mageripper encounter

[Theodred theOld]

I will soon be running a party through a variation of the "follow the vowel to exit" puzzle found in the book of challenges. Each room will have 3 portals. 2 lead to mageripper swarms and 1 leads to the next room in the sequence. Each wrong guess will lead to increasing numbers of swarms and more monsters. My question is this: which monsters do you think would most compliment the magerippers? The party is level 9, human sorceror, pixie sorceror, and human rogue 8/cleric 1. The pixie gave up everything except DR, flight and invisibility. I've already given the later swarms a flight speed to threaten the pixie but I need something with a bit more crunch for later.

[Venger]

throw in something the rogue can target. he's gonna have a bad time with a swarm since with only 1 cleric level, he's not gonna have any worthwhile AoEs. try MMV's vivisectors. they're another flying arthropod monster, so would fit aesthetically with mageripper swarms
(NB: it's 'complement,' unless you wanted the monster to say nice things to the magerippers)

[Theodred theOld]

My what lovely neck tentacles you have. Lol

[Venger]

My what lovely neck tentacles you have. Lol

indeed.

what is your rogue doing? is he speccing for black flame zealot?

[Theodred theOld]

He's a bit unfocused in his build. he took a couple levels of GFK and seems to be mostly interested in coldblooded murder. The cleric level was a suggestion from me, as his character is devoted to the raven queen. He enjoys sneak attacks and catching enemies helpless for a quick coup de grace. No such luck with the swarms.

[Venger]

He's a bit unfocused in his build. he took a couple levels of GFK and seems to be mostly interested in coldblooded murder. The cleric level was a suggestion from me, as his character is devoted to the raven queen. He enjoys sneak attacks and catching enemies helpless for a quick coup de grace. No such luck with the swarms.

wait so is he a rogue x/ghostfaced killer x/ cleric 1?

cleric is not helping him, roping in the one ability rogues can safely dump. I anticipate problems in his future.

[Theodred theOld]

Problems don't begin to describe his future. Much divine intervention. To be fair the cleric level was required for completion of a greater mission, sort of a missionary type voyage establishing temples and clergy and whatnot.

[Theodred theOld]

I've been thinking of using a few automatons from MM2 I think. Well under the party's level but factor in the damage done by repeated exposure to the swarms and the fact that sneak attack is off the table and this should be fairly challenging. The unreliability adds a fun twist as well. The encounter occurs on an asteroid belt where no one has been for at least 500 years so it fits the fluff.

[Venger]

Problems don't begin to describe his future. Much divine intervention. To be fair the cleric level was required for completion of a greater mission, sort of a missionary type voyage establishing temples and clergy and whatnot.

so you're... picking your players' levels for them? and multiclassing them?


I've been thinking of using a few automatons from MM2 I think. Well under the party's level but factor in the damage done by repeated exposure to the swarms and the fact that sneak attack is off the table and this should be fairly challenging. The unreliability adds a fun twist as well. The encounter occurs on an asteroid belt where no one has been for at least 500 years so it fits the fluff.

I'm beginning to pick up a theme here. does your rogue ever encounter enemies that are vulnerable to precision damage?

[Theodred theOld]

so you're... picking your players' levels for them? and multiclassing them?



I'm beginning to pick up a theme here. does your rogue ever encounter enemies that are vulnerable to precision damage?

Ohhhh. I see what you did there.
1: At no point did I force the rogue to take levels of anything. I dangled an enticing carrot of plot-filled goodness in front of him and he bit.
2. I would by no means take away a pcs main schtick ever. Never. I give him plenty of squishy bad guys to poke for + xd6 precision damage.
This encounter is meant as an increasingly difficult trap for the unwary. If they figure out the puzzle they escape unharmed. If they guess? Many problems for them.