D&D 5E Has anyone fought and killed a Tarrasque?

[The Crimson Binome]

5th edition, specifically, but I'm also curious about how encounters went in other editions.

Sure, my group of four players (wizard, paladin, barbarian, warlock) took on the Tarrasque when they hit level 20. It was their seventh encounter of the day, too.

It went about as you might expect. They tried to stay at range, but found themselves ineffective at doing so. In melee, the barbarian and paladin were swallowed within a few rounds, while the wizard did the heavy lifting with his Titan power armor (although the Tarrasque did manage to destroy that before the end of fight, and the wizard was rather put out considering that he burned his ability to Wish in order to acquire that). The warlock played it safe by hiding in a Force Cage and spamming lesser cantrips (Chill Touch, maybe?), since Eldritch Blast didn't work; although the Tarrasque wandered out of range near the end of the fight, when there were no other targets visible and it realized it couldn't crack the cage. It would have been a TPK, if the Tarrasque's stomach wasn't such a friendly environment from which to attack, and the fighter-types eventually finished it off from the inside.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

I've always said "tah-ras-kee."

Holy carp...

Tare-ask

Nope.

Tah-ra-skew. Must be. Tar (tah) ras (rass) que (queue/cue).

Wow, no.

It's based on a French myth

Yes! It's a French word with a French pronunciation.

is pronounced kind of like ter-isk

... and, not even close.

Tuh-rosk. (like Oscar)

Getting warmer, but no.

Sadly, I have pronounced it "Taras skew" for so long I break myself of it.

Sweet merciful carp...

(Pronounced tawr-ask.)

Pretty close! More like ta-rask (the r should be rolled, but unless you're a native Romance language speaker, that's tough).

As in Monegasque or Basque. The final 'a' is short.

Yes! Rhymes with these words.

I've only ever heard it pronounced as Tarrask, rhymes with 'harassed'.

Close enough for a non-French speaker.

 

[Schmoe]

Sure, my group of four players (wizard, paladin, barbarian, warlock) took on the Tarrasque when they hit level 20. It was their seventh encounter of the day, too.

It went about as you might expect. They tried to stay at range, but found themselves ineffective at doing so. In melee, the barbarian and paladin were swallowed within a few rounds, while the wizard did the heavy lifting with his Titan power armor (although the Tarrasque did manage to destroy that before the end of fight, and the wizard was rather put out considering that he burned his ability to Wish in order to acquire that). The warlock played it safe by hiding in a Force Cage and spamming lesser cantrips (Chill Touch, maybe?), since Eldritch Blast didn't work; although the Tarrasque wandered out of range near the end of the fight, when there were no other targets visible and it realized it couldn't crack the cage. It would have been a TPK, if the Tarrasque's stomach wasn't such a friendly environment from which to attack, and the fighter-types eventually finished it off from the inside.

Isn't that weird? It seems like that has always been the case for getting swallowed for almost all monsters, at least since 3e. I would much prefer it if it was a lot harder to attack (muscle action constricting the victims) or a lot deadlier. Being swallowed is usually no more than an inconvenience, in my experience. The only explanation I can think of is that it was intentional to have characters popping out of the gullets of creatures everywhere, a la Red Riding Hood.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Yes! It's a French word with a French pronunciation. ... and, not even close.

I probably just used the wrong letters to provide a phonetic example, because what I meant for the sound is the same as the things you said where close.

And the way I said my accent spoils the word is actually the same as you told iserith it is more like, though I didn't know there was meant to be any roll to the 'r' (does that mean a single French 'r' is more similar to Spanish double 'r' than I have been told?).

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

I probably just used the wrong letters to provide a phonetic example, because what I meant for the sound is the same as the things you said where close.

And the way I said my accent spoils the word is actually the same as you told iserith it is more like, though I didn't know there was meant to be any roll to the 'r' (does that mean a single French 'r' is more similar to Spanish double 'r' than I have been told?).

Since I don't speak a word of Spanish, I had to dart over to YouTube to learn the difference between r and rr in Spanish. So, yes, the r in French is always pronounced like the rr in Spanish. Maybe not quite as extended or exaggerated a roll as it is in Spanish (although I'm sure there are regional differences).

"J'arrive au bord de la rivière. Je m'approche au près de la tarasque avec prudence." One r or two, they are rolled the same way.

 

[pemerton]

5th edition, specifically, but I'm also curious about how encounters went in other editions.

No 5e experience, but here is a link to a recap of the tarrasque encounter in my 4e game earlier this year.

Short version: the fighter solo-ed it while the other PCs negoitated with the maruts that wanted to stope an inteference with the tarrasque's rampage. Once those negotiations were successfully resolved (which soaked quite a bit of player resources, which they're now missing as they have gone into a very big and complex combat encounter without action points), the tarrasque had little chance.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Since I don't speak a word of Spanish, I had to dart over to YouTube to learn the difference between r and rr in Spanish. So, yes, the r in French is always pronounced like the rr in Spanish. Maybe not quite as extended or exaggerated a roll as it is in Spanish (although I'm sure there are regional differences).

"J'arrive au bord de la rivière. Je m'approche au près de la tarasque avec prudence." One r or two, they are rolled the same way.

Good to know, thanks.

I love languages, though I am more of a rampant dabbler than conversational in most of them. But I know enough that it usually doesn't matter which chapter of an instruction booklet, such as for assembling a piece of furniture, I open up to.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Good to know, thanks.

No problem.

I love languages, though I am more of a rampant dabbler than conversational in most of them.

That's great! I only know the two.

But I know enough that it usually doesn't matter which chapter of an instruction booklet, such as for assembling a piece of furniture, I open up to.

When I'm putting together a Malm or a Billy, I just look at the pictures!

 

[The_Gneech]

I always pronounced it "tuh-RASK." Alas, never used or encountered it in a game.

-The Gneech

 

[jayoungr]

Psssht, I soloed one on my fifth-level wizard.