Dendar the Night-serpent feasible as BBEG?

[Scarlet-Devil]

How would you go about that? Maybe as part of the campaign, the PCs could race a powerful warlock or something for a very powerful artifact (maybe a special Gate scroll is required to bring her physically into the world) or something, but many questions remain.

1. What's she doing/why would the PCs be actively opposing her? One option is that she's actually accumulated enough nightmares to initiate the end of the world, but needs assistance from some nihilistic cult (or just a single capable spellcaster) on the material plane; the party might start by trying to dismantle some evil cult that's gaining popularity throughout the continent, and eventually learn what their true goal is. Alternatively, maybe it's not really time for the end of the world, but this cult/warlock wants to see it happen in their lifetime, so they summon her anyway (maybe forcefully, with some powerful artifact), and she just decides to make her way across the country side for a while, consuming all in her path and destroying the world the old-fashioned way.

2. Could a party of non/averagely-optimized 20th-ish level characters actually stand up to her(as written in CoR) in a fight? My fear is that the character's couldn't possibly fight her toe-to-toe without getting utterly stomped (completely disabled in lunatic-nightmare filled comas and digesting inside her big, sexy body); alternatively, depending on where she was fought, spellcasters might be able to float high enough overhead that she couldn't fight back. So, how could she be used to give them a very scary final encounter without either of these happening?

Anyway, that's all I've got for now, let's see if there's any interest...

[Necro_EX]

Being that she's an elder evil, a total party kill seems just alright with me. :D

Of course, you wouldn't want it to be as simple as "Well, damn she's here. You all die, Toril is no more, sucks for us, right?"

I suppose one possible solution might be to have an epic-level spell written up that could remove/drain the nightmares from her, preventing the end of the world for another X years. Hell, discovering that in its own could be a quest suitable for epic-level characters. :D

Looking at her stat block it doesn't seem likely that a party should be able to beat her, she's kinda beastly. Seems like she's the kind of enemy it's best to just not fight. You've got to subvert her ability to initiate the end of the world, rather than smack her to death.

[Aemoh87]

What I would do:

Is she has a plot to collect nightmares faster. Make the Party help her without knowing it. Then they have to fight off a cult and eventually either push back or kill the Serpent in the end. Very funzies.

[Runestar]

I remember reading somewhere that things would just be as bad if she were to be killed; if she does not continue to feed on nightmares, everyone would remember all their nightmares.

So the best solution would be to launch small, constant attacks to force her to expend nightmares, thus delaying the end of the world, but never weaken her to the extent that she stops consuming nightmares altogether.

[mootoall]

One of my favorite things to do with Elder Evils is have them cast magic from older editions. It really gives your players that "This thing is beyond time! Ruuuuuuun!" feel that they just can't get anywhere else.

[Necro_EX]

The problem with making constant attacks on her is that she'd now have more people with her nightmare venom in them to feed off of. D:

[Fox Box Socks]

One of my favorite things to do with Elder Evils is have them cast magic from older editions. It really gives your players that "This thing is beyond time! Ruuuuuuun!" feel that they just can't get anywhere else.

This is a fantastic idea.

"Oh god, it's casting Chromatic Orb at us!"

[nedz]

This is a fantastic idea.

"Oh god, it's casting Chromatic Orb at us!"

Wow - yes.
No SR and can you make a save agains spells please ?
Wait, what, you don't have a save against spells ?
OK I guess you're at +0 then, OK the Dwarf can have +2

[DeltaEmil]

The problem with making constant attacks on her is that she'd now have more people with her nightmare venom in them to feed off of. D:

But the nightmare venom expends the gobbled up nightmares that Dendar is munching, which that thing loats to do.

And going around and sacrificing themselves by absorbing the venom until they die is what a bunch of Kelemvorite paladins and clerics do every few years.

Incidently, that makes Dendar perhaps one of the few elder evils that isn't outright interested in killing adventurers, if they don't start attacking it in the first place.

[Necro_EX]

Ah, I must've misread something in here entry in CoR. I was under the impression that if she filled them with her nightmare venom they'd produce exponentially more nightmares for her than they otherwise would have. :/

Well, I guess constant attacks on her definitely does work, then.

[Siosilvar]

Wow - yes.
No SR and can you make a save agains spells please ?
Wait, what, you don't have a save against spells ?
OK I guess you're at +0 then, OK the Dwarf can have +2

Don't forget the -6 for it being a Chromatic Orb! Sure, technically it was a bonus then, but times have changed.

Screwed that up. Chromatic Orb was +6, and saves were "roll-above".

[AslanCross]

Wow - yes.
No SR and can you make a save agains spells please ?
Wait, what, you don't have a save against spells ?
OK I guess you're at +0 then, OK the Dwarf can have +2

And didn't Chromatic Orb kill instantly at high levels?

[Runestar]

Well, if you want to metagame, dendar can't fly.

[nedz]

And didn't Chromatic Orb kill instantly at high levels?

You've forced me to go and look it up

According to 1E UA p66 at 12th level an Illusionist can create an Ashen Orb.
Ashen Orb: Save versus Death Magic or die, Paralysed for 2-5 rounds if you make the save.

Not bad for a 1st level spell.