Beware this dire warning. Ignore it at your peril!

[pemerton]

Did you try an acrobatic stunt to get out?

Did any of the other players try to cut you out?

Did the Rogue try to jump into the mouth of the worm with a rope tied around him, and have the Fighter pull you back out?

Lost Soul, this is good stuff!

 

[DracoSuave]

This entire thread is a walking advertisement for Tenser's Floating Disc.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

We had an encounter with the Purple Worm, too. The Paladin was heavily chewed on, but my Warlord and his LAy on Hands kept him over bloodied all the time.

I didn't like that encounter much, either. I think I'll agree with other posters that the Purple Worm is the worst Solo monster.

 

[James McMurray]

When everything conspires against you whether due to DM intent or random bad luck or even a combination of both, you're going to get screwed. Swallow whole has several protections on it (needing a grab, needing to be bloodied) just like a beholder's petrification or other things that require several saves or end up killing/removing you from combat.

I don't think it matters if you have to be slightly unlucky. If a monster can push your off button, it's a crappy monster to put in a game whose stated design goal is to not have off buttons for PCs.

This entire thread is a walking advertisement for Tenser's Floating Disc.

That couldn't possibly have helped. The disk doesn't fly, so it's practically worthless when you're trekking through the underdark and having to climb (and sometimes swim) to get where you're going. Also, the worms have perception equal to my stealth, and blindsight 10. Riding a disk isn't going to do anything. Even if I'd been riding it and the worm had somehow failed to notice me, it would just have meant that someone else was swallowed, and they'd have had 95% of their abilities turned off instead of the 98% I suffered. This isn't about "waaah, my character got hurt" or "how do I avoid a worm." It's about "why would WotC make a monster that can easily shut a PC down when they've said their goal is to not have that happen.

We had an encounter with the Purple Worm, too. The Paladin was heavily chewed on, but my Warlord and his LAy on Hands kept him over bloodied all the time.

How did you know that being bloodied was a bad thing? Nature check? Or do you always try to avoid people being bloodied? If we'd known that, I'm sure the fight would have turned out differently as well. I'd still have been swallowed eventually, as I was down to one healing surge. But our paladin could have kept me up a while.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Things I've learned from this.

The Purple worm has a solid, progression based swallow whole.
Bloodied->Grab->Swallow

Delevelling a Solo and putting in multiple other creatures in the same encounter is a mistake.

Being swallowed sucks. Big revelation there.

Too bad muscular action doesn't close the hole.

 

[charlesatan]

I don't think it matters if you have to be slightly unlucky. If a monster can push your off button, it's a crappy monster to put in a game whose stated design goal is to not have off buttons for PCs.

I disagree. D&D has had situations that can push your off button. Such as death. The point isn't to eliminate it entirely, but not to make it as arbitrary as failing one roll.

This isn't apparent but the higher in the tiers you go, the more such situations pop up. Is Swallow Whole a bad predicament? Yes. But there are worse situations, such as Petrification. Or getting reduced to 0 hit points immediately thanks to a Finger of Death and the like. You might as well avoid fighting Orcus because he can bring you down from full hit points to zero.

How did you know that being bloodied was a bad thing? Nature check? Or do you always try to avoid people being bloodied? If we'd known that, I'm sure the fight would have turned out differently as well. I'd still have been swallowed eventually, as I was down to one healing surge. But our paladin could have kept me up a while.

Getting bloodied is a bad situation to be in, in much the same way getting damaged is a bad situation. But in general, "bloodied" should be a signifier that things start to happen, either in a positive way (i.e. the Dragonborn's bonus to attack rolls kick in) or in a bad way (i.e. certain abilities can only be used when someone is bloodied). Some monsters also start to behave differently when they are bloodied (getting hurt does that to you).

 

[Chen_93]

I don't think it matters if you have to be slightly unlucky. If a monster can push your off button, it's a crappy monster to put in a game whose stated design goal is to not have off buttons for PCs.

As was mentioned there are numerous creatures with "off" buttons, so to speak. There are also protections in place so that it does NOT come down to a single roll like it did in 3.5. This is what they wanted to remove. A beholder's petrification I believe requires 3 failed saves. This is fairly unlikely to occur especially if you have allies that can help with those saves via various abilities. The case is similar with the worm. To be swallowed whole you need to:
a) be within range of the worm
b) be HIT by the worm
c) be bloodied
d) not have broken the grab before you get bloodied

I think thats a fairly decent set of circumstances that result in a player being taken out of combat.

Even if I'd been riding it and the worm had somehow failed to notice me, it would just have meant that someone else was swallowed, and they'd have had 95% of their abilities turned off instead of the 98% I suffered. This isn't about "waaah, my character got hurt" or "how do I avoid a worm." It's about "why would WotC make a monster that can easily shut a PC down when they've said their goal is to not have that happen.

The disk would have helped in that the worm would not have attacked you first most likely since it cannot sense the disk via tremorsense (which it uses when underground). In any case, I can't imagine the worm would have just as easy a time swallowing someone else unless it was significantly above your guys level. I mean I can see why a wizard would be easier to hit and have a harder time breaking out of its grab. But if NO ONE had a chance to do so (barring very high rolls) thats a mistake on the DMs part for putting a monster against you that is too tough.

 

[charlesatan]

There are, I think, two ways one could have prevented and gotten out of that situation.

One is rules familiarity (i.e. knowledge of what ends a grab, using Aid Another actions, etc.).

The other is creativity (i.e. Chen and Lost Soul's suggestions).

And again, I'd stress that the Purple Worm is one of the most boring creatures to play against, not because it's deadly, but because it's dull (it only does one thing!), especially for a solo (and will most likely result in a grind).

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

How did you know that being bloodied was a bad thing? Nature check? Or do you always try to avoid people being bloodied? If we'd known that, I'm sure the fight would have turned out differently as well. I'd still have been swallowed eventually, as I was down to one healing surge. But our paladin could have kept me up a while.

Both. Successful check, and the general tactic of healing anyone that is bloodied (but rarely before that. People that want healing before being bloodied are whiners )

Of course, being that low on healing surges and still be forced into a fight is bound to be deadly (Though I'd say it's actually more dangerous usually for the Defender)

 

[Hussar]

Hang on a sec. James McMurray, you said earlier that the purple worm can bite for 25 points of damage. Even a full size purple worm can only do 23 damage and this one has been deleveled by 4. At 12th level, he should be doing 2d8+5 points of damage (using the rules on page 174 of the DMG).

That's an average of 14 points per round. You're a 12th level wizard. You should have 58+con hit points. That's a minimum of 34 (assuming a 10 con) hit points before you're bloodied. This thing bloodied you in two rounds? That is definitely very unlucky.