How would you defeat Rakdos?

[Zhentarim]

Can he be defeated? He looks really powerful:
http://i.picasion.com/resize90/241e4acde198692f3fa9e0aa147a9321.jpg

[solidork]

Posting the full rules text is probably against forum rules, just so you know.

Also, you just Forcecage him.

[JellyPooga]

300hp and AC 20, no significant spellcasting and only 80ft speed? Eh, he's a beatstick and can be dealt with as such. Lightning, Cold and Radiant damage, as well as magical BPS, do just fine against him. His Legendary Action Sadistic Revelry suggests he will either be encountered without minion backup or they'll be largely ineffectual (due to knocking lumps out of each other) and his attacks are nothing to shout about. He has abyssmal (bad-um tsh) Dexterity; throw enough Disintegrate and Lightning Bolts his way and he'll go down easy enough.

Stay at a distance to avoid Captivating Presence, if possible (scenario permitting). Shoot to death with big guns. Hell, anyone with Shapechange can go Blue Dragon Burrowing Death Pattern and solo him easily enough (for a certain definition of "easy", considering the use of a 9th lvl. spell!).


Also, you just Forcecage him.

That too.

[Cybren]

Swords to plowshare. Even pacifism or oblivion ring since black/red has no enchantment removal.

[Zhorn]

Yeah, attacking their DEX and INT saves are your best bet.

If it was a case of a campaign building up to a confrontation with this thing (ie: you can spend some adventuring time preparing for it): hunt down and capture a live Intellect Devourer to throw at him. Not being a humanoid it won't be able to Body Thief it, but the Devour Intellect ability just targets a creature. Fail a DC 12 INT save and get a roll of 14+ on a 3d6 and that dude is DOWN.

[OgataiKhan]

My four level 20 players loaded up with magic items fought Rakdos, a Balor, a Pit Fiend, two Bloodfray Giants, three Glabrezus, four Blood Witches, one Master of Cruelties, three Rakdos Performers, and one Rakdos Lampooner in one encounter, inside a Rakdos Carnival with its own lair actions.

They won with only moderate difficulty. The party was a Shepherd Druid, a blaster Sorcadin, a Sun Soul Monk, and a Swashbuckler Rogue.

The Shepherd Druid's 24 conjured velociraptors did most of the heavy lifting while the Sorcadin's Aura of Protection defended the party from the dangerous save-based abilities.

[Eldariel]

Swords to plowshare. Even pacifism or oblivion ring since black/red has no enchantment removal.

Or PoE or Council's Judgment or Terminus or...

[BamBam]

Forcecage + Wall of Light is a 13th level 1 person 1 Wizard answer.

Or Wall of Force + Wall of Light + Ring of Spell Storing is a 9th level minion/party dependent answer.

[Eldariel]

Forcecage + Wall of Light is a 13th level 1 person 1 Wizard answer.

Or Wall of Force + Wall of Light + Ring of Spell Storing is a 9th level minion/party dependent answer.

You can also just use Glyph of Warding to accomplish the same without magic items.

[BamBam]

You can also just use Glyph of Warding to accomplish the same without magic items.

Glyph of Warding is great but how are you accessing it in game?

[Eldariel]

Glyph of Warding is great but how are you accessing it in game?

By picking it as one of your 3rd level spells known? Or what do you mean? How do you plan to trigger it at right location at the right time? Put it in a book, throw the book so that it opens up (or have your familiar/unseen servant/zombie/skeleton/tiny servitor - hell, make the book itself a tiny servitor - carry it and open it or whatever). You can cast the spell in a demiplane [while the entrance might move, the demiplane does not] or then precast it and lure Rakky to your location. Or how do you plan on getting 200gp? That should be pretty trivial by level 9 for a class that doesn't even need to pay for armor.

[BamBam]

By picking it as one of your 3rd level spells known? Or what do you mean? How do you plan to trigger it at right location at the right time? Put it in a book, throw the book so that it opens up (or have your familiar/unseen servant/zombie/skeleton/tiny servitor - hell, make the book itself a tiny servitor - carry it and open it or whatever). You can cast the spell in a demiplane [while the entrance might move, the demiplane does not] or then precast it and lure Rakky to your location. Or how do you plan on getting 200gp? That should be pretty trivial by level 9 for a class that doesn't even need to pay for armor.

