4th level party vs CR5 Catoblepas

[rgoodbb]

Hey folks.

My 5 players will soon reach the dizzy heights of 4^th level and I was thinking of pitting them against a CR5 Catoblepas, (Volo’s pg 129). Its marshy swampland and entirely appropriate for both the area, and the story.

Being a still relatively newbie DM, I am a tad worried that 21 damage + possible stunned each round from a tail attack, added to Death Ray’s 36 Necrotic damage (save for half or fail badly for 64 and possible insta-death) will be overkill. Quite literally.

Are the damage numbers too much for 5, 4^th level PC’s? Or am I just an over-fretting DM who needs to grow a pair and revel in a PC death or two?

Cheers for your thoughts.

 

[devincutler]

I actually ran an encounter with a catoblepas versus a party of six 4th level PCs recently. It went fine. Yes, the catoblepas' gaze attack is mean, but its range is limited, so the PCs need to merely stay back from it and, frankly, it's an easy encounter.

If you figure the creature has no stealth capabilities, and average encounter distance in swamp is 2d6X10 feet, then chances are unless the PCs close with it, the fight will be horrendously easy. If the PCs do close with it, it is likely that it will get off one shot and then the PCs will retreat away and kill it from a distance. If your PCs are at all experienced in 5e, they will know that almost all gaze attacks have a maximum range of 30 feet.


My PCs are experienced players and knew what a catoblepas was, so I had to add two giant crayfish that would grapple the PCs and drag them towards the catoblepas (all of these creatures were controlled by an evil neried).


tl;dr: A single catoblepas should either be astoundingly easy or get one horrific shot off before being easily dispatched.

 

[aco175]

Remember that the main problem with only one monster is that it has one action vs. a party worth of actions. This is why I tend to have a single monster and a couple monsters a CR one or two less that the PCs.

 

[Salthorae]

And you definitely need to revel in the potential deaths of the PC’s. They need to know that it’s a dangerous world out there and just because they are PCs doesn’t mean that they’re going to survive it.

Teach them caution!

 

[TheCosmicKid]

My 5 players will soon reach the dizzy heights of 4^th level and I was thinking of pitting them against a CR5 Catoblepas, (Volo’s pg 129). Its marshy swampland and entirely appropriate for both the area, and the story.

If it's entirely appropriate, do it. It's not as if the catoblepas knows the party is only fourth level and considerately leaves the area for them. Your world is going to have a lot more verisimilitude if you don't take the PCs' capabilities into account when designing encounters. Sometimes they have to run away, or find other solutions to their problems than head-to-head combat. (To this end, you might want to find a way of warning the players about the powerful monster and its abilities, so they can plan around it rather than get blindsided.)

All that said, I concur with the others in this thread: I would expect a party of five 4th-level PCs to be able to win a fight with a catoblepas.

 

[iserith]

Telegraph the monster's abilities before they encounter it. Perhaps stories abound of this strange creature in town or weird swamp-dwelling hermits share their unbelievable tales about it. Not only does this create tension, it allows the players to use that information to decide what to do when they finally encounter it.

By the numbers, it's a Medium encounter at best. Maybe Hard if the terrain is working against the PCs and/or for the monster. They should have no problem.

 

[werecorpse]

Because it has an unusual death effect (if reduced to 0 you die) it's something the players may not be prepared for.

If it's battled at range it is a pushover. If on the other hand it is battled at close range and gets a decent initiative the DC16 death attack can easily kill a 4th level PC outright and swing the battle. If it recharges quickly that can be troublesome.

In that sense it can be quite a swingy encounter

The "dead if reduced to 0" is a different mechanic and players can get tricked by being used to getting two death saves before they die. When this carpet is pulls out from under their feet it can feel a little unfair.

Not saying don't do it just realise that it has some serious risk.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Monsters with insta-kill effects can cause problems at any challenge level, since players have gotten used to combat usually being non-lethal in 5e.


Mechanically, it should be a pushover, but you might want to have the party find a couple of scrolls of Revivify in case of mishaps. Or perhaps an NPC will give them some advice about how to avoid it's death gaze.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Gentle repose is the magic available to 4th level pcs. It is a nice spell for such encounters. If you are fast, revivy after leveling up is possible.

I think do it. Make the terrain interesting. Maybe some grappöing vines in the swamp. Habe them find corpses and trails of a horselike creature. Have them make investigation checks or check their passive investigation if they notice the distance of 30ft between corpses and trail.
Have the encounter in darkness or at least dusk or dawn. Use history or nature checks to remember a legend of such a creature.

It sounds like a great encounter if you prepare for it. And maybe kill some creatjre to instill some fear.

 

[Imaculata]

Your world is going to have a lot more verisimilitude if you don't take the PCs' capabilities into account when designing encounters. Sometimes they have to run away, or find other solutions to their problems than head-to-head combat.

No, CR's exist for a reason. You should always consider whether a monster is a fair fight for your players. You wouldn't throw a monster at the players that they have no way of beating, for example. So I applaud the OP's approach to use a monster that is 1CR above the level of the party. That seems completely reasonable, considering they will probably gang up on the beast.

(To this end, you might want to find a way of warning the players about the powerful monster and its abilities, so they can plan around it rather than get blindsided.)

Yes, foreshadowing is good!