Dan Chernozub
First Post
I am a bit lost here. You know party composition and what have they been through recently but you don't know their level?
D&D 5E Can Someone Assess this Encounter Difficulty
MarkB
Legend
Will they know they're facing a medusa? And how do you feel about 5e's default rules on fighting in total darkness/concealment?
The default tactic for taking on a medusa is to eliminate its main advantage by taking sight out of the equation. Favoured methods are Darkness and Fog Cloud, but others are available.
By default rules, characters in D&D always know each others' positions unless they take an action to Hide, so if the party know the enemies' starting positions and then hit them with a line-of-sight obscuring effect, they'll all still know where each other are throughout the fight unless someone uses a Hide action.
Also, they'll all have disadvantage on their attacks because they're attacking an unseen target, and have advantage on their attacks because they're attacking a target that can't see them - which cancels out to nobody being able to gain either advantage or disadvantage throughout the entire combat.
Essentially, this would transform the fight into a slugfest, and the medusa into a bog-standard ranged combatant.
One possible use for the clerics would be to counteract such effects (preparing Gust of Wind to blow away fog, or Daylight to counter Darkness), though they'd only be able to do so under the medusa's guidance, as they wouldn't perceive such effects themselves.
The default tactic for taking on a medusa is to eliminate its main advantage by taking sight out of the equation. Favoured methods are Darkness and Fog Cloud, but others are available.
By default rules, characters in D&D always know each others' positions unless they take an action to Hide, so if the party know the enemies' starting positions and then hit them with a line-of-sight obscuring effect, they'll all still know where each other are throughout the fight unless someone uses a Hide action.
Also, they'll all have disadvantage on their attacks because they're attacking an unseen target, and have advantage on their attacks because they're attacking a target that can't see them - which cancels out to nobody being able to gain either advantage or disadvantage throughout the entire combat.
Essentially, this would transform the fight into a slugfest, and the medusa into a bog-standard ranged combatant.
One possible use for the clerics would be to counteract such effects (preparing Gust of Wind to blow away fog, or Daylight to counter Darkness), though they'd only be able to do so under the medusa's guidance, as they wouldn't perceive such effects themselves.
GMMichael
Guide of Modos
So, the clerics are pin cushions? I guess the religious are predictable, if nothing else.
For what is the calculation? Making it level-appropriate for your PCs? Or assigning XP?
Just do what Hollywood writers do: throw the climactic encounter together, and if it looks like the PCs aren't going to make it, reach into your bag of tricks and pull out:
- the ally from a previous scene shows up to even the odds
- one of the priests shows his true colors, as a turncoat
- an even bigger force than the medusa-and-co shows up to save the PCs
- one PC remembers an earlier scene or sees a ghost that reveals the medusa's weakness.
If it's an XP thing, give them the amount they need to level up - 10. Then hand out the extra 10 when they beg and tell you about all the stuff they've accomplished to earn it.
Dan Chernozub
First Post
I would chose to respectfully disagree with DMMike.
In my book, this is all really bad advice.
In my book, this is all really bad advice.
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