Following on from the Deep Far Realms Encounter 1 post the spelljammer flew on following the vague flight plan left by the Legendary Pirate. They flew on through the maddening environment simultaneously looking out for signs that they had reached their target while trying not to lose their grip on reality by seeing things they could scarcely understand.
Two examples of which were:
1: In a hazy patch of space a massive twisting spiral of flesh covered in black dots came into view, emitting a high pitched clicking whine. Those with keen eyesight realised that some of the dots were actually giant mouths open and screaming in pain as the other dots, which were ungodly insects were stabbing away at the thing. It was the scale of the whole object that hurt, this creature must be hundreds of miles long and the insects the size of mountains…… They quickly adjusted their course to take them away from it.
2: The ship started to hit turbulence and slow down, it was as if the very nature of space was changing around them. Then they started to notice a strange residue building up on the front of the air bubble that protected the ship. This continued for a while then the residue built up to a consistency resembling large frogspawn. Then the round lumps opened up revealing eyes staring at them and they realised that they were flying through some sort of living creature.
After a brief moment of panic they brilliantly came up with a plan to reconfigure the air elemental into a sharp cone to cut through the creature, and after a few skill checks they started increasing speed, though the turbulence increased, then a giant mouth opened up in front of them. A sanity busting insight check gave the PCs the idea that if they were inside the creature a mouth would be an excellent escape route and they powered the ship through as it closed behind them…. and they flew on.
Eventually they reached another area of open space and another massive and destroyed city, a city whose very nature and shifting scale disturbed them. At the centre they could see an inverted funnel of light pulsing with lightning which must be their ultimate target. Below them as they flew over the city they could see small indistinct shapes moving about, there were survivors down there.
About a mile or two from their target they noticed that the ship was losing power and that strands of energy were being pulled from the air elemental. Whatever was at the centre of that light was draining their power, possibly feeding on it, so they were forced to turn the ship around and find a place to land. The rest of the journey would have to be on foot, and they had to hope that the spelljammer would be safe as it was there only means of transport home assuming they all weren’t going to die in this alien hell hole.
They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when they were assaulted by a hoard of strange humanoid creatures. These bipeds had a ring of tentacles sprouting from their necks like a ruff and had heart shaped heads ending in large white domed eyes, the creatures were vaguely grey in colour and reminded the PCs of undead. They didn’t have much time to speculate though as there were a lot of them and they were rushing out of destroyed houses and surrounding them.
Encounter:
100 Soulless Husk (level 25 minion)
Soulless Husk Level 25 Minion
Medium Aberrant Humanoid XP 778 (1,750 with standard rules)
Initiative +19 Senses Perception +11
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.
AC 39; Fortitude 35, Reflex 37, Will 32
Resist 30 psychic
Speed 6
Desperate Swipe (Standard; at-will)
Attack +30 vs. AC; 15 damage
Mob Tactics
Husk gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls for each other Husk adjacent to its
target
No Soul
Husk does not have a soul and as such does not produce a life spark when
destroyed
Alignment Unaligned Languages deep speech
Skills Athletics +22, Endurance +17
Str 20 (+17) Dex 24 (+19) Wis 8 (+11)
Con 10 (+12) Int 6 (+10) Cha 3 (+8)
In the first round 50 Husks came pouring towards them from all sides, followed by an additional 25 in round 2 and another 25 in round 3.
This turned out to be interesting encounter but not really for the right reasons. This encounter was deadly, in the first round the cleric used Solar Wrath to great effect knocking out a large proportion of the initial 50 minions, the Warlord used Bolt of Genius for him to be able to use it again the next round and the Paladin used Discipline the Unruly which effectively killed them after they attacked then spent an action point to also set up a zone that did fire damage to anything that entered meaning that anyone inside the zone was safe. Unfortunately this still meant that people just inside the zone were not safe and the Cleric had a massive wave of Husks charging him doing damage then dying which freed up the square for further attacks. He was quickly dropped under a wave of maddened aliens.
On the next round everyone retreated fully inside the zone for protection, dragging the unconscious cleric with them. While the Husks formed two groups, one surrounding the fire the other stood a little way off…..they were coming up with a plan.
