How to stop a Warden?

[Miio]

True, he could use that. One could argue that since Font of Life only allows for one effect, he'd have to pick which one, as there are three. You could also argue that those are all secondary effects of being swallowed. Honestly, I don't know. I guess if "save ends all" then they're technically all linked.

We only had two frogs in our encounter, but you could throw in some more. You could have them (the construct alternative) in one of the castle rooms, looking completely normal, and if an unsuspecting PC happens to walk by, GULP!

Going off of this theme, you could have some sort of rope or chain that is dangling from the ceiling, and if the PCs get to close, or something, the ropes/chains grab them, and turns the PC into a marionette.

I am taking notes. This is all good stuff!

 

[Peraion Graufalke]

Don't fear the warden's Font of Life; embrace it. As often as you feel appropriate, throw monsters that drop lots of status effects* and ongoing damage on the warden, e.g. beholders, carrion crawlers. He'll be challenged and the group will be happy to have him in the party.

As an example, my group's warden had much fun with a gauth beholder in a boss fight. I targeted the warden with the brunt of the gauth's attacks - 2 eye rays each round so he could make good use of his Font of Life. Thanks to him the group survived the encounter, and they were all bloodied and out of heals (with the cleric having gone down twice during the fight).

* I'd use stun and dominate sparingly, though. They're quite annoying.

 

[the-golem]

I disagree with the Giant Frog suggestion. At-will stun (save ends) at low heroic tier is not fun, in my opinion. If you do use the Giant Frog, allow the swallowed player to attack the frog from inside, and consider allowing other players to attack the frog and, instead of dealing damage to it, grant the swallowed player a saving throw.

Yeah, I absolutely hated those damn frogs, which is why I immediately thought of it when he wanted something to give his players a challenge.

Instead of Stunned, you could have the thing do Dazed and Restrained, or Dazed and Immobilized. This way the swallowed individual can still take a standard action to attack, but cannot move.

Our DM allowed our Pacifist Cleric to give me a saving throw from one of her abilities, even though technically I couldn't be targeted by any effects...although when I think about it... the saving throw granted was from Sacred Flame, which allowed the saving throw on hit, not as an effect. In that case, is it still allowed?

[MENTION=89425]Miio[/MENTION]: I'm working on a construct version of the giant frog. I don't have much experience with creating custom monsters, so I wanted to take this opportunity to hone my skills.

 

[Miio]

Don't fear the warden's Font of Life; embrace it. As often as you feel appropriate, throw monsters that drop lots of status effects* and ongoing damage on the warden, e.g. beholders, carrion crawlers. He'll be challenged and the group will be happy to have him in the party.

As an example, my group's warden had much fun with a gauth beholder in a boss fight. I targeted the warden with the brunt of the gauth's attacks - 2 eye rays each round so he could make good use of his Font of Life. Thanks to him the group survived the encounter, and they were all bloodied and out of heals (with the cleric having gone down twice during the fight).

* I'd use stun and dominate sparingly, though. They're quite annoying.

Oh, thank you! That is a fantastic point.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

If you want to damage him, and Earthstrength warden is bound to have a low Ref or Will (and quite possibly both) so you could take aim a those.

Also if you want to try another tactic, you can use encounters where the goal is not simply defeating all the enemies. Maybe they need to protect the innocent guy from being kidnapped, retrieve the McGuffin, or hold out until the Warlock actives the magic devices of life saving.

 

[Mummolus]

I'll throw in my vote for minions - specifically for skirmisher minions. Their ranged attacks can pretty much ignore the warden, and if the party wins they'll feel nice and powerful for having defeated a lot of enemies.

 

[Miio]

[MENTION=89425]Miio[/MENTION]: I'm working on a construct version of the giant frog. I don't have much experience with creating custom monsters, so I wanted to take this opportunity to hone my skills.

Mutually beneficial!

 

[the-golem]

:-( I cant say I'm 100% happy with this. I don't feel I'm very good at it, but I gave it a go. You'll see it attached.

I had ideas for this guy, but I'm not really sure how to implement. Instead of just being able to gobble and run, I wanted to give him a bit more utility. I beefed up the frogs shift maneuver into a close burst as a kind of defensive ability.

I really like this idea though. You could take two or three of these guys, and pair them with a bunch of minions that can position PCs closer to the Iron Maiden.

What do you think?

 

[Miio]

I like the idea as well! I might make some small tweaks, but it is otherwise something I can use for tonights encounter, for sure.

 

[Ryujin]

Honestly, a 20 AC isn't all that high. If he isn't worried about the other characters, then make him worry about himself. Stun is too much, but Daze is just about right. Mix creatures that Daze, until the end of their next turn, with creatures that have a bonus damage on CA effect.

- One action
- He gives up CA
- Doesn't give flanking
- Can't do immediate/opportunity actions

If that doesn't get the blood pumping, for a Warden player, then nothing will.