Challenging my high-lvl group (NPCs and monsters; my players shouldn't read this!)
- Thread starter Piratecat
- Start date
Yes, go with the eyes. In fact, go all the way with the eyes and make them grafted undead beholder eyes! Building off of Bronz Dragon's nasty, disintegrate rays take care of the tunneling, telekinesis rays let it ferry troops into its mouth, and cure critical wounds rays turn the thing into a floating sickbay. For added fun, mount dozens of vampiric touch eyestalks along the edges of the creature, so it can launch horrific broadsides of negative energy.
I'm thinking disintegrate and telekinesis stalks mounted at each end, cure critical wounds stalks in the interior, and vampiric touch stalks mounted every ten feet or so along the perimeter. That sounds like a lot (and it is, 200 or so per broadside) but their range is such that only 12 will bear on one target at a time, and even then the poor sap has to be standing right on the troop transport.
So what's to stop the PC's from targeting and destroying these eyes? The diversions. Use Samnell's ideas for eyes, distributed all over the creature's body. If memory serves it's not immediately obvious where the beholder's rays are coming from. They could, of course, just fireball the entire general area.
The big problem is finding that many beholder eyes; the number of vampiric touch stalks can be scaled down as needed, though I'm fond of the idea of ghoulish flotillas sweeping across with negative energy broadsides like naval commanders of old. Maybe a separate creature, only twenty or thirty feet long, which serves as a ghoulish destroyer?
This is a link to the True Ghoul template: http://home.gwi.net/~rdorman/frilond/rul/dm/ghoul.htm
I'm thinking disintegrate and telekinesis stalks mounted at each end, cure critical wounds stalks in the interior, and vampiric touch stalks mounted every ten feet or so along the perimeter. That sounds like a lot (and it is, 200 or so per broadside) but their range is such that only 12 will bear on one target at a time, and even then the poor sap has to be standing right on the troop transport.
So what's to stop the PC's from targeting and destroying these eyes? The diversions. Use Samnell's ideas for eyes, distributed all over the creature's body. If memory serves it's not immediately obvious where the beholder's rays are coming from. They could, of course, just fireball the entire general area.
The big problem is finding that many beholder eyes; the number of vampiric touch stalks can be scaled down as needed, though I'm fond of the idea of ghoulish flotillas sweeping across with negative energy broadsides like naval commanders of old. Maybe a separate creature, only twenty or thirty feet long, which serves as a ghoulish destroyer?
This is a link to the True Ghoul template: http://home.gwi.net/~rdorman/frilond/rul/dm/ghoul.htm
Bronz Dragon
First Post
Slapped that Template on, and BOY is this thing starting to look nasty. Beholder Eyes I'll have to think about. I don't really want to equip this thing with more natural weapons than are necessary for digging. That disintegrate though, hmmmm...
Eyes all over? Suuuure, excellent. Half of this project was to make this beast as sick-looking as possible, that just about does the trick. Thanks muchly!
Eyes all over? Suuuure, excellent. Half of this project was to make this beast as sick-looking as possible, that just about does the trick. Thanks muchly!
Here's something I saw in a non-D&D book that I HAD TO share.
Let's say you take seven dozen corpses. Cut them in half at the stomach. Shove the head of the corpse into the chest cavity of the next one, and sew them all together. What do you get?
An undead centipede like creature, with seven dozen sets of hands, and one head at the very end. Put a bladed harness on it, and send it after battalions.
If you damage part of it (Destroying a section), the head attached to that section just pops out, and it tears itself in half. Now you have two smaller ones coming at you. Or they may just link back together.
Let's say you take seven dozen corpses. Cut them in half at the stomach. Shove the head of the corpse into the chest cavity of the next one, and sew them all together. What do you get?
An undead centipede like creature, with seven dozen sets of hands, and one head at the very end. Put a bladed harness on it, and send it after battalions.
If you damage part of it (Destroying a section), the head attached to that section just pops out, and it tears itself in half. Now you have two smaller ones coming at you. Or they may just link back together.
Akin Ringpeace
First Post
taran said:
Wouldn't that be "cause critical wounds" for undead?