Tell me more about the book trigger . . . very interesting.

[Wraith]

Even without magical cheese - Forcecage, Banishment, etc - a handful of Paladin backed up by a couple of decent healers could beat him down fairly quickly. Especially if they're Oath of Conquest; They combine Auras to buff their WIS save to an hilarious level, pop Invincible Conqueror, pop Guided Strike, laugh at his AC and Smite him into oblivion in a round or two.

+6d8 Radiant Damage with minimum +16 to hit, per Paladin, plus extra bonuses for magical weapons, stats, fighting style, then their Extra Attacks and (possibly) off-hand attacks.... 4 paladin could reasonably rush him and drop him in one round. The hard part would be stopping him from realising what was happening after the second attack and willingly eating an AoO or two to fly away out of reach.

While that would be a fairly reliable way of taking him down, for preference and a bit of fun I'd like to try it with a dedicated Grapple build. Once we'd got his Legendary Resistance out of the way, he's +15 STR but off the top of my head I can think of 19 Rune Knight/1 Rogue (for Expertise) that gives us +18 with Advantage, and that's even before we add equipment bonuses, buffs on us from allies, debuffs on him from allies... Make him dodge a couple of Lightning Bolts/Wall of Light/Freezing Spheres/Whatever to burn his saves, then we pin him to the ground and slowly twist his head off. Just to prove that we can. :smallbiggrin:

[Unoriginal]

Even without magical cheese - Forcecage, Banishment, etc - a handful of Paladin backed up by a couple of decent healers could beat him down fairly quickly. Especially if they're Oath of Conquest; They combine Auras to buff their WIS save to an hilarious level, pop Invincible Conqueror, pop Guided Strike, laugh at his AC and Smite him into oblivion in a round or two.

+6d8 Radiant Damage with minimum +16 to hit, per Paladin, plus extra bonuses for magical weapons, stats, fighting style, then their Extra Attacks and (possibly) off-hand attacks.... 4 paladin could reasonably rush him and drop him in one round. The hard part would be stopping him from realising what was happening after the second attack and willingly eating an AoO or two to fly away out of reach.

While that would be a fairly reliable way of taking him down, for preference and a bit of fun I'd like to try it with a dedicated Grapple build. Once we'd got his Legendary Resistance out of the way, he's +15 STR but off the top of my head I can think of 19 Rune Knight/1 Rogue (for Expertise) that gives us +18 with Advantage, and that's even before we add equipment bonuses, buffs on us from allies, debuffs on him from allies... Make him dodge a couple of Lightning Bolts/Wall of Light/Freezing Spheres/Whatever to burn his saves, then we pin him to the ground and slowly twist his head off. Just to prove that we can. :smallbiggrin:

Resisting a regular grappling would be a STR (Athletics) or a DEX (Acrobatics) check, so his save mod/Legendary Resistance wouldn't apply.

That being said I'm not sure the PC would survive the Fiend's damage output with that strategy.

[Amdy_vill]

a party of 12 coffelocks min-maxed into eldritch blast flying just outside of his range.

[stoutstien]

Looks like a pretty weak stat block honestly. If the NPC is solo I would think most parties wouldn't struggle with it.

[Naanomi]

Historically he can be taken down by botching a mind control ritual using dragon spinal fluid or something

[Zhentarim]

I'm a Rakdos Goblin Bard, but I have creative differences with Rakdos, and was ecploring the possibility of killing Rakdos to take over the guild in a few more levels. From what I can tell, this is going to take some buy-in from the rest of the party. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a suicide mission. Thank you, and I'll let you know how it turned out, if I get the rest of the party interested.

[Unoriginal]

I'm a Rakdos Goblin Bard, but I have creative differences with Rakdos, and was ecploring the possibility of killing Rakdos to take over the guild in a few more levels. From what I can tell, this is going to take some buy-in from the rest of the party. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a suicide mission. Thank you, and I'll let you know how it turned out, if I get the rest of the party interested.

Well more important than your party's involvement, the question is: what will the rest of the guild do?

My advice would be to seek those among Rakdos-the-guild who are similarly dissatisfied with Rakdos-the-being.



Another advice: as a Bard you could challenge the Fiend to a Performance duel, and actually beat him.

