EntropyDecay
First Post
My group and I had a long discussion yesterday following the death of two characters and a familiar. Topic was: "THAT creature was WAY too high for our group".
The adventurers:
- Human Psychic Warrior 8 / Fighter 1
- Halfelf Ranger 5 / Rogue 2 / Bloodhound 1
- Gnome Illusionist 8
- Human Paladin 8
- Human Cleric 8
The setting:
"The Jackal's Redemption" from Dungeon 95
[Spoilers Alert!]
The party entered the tower of a missing wizard, killed the flesh golem guardian without any problem and decided that the ranger should explore the next levels of the tower under the influence of an invisibility spell. She discovered a Narzugon devil and his fiendish dire boar mount waiting for something in the arcane laboratory and returned to the group. They decided to slay the devil, had the cleric cast bulls strength on the Psychic Warrior, the Paladin & himself and attacked the fiend on his evil mount [Who was not surprised because the boar had heard the ranger while she was in the lab and he was suspecting that he was no longer alone in the tower].
Short version of the battle:
- The paladin fought against the rider for several rounds despite the fact that the few times he was able to penetrate the armour of his opponent [AC:25] his weapon [+1 flaming longsword] was not able to do any damage [DR:20/+2, fire immunity]. The Narzugon hit him on a more regular basis [Attack:+17/+12, higher ground] and brought him down to 13 hp. The paladin did not heal his wounds despite the fact that his lay on hands ability was "full" and a last critical from the devil made short work of him [HP:-12].
- Meanwhile the rest of the group attacked the mount and killed it after a few round [the paladin was dead by then]. The players were a bit frustrated at this time because the boar's hide [DR:5/+2] took some punch out of their weapon attacks [PsyWar: +1 keen greatsword, Clr: +1 frost greatsword, Rgr: +1 longbow arrows]. A last shocking grasp from the illusionists familiar killed the boar.
- A few rounds later: The PsyWar tripped the devil round after round to stop it from using full attack actions and to give the cleric and ranger [now with +1 longsword] a better chance of hitting the Narzugon. They were able to do some damage [to prevent TPK, and save a little bit of frustration from the players, the devils DR had mysteriously dropped to 10/+2] and the devil was wounded [HP: 26 of 55]. The Narzugon decided to flee, but not without a last baleful gaze [Phantasmal killer against all within 30 ft with DC:18]. The ranger and the familiar did not make their saves and died out of fear. In the next round the devil used his teleport without error and escaped.
The discussion:
- The players: The Narzugon [CR:9] and his mount [CR:5] were a challenge WAY too high for the group. The DR of the devil made it too tough and his abilities and elemental immunities were too powerful. It is not possible for a normal group of our level to defeat such an opponent if the group has not bought +2 weapons [I had told them of the DR change and what the normal DR of the fiend was].
- My point of view: There is a way [or more ways] to defeat this opponent even without +2 weapons since a single Narzugon could be an appropriate endboss for a four person party of level 5 or 6. The only example of such a tactic I found was to use Greater Magic Weapon, but I think there must be some more.
Now for my question to you:
How to defeat a Narzugon with our party? How to defeat a Narzugon without someone who has Greater Magic Weapon or when the cleric has it not prepared?
[Complete Narzugon stats can be found here: Dungeon 95, "The Jackal's Redemption" & Manual of the Planes]
Chris
*who REALLY looks forward to the 3.5 DR system*
The adventurers:
- Human Psychic Warrior 8 / Fighter 1
- Halfelf Ranger 5 / Rogue 2 / Bloodhound 1
- Gnome Illusionist 8
- Human Paladin 8
- Human Cleric 8
The setting:
"The Jackal's Redemption" from Dungeon 95
[Spoilers Alert!]
The party entered the tower of a missing wizard, killed the flesh golem guardian without any problem and decided that the ranger should explore the next levels of the tower under the influence of an invisibility spell. She discovered a Narzugon devil and his fiendish dire boar mount waiting for something in the arcane laboratory and returned to the group. They decided to slay the devil, had the cleric cast bulls strength on the Psychic Warrior, the Paladin & himself and attacked the fiend on his evil mount [Who was not surprised because the boar had heard the ranger while she was in the lab and he was suspecting that he was no longer alone in the tower].
Short version of the battle:
- The paladin fought against the rider for several rounds despite the fact that the few times he was able to penetrate the armour of his opponent [AC:25] his weapon [+1 flaming longsword] was not able to do any damage [DR:20/+2, fire immunity]. The Narzugon hit him on a more regular basis [Attack:+17/+12, higher ground] and brought him down to 13 hp. The paladin did not heal his wounds despite the fact that his lay on hands ability was "full" and a last critical from the devil made short work of him [HP:-12].
- Meanwhile the rest of the group attacked the mount and killed it after a few round [the paladin was dead by then]. The players were a bit frustrated at this time because the boar's hide [DR:5/+2] took some punch out of their weapon attacks [PsyWar: +1 keen greatsword, Clr: +1 frost greatsword, Rgr: +1 longbow arrows]. A last shocking grasp from the illusionists familiar killed the boar.
- A few rounds later: The PsyWar tripped the devil round after round to stop it from using full attack actions and to give the cleric and ranger [now with +1 longsword] a better chance of hitting the Narzugon. They were able to do some damage [to prevent TPK, and save a little bit of frustration from the players, the devils DR had mysteriously dropped to 10/+2] and the devil was wounded [HP: 26 of 55]. The Narzugon decided to flee, but not without a last baleful gaze [Phantasmal killer against all within 30 ft with DC:18]. The ranger and the familiar did not make their saves and died out of fear. In the next round the devil used his teleport without error and escaped.
The discussion:
- The players: The Narzugon [CR:9] and his mount [CR:5] were a challenge WAY too high for the group. The DR of the devil made it too tough and his abilities and elemental immunities were too powerful. It is not possible for a normal group of our level to defeat such an opponent if the group has not bought +2 weapons [I had told them of the DR change and what the normal DR of the fiend was].
- My point of view: There is a way [or more ways] to defeat this opponent even without +2 weapons since a single Narzugon could be an appropriate endboss for a four person party of level 5 or 6. The only example of such a tactic I found was to use Greater Magic Weapon, but I think there must be some more.
Now for my question to you:
How to defeat a Narzugon with our party? How to defeat a Narzugon without someone who has Greater Magic Weapon or when the cleric has it not prepared?
[Complete Narzugon stats can be found here: Dungeon 95, "The Jackal's Redemption" & Manual of the Planes]
Chris
*who REALLY looks forward to the 3.5 DR system*
Old Bedouin saying: "The best place to carry your water is in you." Once a character is down below about half hit points, he shouldn't be worried about 'conserving' healing ability. The ability heals the same number of hit points when he has 30 as when he has 5, there's no point waiting for the situation to become 'urgent' to use it.
)