One man's medicine is another man's poison.
Destil
Explorer
For your undead transportation construct, what about something that's self assembling? The defenders could wander into the assembly zone and see the partialy completed creature grabing piles of corpses and fusing them to itself (if the're there in time).
Perhaps it tunnles through rock by blasting it to sand with a powerfull sonic blast and then burrowing. It could have some sort of 'array' of long bone spines at the front that vibrate magicaly, dealing continual sonic damage to anything in it's way and pulverizing solid rock to sand for movement. The tail could likewise produce perodic blasts of eletricity that fuese the sand back into glass, making it harder to follow. (Though the gohuls could turn this off if they want to use it as the head of a convoy and have a small army of undead following behind)
Perhaps it tunnles through rock by blasting it to sand with a powerfull sonic blast and then burrowing. It could have some sort of 'array' of long bone spines at the front that vibrate magicaly, dealing continual sonic damage to anything in it's way and pulverizing solid rock to sand for movement. The tail could likewise produce perodic blasts of eletricity that fuese the sand back into glass, making it harder to follow. (Though the gohuls could turn this off if they want to use it as the head of a convoy and have a small army of undead following behind)
Sagrabah
First Post
How come no one has mentioned a variant on the Delver? It is kind of a silly creature, but you can't deny that it's huge and has some powerful acid. It has the luring qualities of a slug (which is an idea of itself). It could sure be fun if it could, say, fly magically.
So it's undead, dripping necrotic acid and has a whale sized rib cage for transport (providing cover) and slimes its way right through stone. Add a few undead beholders peering out fractures in the ribcage and ta-da!
So it's undead, dripping necrotic acid and has a whale sized rib cage for transport (providing cover) and slimes its way right through stone. Add a few undead beholders peering out fractures in the ribcage and ta-da!
How about a stone to flesh food farm?
I know that the ghouls are all nominally under the control of somebody who's virtually deific, but are there factions within the White Kingdom? Anybody who's willing to sacrifice some other ghoul's principality to the Defenders in order to further his own cause?
How efficient is the communication between the ghouls? Do they guard the secrets of their undead technologies from each other, or do they share everything? Is there a war or a truce between them? Are they using the time they have to develop new weapons and support technologies? Are there resources that are in short supply, or anything that's particularly crucial? Any trade routes or supply lines that the Defenders could disrupt?
It would be nasty to have someone send them a message that something they hold dear is being attacked or destroyed while they are incapable of doing anything to help. A subtler way of giving them this message would be like finding barrels of Shire pipeweed in Isengard.
Have you developed any feats for ghouls to overrun victims? Maybe an undead prestige class that gives teamwork bonuses to groups of ghouls. Sort of like Valdek's sword... Hmm. Would your players hate you if you brought him back as a True Ghoul?
It'd be a nice little present for Velendo if one of his followers researched a domain spell that works like a Magic Circle Against Ghouls. Maybe giving a bonus to Fortitude saves vs paralysis.
Hope this helps!
-blarg
I know that the ghouls are all nominally under the control of somebody who's virtually deific, but are there factions within the White Kingdom? Anybody who's willing to sacrifice some other ghoul's principality to the Defenders in order to further his own cause?
How efficient is the communication between the ghouls? Do they guard the secrets of their undead technologies from each other, or do they share everything? Is there a war or a truce between them? Are they using the time they have to develop new weapons and support technologies? Are there resources that are in short supply, or anything that's particularly crucial? Any trade routes or supply lines that the Defenders could disrupt?
It would be nasty to have someone send them a message that something they hold dear is being attacked or destroyed while they are incapable of doing anything to help. A subtler way of giving them this message would be like finding barrels of Shire pipeweed in Isengard.
Have you developed any feats for ghouls to overrun victims? Maybe an undead prestige class that gives teamwork bonuses to groups of ghouls. Sort of like Valdek's sword... Hmm. Would your players hate you if you brought him back as a True Ghoul?
It'd be a nice little present for Velendo if one of his followers researched a domain spell that works like a Magic Circle Against Ghouls. Maybe giving a bonus to Fortitude saves vs paralysis.
Hope this helps!
-blarg
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