PDA

View Full Version : Challenge: Make the Tarrasque an Elder Evil



wayfare
2013-09-21, 06:15 PM
The Tarrasque...

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081013202537/forgottenrealms/images/6/62/4e_tarrasque.jpg

Once the ultimate terror in the D&D multiverse, now merely a powerful bruiser, a mere beast to be overcome through strength of arms.

Until now...

Use this space to stat up a Tarrasque that is a truly campaign-ending threat, or create a setting and campaign that might hold a monster of awesome puissance!

Rules:

1) Use full stat blocks for your Tarrasque and any supporting characters
2) Incorporate Elder Evil immunities, resistances, and signs
3) Target your Tarrasque between CR 16 and CR 30
4) Mention in your post if other posters can build on your work
5) Feel free to create stories and mini-campaign settings for the Elder Evil
6) Dont tie your setting materials to a specific world -- you want to create a Tarrasque that can threaten any world!

Happy Brewing!

qwertyu63
2013-09-21, 06:25 PM
OK, I'll start by using the Pathfinder Tarrasque (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/magical-beasts/spawn-of-rovagug/tarrasque) as a base, due to its greater power (CR 25). Looking up things about elder evils reveals that I need to add on resistance to cold 20 and (Su) true seeing at will. I'll also increase its Int score to 10, allowing it to speak properly. I'll come back through with more as I think stuff up, but I wanted to put what I had down.

EDIT 1: Its sign would be earthquakes, starting with minor shaking of the ground, and building up to city leveling force.

EDIT 2: I think I will apply the Half-White Dragon template as well, thus grabbing cold immunity, the breath weapon and (most importantly) flight.

EDIT 3: I'll also add on the following ability:

Total Rend (Su)
Being incorporeal or hiding on another plane won't save you from the tarrasque's wrath. The tarrasque can see and attack incorporeal or ethereal creatures as if they weren't incorporeal or ethereal.

EDIT 4: And this one:

Earth Shaker (Ex):
Whenever the tarrasque lands from a fall or jump, the earth shakes. All creatures within 160 feet of the landing site must make a Reflex save (DC 20) or fall prone. All creatures and buildings within 80 feet of the landing site take 3d8 damage (Reflex DC 20 for half, this damage ignores hardness and deals full damage to objects). All creatures within 40 feet of the landing site are must make a Fortitude save (DC 20) or be stunned for the round. These effects stack.

Also, rough sign layout:
This sign is endless shaking of the ground. As the sign intensifies, the shaking grows stronger.
Faint: All Concentration checks made on land have the DC increased by 5.
Moderate: All Tumble, Climb and Jump checks made on land have the DC increased by 10. Creatures Huge or larger can ignore this effect.
Strong: All spells cast on land require a DC 23 Concentration check to cast. In addition, all buildings on land take 1d6 damage every day (this deals full damage to objects).
Overwhelming: All Tumble, Climb and Jump checks made on land are automatically failed. In addition, all creatures standing on land must make a DC 20 Reflex save every round or fall prone. Creatures Huge or larger can ignore these effects. Lastly, all buildings on land take an additional 3d6 damage every day (this deals full damage to objects).

Amechra
2013-09-21, 06:31 PM
I'd use the ToB Tarrasque fix (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218055) that Mr. Bookworm made.

It really works out to be a WMD.

wayfare
2013-09-21, 07:08 PM
Looking forward to seeing your efforts!

wayfare
2013-09-24, 05:25 PM
Rise of the Earthshaker (An EL 20 Campaign Timeline) In progress

Introduction + Background
In ages past, many atrocities have been committed in the name of war -- cities sacked, families slaughtered, slaves taken and worked to their death. War brings out the worst in men, and for men with true power, it brings worse still. Never has that lesson been as clear than in the rivalry between the Mountain City of Korunath and the Vallleymen of Aknagor.

