Beat the tarrasque with a 13th level character

[purplearcanist]

Using only a 13th level character and 110,000 gp, beat the tarrasque.

You can only use the core rulebooks. And no cheese such as the candle of invocation.

[Armads]

A cheesy strategy: Cleric 8/Thaumaturgist 5 with Efreeti cohort, but that counts as cheese.

Another strategy: Wizard 12/Cleric 1. Wait till the tarrasque is asleep, then cast a Wall of Force around it. Then cast another wall of force, till you create a 'prison' of force around it. Use Permanency as you need. After you're done, cast Create Water, until the tarrasque drowns. Cast a wall of force as a ceiling if you can.

[Ne0]

A cheesy strategy: Cleric 8/Thaumaturgist 5 with Efreeti cohort, but that counts as cheese.

Another strategy: Wizard 12/Cleric 1. Wait till the tarrasque is asleep, then cast a Wall of Force around it. Then cast another wall of force, till you create a 'prison' of force around it. Use Permanency as you need. After you're done, cast Create Water, until the tarrasque drowns. Cast a wall of force as a ceiling if you can.

Yeah, but 'wait until it sleeps' is a bit ridiculous...

[Catch]

As I recall, there's a relatively simple strategy that involves a Cleric commanding a handful of Allips attacking from underground. Wisdom drain will put that thing down pretty quick, and since it has a touch AC of 5, there's no worries about hitting it.

I also remember a way that uses a couple of castings of Simulacrum on the Tarrasque itself.

[Dausuul]

Using only a 13th level character and 110,000 gp, beat the tarrasque.

You can only use the core rulebooks. And no cheese such as the candle of invocation.

Well, it really depends on how you define "cheese."

If by "cheese" you mean "infinitely loopable tactics" (wishing for rings of three wishes, Pun-Pun, et cetera), then it might be doable without cheese.

If by "cheese" you mean "ridiculously overpowered abilities/items," then it is by definition impossible; the tarrasque is CR 20, so anything that would let a single 13th-level character defeat it must be ridiculously overpowered.

[Tyger]

A cheesy strategy: Cleric 8/Thaumaturgist 5 with Efreeti cohort, but that counts as cheese.

Another strategy: Wizard 12/Cleric 1. Wait till the tarrasque is asleep, then cast a Wall of Force around it. Then cast another wall of force, till you create a 'prison' of force around it. Use Permanency as you need. After you're done, cast Create Water, until the tarrasque drowns. Cast a wall of force as a ceiling if you can.

Not to mention, I think the Tarrasque can hold its breath, for a damned long time, so you have to use Permanency. So this becomes a very expensive way to take down the critter, and still lacks the Wish to actually kill it.

And of course, the need to stay there for about 100 years to cast enough Create Water to actually fill all that area.

Its going to take ~ 500,000 castings of Create Water to fill that area, plus 25,000 XP for the ~ 10 Walls of Force to contain it. And of course, it can just burrow under (all it need to do is get a gap and the water pours out), or try to climb out (Wall of Force must be a vertical wall, so no capping it). You could build the walls even higher, but then you're running in to problems there.

I seem to recall a rule somewhere that doesn't allow you to spend XP that would actually take you down a level, so you can't actually cast the 10 Permanencies that you need. Hmmmm...

Of course, one could just buy the requisite things.

Lets see. Level 12 Wizard can cast (assuming INT of 25 with items) 4 5th level spells. So he needs to purchase:
~ 6 Wall of Force scrolls (1,125 each) = 6750
~ 10 Permanency Scrolls (10,125 each) = 101,250
1 Wish Scroll = 28,825

Sorry, can't buy all those with the listed gold.

And of course, the walls won't hold it long enough... with the ~500,000 castings of Create Water at 6 per day (being generous with stats again) taking ~ 8333 days (or 22.8 years) I gotta think the earth underneath is going to wash out, or the water is going to evaporate.

[AmberVael]

I've got it.

Your build?

Levels: Wizard 13.

Required Items:
-Scroll of Trap the Soul (3,000 + made with 48,000 gp focus. 51,000 total)
-Scroll of Diet Wish- I mean, Limited Wish (3775)
-Orange Ioun Stone (+1 CL, 30,000)
-A few chickens in a sack. (We'll say three chickens, and one sack. 6cp, 1sp)
-A cart full of meat. (We'll say...100 pounds of meat. Using "hunks of meat" as 3sp per half pound, that'll come up to a grand total of 60 gold for the meat, 15gp for the cart, and 200gp for a horse.)


