Fighting the Dread Wraith

[SadFaceNinja]

Good day all. In advance I appreciate any and all help.
Lucky me... my 3.5 group drew from the deck of many things. I lost all my magic items. Have to fight a dread wraith, but if I win I level up. Bad news is I'm a level 4 wizard, I have about 6,000 gold I can spend on scrolls, or other items. Small bit of luck it's morning, so I have time to prepare. We are in a large city, so I have access to a lot of items. The fighter was lucky enough to get 50,000 gp, so I might be able to talk them into lending me extra, so if you have any suggestions about that as well all info helpful. If my spell list is needed I can provide.

Thanks again!

[Inevitability]

Command Undead should be available and makes the dread wraith unable to attack you for days/level. The wraith lacks spellcraft ranks, so perhaps you can convince it to accept further castings of Command Undead, claming they're buffs.

Why kill the life-draining undead monstrosity if you can befriend it?

[SadFaceNinja]

I have considered this. My only worry is the dread wraith's high will save. I do have a high intelligence, and a house rule that bumps up saves, making the DC 19. Still a dread wraith get +14 to will.

[J-H]

Surely you can hire the services of a good-aligned high-level cleric for an hour for 6,000gp.

If not, successful hit with Heal will do 10 damage per caster level to a 104-hp cleric. Again, hire a cleric.

Or, go find the local order of paladins and clerics (Pelor or whoever), and tell them that a dread wraith is coming. Ask for sanctuary, and stay in their temple until it shows up.

Also, it's powerless in daylight (but not under the Daylight spell). You are safe as long as it is sunny and you are outdoors.

[John Longarrow]

Anyone who interferes with the fight gets their own dread wraith.

Anyone killed cannon't be brought back.

SadFaceNinja, if your DM is giving you a DoMT at 4th level, they are really looking to TPK the party. Not sure why though, that is like giving the party a scroll with a dozen wish spells on it, not level appropriate.

P.S. How on earth did you wind up dealing with it a 4th level?

[Inevitability]

There's always the Sacred Item megabomb trick...

A single casting of Sacred Item by a 10th-level cleric costs 400 GP and deals 10d4 points of damage to undead (average 25 damage) with no save. Have a few pebbles with the spell cast on them tied together and use True Strike + Launch Item to fling it at the wraith: six or seven should kill it reliably.

[Bronk]

Found something for you. Shirt of Wraith Stalking, Magic Item Compendium page 216. Permanent Hide from Undead spell effect (with additional rider specifying no save is granted even for intelligent undead)for 6000g.

You have just enough money to get one, and with it on, you'll be all set for as long as you want, basically until you decide to take the thing out on your own terms (like when you have the means to do so, just gained a level, and want to gain another quickly).

[SadFaceNinja]

Definitely some great suggestions. I'll check out that shirt for sure and see what my DM says, thanks Bronk. Megabomb trick sounds simple enough, I have access to clerics, I'm sure I could work something out. John Longarrow, the deck of many things is kind of my DM's calling card. He does it every campaign, and usually it is a few levels later. He says he has a good reason for doing it earlier this time, so we went along with it...

[Bronk]

I'm glad this is a fun thing and not a source of angst!

I hope you let us know how it all turns out!

[Crake]

People are confusing skull (the dread wraith card) with comet (the "kill the next monster you come across single handedly and you gain a level) card. Sure, you can draw the two together, but skull does nothing to give you a free level if you defeat the dread wraith.

Also, I'm surprised the DM is giving you time to prepare against the dread wraith, the card literally says "A dread wraith appears. Treat this creature as an unturnable undead. The character must fight it alone—if others help, they get dread wraiths to fight as well. If the character is slain, she is slain forever and cannot be revived, even with a wish or a miracle." Which means the dread wraith appears where you are and you must fight it immediately, so no time to spend your 6000gp, it can't be turned either, you have to fight it with what you have, which, as a level 4 wizard with no gear, probably means you're dead, it being a CR11 opponent and all.

Also: Just because your DM puts in the deck of many things, doesn't mean you guys have to draw from it, you CAN just choose to ignore it, sell it, or, you know, do anything else other than drawing from it.

[Bronk]

People are confusing skull (the dread wraith card) with comet (the "kill the next monster you come across single handedly and you gain a level) card. Sure, you can draw the two together, but skull does nothing to give you a free level if you defeat the dread wraith.

Also, I'm surprised the DM is giving you time to prepare against the dread wraith, the card literally says "A dread wraith appears. Treat this creature as an unturnable undead. The character must fight it alone—if others help, they get dread wraiths to fight as well. If the character is slain, she is slain forever and cannot be revived, even with a wish or a miracle." Which means the dread wraith appears where you are and you must fight it immediately, so no time to spend your 6000gp, it can't be turned either, you have to fight it with what you have, which, as a level 4 wizard with no gear, probably means you're dead, it being a CR11 opponent and all.

Also: Just because your DM puts in the deck of many things, doesn't mean you guys have to draw from it, you CAN just choose to ignore it, sell it, or, you know, do anything else other than drawing from it.

I think either way, if he wins, he's gaining a level. That's... 12800XP from single combat right there, for a fourth level character.

I'm imagining this thing popping up into the daylight and constantly swinging ineffectually at him until nightfall... It would certainly create a spectacle at the marketplace! Plus, that would make buying things in stores or stalls pretty dangerous... Don't step into a shadow!

[John Longarrow]

Concerned that if you have this thing following you around it may be going into peoples houses and slaughtering them. If your DM runs wraiths by the book this means you can have a crap ton of them floating around by the time your ready to face yours.

