvoyance on the place I find, then inside it, etc. looking for enemies until I have the entire place mapped out. Bind an imp to teleport to that location with my Magic Jar gem and hit her with it. If it succeeds, keep the gem and continue on. When I find another creature, fight it and then use Magic Jar on it. Use a scroll of Disintegrate on the losers' dead bodies. Once I reach Krune, possibly cast Legend Lore, then commit suicide with my current body and return to my own. Once I've gotten to Krune, drop a scroll of disintegrate on his coffin.
What are your thoughts? I would love getting any tips for my build or tactics.
I got motivated to do this the other day, at our local Season 5 opening event, when I saw another group playing The Waking Rune and facing Krune. It took them hours to finally, barely, beat him. Remembering that NPCs are rarely optimized, I thought "surely I could do better than that." Then I started checking out Krune's stats and I got really excited. AC 33. Fort/Ref/Will 17/16/22. Initiative +8 (mine is +13 right now). Few stat-resisting buffs and a meh contingency. I figure that's bad enough for an 11th level wizard to deal with them, possibly 9th or 10th. After that I'd have no problem retiring my character in glory - I figure it's either that, or I abuse Pathfinder's lack-of-actual-banned-schools for wizards in my last adventure before level 12 to Dominate my party and have my wizard start overturning the Society so the world can be free of its criminal influence (if you've played PFS, you'll know what I'm talking about).
What I want to do is solo The Waking Rune on the highest tier (regardless of my level), Hard Mode, with no runes deactivated. The highest-level DM in the area also loves optimizing, and we're on friendly terms, so he'd probably be willing to DM the scenario for me if I asked.
What I have right now is a Wizard 4 specializing in the Teleportation subschool of Conjuration (which just makes the idea of crushing Krune all the more hilarious, since he's a Conjurerer too and supposed to be unbeatable in his own domain), so I have a lot of time to prepare.
This is my current build:
Elf Teleporter 4 (Osirion faction)
"Barred" schools: Enchantment, Evocation
Str 7/Dex 16/Con 12/Int 23/Wis 11/Cha 7
Feats:
1 Improved Initiative
Bonus Spell Focus: Conjuration (PFS replaces Scribe Scroll with this as crafting feats are banned :smallyuk:)
3 Toughness
Traits: Reactionary, Tomb Raider
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana, Engineering, Nature, Planes, Religion) 4 ranks, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Local) 1 rank, Linguistincs 2 ranks, Perception 4 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks
Notable Class features: Spellcasting 4/6/5, Jaunt (swift action, Su, teleport 15 ft, 9 times per day), Compsognathus familiar (+4 initiative), Summoner's Charm (summons last 2 extra rounds), favored class Wizard (HP +4)
Notable Items: Headband of Vast Int +2, Rod of Lesser Extend Metamagic, Pearl of Power 1st
My plan by level 11:
Elf Teleporter 11 (Osirion faction)
"Barred" schools: Enchantment, Evocation
Str 7/Dex 16/Con 12/Int 28/Wis 11/Cha 7
Feats:
1 Improved Initiative
Bonus Spell Focus: Conjuration
3 Toughness
Bonus Reach Spell
5 Spell Penetration
7 ?
9 ?
Bonus Quicken Spell
11 ?
Traits: Reactionary, Tomb Raider
Skills: Fly 7 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana, Engineering, Nature, Planes, Religion) 11 ranks, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Local) 1 rank, Linguistincs 2 ranks, Perception 11 ranks, Spellcraft 11 ranks
Notable Class features: Spellcasting 4/8/7/7/6/5/3, Jaunt (teleport 50 ft, 12 times per day), Compsognathus familiar (+4 initiative), Summoner's Charm (summons last 5 extra rounds), favored class Wizard (HP +11)
Notable Items: Headband of Vast Int +6, Rod of Lesser Extend Metamagic, Rod of Lesser Silent Metamagic, Cloak of Resistance +5
Obviously, I haven't fully fleshed out my build, and could use some help. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Krune, on the other hand, is a 17th level wizard with access to Wish (and presumably the cash to pay for it), all the conjuration spells I have, an intelligent spear that casts Slow 3/day and apparently also acts as a Greater Rod of Maximize, Empower, and Widen, plus being his item familiar. He can cast Acid Fog + Black Tentacles, Cloudkill, Summon Monster VII, and a single Maximized Empowered Horrid Wilting for ~130 damage. Unlike me, he didn't specialize in teleportation, so instead of being able to teleport as a Su swift action, he can throw around 1d6+9-damage acid darts. He can teleport as a standard action, but it's an SLA and so vulnerable to AoOs and concentration DCs, which he has +27 for. However, even unoptimized he's tough by virtue of being a Conjurer with tactics that actually make sense
Update: Apparently he starts out dead, and doesn't revive until another NPC dies. So maybe he can be killed by Magic Jar-ing her and ripping his body apart.
