pukunui
Legend
Hi all,
Last session, the PCs encountered a half-ogre cleric and his orcish minions in a peat bog. Rather than parley, the PCs decided to set up an ambush and attacked. When they had the half-ogre on his knees, he begged for a truce so he could talk, but the half-orc cleric and dwarf fighter in particular weren't interested and hacked him down, along with his minions.
I was thinking it would be fitting to have the half-ogre return as a revenant ... but I'm a bit concerned that it might be too powerful for my group. They're all only 4th level, and while they've proven they can handle encounters with a single CR 5 monster before (they've already taken care of a shambling mound and an otyugh - on separate occasions - with little trouble), which the DMG classes as merely a "Hard" encounter, the revenant's unique setup might make it too hard for them to handle.
For one thing, it can potentially kill one of its special targets in two rounds: if it successfully uses Vengeful Glare, the target becomes paralyzed, which means an auto-crit. If it hits with both fists, that would be 24d6 + 8 damage, more than enough to kill either the half-orc or the dwarf fighter instantly!
On top of that, the only way to permanently get rid of a revenant is to cast wish, which is way out of reach of 4th level PCs. Yes, technically the party could also be pragmatic and let the half-orc and dwarf die, which would also put the revenant's soul to rest, but I can't really see this particular party doing that. So if I were to unleash a revenant on them, they'd most likely end up fighting it every few days, unless they found some way of getting far away from it very quickly ... which again is not something 4th level PCs can reasonably be expected to do.
What do you guys think? Should I do it? Or should I not risk it? What would you do?
Last session, the PCs encountered a half-ogre cleric and his orcish minions in a peat bog. Rather than parley, the PCs decided to set up an ambush and attacked. When they had the half-ogre on his knees, he begged for a truce so he could talk, but the half-orc cleric and dwarf fighter in particular weren't interested and hacked him down, along with his minions.
I was thinking it would be fitting to have the half-ogre return as a revenant ... but I'm a bit concerned that it might be too powerful for my group. They're all only 4th level, and while they've proven they can handle encounters with a single CR 5 monster before (they've already taken care of a shambling mound and an otyugh - on separate occasions - with little trouble), which the DMG classes as merely a "Hard" encounter, the revenant's unique setup might make it too hard for them to handle.
For one thing, it can potentially kill one of its special targets in two rounds: if it successfully uses Vengeful Glare, the target becomes paralyzed, which means an auto-crit. If it hits with both fists, that would be 24d6 + 8 damage, more than enough to kill either the half-orc or the dwarf fighter instantly!
On top of that, the only way to permanently get rid of a revenant is to cast wish, which is way out of reach of 4th level PCs. Yes, technically the party could also be pragmatic and let the half-orc and dwarf die, which would also put the revenant's soul to rest, but I can't really see this particular party doing that. So if I were to unleash a revenant on them, they'd most likely end up fighting it every few days, unless they found some way of getting far away from it very quickly ... which again is not something 4th level PCs can reasonably be expected to do.
What do you guys think? Should I do it? Or should I not risk it? What would you do?
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