[JackPhoenix]

Well more important than your party's involvement, the question is: what will the rest of the guild do?

My advice would be to seek those among Rakdos-the-guild who are similarly dissatisfied with Rakdos-the-being.

There's also the question if it's possible to be rid of him that way. Just because you've reduced a fiend to 0 hp doesn't mean he's gone for good.

[Naanomi]

There's also the question if it's possible to be rid of him that way. Just because you've reduced a fiend to 0 hp doesn't mean he's gone for good.
It took him a while in the lava pit to regen last time, and the help of his blood witches

[Witty Username]

I have a character which is mired in this question, though with the extra complication that he would refuse to battle Rakdos if it wasn't 1 on 1 with a stadium size audience spectating. My plan so far is get to level 20 first, then defensive blade flourish to keep myself alive while I try to land a decisive eldritch smite. Oh, and fire shield so hellish rebuke doesn't annihilate me.

[Zhentarim]

I'm liking the idea of challenging rakdos to a contest, maybe. Its unusual and quirky and fits my character.

My character views themselves as neutral good, (but is honestly just an idealistic version of chaotic evil), and he thinks Rakdos isn't doing enough to help the plane of Ravnica be a freer, more equal place to live. Really, my character is in rakdos because he was too wrathful to be accepted into either Boros or Selesnya, but they think of themselves as good.

[Unoriginal]

I'm liking the idea of challenging rakdos to a contest, maybe. Its unusual and quirky and fits my character.

How much does your PC have in CHA (Performance), and in which instruments is he proficient?

[Zhentarim]

How much does your PC have in CHA (Performance), and in which instruments is he proficient?

Through my bard class, I'm proficient in the Fiddle, Accordion, and Cajun Triangle and all CHA-based skills besides performance. Through my Rakdos background I'm proficient in both DEX(Acrobatics) and CHA(Performance) and the Guitar.

My DEX and CHA are both 20 and I'm a straight-up 13th level Lore Bard (I picked up necromancer spells every time magical secrets came up).

I'll need to look at my sheet again to look at my bonus, but I can remember that off the top of my head.


https://youtu.be/sh7BZf7D5Bw

[Unoriginal]

Through my bard class, I'm proficient in the Fiddle, Accordion, and Cajun Triangle and all CHA-based skills besides performance. Through my Rakdos background I'm proficient in both DEX(Acrobatics) and CHA(Performance) and the Guitar.

My DEX and CHA are both 20 and I'm a straight-up 13th level Lore Bard (I picked up necromancer spells every time magical secrets came up).

I'll need to look at my sheet again to look at my bonus, but I can remember that off the top of my head.


Well unless you have Expertise in Performance or magic items that modify things, it means you have +10 to CHA (Performance) checks, with advantage if you use a musical instrument you're proficient with (as per the Xanathar's rules).

It's good but you're gonna need something more if you want to overcome his +17 mod.

[Zhentarim]

Well unless you have Expertise in Performance or magic items that modify things, it means you have +10 to CHA (Performance) checks, with advantage if you use a musical instrument you're proficient with (as per the Xanathar's rules).

It's good but you're gonna need something more if you want to overcome his +17 mod.

I'd forgot to mention, that, yes, I have expertise in all 4 CHA-Based Skills.

That puts me at +15, right?

[Unoriginal]

I'd forgot to mention, that, yes, I have expertise in all 4 CHA-Based Skills.

That puts me at +15, right?

It does indeed. Which means that with advantage you have a pretty good chance.

However, a few caveats:

-You should really get more of the Rakos Guild to support you before you do that (I think Rakdos's second-in-command blood witch want him gone too, as she's doing most of the work while he just reaps the benefits).

-Don't forget Rakdos is a demon and as such does not play by the rules.

Challenging and beating him to a performance duel will humiliate him and will support assertions that he lost his touch, but if he can just kill everyone who disagree with his leadership it won't matter. Also keep in mind that losing Rakdos-the-entity will weaken Rakdos-the-guild, so it risks to open a window for other Guilds to try to eat Rakdos.

[Wraith]

Resisting a regular grappling would be a STR (Athletics) or a DEX (Acrobatics) check, so his save mod/Legendary Resistance wouldn't apply.