What to do:
Use the Trap the Soul scroll with the focus, making it work for the tarrasque you want to capture. So now, as long as the tarrasque picks it up, it will be trapped into a wee little gem with no save or spell resistance.
Nice deal, no?
Oh, and you need the chickens and the Limited Wish scroll to make absolutely sure that you can use the first scroll. Bring the chickens down to the negatives by beating them with a knife, then use Limited Wish to cast Death Knell. The DC to use the Trap the Soul scroll should be 16, so since you have 13 CL, +1 from the ioun stone, with another +1 from the chicken you just sacrificed to some dark god of chicken slaughter, you make the caster level check even if you roll a one, thus always casting the Trap the soul spell from the scroll.
Woohoo.

Okay, this is the easy part. Now you stick the gem into the big pile of meat. You find an area near the tarrasque, get its attention, and wait for it to eat the meat (fly into the air with Fly or Overland Flight so it won't eat YOU). Once it eats the meat, it will have picked up the gem, which means it will be trapped, which means you won.
Yaaaaay. *waves finger around in the air*

[Adumbration]

You could buy a couple of (dozen) Decanters of Endless Water to speed things up. On Geyser mode it produces 30 gallons of water/round, while a 13th level caster only produces 26. Plus you don't need to worry about spells/day.

With a single decanter you can produce 14 400 gallons of water per day.

I've never realized how broken Decanter is... You could easily drown whole dungeons, no problem!


(Yes, I'm aware of other problems. This is just one extra mozzarella-cheese to an already Large-sized cheese pizza.)

[Baxbart]

As I recall, there's a relatively simple strategy that involves a Cleric commanding a handful of Allips attacking from underground. Wisdom drain will put that thing down pretty quick, and since it has a touch AC of 5, there's no worries about hitting it.

I also remember a way that uses a couple of castings of Simulacrum on the Tarrasque itself.

I think I read that article too... there were lots of ways to do it (but I don't think many were lvl 13 or less). Come to think of it though, isn't the Tarrasque immune to ability damage (like the Allip's Wis drain) ?

I was always rather partial to the amusing method of buying a mirror of opposition, creating a second tarrasque, and letting them beat the ever-loving crap out of one another. They can't kill each other... but it would sure be amusing to watch (from a safe distance).

Damn, I need to find that article again. There was one method about creating an army of illusion-tarrasques that would beat it to death, but I can't recall the details.

Or, alternative to the wall of force method, use magic to dig a huge bloody hole, divert a river to fill it up, cover it with an illusion. There was something in a method about tricking him into eating a shrunken massive hunk of iron, tricking him into the hole, then dismissing the spell so that the iron expands and traps him at the bottom of the hole long enough for him to drown. That way your only costs are a wish scroll (to finish him off) and a huge hunk of iron (though a big boulder would do, I suppose... with prestidigitation to make it taste better - it wouldn't dissolve in his stomach fast enough for him to swim out).

[Khanderas]

Shouldn't be any "beat the tarrasque". It is the vengeful tool of a vengeful god. Even if Goku himself (or superman or Elminster or insert whatever "always win" guy) beat it to dust, it should rise up a month or two later to go on a rampage.

*sits grumpily in a corner*

Fine to have a cool tactic but when level 13 guys are looking to beat it, it kinda goes alittle too far. The point of MrT should be to put the fear of god in the PC's and go on a rescue / relocation / diversion tactic. Not "oh I have killed goblins and orcs for a month now, time to bag me a Tarrasque".

Pray I dont DM a gang of PC's who think they can take Mr T to town. Rule 0 Will Be Liberatly Applied.

[Catch]

I think I read that article too... there were lots of ways to do it (but I don't think many were lvl 13 or less).

Here you are: Seven Ways to Kill the Tarrasque on Thirteen Experience Levels or Less.

[Fuzzy_Juan]

Beat is not the same as 'kill'...that is my premise...

lvl 1 NPC...portable hole 20k, bag of holding 2.5k, Hand of the Mage 900g, a light box and some string (few copper), cloth circles (few copper)...and a change of clothes (expense to taste).

Step one...setup the box with the string in such a way that by pulling the string it drops the portable hole into the bag (make sure you test it with some dummy portable holes...scraps of cloth will work.). The setup must not weigh more than 5 lbs. and the string must be able to drop the payload by tugging on a single string.