The only thing the Husks could think to do was to rush up to the edge of the fire where the Warlords battle standard had been planted and grab it, running off and passing it between themselves quickly getting it some distance away and behind a spread out area of husks in defence. The husks waved the standard and screamed in victory, taunting the PCs to come out and get their standard back.
It was the Warlock who took up the challenge with Infuriating Elusiveness (invisibility) and an action point he made it to behind the husk in one round and blasted about 4 of them with a close blast power, then grabbed the standard. The husks reacted by spreading out, trying to cover any possible escape routes he might have though they didn’t know exactly where he was. On the next turn the Warlock became visible and threw caution to the wind by running through the Husks taking about 75 damage, but making it back to the safety of the zone relatively intact where he handed it to the Warlord and told him to be more careful where he left his stuff in future.
After this the Husks figured out that they were outmatched and drifted away. The PCs regrouped, checked that they had gone and cautious moved on. Thanking their lucky stars that they were still alive.
Notes:
I am in two minds about the sanity of this encounter. On one hand the PCs survived and dealt with it really well, expending resources but coming out of it relatively unscathed. On the other hand though without the zone of fire I am not sure they would have survived. In this case Discipline the Unruly actually worked against them, without it the cleric would have not been dropped in one round.
Personally I think I stepped over the line in this encounter, and I don’t think I would do it this way again but I would be interested in getting anyone elses opinions on the matter.
The PCs walked untroubled until they came to the base of pulsing light, it was a large circular dome made of energy and lightning with massive stone bands arching over it. Before it lay scattered strange and alien bodies.
As they cautiously approached what looked like a door mechanism two huge brain/tentacle shapes rose from the bodies. At least two things here weren’t dead and the battle was on….
This was a pretty straight forward fight with two hulking monstrosities. Massive floating brains with three long thick tentacles hanging from their base which had a mass of white air sacks that squelched in and out like small lungs.
Disconnected Illithid Hulk Level 30 Elite Brute
Huge Aberrant Beast XP 38,000
Initiative +23 Senses Perception +29, darkvision
HP 672; Bloodied 336; see Tripple Slam, Transcendent Release
AC 42; Fortitude 45, Reflex 43, Will 42
Resist 30 psychic
Saving Throws +2, +5 vs. charm, illusion
Speed fly 6 (hover), teleport 5
Action Points 1
Tentacle Slam (Standard; at-will)
Reach 4; attack +33 vs. AC; 4d8+12 damage
Double Attack (Standard; at-will)
Hulk makes 2 attacks using any combination of Tentacle Slam and Psychic
Slam
Triple Slam (Standard; recharge 
) ♦ while bloodied only
Hulk makes 3 Tentacle Slam attacks
Psychic Slam (Standard; at-will) ♦ psychic
Range 10; attack +31 vs. Will; 3d8+10 psychic damage; on hit target is
dazed (save ends)
Telekinetic Wave (Standard; recharge ) ♦ force
Burst 3; enemies only; attack +31 vs. Fortitude; 4d10+10 force damage;
on hit target is pushed 6 squares and knocked prone
Howl of Solitude (Standard; encounter) ♦ thunder, psychic
Burst 10; enemies only; attack +31 vs. Fortitude or Will (which ever
higher); 5d12+10 thunder and psychic damage; on hit target is immobilised
(save ends)
Transcendent Release (Free) ♦ healing, on death
When reduced to 0 HPs Hulk dissolves in a burst of radiant energy; burst 1
all creatures inside the burst may spend a healing surge
Home Turf
While in the Far Realms Hulk cannot be immobilised or knocked prone
Alignment Chaotic Evil Languages deep speech
Skills Arcana +30
Str 34 (+27) Dex 26 (+23) Wis 28 (+24)
Con 26 (+23) Int 30 (+25) Cha 6 (+13)
This was a lot more of a standard operating procedures fight than the previous two but it was still a brutal and dangerous encounter. For me this was the first time I had seriously pitted the group against level 30 creatures and I was interested to see how they would do.
As I predicted they won through, but it took a healthy chunk of their resources and the Paladin took an absolute beating (but at the end of the day that is what he is designed to do).
As the final Hulk collapsed in a mist of healing radiant energy the group realised that they were on the brink of discovering if the Legendary Pirates plan had worked, and if they could still retrieve the artefact piece they came for. The Warlock could sense a living creature behind the dome that if his senses could be relied upon was roughly 100ft in diameter, could Elder Brains really be that big?........
