Need Help Up-Converting Bastion of Broken Souls.. MY PLAYERS STAY OUT!

Since starting the week that 3.5 rolled out, my campaign is finally wrapping up with Bastion of Broken Souls. They've gone through the Sunless Citadel, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, City of the Spider Queen, and the first half of the Bastion Module, and have reached epic levels.

For those of you familiar with the module, I upconverted Desayeus into a CR 30 version of Cthulhu, a Colossal sized Kraken with the Epic Pseudonatural template applied. It was challenging, but not overwhelming, and they have since leveled. The players are just ready to head to the Bastion, and I feel I will need to upconvert each of the encounters in the end game up about 8 levels to keep things interesting.

The encounters I am going to need help upconverting are:

A CR 29 Demon Army trying to gain entry to the Bastion (That's alot of Demons)

A CR 30 Half-Red Dragon Squadron of Elites guarding the entrance to the Bastion. Anything that Ashardalon could have created while sleeping with ______ should be okay here. From Half Dragon Sorceror 20's to the Never-before-seen Half Red Dragon Tarrasque, or even his Wyrm Red Dragon Concubines.

A CR 31 An infernal Strike Force of Devils that has gained entrance to the Bastion (Instead of Demons) and has tricked the Red Dragons into a peace, though they are waiting for an opportunity to turn on Ashardalon.

A CR 36 Titanic Battle for the ages pitting Ashardalon, the oldest and meanest Red Dragon in the Multiverse, along with his selected chosen defenders/children.

We only play with SRD rules. Divine rules are in, as are Psionics, and Epics, no alternate rules though. I'm a big fan of advancing creatures up a size increase, especially Demons. I will have a Co-DM, so having the Demon army consist of Demons with a cumulative HP total of over 6000 hp is not a problem. Especially as many unimproved Demons or Devils won't even count in the CR of the encounter.

The PC's consists of:
A (More than Half) Celestial Druid 21
A Drow Rogue 4/Psion 6/Psionic Trickster 11 (Think empowered, split disintegrates, with sneak attack...)
An Elven Wizard 3/Cleric 3/Mystic Theurge 10/Archmage 5
A Ridiculous PsiWar/War Mind build that uses Lion's Charge and Power Attack to make him the most effective tank I have ever seen.
A Ranger/Horizon Walker/Fighter that is the most effective Archer I have ever seen.
A Dwarven Defender 10 Cohort that Defensive Stances on her Magic Carpet so she can move around.

Everyone other than the Druid, has an extra 4-7 HD of Racial Paragon levels in there as well and they are well, and optimally, treasured. So these folks are Tough. Even the Mystic Theurge has over 200 HP.

Anyone want to help?

wowzers. You have a lot going on there. Can you do me a big big favor, though? Please omit the name of the plane from your post, as I am soon to run my players through this module, and I have so far successfully misdirected them. One of them is a big ENWorlder. thanks. Also, your template choice for Ashardalon would be nice to remove from your post, as I may choose to use it, you know?

I love what you've done with Desayeus. Love it!

So what kind of help do you need? You want a conversion? I'll do, uh, gosh, I don't recall the name. I think it starts with a P; the creature closest to Ashy, you know, there, at the end. I'm at work now, but I'll look it over this weekend. I'll do a straight upgrade, unless you have any special requests. Can I be creative with treasure?

wow...

A CR 30 Half-Red Dragon Squadron of Elites guarding the entrance to the Bastion. Anything that Ashardalon could have created while sleeping with ______ should be okay here. From Half Dragon Sorceror 20's to the Never-before-seen Half Red Dragon Tarrasque, or even his Wyrm Red Dragon Concubines.

Click to expand...

Must... Resist... temptation to apply mob template to Advanced Half Fiend Red Dragons....

sorry, the dark side was stronger...