Step two...find a good spot where the terrasque will come rampage and wait for it to show up with your present.

Step three...float the present out away from you to the limit of the mage hand and ready an action for when the Terrasque charges you. Ensure that the present is between you and the Terrasque.

Step four...get the beat's attention...

Step five...crap your pants as the Terrasque charges you.

Step six...use your readied action to pull the string with the mage hand when the terrasque is within 10' of the box.

Step seven...giggle as everything within 10' of the box is instantly sucked through a gate and over to the astral plane.

Step eight...find a restroom and clean/change clothes.

[RTGoodman]

If by "beat the Tarrasque," you mean kill it and then use miracle or wish to keep it dead, this doesn't work, but otherwise it's fine.

WARNING: May be considered cheese.

Mirror of Opposition

This item resembles a normal mirror about 4 feet long and 3 feet wide. It can be hung or placed on a surface and then activated by speaking a command word. The same command word deactivates the mirror. If a creature sees its reflection in the mirror’s surface, an exact duplicate of that creature comes into being. This opposite immediately attacks the original. The duplicate has all the possessions and powers of its original (including magic). Upon the defeat or destruction of either the duplicate or the original, the duplicate and her items disappear completely. The mirror functions up to four times per day.

Strong necromancy; CL 15th; Craft Wondrous Item, clone; Price 92,000 gp; Weight 45 lb.

Human Commoner 13 could probably do it.

If you needed to keep it dead, I think the price for the Mirror plus a scroll of Miracle or Wish ends up being about 120,000gp, so that's over the limit, but if you had the extra cash, I'm betting a Warlock or Rogue with maxed UMD could pull it off.

[Ganurath]

Get a sorceror who knows Overland Flight and Wall of Stone to fly over the Tarrasque. Said arcanist starts dropping Walls of Stone on Mr. T from 200 feet in the air. 20d6 falling damage plus an additional 1d6 for every 200 lbs of stone... how much would 65 cubic feet of stone weight?

[purplearcanist]

Ok... lets kill the tarrasque.

Lets use a 13th level rouge with 18 charisma.
With UMD maxed out, the rouge has a +20 bonus to use magic device.

The rouge has two feats too: skill focus(Use Magic Device) and Magical Aptitude. This brings the total up to +25.

Now, the rouge buys a couple of things:

Masterwork UMD equipment(make it up) +2 to UMD- 50 gp
A custom ring that enchances UMD by +25 - 62,500

This brings the total up to +52.

More shopping:

A fully charged Staff of Dictum(with dictum costing 50 charges)- 1,000 gp (rounded up)
A scroll of Moment of Prescinence(25th caster level)-2,500 gp
A scroll of Wish - 28,825 gp
A scroll of teleport - 1,125 gp

The rouge UMDs the scroll of Moment of Prescinence. The rouge then UMDs the scroll of teleport to teleport next to the tarrasque. While the tarrasque is supprised with the rouge popping out of nowhere, the rouge UMDs the Staff of Dictum, and by emulating a class feature and using the moment of prescinence, boosts the caster level up to 78, at the very least. This "kills" the tarrasque, but to ensure its death, the rouge UMDs the scroll of wish to ensure its death.

[Dausuul]

You could buy a couple of (dozen) Decanters of Endless Water to speed things up. On Geyser mode it produces 30 gallons of water/round, while a 13th level caster only produces 26. Plus you don't need to worry about spells/day.

With a single decanter you can produce 14 400 gallons of water per day.

Actually, 30 gallons/round (300/minute) is 432,000 gallons a day.

I think I read that article too... there were lots of ways to do it (but I don't think many were lvl 13 or less). Come to think of it though, isn't the Tarrasque immune to ability damage (like the Allip's Wis drain) ?

Ability damage is not ability drain. Damage heals at 1/day. Drain is permanent, and harder to protect against.

[Mr. Friendly]

Wait.. that still doesn't work...

You can't emulate class feature for class level. Using a staff is like using a wand:

Use a Wand: Normally, to use a wand, you must have the wand’s spell on your class spell list. This use of the skill allows you to use a wand as if you had a particular spell on your class spell list. This use of the skill also applies to other spell trigger magic items, such as staffs.

[imperialspectre]

The Moment of Prescience also doesn't work. It only works for opposed skill checks; UMD is not an opposed skill check.