Though Aknagor won the struggle, history remembers Korunath, heartforge of the High Dwarves -- gifted smiths and artisans who mixed blood freely with the fabled Dwarves of Migard. Their wondrous thousand-foot city was unassailable, built into the flesh of a mountain and supported by most puissant marvels. Yet, despite their might, the Dwarves of Korunath fell when the gods shook the mountain and reduced the city to a tomb of shattered columns and broken wonders. [Knowledge: Religion or History DC 25]

More discerning historians know that the doom that came to Korunath was born of a feud between the Dwarves who controlled the mountain and the Orc Valleymen who controlled the western plains leading to the city. Though the two races once lived in comparative peace, the ever-expanding city verged on the Orc's sacred places. The Orcs issued a stern warning to the Dwarves of Aknagor, but it was ignored. Soon raids began, which soon escalated to outright battle, and eventually to war.
The Valleymen fared poorly -- Korunath itself was unassailable, and though the Vallymen had many clans of fierce warriors on their side, even these elite could not stand before clockwork wonders and mystic might. Desperate to survive, the Orcs of Aknagor unleashed the power of the gods and crumbled the walls of Korunath. [Knowledge: Religion or History DC 30]

In truth, the gods did not come to aid the Orcs of Aknagor. Rather, the Orcs unleashed an evil they had been tasked with keeping quiescent. Fearful that the dwarven expansion would unleash the evil without any moderating force, the holy men of Aknagor woke the sleeping Tarrasque and unleashed it upon unassailable Korunath. The Earthshaker passed every barrier, slew every warrior, and finally brought the mountain down upon the western slope, creating for itself a tomb in the rubble of both great cities. Knowledge: Religion or History DC 35

Such has been the long and bloody history of the Tarrasque, a living weapon created in the early days of the world, when gods quarreled among themselves for control of the material plane. Eager to win dominance over their rivals, a group of gods engineered the creature to slay the apostates that worshiped their enemies. Invisible to divine sight and immune to spell and blade alike, the creature was an effective slayer, one that only grew stronger as it toppled cities and even slew avatars. Eventually, the Monster became mighty enough to throw off the yoke of it's masters and went on a rampage, slaying men regardless of faith. As mortals abandoned hope all gods began to lose power, and fell to the heavens in their avatar bodies. Seven eventually rose to challenge the beast, but their might was only enough to bind the creature in slumber. Knowledge: Religion DC 40

The Tarrasque has woken many times since it's creation, each time heralding the doom of an entire civilization. The creature can only be active for a short time, as the wounds dealt by the gods sap the creature's strength. If these wounds should be healed, the beast will surely seek its revenge against the gods and their faithful. Knowledge: Religion 45

Campaign Timeline Levels 3-20


EL 3: Thundel Firefist, owner of the White Star Mine, has put a call out for adventurers to clear his mine of an infestation of PhantomMMV Dwarven Experts and other low-level incorporeal undead. Fighting through the mine, the party eventually comes across a rift that opens into lushly appointed antechamber. Inside waits a deranged Allip and massive tome written in a truly obscure dialect of dwarven, unreadable to the characters. After clearing the mine Thundel rewards the party handsomely but demands possession of the tome -- determined players can haggle an additional reward if they press the miner.

EL 5 (Faint Sign): The mayor of a frontier settlement asks the party to seek out their Druid protector. When the party find's the Druid Grove, it appears to have been trampled or defiled -- trees are toppled, the earth is torn up in gouges, animals are half-buried in oddly folded earth. As the party investigates, they are ambushed by a swarm of Small Earth elementals that act unusually vicious for near-mindless beings.

EL 6-7: A runner from Thundel Firefist finds the party, asking for immediate aid. A band of orc thugs means to wrest the mine from Thundel, and the miner is willing to reward the party extravagantly if they help defend the mine and evacuate the wounded.
On arrival, the party finds that a small adventuring troupe has also heeded the call. Lead by Archivist Galadan Whiteblade, these heroes have held the invaders back for some time but are now in need of rest and relief. As the situation at the mine grows more desperate, Galadan offers evacuate the now-wounded Thundel and return with aid, if the PCs will attempt a sortie to distract the thugs. In the chaos, someone also absconds with the tome discovered by the PCs.
The siege deepens, then abruptly ends as the orcs call a meeting under the flag of truce. The Orcs seek the return of something stolen from them, but are evasive as to what exactly they seek. As the truce looks like it is about to come to a bloody end, a tremor strikes and topples the mine. This seems to mollify the Orcs, who praise unfamiliar gods and leave in peace if offered the chance to do so.