[sblock=Half Fiend 18 HD Juvenile Red Dragon]Half Fiend 18 HD Juvenile Red Dragon, Large Outsider (Fire); CR 12; HD 18d12+90; hp 294;
Init +2; Spd 40 ft., fly 150 ft. (average); Space/Reach 10 ft./5 ft. (10 ft. with bite); AC 27 (+2 Dex, -1 size, +16 natural), touch 11, flat-footed 25;
Base Atk +18; Grp +33; Atk Bite +28 melee (2d6+16) or Claw +28 melee (1d8+5) or Wing +28 melee (1d6+5) or Tail Slap +28 melee (1d8+16); Full Atk +28/+23/+18 melee (-5 secondary, -2 Multiattack);
SA Breath Weapon (8d10/DC 24), Locate Object, Spells (Caster level 3rd); SQ Blindsense, Immunities (Fire/Paralysis/Poison/Sleep), Keen Senses, Resistance A/C/E 10, SR 28, Vulnerability To Cold; AL Always chaotic evil; SV Fort +17, Ref +14, Will +14;
Str 33, Dex 14, Con 21, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 12
Skills: See Text
Feats: See Text
Breath Weapon(Su): A red dragon has one type of breath weapon, a cone of fire.
Locate Object(Sp): A juvenile or older red dragon can use this ability as the spell of the same name, once per day per age category.[/sblock]

Mob of Half Fiend Juvenile Red Dragons (12 dragons)
Gargantuan Outsider (Fire)
HD 30d12+150+30; hp 540
Init +6
Spd 30 ft., fly 140 ft. (good)
Space/Reach 20 ft./0 ft.
AC 24 (+2 Dex, -4 size, +16 natural), touch 8, flat-footed 22
Base Atk +30; Grp +53;
Atk Mob (5d8+22+60(power attack))
SA Frightful Prescence (DC 30)
SQ Blindsense, Immunities (Fire/Paralysis/Poison/Sleep), Keen Senses, Mob Anatomy, Resistance A/C/E 10, SR 40, Vulnerability To Cold
Abilities Str 33, Dex 14, Con 21, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
Feats: Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack, Improved Maneuverability, Hover, Improved Toughness, Power attack, Improved Bull Rush (B), Improved Overrun (B), [+1]
SV Fort +23, Ref +19, Will +17
CR 16???

Bad Paper said:

wowzers. You have a lot going on there. Can you do me a big big favor, though? Please omit the name of the plane from your post, as I am soon to run my players through this module, and I have so far successfully misdirected them. One of them is a big ENWorlder. thanks. Also, your template choice for Ashardalon would be nice to remove from your post, as I may choose to use it, you know?

Click to expand...

Done and Done.

It's also a good thing I have an assistant DM.

Bad Paper said:

I love what you've done with Desayeus. Love it!

Click to expand...

So did I, until the War Mind Full attacked for over 300 hp of damage in one round, off of a charge, natch.

Bad Paper said:

So what kind of help do you need? You want a conversion? I'll do, uh, gosh, I don't recall the name. I think it starts with a P; the creature closest to Ashy, you know, there, at the end. I'm at work now, but I'll look it over this weekend. I'll do a straight upgrade, unless you have any special requests. Can I be creative with treasure?

Click to expand...

Let me describe each of the encounters a little more, and what would be useful....

And again, try to use SRD only, here.

1. A CR 36 Titanic Battle for the ages pitting Ashardalon, the oldest and meanest Red Dragon in the Multiverse, along with his selected chosen defenders/children.

Maybe a CR 35 Ashardalon, a CR 31 Creature, a CR 29 Creature, a CR 27 Creature, and 2 CR 25 Humanoids? All the Creatures and Humanoids should either be Red Dragons, or have the Half-Red Dragon template on them.

2. A CR 31 An infernal Strike Force of Devils that has gained entrance to the Bastion (Instead of Demons) and has tricked the Red Dragons into a peace, though they are waiting for an opportunity to turn on Ashardalon.

Maybe a CR 28 Leader, a CR 26 Brute, a CR 26 Caster, a CR 24 Brute, two CR 23's, a CR 21, and 9 CR 17s. Some nice mix of Pit Fiend, Cornugon, Osyluth, Hamatula, Erinyes, and Gelugon. Feel free to advance HD and size increases as needed.

3. A CR 30 Half-Red Dragon Squadron of Elites guarding the entrance to the Bastion. Anything that Ashardalon could have created while sleeping with ______ should be okay here. From Half Dragon Sorceror 20's to the Never-before-seen Half Red Dragon Tarrasque, or even his Wyrm Red Dragon Concubines.

