What follows is a story apt to make game masters sad men and women, and players giggle.
After four or five sessions of running around ruins and forests on a mysterious island, the player characters finally close in on the principal villain.
This is none other than the Grausam, a lich-troll. More specifically, it is a kobald-lich whose spirit is inhabiting the corpse of a troll. It is also wielding a wand of inflict moderate wounds, and is wearing a ring of greater fire resistance and +3 studded leather armor. It functions as a 14th level sorcerer, and can use all of the natural weapons of the troll, such as claws and bite. He is CR 17 and the five members of the party average level 6.
The party learns that the Grausam knows the location of the Dreaded Terrasque, bounded to a prison ages ago. The foul lich intends nothing less than to send its wicked spirit in the form of the Great Beast, thus becoming one of the most deadly and terrible forces of destruction the world has ever witnessed.
The bulk of the party is engaged in deadly combat with Pain Mistresses (thank you Green Ronin). While they are winning, they are only doing so slowly and at great cost. A single member of the party is able to maneuver around the devils, and gets close enough to the Grausam to attack.
He cast glitter dust (not color spray – I made an error when I first wrote the message. This is a conjuration spell and undead have no special immunity to it).
I rolled a f*^%#|~ one (1) on the saving throw.
The villain and monster I had oh so carefully crafted is, in an instant, reduced from being menacing to being bad comedy as he stumbles around, waving his arms and bumping into the furniture.
I had anticipated the possible loss of the lich’s “battle body” and had left myself a means to have to lich’s spirit return to it’s natural kobald-corpse form. It does so, and in this form is not blinded – but it also does not have the ring, wand or armor.
Several combat rounds later, the party casts a 15d6 fireball at the lich, which was holding its phylactery. The lich makes its save and would have survived the blast. However, even with the save the phylactery should suffer enough damafe to be destroyed - so I fudge it and roll for it.
I rolled another f*^%#|~ one (1) on the saving throw for the phylactery.
The phylactery suffers something like 140 percent of its hit points. I had already established that phylacteries explode when destroyed and can possibly trigger an earthquake, incendiary cloud, or both.
The roll indicated both.
The place is rocked by an explosion and an earthquake, and shrouded in an incendiary cloud – all centered on the lich, which was holding the phylactery over its head.
The Grausam is annihilated.
The terrasque continues to sleep peacefully.
And I hate the spell glitter dust.
Edit: Corrected spell used, explain phylactery saving throw.
After four or five sessions of running around ruins and forests on a mysterious island, the player characters finally close in on the principal villain.
This is none other than the Grausam, a lich-troll. More specifically, it is a kobald-lich whose spirit is inhabiting the corpse of a troll. It is also wielding a wand of inflict moderate wounds, and is wearing a ring of greater fire resistance and +3 studded leather armor. It functions as a 14th level sorcerer, and can use all of the natural weapons of the troll, such as claws and bite. He is CR 17 and the five members of the party average level 6.
The party learns that the Grausam knows the location of the Dreaded Terrasque, bounded to a prison ages ago. The foul lich intends nothing less than to send its wicked spirit in the form of the Great Beast, thus becoming one of the most deadly and terrible forces of destruction the world has ever witnessed.
The bulk of the party is engaged in deadly combat with Pain Mistresses (thank you Green Ronin). While they are winning, they are only doing so slowly and at great cost. A single member of the party is able to maneuver around the devils, and gets close enough to the Grausam to attack.
He cast glitter dust (not color spray – I made an error when I first wrote the message. This is a conjuration spell and undead have no special immunity to it).
I rolled a f*^%#|~ one (1) on the saving throw.
The villain and monster I had oh so carefully crafted is, in an instant, reduced from being menacing to being bad comedy as he stumbles around, waving his arms and bumping into the furniture.
I had anticipated the possible loss of the lich’s “battle body” and had left myself a means to have to lich’s spirit return to it’s natural kobald-corpse form. It does so, and in this form is not blinded – but it also does not have the ring, wand or armor.
Several combat rounds later, the party casts a 15d6 fireball at the lich, which was holding its phylactery. The lich makes its save and would have survived the blast. However, even with the save the phylactery should suffer enough damafe to be destroyed - so I fudge it and roll for it.
I rolled another f*^%#|~ one (1) on the saving throw for the phylactery.
The phylactery suffers something like 140 percent of its hit points. I had already established that phylacteries explode when destroyed and can possibly trigger an earthquake, incendiary cloud, or both.
The roll indicated both.
The place is rocked by an explosion and an earthquake, and shrouded in an incendiary cloud – all centered on the lich, which was holding the phylactery over its head.
The Grausam is annihilated.
The terrasque continues to sleep peacefully.
And I hate the spell glitter dust.
Edit: Corrected spell used, explain phylactery saving throw.
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