[Crake]

I'm imagining this thing popping up into the daylight and constantly swinging ineffectually at him until nightfall... It would certainly create a spectacle at the marketplace! Plus, that would make buying things in stores or stalls pretty dangerous... Don't step into a shadow!

That is assuming that they were drawing the deck outside during the day though, and not in the dungeon where they found the thing.


Concerned that if you have this thing following you around it may be going into peoples houses and slaughtering them. If your DM runs wraiths by the book this means you can have a crap ton of them floating around by the time your ready to face yours.

This is also a problem, because the wraith has no limit to the number of spawn it can create and control, with enough spawn it could quite easily overwhelm you with con damage and just instantly kill you. But I question if the wraith would do that, because if it could, well, then the person being attacked wouldn't be able to defend themselves without creating another wraith, which just seems to go against the intentions of the card.

If you do have time for shopping, I would recommend a scroll of sheltered vitality and just.... a lot of magic missiles. Like... a lot.

[Darrin]

You will need:

1. Slate board and chalk. Slate is 5 GP (A&EG), chalk is 1 CP.
2. Piece of cloth large enough to cover the slate. PHB says a square yard of linen is 4 GP but this is a ludicrous price for raw fabric, particularly when you can get a cheap toga for 8 CP (A&EG).
3. Ten castings of explosive runes. Assuming you can find enough 5th-level spellcasters, should be 150 GP each, or 1500 GP total.
4. Scroll of unseen servant, 25 GP.
5. Scroll of summon monster I, 25 GP.
6. Golden desert honey (Complete Mage), 300 GP.
7. Skull talisman of sheltered vitality (Spell Compendium), 2800 GP.

Just as night falls, shatter the skull talisman to get sheltered vitality up and summon your unseen servant. The sheltered vitality is there to prevent any Con damage should the dread wraith manage to attack you first, but if you have a reliable way to win initiative (wand of nerveskitter, let's say), you can skip it. Direct your unseen servant to carry the covered slate until you give it a signal, at which point it will move to a square adjacent to the dread wraith and pull off the cloth cover.

When the dread wraith appears:

1. Signal your unseen servant (free action).
2. Move to a safe distance (move action).
3. Summon a celestial monkey with the golden desert honey (standard action).
4. Tell the monkey to read what's on the slate (free action).

Each explosive runes does 6d6 [force] damage (incorporeal doesn't help here). Ten of them should do 210 damage. If the dread wraith makes all twelve Reflex saves, then it takes half: 105 damage, which should be enough to kill it.

[Manyasone]

People are confusing skull (the dread wraith card) with comet (the "kill the next monster you come across single handedly and you gain a level) card. Sure, you can draw the two together, but skull does nothing to give you a free level if you defeat the dread wraith.

Also, I'm surprised the DM is giving you time to prepare against the dread wraith, the card literally says "A dread wraith appears. Treat this creature as an unturnable undead. The character must fight it alone—if others help, they get dread wraiths to fight as well. If the character is slain, she is slain forever and cannot be revived, even with a wish or a miracle." Which means the dread wraith appears where you are and you must fight it immediately, so no time to spend your 6000gp, it can't be turned either, you have to fight it with what you have, which, as a level 4 wizard with no gear, probably means you're dead, it being a CR11 opponent and all.

Also: Just because your DM puts in the deck of many things, doesn't mean you guys have to draw from it, you CAN just choose to ignore it, sell it, or, you know, do anything else other than drawing from it.

Pretty much this. You're hosed and you can't accept help (if good aligned) because each one to help you gets his own Mini-Death. The wraith pops up next to you, no prep time...
Deck of many things, hated it since second edition

[Deophaun]

4. Tell the monkey to read what's on the slate (free action).

Each explosive runes does 6d6 [force] damage (incorporeal doesn't help here). Ten of them should do 210 damage.
But only one goes off, because explosive runes are triggered when read, not when the item they are on is read. Once the monkey reads the first, it goes off, likely killing it and destroying the rest before it can read any others. This is why I prefer a flock of fiendish hawks: they can swoop in one-by-one and safely detonate without endangering the rest.

[Darrin]

But only one goes off, because explosive runes are triggered when read, not when the item they are on is read. Once the monkey reads the first, it goes off, likely killing it and destroying the rest before it can read any others. This is why I prefer a flock of fiendish hawks: they can swoop in one-by-one and safely detonate without endangering the rest.

It's debatable. The spell text says a failed attempt to erase the runes sets them off. Destroying the slate could be considered an attempt to erase the remaining runes. Another option might be to tell the unseen servant to start erasing the runes but stop halfway through, but it's not clear what a failed attempt to erase would look like.

Or ten Hawks might work too... Duration might be a little tricky.

[Bronk]

Concerned that if you have this thing following you around it may be going into peoples houses and slaughtering them. If your DM runs wraiths by the book this means you can have a crap ton of them floating around by the time your ready to face yours.

I think this might actually be okay, since it's so focused on the drawer of the card.

[Crake]

But only one goes off, because explosive runes are triggered when read, not when the item they are on is read. Once the monkey reads the first, it goes off, likely killing it and destroying the rest before it can read any others. This is why I prefer a flock of fiendish hawks: they can swoop in one-by-one and safely detonate without endangering the rest.

My preferred method is to just cast an area dispel magic and willingly fail all the caster level checks, it all happens at the same time, the failed dispels set off all the runes at once and pop.

But this sets a very dangerous precedence, because what's to stop the BBEG from just doing this to your party?

The way I personally get around this as a GM is to either have creatures run in one by one and read each one, which makes the logistics a bit more difficult, or, if you're setting up a static trap, have the runes evenly spread about in a circle so they're just out of reach of each other, but their areas overlap