I would guess maybe using A Red Great Wyrm (Cr 26), and then adding a Red Dragon Tarrasque (CR 23), a Clerical Half Dragon (CR 25), a Red Half Dragon Fighter (CR 25) an Ancient Red Dragon (CR 21), and then maybe some advanced versions of the Half Dragons running around the Bastion (1 24, 2 CR 23's, and 1 21).

4. A CR 29 Demon Army trying to gain entry to the Bastion (That's alot of Demons)

Anything is game here.

As for the other encounters in the Bastion, I'm probably just going to triple the number of creatures and call it a day. They'll be hard pressed with the bad guys we create, they'll need some roadbumps.

OMG I thought I had a hard time of it upconverting this for my campaign. But you are on the next level man. I even ran my players through Sunless Citadel and CotSQ just as you did.

No wonder you need a co-DM!

Anyway sorry to clutter I just wanted to give props and say Good Luck! from one busy DM to another.

J. Grenemyer

It is finished...

Since the first Friday 3.5 came in print, this campaign has trucked on, and now it has reached it's final conclusion. One Encounter Left...

5 CR 31 (Or about) PCs

Xana: Angelic Druid of the Heavens
Half-Deva Druid 20 Heirophant 4

Galanadel: High Archmage and Master of All Spells
Elven Cleric 3 Wizard 3 Mystic Theurge 13 Archmage 5 (With 8 Elf Paragon levels)

Thandain: Dwarven Defender Cohort
Fighter 10 Dwarven Defender 12 (With 4 Dwarven Paragon Levels)

Bob: The Undetectable Psionic Drow Nova
Rogue 4 Psion 6 Psionic Trickster 14 (With 5 Drow Paragon levels)

Leeroy: The Unstoppable Dwarven War Mind
Fighter 2 Psi Warrior 2 Cleric 1 PyroKineticist 5 WarMind 14 (With 8 Dwarven Paragon Levels)

Hugo: Archer Beyond Peer Across the Planes.
Ranger 4 Fighter 12 Horizon Walker 8 (With 8 Dwarven Paragon Levels)

Vs.

Nalavara: Red Dragon of Colossal+ size.

Scion: Paragon Mature Adult Red Dragon

Half Dragon Troll Cleric 20 of Tiamat


I will start posting Villains stats so I can get some help with Tactics. Nalavara especially...

Here's the big guy. I like how I've buffed him, since he's practically chained to the font of souls.

Anyone inside the the fon of souls (fat chance fitting) gains Fast Healing 10. Eating/Drinking a soul adds 10 to it for the next 5 rounds, these are cumulative.

Nalavara's heart is giving out, and he has a status on him that cannot be undone: Fast Harming 50. This is the representation of him dying. When the combat starts he has Fast Healing 110 active, this will be recalculated and decrease as he gets busier in combat...

Nalavara: Most Ancient of Red Dragons, Colossal+ Great
Red Wyrm.

Str 58, Dex 14, Con 44, Int 36, Wis 36, Cha 38.
52HD 1285 HP
AC (-8 size, +51 natural, +2 dex)
55, 4, 53
Saves 42, 28, 40
Frightful Presence 49
Breath 80ft Cone of Fire, 32d10 DC 53
SR 40
Temporary Fast Healing 110 (Recalculated...)
Demon Heart/Fast Harming 50 (Nalavara's heart is actually the Demon Prince Graz'z't and is doing 50 points of damage a round to Nalavara. Nalavara experiences Absolute Death when he hits 0. Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars. Thus freed, Graz'z't will emerge, thank the heroes and Gate back to Azzagrat. Or start unleashing violated Epic Level Spells as a 32 level Wizard with his Divine Rank of 2 (4 in Azzagrat) in addition to his 20 HD of Babau. Anyway, back to Nalavara....

Spells, cast as a 27th level Sorceror

Base Attack +52
Full Attack 1 Bite +76 8d6+24, 2 Claws +74 6d6 +12, 2
Wings +74 4d6+12, 1 Tail Slap +74 6d6+36

Power Attack, Cleave, Snatch, Wing-Over, Multi-Attack,
Fly-By-Attack, Improved Sunder, Blind Fight, Extend
Spell, Quicken Spell, Perpetual Spell, Improved
Natural Attack: Bite, Improved Natural Attack: Tail
Slap, Epic Spellcasting, Improved Metamagic (-1),
Multispell, Improved Metamagic (-2), Improved
Metamagic (-3), Improved Spell Capacity (10th),
Improved Spell Capacity (11th).