[Cuddly]

Telepath 13.
Dominate, psionic.
Use overchannel and psionic fly. Since you're at an odd level, get a torc of power preservation. Now you can manifest as a psion two levels higher.

Congratulations, you now have a pet Tarrasque.

Let's break this down:
Race: Gray Elf
Feats: 8 (3 psion, 5 levels)

Feats:
Overchannel
Psicrystal
Psicrystal Containment
Psionic Endowment
Greater Psionic Endowment
Power Penetration
Greater Power Penetration
Expanded Knowledge: Fly

Powers known:
Psionic flight
Psionic domination

You're level 13. With a torc and overchannel, you count as 16th level psion for augmenting.

Psionic dominate takes 7 pp, so that means you have 9 to augment it with. That translates to an additional 4 to the DC to save.

Augmented Psionic Dominate (15pp): 7(to manifest)+ 4(affects dragons, etc)+4(day/manifester level)

Items:
Headband intellect +6 (36k)
Psionatrix Telepathy (8k)
Tork of Power (36k)
Third Eye: Penetrate (8k)

Spend the rest on potions of cure medium wounds.

Abilities:
Int: base 18+2race+3age+3levels+6item= 32
mod= +11

Battle plan:
Turn on psionic flight.

Follow the the Tarrasque, well out of his frightful presence, a few hundred feet above him.

Manifest Psionic Dominate, pay 4 pp to make it last 13 days, and another 4 pp so it will affect dragons. Expend your psionic focus to bump the DC up by two, and expend the psionic focus from your psi crystal to increase the power penetration by +8. You take 3d8 overchannel damage.

Save DC = 10+4(level of power)+4(8 pts/2 spent augmenting)+2(greater psionic endowment)+1(psionatrix telepathy)+11
= 32 (vs avg save from tarrasque of 30)

Power penetration =
1d20 + 13 (manifester level) + 8 (Greater Power penetration) +2 (Third eye, penetrate) = 1d20+23
avg= 33 vs SR 32

For 15 pp and 3d8 damage, you can manifest the dominate for a 55% chance of cracking SR. If you crack SR, you have a 60% chance of dominating.

Every time you manifest, you have a 33% chance of dominating. Since you are at least 200 feat away, flying, the monster isn't going to touch you.

If you swill potions in between manifesting, you can do this 14 times/day.

[Mr. Friendly]

Telepath 13.
Dominate, psionic.
Use overburn and psionic fly. Since you're at an odd level, get a torc of power preservation. Now you can manifest as a psion two levels higher.

Congratulations, you now have a pet Tarrasque.

That doesn't work either. Psionic Dominate allows power resistance, which by default is the same as SR.

[ChocolateChtulu]

Rogue 13.

Put big values on CHA and INT, and put most of your skill points in Profession:Banker, Appraise, Bluff and Sense Motive.

Use your 110,000 gp to start a business, and expand it until you have enough money for the next step.

Finally, pay a few epic level Lawful adventurers for slaying the Tarrasque.

Provided that no dragon decides to burninate you and steal your money (but once you are rich enough to attract one, you probably are also rich enough to pay someone to protect you), you will manage to cause the destruction of the Tarrasque without breaking a sweat.

EDIT: It's probably a good idea to play a long-lived race, such as an Elf, in order to have more time for your money-making schemes.

[Cuddly]

That doesn't work either. Psionic Dominate allows power resistance, which by default is the same as SR.

Check my full spec.


If you don't like the -8 str, -4 dex, -8 con, +5 int, +3wis, +3cha adjustments, for 500 gp more than starting gold, get a tome of int, and only age two categories. Then it's -5 str, -1 dex, -5 con, +5 int, +2 wis, +2 cha.

Other than that, the build is actually pretty good against anything with a mind, though if you opt for the tome, you only have like 4 items with all your wealth sunk into them.

[Keld Denar]

Rogue 13.

Put big values on CHA and INT, and put most of your skill points in Profession:Banker, Appraise, Bluff and Sense Motive.

Use your 110,000 gp to start a business, and expand it until you have enough money for the next step.

Finally, pay a few epic level Lawful adventurers for slaying the Tarrasque.

Provided that no dragon decides to burninate you and steal your money (but once you are rich enough to attract one, you probably are also rich enough to pay someone to protect you), you will manage to cause the destruction of the Tarrasque without breaking a sweat.