Two examples of which were:
1: In a hazy patch of space a massive twisting spiral of flesh covered in black dots came into view, emitting a high pitched clicking whine. Those with keen eyesight realised that some of the dots were actually giant mouths open and screaming in pain as the other dots, which were ungodly insects were stabbing away at the thing. It was the scale of the whole object that hurt, this creature must be hundreds of miles long and the insects the size of mountains…… They quickly adjusted their course to take them away from it.
2: The ship started to hit turbulence and slow down, it was as if the very nature of space was changing around them. Then they started to notice a strange residue building up on the front of the air bubble that protected the ship. This continued for a while then the residue built up to a consistency resembling large frogspawn. Then the round lumps opened up revealing eyes staring at them and they realised that they were flying through some sort of living creature.
After a brief moment of panic they brilliantly came up with a plan to reconfigure the air elemental into a sharp cone to cut through the creature, and after a few skill checks they started increasing speed, though the turbulence increased, then a giant mouth opened up in front of them. A sanity busting insight check gave the PCs the idea that if they were inside the creature a mouth would be an excellent escape route and they powered the ship through as it closed behind them…. and they flew on.
Eventually they reached another area of open space and another massive and destroyed city, a city whose very nature and shifting scale disturbed them. At the centre they could see an inverted funnel of light pulsing with lightning which must be their ultimate target. Below them as they flew over the city they could see small indistinct shapes moving about, there were survivors down there.
About a mile or two from their target they noticed that the ship was losing power and that strands of energy were being pulled from the air elemental. Whatever was at the centre of that light was draining their power, possibly feeding on it, so they were forced to turn the ship around and find a place to land. The rest of the journey would have to be on foot, and they had to hope that the spelljammer would be safe as it was there only means of transport home assuming they all weren’t going to die in this alien hell hole.
They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when they were assaulted by a hoard of strange humanoid creatures. These bipeds had a ring of tentacles sprouting from their necks like a ruff and had heart shaped heads ending in large white domed eyes, the creatures were vaguely grey in colour and reminded the PCs of undead. They didn’t have much time to speculate though as there were a lot of them and they were rushing out of destroyed houses and surrounding them.
Encounter:
100 Soulless Husk (level 25 minion)
Soulless Husk Level 25 Minion
Medium Aberrant Humanoid XP 778 (1,750 with standard rules)
Initiative +19 Senses Perception +11
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.
AC 39; Fortitude 35, Reflex 37, Will 32
Resist 30 psychic
Speed 6
Desperate Swipe (Standard; at-will)Attack +30 vs. AC; 15 damage
Mob Tactics
Husk gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls for each other Husk adjacent to its
target
No Soul
Husk does not have a soul and as such does not produce a life spark when
destroyed
Alignment Unaligned Languages deep speech
Skills Athletics +22, Endurance +17
Str 20 (+17) Dex 24 (+19) Wis 8 (+11)
Con 10 (+12) Int 6 (+10) Cha 3 (+8)
In the first round 50 Husks came pouring towards them from all sides, followed by an additional 25 in round 2 and another 25 in round 3.
This turned out to be interesting encounter but not really for the right reasons. This encounter was deadly, in the first round the cleric used Solar Wrath to great effect knocking out a large proportion of the initial 50 minions, the Warlord used Bolt of Genius for him to be able to use it again the next round and the Paladin used Discipline the Unruly which effectively killed them after they attacked then spent an action point to also set up a zone that did fire damage to anything that entered meaning that anyone inside the zone was safe. Unfortunately this still meant that people just inside the zone were not safe and the Cleric had a massive wave of Husks charging him doing damage then dying which freed up the square for further attacks. He was quickly dropped under a wave of maddened aliens.
On the next round everyone retreated fully inside the zone for protection, dragging the unconscious cleric with them. While the Husks formed two groups, one surrounding the fire the other stood a little way off…..they were coming up with a plan.
The only thing the Husks could think to do was to rush up to the edge of the fire where the Warlords battle standard had been planted and grab it, running off and passing it between themselves quickly getting it some distance away and behind a spread out area of husks in defence. The husks waved the standard and screamed in victory, taunting the PCs to come out and get their standard back.