Skills:

Trained Skills Untrained Skills
Str:+79 +24
Dex:+57 +2
Con:+72 +17
Int:+68 +13
Wis:+68 +13
Cha:+69 +13

Buffs:

Cast as level 27 sorcerer,
an 18 on a Greater Dispel Magic check from a level 20 or
higher caster is needed to dispel, OR an Epic Dispelling spell.

Normal Spells:

Mind Blank (8)
G. Magic Fang: Tail Swipe (3) (+5 to hit and damage)
G. Magic Fang: Bite (3) (+5 to hit and damage)

Perpetual Spells:

Divine Favor (4) +3 to hit and damage
Shield (4) +4 shield bonus to AC
Shield of Faith (4) +5 deflection bonus to AC
Mage Armor (4) +4 armor bonus to AC
Barkskin (5) +5 natural armor bonus to AC
Blur (5) 20% concealment
Resist Energy:Cold (5) -30 to all cold damage (Before 150% multiplier)
Mirror Image (5) 8 mirror images
Displacement (6) 50% concealment
Protection from Cold(6)120 points of cold damage negated (Before 150% multiplier)
Haste (6) 1 extra Tail Slap, +1 attack, +1 AC, +1 reflex, Movement +30ft
Greater Invisibility(7)
Death Ward (7)
Divine Power (7)+6 to Strength, 27 temporary hit points.
True Seeing (8)
Righteous Might (8)+4 to Strength, +2 to Constitution, +2 Natural Armor, DR 9/good.
Globe of Invulnerability (9) Negates all effects of 4th level spells or lower.
Spell Turning (10) 9 levels of spells turned.

Spells Known:

1 5 Divine Favor, Shield, Shield of Faith, Mage Armor, Cure Light Wounds
2 5 Barkskin, Blur, Resist Energy:Cold, Mirror Image, Cure Moderate Wounds
3 4 Displacement, Protection from Cold, Haste, Greater Magic Fang
4 4 Death Ward, Divine Power, Greater Invisibility, Evard's Black Tentacles,
5 4 True Seeing, Righteous Might, Teleport, Wall of Force
6 3 Globe of Invulnerability, Heal, Greater Dispel Magic
7 3 Limited Wish, Spell Turning, Greater Scrying
8 3 Mind Blank, Polymorph Any Object, Greater Planar Binding
9 3 Mass Heal, Time Stop, Miracle

Cast per Day/cast
1 10/
2 9/
3 9/-2
4 9/-4
5 9/-4
6 8/-3
7 8/-3
8 8/-2
9 8/-1
10 2/-1
11 2
Epic 5

When Buffed, Nalavara is:

HP 1364.
Full Attack, +87 2 Bites 10d6+37, +80 2 Claws 8d6+18, +80 2 Wings 6d6 +18, +85 Tail Slap 8d6+52.

AC 75. Touch 4. FF 73.
Cold Resistance 30
Cold Protection 120
50% Concealment, then 20% Concealment.
Immune to death effects, energy drain, level drain, negative energy.
Greater Invisible.
Immune to all 4th level spells/powers and lower.
60ft space, 50ft reach.
9 levels of spells turned upon caster.


Any suggestions on Epic Spells, or Spell combos we should unleash with MultiSpell? I allow Sorcerers to Quicken Spells spontaneously.

The Scion: Paragon Mature Adult Red Dragon

Str 48, Dex 26, Con 38, Int 34, Wis 34, Cha 34.
25HD 650 HP
AC (-2 size, +24 natural, +12 luck, +12 insight, +8
dex)
64, 40(!), 40
Saves 38, 32, 36

Frightful Presence 39
Breath 80ft Cone of Fire, 14d10 DC 41
SR 43
DR 10/epic
Darkvision 120'
Blindsense 60'
Cold Resistance 10
Fast Healing 20
Vulnerability to Cold
Invulnerable to Fire


Spells, cast as a 9th level Sorceror
Some subset of Nalavara's list.


