D&D 5E I have something... THE TARRASQUE!

[I'm A Banana]

Of course if you're taking on the tarrasque, it's funny if "get a bunch of magic bows or a huge number of magic arrows, and some 3rd level casters to magic up some weapons" is the only roadblock, is all. Dragons don't stand a chance!

Well, I don't think "some 3rd level casters to magic up some weapons" (100? More?) is actually that small of a roadblock, really. I don't even imagine a magitech setting like Eberron has 100+ magic weapon batteries, though I'd imagine it best there.

Though I also think this was a deliberate choice. IIRC, part of the idea of bounded accuracy is that low-level NPC's still have a chance to take out big threats, and this helps with verisimilitude. The reason the dragon doesn't just burn every uppitty village to the ground is because enough of these ants can still kill it.

The Tarrasque in D&D is meant to be an engine of fantasy village destruction, a Godzilla for Middle-Earth. It achieves this largely by brunt of ignoring damage not from magic weapons, since most towns won't be able to get their hands on enough magic doodads (or mages enchanting their doodads) to do much.

It should also be an interesting encounter, and with this, the 150' archer does seem to negate a lot of T's threat, so I'm not sure it does that (with the caveat that if we're missing information, of course, this is an incomplete opinion).

 

[Obryn]

Though I also think this was a deliberate choice. IIRC, part of the idea of bounded accuracy is that low-level NPC's still have a chance to take out big threats, and this helps with verisimilitude. The reason the dragon doesn't just burn every uppitty village to the ground is because enough of these ants can still kill it.

My main issue is that this is one class (a wizard, natch) and you don't really need a party after that.

It's well and good to say, "fine, a horde of villagers can kill big monsters" but this is one pc.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

But yeah, in retrospect, I guess it shouldn't be surprising. Since they're not mindless anymore, there's no reason they shouldn't feel fear. Gonna take some serious getting used to, though.

The image that leaps into my mind is of a skeleton jumping up off the ground and turning its head towards "the camera" as its jaw drops and its legs start trying to run in the air like a Loony Tunes cartoon.

 

[Mouseferatu]

The image that leaps into my mind is of a skeleton jumping up off the ground and turning its head towards "the camera" as its jaw drops and its legs start trying to run in the air like a Loony Tunes cartoon.

5e skeletons: Less Sinbad, more Army of Darkness.

 

[Stalker0]

Does indeed look like a sitting duck if there are fliers about.

This is one thing I liked about the 4e version. It was considered more of an earth spirit, and had an aura that grounded any flying creature within a very large radius. There was no escaping the 4e tarrasque!!

Well...except a 4e ranger...but everything died to the 4e ranger.

 

[Psikerlord#]

It doesn't need a special ability for that. According to the Jump rules (and not scaling for size/muscle mass, but just a straight reading from the PHB), the tarrasque can jump high enough to reach something 88 feet off the ground, without rolling. Higher, with an athletics check.

And higher if you assume that, while it normally stands leaning forward, it's capable of straightening and standing upright, since that increases its starting height.

Yep anyone trying to fly away will get pounced on, or a piece of building throw at them! Improvised weapon, house/chunk of earth/tree, range: further than bows and spells, damage: similar to claw and str check or be knocked prone (out of the sky?).

 

[xopher]

Once the Beastie closes to 60', the last rank gets 28 Sacred Flames off as the Beastie uses its three Legendary Actions to close the remaining 60'. On its turn, it (probably) kills five Clerics, then three more with Legendary attacks as the Clerics do their actions (these guys do not get their spells off, since the Beastie can choose to kill ones that haven't had their action yet).

Stuffing this into Excel, it looks to me like 64 Clerics on average can take him out. Two survive on average. They get 2,422 XP each, enough to get them almost but not quite to 4th level.

Thinking about it a tad more, there's no reason why the front ranks can't Ready an action to cast when the Beastie comes within range. That means everyone gets a shot at him before he closes range.

So that brings the number down to 62 level 1 Clerics. They all get 2,500 XP and make 4th level. Yay.

 

[Vaeron]

I've noticed that, weirdly, it seems like all monsters we've seen so far (including undead) have lost their disease resistance or disease immunity in 5e, despite having it in the playtest.

Since it's not a ranged attack and Contagion doesn't grant a save until after it has already taken effect, it seems like multiple castings of Contagion -> Slimy Doom could keep the Big T (and most (all?) other 5e monsters) effectively stun-locked, regardless of Legendary Resistance. Assuming, of course, the caster can hit that impressive AC and has friends to deal damage prior to the first save.

 

[beej]

Won't the tarrasque just roll over an army of skeletons and effectively destroy everything?

 

[Ravenheart87]

The only thing I miss from that illustration is a silhuette of a normal sized being so you can understand easier how much bigger the beast is compared to you. Hacklopedia and good old dinosaur books did that and it helped a lot. Otherwise I really like the picture, the stats and the breezy description. I prefer breezy descriptions over pages of insignificant information that you will never use or might be even false in your campaign.