It was the Warlock who took up the challenge with Infuriating Elusiveness (invisibility) and an action point he made it to behind the husk in one round and blasted about 4 of them with a close blast power, then grabbed the standard. The husks reacted by spreading out, trying to cover any possible escape routes he might have though they didn’t know exactly where he was. On the next turn the Warlock became visible and threw caution to the wind by running through the Husks taking about 75 damage, but making it back to the safety of the zone relatively intact where he handed it to the Warlord and told him to be more careful where he left his stuff in future.
After this the Husks figured out that they were outmatched and drifted away. The PCs regrouped, checked that they had gone and cautious moved on. Thanking their lucky stars that they were still alive.
Notes:
I am in two minds about the sanity of this encounter. On one hand the PCs survived and dealt with it really well, expending resources but coming out of it relatively unscathed. On the other hand though without the zone of fire I am not sure they would have survived. In this case Discipline the Unruly actually worked against them, without it the cleric would have not been dropped in one round.
Personally I think I stepped over the line in this encounter, and I don’t think I would do it this way again but I would be interested in getting anyone elses opinions on the matter.
The PCs walked untroubled until they came to the base of pulsing light, it was a large circular dome made of energy and lightning with massive stone bands arching over it. Before it lay scattered strange and alien bodies.
As they cautiously approached what looked like a door mechanism two huge brain/tentacle shapes rose from the bodies. At least two things here weren’t dead and the battle was on….
This was a pretty straight forward fight with two hulking monstrosities. Massive floating brains with three long thick tentacles hanging from their base which had a mass of white air sacks that squelched in and out like small lungs.
Disconnected Illithid Hulk Level 30 Elite Brute
Huge Aberrant Beast XP 38,000
Initiative +23 Senses Perception +29, darkvision
HP 672; Bloodied 336; see Tripple Slam, Transcendent Release
AC 42; Fortitude 45, Reflex 43, Will 42
Resist 30 psychic
Saving Throws +2, +5 vs. charm, illusion
Speed fly 6 (hover), teleport 5
Action Points 1
Tentacle Slam (Standard; at-will)Reach 4; attack +33 vs. AC; 4d8+12 damage
Double Attack (Standard; at-will)Hulk makes 2 attacks using any combination of Tentacle Slam and Psychic
Slam
Triple Slam (Standard; recharge ) ♦ while bloodied onlyHulk makes 3 Tentacle Slam attacks
Psychic Slam (Standard; at-will) ♦ psychicRange 10; attack +31 vs. Will; 3d8+10 psychic damage; on hit target is
dazed (save ends)
Telekinetic Wave (Standard; recharge ) ♦ forceBurst 3; enemies only; attack +31 vs. Fortitude; 4d10+10 force damage;
on hit target is pushed 6 squares and knocked prone
Howl of Solitude (Standard; encounter) ♦ thunder, psychicBurst 10; enemies only; attack +31 vs. Fortitude or Will (which ever
higher); 5d12+10 thunder and psychic damage; on hit target is immobilised
(save ends)
Transcendent Release (Free) ♦ healing, on deathWhen reduced to 0 HPs Hulk dissolves in a burst of radiant energy; burst 1
all creatures inside the burst may spend a healing surge
Home Turf
While in the Far Realms Hulk cannot be immobilised or knocked prone
Alignment Chaotic Evil Languages deep speech
Skills Arcana +30
Str 34 (+27) Dex 26 (+23) Wis 28 (+24)
Con 26 (+23) Int 30 (+25) Cha 6 (+13)
This was a lot more of a standard operating procedures fight than the previous two but it was still a brutal and dangerous encounter. For me this was the first time I had seriously pitted the group against level 30 creatures and I was interested to see how they would do.
As I predicted they won through, but it took a healthy chunk of their resources and the Paladin took an absolute beating (but at the end of the day that is what he is designed to do).
As the final Hulk collapsed in a mist of healing radiant energy the group realised that they were on the brink of discovering if the Legendary Pirates plan had worked, and if they could still retrieve the artefact piece they came for. The Warlock could sense a living creature behind the dome that if his senses could be relied upon was roughly 100ft in diameter, could Elder Brains really be that big?........