Spell Like Abilities: cast as level 24.
Locate object 3/day, Greater Dispel Magic 3/day, Haste
3/day, See Invisibility 3/day.

Base Attack +25
Full Attack 1 Bite +69 2d8+39, 2 Claws +67 2d6+30, 2
Wings +67 1d8+30, 1 Tail Slap +67 2d6+46

Power Attack, Cleave, Snatch, Wing-Over, Multi-Attack,
Fly-By-Attack, Improved Sunder, Blind Fight, Extend
Spell

Skills:

Trained Skills Untrained Skills
Str:+72 +43
Dex:+64 +35
Con:+67 +38
Int:+65 +36
Wis:+65 +36
Cha:+65 +36

Troll Half Dragon Cleric 20 CR 27

Str 52(!), Dex 22, Con 38, Int 8, Wis 22, Cha 10

HD 26d8 + 366 (499 hp)
Speed 20 ft.
AC= 42 (-1 size, +8 natural, +13 armor, +7 shield, +5 deflection) , 9 touch, 40 flat footed.
Base Attack +18/Grapple +43
Full Attack Bite +50 melee (1d8+10/19-20 *2) 2 claws +44 melee 1d6 +21 bite.

Saves: +34, +18, +24

Rend 2d6+31

Feats: Imp Natural Attack- Claw, Power Attack, W Focus
Claw, I Critical Claw, Power Critical Claw, Quicken Spell,
Extend Spell, Perpetual Spell, Multispell

Loot: Torture Bracelet, Gauntlets of Str +6, Belt of
Health +6, Gloves of Dex +6, Periapt of Wis +6, +5
Full Plate of Heavy Fort, 2 Rings of Greater Spell
Storing (Greater Dispel Magic), Boots of Speed, +5
Animated Heavy Steel Shield. Pearl of Power 3, Bead of
Karma. Lesser Rod of Metamagic: Extend Spell, Cloak of
Resistance +5, Boots of Speed.

Deity: Tiamat. Domains: Scalykind, Destruction.

Perpetual Buffed Spells (Caster level 24: Bead of Karma):
Divine Favor (7)
Shield of Faith (7)
Resist Energy Acid (8)

Extended Spells: Greater Magic Fang *2 on each claw. (3 domain)
(48 Hours: Bead, Rod, and Pearl of Power).

Buff Package:

Round 1/Surprise: Spell Resistance (5), Quickened Spell Immunity (9), Quickened Protection from Acid (7). (Utilize Boots of Speed.)
Round 2: True Seeing (6), Quickened Divine Power (8), Quickened Righteous
Might (9).
Round 3: Quickened Targeted Dispel Magic against Tank (7), Quickened Targeted Dispel Magic against Tank (7) Attack!

When Buffed,
Size=Huge
BAB=+23
AC=45, 18, 40
DR 9/Good
Attack=+60 melee (2d6+37/19-20 *2) 3 claws +55 melee 1d8 +18 bite.
Rend 3d6+38
SR 32
Spell Immunity to: Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Energy Ray, Flame Strike (And all energy substitutions therin: Sonic Strike, Acid Ball, etc...)

Spell Slots Left: For use in (Quickened Spontaneous Cure Spells.

6/7+1/7+1/6+0/6+1/4+1/4+1/1+1/3+1/2+1

Mass Heal will be memorized twice.

Other thoughts?

What I need help with...

Two things:

1. Creating good Epic Spells for Nalavar to use. When an Epic Dragon researches Epic Magicl what does he put his time into for destructive combat purposes?

2. Combo Tactics. So Nalavara is probably going to Breathe Fire in Round 1, Cast Epic Level Offensive Spells until the breath is back, all the while firing off 2 quickened spells on each of those rounds.

What should they be?

Any other thoughts, help, I'd be much obliged. I should note that Ashardalon, played as written, simply converted to 3.5 lasted a grand total of 1 round. Destroyed by massive amounts of Twinned, Empowered, Split Walls of Colds placed over him by a Temporally Accelerated Psion, about 3 Sonic Flame Strikes, and a ridiculous amount of Con Drain from Wounding weapons.