Results 31 to 39 of 39
-
2020-08-10, 01:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2015
- Location
- Maine
- Gender
Re: Zombie Beholder + 2 Shadows vs LvL 5
what is the point of living if you can't deadlift?
All credit to the amazing avatar goes to thoroughlyS
-
2020-08-10, 01:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2017
Re: Zombie Beholder + 2 Shadows vs LvL 5
Not sure how this situation is a "5e thing".
Shadows are known for being either death incarnate due to their STR-attacking or getting rekt rapidly due to being squishy incorporeal undead beings, and that also applies to other systems. Once my gaming group thought we were getting a TPK during our Pathfinder campaign due to a room with half a dozen Shadows and we were lvl 12+. Then it turned out we had something that protected us from the STR-drain and the Shadows died in about a round.
Meanwhile the Zombie Beholder is scary for a lvl 5 party but it's still an undead fighting a Paladin. And the action economy is definitively on the PCs' side here, even without taking into account it's a full-undead monster group that the Cleric can turn.
Now if 5e actually does have a tendency to have fights no longer than 3-4 meaningful rounds... honestly I wouldn't see it as a problem. 3-4 rounds is enough for an awesome, if not important fight, though important fights lasting longer is probably better.
-
2020-08-10, 01:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2015
- Location
- Maine
- Gender
Re: Zombie Beholder + 2 Shadows vs LvL 5
what is the point of living if you can't deadlift?
All credit to the amazing avatar goes to thoroughlyS
-
2020-08-10, 01:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2015
- Location
- Texas
- Gender
Re: Zombie Beholder + 2 Shadows vs LvL 5
Avatar by linklele. How Teleport Worksa. Malifice (paraphrased):
Rulings are not 'House Rules.' Rulings are a DM doing what DMs are supposed to do.
b. greenstone (paraphrased):
Agency means that they {players} control their character's actions; you control the world's reactions to the character's actions.
Second known member of the Greyview Appreciation Society
-
2020-08-10, 02:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- Texas
- Gender
Re: Zombie Beholder + 2 Shadows vs LvL 5
From a DM perspective, Shadows are incredibly fragile. At 16hp, a Fireball will kill them or nearly kill them. A Scorching Ray that all hits will kill them. Two castings of Magic Missile will kill one. Figure out how to knock out the Shadows fast, and then it's everyone vs. the Beholder.
-
2020-08-10, 02:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2014
Re: Zombie Beholder + 2 Shadows vs LvL 5
IMO they're not fragile at all once you take resistances into account. Shadows are resistant to acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder, and nonmagical BPS. Three hits with Scorching Ray will only do 3d6 (10) damage, not enough to kill one. Even if they fail their Fireball save, they'll take only 14 points of damage from the typical Fireball, surviving with 2 HP, and that's if you even spotted them in the first place despite their Stealth +6 and bonus action Hide. If they make their Fireball save they'll have 9/16 HP left.
It's fully possible the PCs in this scenario aren't dealing with only 2 Shadows. Maybe those are just the ones who rolled low on Stealth. 9 Shadows + 1 Zombie Beholder is only 5400 XP (Hard), out of a 21,000 adjusted XP daily budget. There could be a TON of other Shadows lurking, depending on how the DM's mind works.
Killing 1 Shadow with repeated Magic Missiles is a lot easier than killing 9 of them who are busy strafing you from the darkness.Last edited by MaxWilson; 2020-08-10 at 02:23 PM.
-
2020-08-10, 02:24 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2015
- Location
- Maine
- Gender
Re: Zombie Beholder + 2 Shadows vs LvL 5
thats what my inner player is thinking as well. get a big light effect spell going and get a solid grasp of what your facing before you start trying to blitz forward. the fact the shadows can squeeze into very small spaces makes this a huge red flag for a double back style ambush.
what is the point of living if you can't deadlift?
All credit to the amazing avatar goes to thoroughlyS
-
2020-08-10, 03:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- The Land of Cleves
- Gender
Re: Zombie Beholder + 2 Shadows vs LvL 5
Time travels in divers paces with divers persons.
—As You Like It, III:ii:328
Chronos's Unalliterative Skillmonkey Guide
Current Homebrew: 5th edition psionics
-
2020-08-10, 08:40 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2017
Re: Zombie Beholder + 2 Shadows vs LvL 5