The Devil's in the Details

[Cutty Sark]

I have to fight the Devil next weekend.

Help!

My party has been stranded in a mysterious desert and cut off from support. We have no cleric. The Devil knows where we are. It's bigger than an osyltuh. It has minions. Our evil arch-enemy is in league with the Devil.

Help!

I'm the self-appointed leader. I'm the leader appointed by the Little Lord Fontleroy College of Wizardry. I'm the leader who's earned the respect of his fellow players and their characters despite a low Charisma. And I'm the only one who knows all of the rules well enough to formulate a plan.

Help!

Can our Monk use a Stunning Attack on a Devil (since his attacks probably won't beat the Damage Reduction)? I can't counterspell a spell-like ability, but can I ready a magic missile and disrupt it like a normal spell (assuming I beat the SR)? Are there good tactics against these things?

Help!

If anyone thinks they can get my eighth level party through trolls and NPC fighters to defeat this diabolical danger, please let me know.

 

[DM_Matt]

Give a better rundown of your full capabilities,and maybe we could help more...

 

[Nightfall]

So you're fighting Asmodeus or you fighting Satan? I just wonder since there's a CR difference!

 

[Cutty Sark]

So you're fighting Asmodeus or you fighting Satan? I just wonder since there's a CR difference!

Well, with a thread title like this one, I suppose I deserve that.

Give a better rundown of your full capabilities,and maybe we could help more...

Oh, yeah. Good call.

Our party has:

Human Fighter 8

The DM gave him a Frost Brand, and he likes it even more than his Vorpal Longword. I'm don't remember Devils being fire-subtype, so it probably won't do extra damage, but I think he's the best choice to go toe-to-toe with the Devil. He's got magic platemail. He went for the Whirlwind Attack set of feats, and I think he just improved his critical on the longsword.

Elf Druid 7

This guy's a joke. The player's the only one who hasn't figured out the third edition yet. He only shows up about half the time, so he may not even be available. He just got a Flaming Scimitar, but I haven't seen him use it yet. Good roleplayer, good guy. So far, though, the character has been totally useless.

Human Psion 7

This is our dead theif's brand new character. I say theif because the player is rarely willing to play anything else. Sometimes a Fighter/Theif. But this time, he bought the Psionics Handbook, made a character, and then tells us what happens. I've never opened the book. He keeps it in his hands or house, whichever is more convenient for him. I don't know what the Psionics specializations (or disciplines or whatever) are called, let alone which ones he has access to.

Human Monk 8

Just a basic monk. He's got some decent armor enhancers and stuff, but no magic melee weapon. It's really an oversight on my part: we just recently started fighting anything with any Damage Reduction. He's also got a Ring of Jump, a +1 sling, and Power Attack & Blind Fight (which he's never used to my knowledge) as feats.

Human Wizard 8

That's me. I have a lot of spells and lots of hit points (for a Wizard, I mean), a dusty rose ioun stone, rings of phase shield and elemental resistance (fire), item creation feats, and a Bastard Sword +2 that I picked up from a corpse not too long ago.

There are some potions floating around the party, too. A handful of Cure Moderate Wounds, a couple True Strikes, an invisibility.

Need any more info? I'm working from memory, but I do have a good memory for this sort of stuff, so if you have an idea I can tell you whether or not we can pull it off.

 

[Fade]

Pretty sure spell-likes can be disrupted.

You best bet is probably not to fight it. How many Fly spells can you prepare?

 

[RogueJK]

Human Fighter 8

The DM gave him a Frost Brand, and he likes it even more than his Vorpal Longword.

A Vorpal longsword is a bit too valuable for an 8th level character, considering that it costs at least 72,000 gp, and the average 8th level character should have around 27,000 gp in total treasure. That's 2.67 times the amount of treasure that he ought to have, and it's all in a single item...

Are you sure that it's not a Keen longsword?

As far as fighting the devil goes, it really depends on what type of devil it is. You've stated that it's bigger than an Osyltuh. Do you mean that is is tougher than an Osyltuh, or that it is physically larger than one? A Hellcat and a Cornugan are both the same size or slightly larger than an Osyltuh, and you should be able to handle fighting one of them. If it's a Gelugon or a Pit Fiend, though, you're pretty much screwed.

Is it possible that it is a smaller devil, such as an Erinyes or Barbazu using an illusion such as Major Image (which they both have as a spell-like ability) to make itself appear larger? The Osyluth and Hamatula also have this spell-like ability. An Imp with some levels as a wizard could do the same.

Could it even be some other race masquerading as a devil?

The difficulty of the fight also depends on how you go about it. If you try to fight the devil (if it really is one) and its troll and fighter followers at the same time, then you won't stand a chance. However, if you systematically kill off his followers, the devil will be much easier by itself.

 

[Cutty Sark]

How many Fly spells can you prepare?

Plenty.

That could work. Maybe. But this thing is after us. I don't know why, but I think we're going to have to fight it. Besides, I bet he can probably fly, too. As cool as a pitched battle in the clouds against the forces of darkness would be, I don't know if that's a solution.

A Vorpal longsword is a bit too valuable for an 8th level character ... Are you sure that it's not a Keen longsword?

Yeah, a Vorpal longsword is a bit much. But I did mean a Vorpal longsword. I don't ask why, I just kill things.

Now that you mention it, I've got a feeling that this guy's a Cornugan. You didn't get the whole story: the Devil sent two Osyluths after my party earlier. Doesn't seem like other devils would take orders from something less powerful than themselves. Then agian, as you pointed out, not everything in this campaign makes a whole lot of sense.

Maybe we could fight it on our own terms. Hide in the woods, maybe. But he can probably Detect us and Teleport in, though, right?

 

[nsruf]

Human Monk 8

Just a basic monk. He's got some decent armor enhancers and stuff, but no magic melee weapon. It's really an oversight on my part: we just recently started fighting anything with any Damage Reduction.

One useful thing that druid could do would be to cast "greater magic fang" on the monk for a +2 to hit and damage and a chance to hurt that devil at all (unless he has x/+3 DR, but then you are pretty doomed, anyway). This way, the fighter doesn't have to take the devil on all alone and the monk can probably tumble to flank.

 

[Nightfall]

So let me get this straight you ARE fighting Asmodues, the King of the Nine Hells?! mmm I just hope you got good ressurection insurance cause I think you'll need it.

 

[Bonedagger]

http://www.enworld.org/cc/converted/outsider/devil/asmodeus.htm

Are you fighting this guy?!?

.....Or just "a devil"?