Krune's stats:
HP >300
AC 33
Fort/Ref/Will 17/16/22
Initiative +8
Immune to poison
Ring of Freedom of Movement
Ring of Spell Turning
Contingency set to Dispel any effect which would impede him from teleporting
Spellcasting: CL17, DC 20+spell level saves
Pearl of Power, 8th level
Dimensional Steps 510 ft./day
Concentration +27 (enough to auto-succeed most concentration checks)
Dragontooth Spear - intelligent, can cast Slow 3/day and Telekinesis at will
Greater Rod of Maximize, Empower, and Widen
Bonded Object (one extra spell of anything on his spell list)
Augment Summoning feat
Likely buffs:
Foresight, True Seeing, Globe of Invulnerability, Freedom of Movement (from ring), Spell Turning (from Ring) Stoneskin, Protection from Energy, Shield
Notable Spells:
3x Wish
Horrid Wilting
Acid Fog
Empowered Cloudkill
Cloudkill
Black Tentacles
Quickened Glitterdust
Summon Monster IX
Summon Monster VII
My current plan:
Bind a Movanic Deva, a Glabrezu, and 5 Magnesium Spirits*. Have the Movanic Deva ready an action to use Antimagic Field when it enters the coffin, and the Glabrezu ready an action to grapple Krune if he sees him. Cast Hold Portal on the coffin. Use Dimensional Steps to take the Movanic Deva into the coffin. Have the Magnesium Spirits attack him while he's still in his coffin from either through the sides or through the floor, and the Deva attempt to grapple him while in the coffin.
Set my contingency to "If I'm about to be inside antimagic or dead magic, cast teleport to behind the nearest wall." Which would put me outside the coffin.
The only thing left to deal with is the artifact spear that can still cast spells in the AMF, specifically Telekinesis. It can probably kill us all or destroy the coffin lid and then propel Krune out of it. The former is dealt with by me being outside the coffin first, and I can retreat second, and summon more creatures. In the latter case, the Glabrezu grapples Krune first - so I need to check if TK beats grappling.
Alternatively I can Jaunt into the coffin while Krune is still dead, take the spear, Jaunt out, and chuck it. Even if it tries to stop me, the best it can do is TK.
Chance of Success: Moderate. He has 18 Str, so 4 attacks on average will rend him unconscious, and allow him to be coup-de-grace'd by the Deva or Glabrezu. He has touch AC 23 outside the AMF, lower inside, and I can bind 5 Magnesium Spirits with spell slots alone, each of which hits on a 15, or 30% of the time, for a 0.83% chance of succeeding in the first round. However, if the angel-in-the-coffin trick works, I'll have plenty of rounds to deal with him. The Glabrezu's +24 CMB grapples Krune on a 14, or 35% of the time, outside the antimagic field, but the AMF cuts off Krune's stat bonuses, so as long as I can keep him within 10 ft of the Deva he'll be grappleable, provided I do it before he casts Freedom of Movement, but since he has that on a ring he almost certainly doesn't have it prepared, so that should be fine. Then he should be completely locked down from the Antimagic Field/Grapple combo and I can kill him at leisure.
*Need to check if Magnesium Spirits exist in PFS.
Other ideas:
-Cast scrying every day until he fails his save, then bind an imp and make a deal to have it teleport with a gem to the location I specifically describe (where Krune is), then leave. Cast Magic Jar on the gem, and attempt to possess Krune.
Chance of success: pretty low unless I can spike the DC somehow, since it'd only be 24 with my current build. Also needs some way to get around his Spell Turning.
-Cast Rock to Mud on his coffin and surrounding stone, let it sink, then cast mud to rock. Revive him and let him suffocate.
Chance of success: 100%, defeats all his defenses, but doesn't involve me actually facing him, so I won't do it. Ditto for disintegrating his body, or similar effects.
-Buy 110 cubic feet of wheat (1320 lbs) for 13.2 gp. Cast Fabricate to turn it into Saffron (990 lbs). Sell it for 14,850gp. Repeat a few times, then buy a ton of candles of invocation.
-Buff myself to hell and go toe-to-toe with him.
Chance of success: Decent. I at least know how to buff better: Skinsend/Shadow Projection, Contingency (teleport away if I'm about to go unconscious or be stunned/paralyzed/dominated), Getaway, Protection from Evil, True Seeing, bind a Movanic Deva (or 10) to stand next to him with Antimagic Field up, Invisibility, Fly, Mirror Image, Phantom Steed, Darkvision, Cat's Grace, Anticipate Peril.
Then I can try spamming him with Dispel Magic, Circle of Death, and Enervation. If he puts up defenses, I can teleport/astrally walk/rope trick out and come back 2 hours later, then go at it again (this defeats Spell Turning too).
On the other hand, I need a way to survive a 130 damage Horrid Wilting twice, and DC29 vs. being Wish'd to the center of the sun 3 times.
To get to Krune: Him being dead, and thus an object, to start with complicates the plan somewhat, but makes it simpler in other ways. Find out the entrance to wherever he's staying. If nothing else, use Locate Object on his body, but preferably Contact Other Plane to ask a bunch of demigods where Krune's body is (I can ask the DM if Nethys would give me an easier int check since I worship him, but that's purely roleplaying and likely disallowed). Spam Clairvoyance on the place I find, then inside it, etc. looking for enemies until I have the entire place mapped out. Bind an imp to teleport to that location with my Magic Jar gem and hit her with it. If it succeeds, keep the gem and continue on. When I find another creature, fight it and then use Magic Jar on it. Use a scroll of Disintegrate on the losers' dead bodies. Once I reach Krune, possibly cast Legend Lore, then commit suicide with my current body and return to my own. Once I've gotten to Krune, drop a scroll of disintegrate on his coffin.
What are your thoughts? I would love getting any tips for my build or tactics.