EDIT: It's probably a good idea to play a long-lived race, such as an Elf, in order to have more time for your money-making schemes.

If you are gonna do that, just use a level 1 wizard. Cast Mount, followed by Magic Aura do mask the Mounts magic aura, followed by Disguise to make yourself look like a horse merchant. Sell a horse every day for the rest of your lengthy Elan lifespan. Hire adventurers. Win.

This is completely stupid, though, because the adventurers just kill you, take your money, and use it to fund their Tarrasque killing. And even if they don't, they get the xp for killing it, not you. So you gain nothing.

[Cuddly]

Telepath 13.
Dominate, psionic.
Use overchannel and psionic fly. Since you're at an odd level, get a torc of power preservation. Now you can manifest as a psion two levels higher.

Congratulations, you now have a pet Tarrasque.

Let's break this down:
Race: Gray Elf
Feats: 8 (3 psion, 5 levels)

Feats:
Overchannel
Psicrystal
Psicrystal Containment
Psionic Endowment
Greater Psionic Endowment
Power Penetration
Greater Power Penetration
Expanded Knowledge: Fly

Powers known:
Psionic flight
Psionic domination

You're level 13. With a torc and overchannel, you count as 16th level psion for augmenting.

Psionic dominate takes 7 pp, so that means you have 9 to augment it with. That translates to an additional 4 to the DC to save.

Augmented Psionic Dominate (15pp): 7(to manifest)+ 4(affects dragons, etc)+4(day/manifester level)

Items:
Headband intellect +6 (36k)
Psionatrix Telepathy (8k)
Tork of Power (36k)
Third Eye: Penetrate (8k)

Spend the rest on potions of cure medium wounds.

Abilities:
Int: base 18+2race+3age+3levels+6item= 32
mod= +11

Battle plan:
Turn on psionic flight.

Follow the the Tarrasque, well out of his frightful presence, a few hundred feet above him.

Manifest Psionic Dominate, pay 4 pp to make it last 13 days, and another 4 pp so it will affect dragons. Expend your psionic focus to bump the DC up by two, and expend the psionic focus from your psi crystal to increase the power penetration by +8. You take 3d8 overchannel damage.

Save DC = 10+4(level of power)+4(8 pts/2 spent augmenting)+2(greater psionic endowment)+1(psionatrix telepathy)+11
= 32 (vs avg save from tarrasque of 30)

Power penetration =
1d20 + 13 (manifester level) + 8 (Greater Power penetration) +2 (Third eye, penetrate) = 1d20+23
avg= 33 vs SR 32

For 15 pp and 3d8 damage, you can manifest the dominate for a 55% chance of cracking SR. If you crack SR, you have a 60% chance of dominating.

Every time you manifest, you have a 33% chance of dominating. Since you are at least 200 feat away, flying, the monster isn't going to touch you.

If you swill potions in between manifesting, you can do this 14 times/day.

Wow, that's impressive.

Yeah, I know.

[ChocolateChtulu]

This is completely stupid, though, because the adventurers just kill you, take your money, and use it to fund their Tarrasque killing. And even if they don't, they get the xp for killing it, not you. So you gain nothing.

Note that I said Lawful adventurers - if that's possible, Lawful outsiders, just to be on the safe side.

And, by the way, no clever businessman would deal with powerful mercenaries without having a very abundant number of high-level guards around him - not in a dangerous world like that!

Of course, beings of pure Law would frown upon you if you did get your riches by cheating people: this is the reason why I suggested being an highly accomplished banker, instead of using something like the Mount trick.

I don't know about the XP - I'd think that someone who managed to pull that would at least a couple of levels in Expert, but I may be mistaken about that.
Anyhow, what do you need XP for when you get to be insanely rich and influent?

[Da Beast]

Level 7 egoist

Use metamorphosis to turn into a ball or iron so big that it's gravitational pull causes the universe to collapse in on you destroying everything in existence.

Somewhere a cat girl just drowned in cheese.

[Shraik]

You require a shubbrery to defeat a tarrasque

[Kurald Galain]

How about a diplomancer?

It could either 'mance the tarrasque, or 'mance sufficient adventurers to kill it for him.

[Da Beast]

Ca the tarrasque be 'manced? It has enough intelligence but I don't think it speaks any language.

[Cuddly]

Tongues?


at least ten characters? why?