That being said I'm not sure the PC would survive the Fiend's damage output with that strategy.

Ah, thank you - Saves and Checks always get me mixed up for some reason. A point in our favour then, but you're right about the damage. I thought about trying to Disarm the guy at which point his Claws are much less threatening, but at +15 to hit plus Advantage for being Huge it'd take a lot of effort that could just be spent beating him down. Maybe one of our Conquest Paladin could Guided Strike the roll, but.... Oh well. :smallsmile:


My advice would be to seek those among Rakdos-the-guild who are similarly dissatisfied with Rakdos-the-being.

My alternate idea would be like this, but using a far more guaranteed source of support: Other Guilds.

Go be a Goblin Bard at Rakdos - call him names, make him angry, all the rest of it, and then get him to chase you on a rampage across the City. 80ft flying speed per round isn't insurmountable, and you don't have to stay head of him forever - just until you find an area wherein the Boros/Gruul borders to Golgari. The Red/White Angels would be perfectly happy to bring the fiend to task just for the destruction he had caused in getting there let alone for being what he is and eventually they will take him down, as will the Gruul just because they want to fight something. Then drop his body into the sewers and let the Golgari feed it to the mushrooms to make sure he doesn't get better again... sounds like fun, to me! :smallamused:

[J-H]

If he's on the ground, 3 mid-level GWM barbarians Reckless Attacking with decent weapons can likely bring him down in a round, or at least bring him really low. Based on my experience, a 300hp boss MAY make it through 1.5 rounds of battle with an 11th-level party. It's rocket tag on whether or not he can go first so that they start within range of his high-DC crowd control abilities. Slightly higher level barbarians can probably shrug it off.

[Zhentarim]

Ah, thank you - Saves and Checks always get me mixed up for some reason. A point in our favour then, but you're right about the damage. I thought about trying to Disarm the guy at which point his Claws are much less threatening, but at +15 to hit plus Advantage for being Huge it'd take a lot of effort that could just be spent beating him down. Maybe one of our Conquest Paladin could Guided Strike the roll, but.... Oh well. :smallsmile:



My alternate idea would be like this, but using a far more guaranteed source of support: Other Guilds.

Go be a Goblin Bard at Rakdos - call him names, make him angry, all the rest of it, and then get him to chase you on a rampage across the City. 80ft flying speed per round isn't insurmountable, and you don't have to stay head of him forever - just until you find an area wherein the Boros/Gruul borders to Golgari. The Red/White Angels would be perfectly happy to bring the fiend to task just for the destruction he had caused in getting there let alone for being what he is and eventually they will take him down, as will the Gruul just because they want to fight something. Then drop his body into the sewers and let the Golgari feed it to the mushrooms to make sure he doesn't get better again... sounds like fun, to me! :smallamused:

So far, this sounds like the most fun option. I'll go for it. :smallamused:

[Wraith]

Alternatively sell the corpse to the Simic, so if he does come back then it will be as a mind-addled mutant fish-thing and thus can be someone else's problem. :smalltongue:

Disclaimer: Even if the chain of events could in some theoretical way be construed as "my idea" I take no responsibility for whatever happens in either event, so if you get killed and eaten it's not my fault, nor is it if word starts getting out and one of the Boros stooges happen to find out who started the rampage in the first place.....

Glory to the Orzhov!

[Unoriginal]

Reminder that he can Dash while flying for 160 ft of movement per round.

[Sception]

Or PoE or Council's Judgment or Terminus or...

My old rav block B/W/G control deck would generally take him out with Putrefy or Mortify. Or maybe an Angel of Despair.

[KorvinStarmast]

Reminder that he can Dash while flying for 160 ft of movement per round. Then the trick would be to grapple him, so that his speed is 0. :-)

[Unoriginal]

Then the trick would be to grapple him, so that his speed is 0. :-)

Wait a minute... Performance... grappling...

Of course! The solution is to challenge Rakdos to a pro wrestling match!

[KorvinStarmast]

Wait a minute... Performance... grappling...

Of course! The solution is to challenge Rakdos to a pro wrestling match!
I'll see if I can get Waterdeep Pale Ale to sponsor the match; you want a cut of the ad revenue? My devil lawyer will talk to your devil lawyer. :smallcool: