D&D 5E Anybody actually TRY soloing the Tarasque...?

[GMforPowergamers]

Has anybody taken into account the fact that acid splash has a 60 ft. range--and the tarrasque, which is 50 ft. tall, has a reach of 10 ft.? So flying above it is useless for this particular test.

Fly 60 ft. in front of it? Sure, that works for a round. Then the tarrasque closes to within 40 ft. and uses it's 20-ft.-reach tail attack. Which knocks the flying guy prone.

There may be tactics where the "flying opponent" thing works (at least in white room theory-craft), but the much vaunted acid splash ain't one of 'em.

on the WotC board someone said that and was told they were being rediculas because the tarasque wasn't able to attack on the wizards turn, so then it was pointed out that the big T could ready an action, and people said that wont work...but never a good reason given.

 

[Wrathamon]

on the WotC board someone said that and was told they were being rediculas because the tarasque wasn't able to attack on the wizards turn, so then it was pointed out that the big T could ready an action, and people said that wont work...but never a good reason given.

their reason was you cant ready a Jump and an Attack. You can only ready an attack or a jump if i recall correctly.

 

[Tormyr]

Has anybody taken into account the fact that acid splash has a 60 ft. range--and the tarrasque, which is 50 ft. tall, has a reach of 10 ft.? So flying above it is useless for this particular test.

Fly 60 ft. in front of it? Sure, that works for a round. Then the tarrasque closes to within 40 ft. and uses it's 20-ft.-reach tail attack. Which knocks the flying guy prone.

There may be tactics where the "flying opponent" thing works (at least in white room theory-craft), but the much vaunted acid splash ain't one of 'em.

Why would it matter? 60 feet is 60 feet even if you are above it. Just fly at an elevation of 110 feet and let loose with acid splash. Not that it will do much, what with Magic Resistance, high HP, and all that.

 

[Wrathamon]

Why would it matter? 60 feet is 60 feet even if you are above it. Just fly at an elevation of 110 feet and let loose with acid splash. Not that it will do much, what with Magic Resistance, high HP, and all that.

but, they will grind out the win and get all that fat xp and level up faster

 

[Mouseferatu]

Why would it matter? 60 feet is 60 feet even if you are above it. Just fly at an elevation of 110 feet and let loose with acid splash. Not that it will do much, what with Magic Resistance, high HP, and all that.

It matters because I was posting at 4:00 in the morning when I should have been asleep already.

 

[Dausuul]

Edit: Ninja'd.

 

[Fralex]

That made for fun reading, but I cannot find anything that would cause the Wizard to need to do a concentration check from Frightful presence. So the wizard could still fly but would be under the frightened condition.

Well, I think it's reasonable to expect someone who suddenly views the TARRASQUE in the most frightening light possible and is unable to push back their abject terror would probably have a hard time concentrating. This is covered under the part mentioning the DM may require other distracting events to require Constitution saves to maintain a spell effect. While I wouldn't make Frightful Prescence have a chance of disrupting concentration as a constant rule, I think it's safe to say the sort of fear a legendary guargantuan CR 30 monstrosity would inspire in a mere level 5 wizard would be pretty intense all on its own. And then it has a special ability where it actually tries to be as scary as possible? I don't think a player in that situation would dissagree with the DM's ruling. If the wizard did not make her save against the fear effect in the last test, she still might just manage to hold herself together enough to keep flying.

What I do think is clear so far from these tests is that you can really only call killing the Tarrasque in this manner a victory if you're some crazy big game hunter who just wants to, I dunno, mount its horns on her mantle. If you're an adventurer, it's a safe bet that your goal is to prevent the Tarrasque from destroying everything. You can't win against it as an adventurer with these methods.

I do plan to continue my tests, though, because all this speculation made me curious. The third wizard is still hanging in there! Let's see if she can succeed where her predecessors did not!

 

[Tormyr]

Well, I think it's reasonable to expect someone who suddenly views the TARRASQUE in the most frightening light possible and is unable to push back their abject terror would probably have a hard time concentrating. This is covered under the part mentioning the DM may require other distracting events to require Constitution saves to maintain a spell effect. While I wouldn't make Frightful Prescence have a chance of disrupting concentration as a constant rule, I think it's safe to say the sort of fear a legendary guargantuan CR 30 monstrosity would inspire in a mere level 5 wizard would be pretty intense all on its own. And then it has a special ability where it actually tries to be as scary as possible? I don't think a player in that situation would dissagree with the DM's ruling. If the wizard did not make her save against the fear effect in the last test, she still might just manage to hold herself together enough to keep flying.

What I do think is clear so far from these tests is that you can really only call killing the Tarrasque in this manner a victory if you're some crazy big game hunter who just wants to, I dunno, mount its horns on her mantle. If you're an adventurer, it's a safe bet that your goal is to prevent the Tarrasque from destroying everything. You can't win against it as an adventurer with these methods.

I do plan to continue my tests, though, because all this speculation made me curious. The third wizard is still hanging in there! Let's see if she can succeed where her predecessors did not!

I like your reasoning. Maybe in this case the Concentration check should be Wisdom based?

My favorite way of fighting the Tarrasque would definitely be lots of people working together.

 

[Riley37]

My favorite way of fighting the Tarrasque would definitely be lots of people working together.

Tarrasque says: lots of people, om nom nom!

Hm, here's a scenario: Tarrasque is advancing towards Capital City, devouring flocks of sheep along the way. The city council asks Our Heroes to minimize destruction. The city council also offers all the resources of the city, so long as no one else has to actually face the beast. Now we get to experiment with what's possible when NPCs are adequately motivated to maintain multiple Concentration buffs on the PCs! However, the cost of supplies the PCs requisition, and damage which the Tarrasque inflicts while the PCs gather those supplies, counts towards Total Damage Incurred Before Tarrasque Threat Ends. At the moment the PCs accept the mission, the counter starts rising; if they do nothing, the city is completely destroyed, with a Total Damage of... how many GP does it take to build or rebuild a city? and how long does it take a Tarrasque to reduce a city to rubble?

For best results, have a monster player running the Tarrasque, separate from the DM. The monster player can try anything they think the Tarrasque's stat block allows, but a neutral party says yes, no, or roll for it.

If the Tarrasque is reduced to 0 HP, then it shrinks into a normal human, and sidesteps away, naked, as in the Capcom game "Rampage": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt60kUo_Il0

 

[Nefzyflin]

So in my game, this Tarrasque, on it's turn is going to move, turn around and throw that half of a TOWER at that pathetic flea, just above it. And for 4 d12 + 9 damage as a storm giant? No no no no ! Look at the set of pipes on this thing. He's just returned from the gym, and he's pumped, drooling, and eagerly awaiting the DM's turn.

As am I !

8 d12 + 18 damage !

Nuff said.

Nef