Anybody Ever Use Clockwork Horrors? Any Advice?

[wayfare]

Hey All:

I'm using clockwork horrors in my next campaign, and I'm wondering if anybody hhas advice for using them, creatures that are appropriate to pair with them, tactics that might render the legion of cloickwork bugs irrelevant etc.

A few notes:

The campaign goes from levels 1 to 10 - thats the levelcap in my games, so things above CR 15 likely don't exist or are extremely rare things you typically don't deal with via combat.

The players are the guardsmen in a city that is eventually overrun by the clockwork horror swarm.

The horrors are a race created by Mechanus called Reclaimers. Their purpose is to recycle the knowledge and power of fallen empires. The Adamantine Horror eventually decided that the best way to do this was to destroy civilizations that it deemed likely to fall.

Mechanus seals off any world the reclaimers hit. Planar travel is impossible while a world is sealed off, without the direct intervention of a deity. This is usually enough to contain the world for a time, as the clockwork horrors cannot naturally travel between the planes. Once they devour all life on a world, the horror collective builds a interplanetary ship that travels in search of new worlds to devour

[(Un)Inspired]

One good strategy to use when fighting an adamantine horror is to have a cool backup character that you want to play because your current one is going to die.

[Ksheep]

I had been planing on using the Horrors in my campaign, and so far they've turned up all of once. I had only thrown about a dozen Copper Electrum Horrors at the party while they were in an old abandoned shop. However, the party noticed them as soon as the horrors entered and took them all out with a single well-placed fireball…

I keep trying to reintroduce them, but whenever the party gets anywhere near a place that has them, they are on guard and teleport away at the first sign of danger. However, it has had the side effect of making the fearless big smashy guy very paranoid, which I find hilarious…

EDIT: Fixed horror type

[Story]

One good strategy to use when fighting an adamantine horror is to have a cool backup character that you want to play because your current one is going to die.

How about staying more than 60ft away? IIRC its SLAs don't have a very high range.

As for defenses a Necropolitan with persisted Ray Deflection would be immune to Implosion and Disintegrate. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to be immune to Disjunction without extreme cheese.

[(Un)Inspired]

How about staying more than 60ft away? IIRC its SLAs don't have a very high range.

As for defenses a Necropolitan with persisted Ray Deflection would be immune to Implosion and Disintegrate. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to be immune to Disjunction without extreme cheese.

Yeah and the Disjunction turns off your Ray deflection. The 60 ft. range is definitely a limiting factor on the pain they can bring but honestly I really never want to be Disjunctioned especially when its followed up by a Disintegrate

[Brookshw]

How about staying more than 60ft away? IIRC its SLAs don't have a very high range.

As for defenses a Necropolitan with persisted Ray Deflection would be immune to Implosion and Disintegrate. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to be immune to Disjunction without extreme cheese.

Huh? Are you saying ray deflection protects from implosion? Is that right?

[peacenlove]

How about staying more than 60ft away? IIRC its SLAs don't have a very high range.

As for defenses a Necropolitan with persisted Ray Deflection would be immune to Implosion and Disintegrate. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to be immune to Disjunction without extreme cheese.

(Dragonblooded) Wings of cover, immediate action teleport and any action disrupting technique will suffice since they do not have great initiative / concentration modifier

[wayfare]

So, do folks believe that toning down the adamantine horror is necessary?

[Story]

Huh? Are you saying ray deflection protects from implosion? Is that right?

No being undead does. Ray Deflection is needed because undead are still vulnerable to Disintegrate.


So, do folks believe that toning down the adamantine horror is necessary?

Well you'll want to do something about the Disjunction because a DM using disjunction on players is just mean. At least change it to the PF version or something. Apart from that, I think it's a matter of how high op the party is and the conditions of the fight.

[Brookshw]

No being undead does. Ray Deflection is needed because undead are still vulnerable to Disintegrate.

Incorporale undead sure buts its an evocation, not a death effect. Not that I'm saying you're wrong, this just doesn't sound right and I'm afb. Would you mind clarifying how?

[Snowbluff]

So, do folks believe that toning down the adamantine horror is necessary?

When the options are "You die," or "Your stuff is broken," I would say nerf it. Try change it to something like Dispel magic @ CL 10 and Enervation/Fear/Bestow Curse.

[Zero grim]

me a minute ago "Clockwork horrors, o i remember them i was going to use them once, their only cr 9 how bad could the adamtine one be"

9th level spells at will, i cant think of any 9th level spell at will that wouldn't be crazy for a cr9 creature.

when a creatures weakest attack is disintegrate I think maybe a nerf bat is needed, maybe dispel and curse as suggested maybe throw in a lightning bolt for theme.

[Draken]

Incorporale undead sure buts its an evocation, not a death effect. Not that I'm saying you're wrong, this just doesn't sound right and I'm afb. Would you mind clarifying how?

It actually works. I thought it didn't as well, but it does. Implosion can only target corporeal creatures and gives a saving throw, and undead have "Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless)."

[Story]

Incorporale undead sure buts its an evocation, not a death effect. Not that I'm saying you're wrong, this just doesn't sound right and I'm afb. Would you mind clarifying how?

It's odd that Implosion isn't a death effect, but they are immune anyway since it has a fort save and doesn't affect objects.


me a minute ago "Clockwork horrors, o i remember them i was going to use them once, their only cr 9 how bad could the adamtine one be"

9th level spells at will, i cant think of any 9th level spell at will that wouldn't be crazy for a cr9 creature.


Foresight? Invoke Magic? Instant Refuge? Obviously there are going to be 9th level spells that aren't broken on a monster.

[Brookshw]

Ah! That would be it then. Thank you!

[wayfare]

Do folks think the crs of the monsters are appropriate?

[Snowbluff]

Do folks think the crs of the monsters are appropriate?

Generally, I do. In the case of these horrors, no.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Do folks think the crs of the monsters are appropriate?

It is chaotic. I find that MM2 is generally really CR'd. Weirds arr only 12 while the megapede is 20? Not even close...

[Friv]

There was a nice summary of the clockwork horrors done in this thread. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11102190&postcount=228)

[GreenSerpent]

I intend to. Does that count?

It's a campaign I have planned involving gnomes, Gnome Artificers, troglodytes, and the destruction of Waterdeep in a gigantic nuclear fireball.

[wayfare]

Sounds awesome, but Waterdeep is a tough nut to crack? What time are you setting this in?