NOW LIVE! -- ZEITGEIST: Death of the Author for D&D 5E on Kickstarter! Murder. Conspiracy. Secrets. A remote manor. An adventure for D&D 5E.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GuardianLurker" data-source="post: 6899358" data-attributes="member: 786">Battling Tiamat - Facing Tiamat(Doing this a little out-of-order, but the Temple Interior is where all the complex shtuff happens, and it's getting late, so...)[h1]Facing Tiamat[/h1]When the forces of good have been deployed and the battle begun, the characters will take on the most important goal of assaulting the Temple of Tiamat. Making their way through the caverns beneath the caldera provides a number of options for reaching the temple.Whether the characters fight Tiamat directly or prevent the summoning ritual from being completed depends on their actions during the final battle. But when the characters see Tiamat's heads forcing their way through the Red Wizards' portal, they will understand that this is no mere monster they face. As should be clear from her statistics in appendix A, Tiamat is a god. If she manifests through the portal at full strength, she can demolish multiple 15th-level parties with ease. A huge battle against Tiamat while her temple collapses to ash and bone is a memorable way to wrap up a campaign-but the characters might not survive as anything more than memories.During the battle in the temple, read the following text aloud 2 rounds after the summoning ritual has successful completed.[h2]Tiamat's Appearance[/h2]Tiamat's heads enter the battle starting on the second round after the ritual is completed, in the following order: white, black, green, blue, and red. Her red head announces the Dragon Queen's full appearance in the sixth round after the ritual is completed. Until that round, Tiamat can make use only of her bite attacks and breath weapons. This gives the characters a last chance to try to weaken the Dragon Queen before she appears.Once Tiamat appears in full, she spends as many rounds as necessary to laughingly devour her hapless servants five at a time-Rath Modar, any remaining Red Wizards, then Severin (or his corpse, as long as it is wearing the Mask of the Dragon Queen ). Unless the characters manage to inflict more than 10% of her total health in a single round. The following round, either after she's devoured her servants or the party has proven itself a threat, she turns her wrath on the adventurers. [h2]Weakening the Dragon Queen[/h2]The actions of the heroes in and prior to this final battle can reduce Tiamat's power before she appears. Make a note of any weakening events, and their severity. A full strength ritual has 30 points. For each severity level of weaking event:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Automatic Failure: Remove 30 points.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Critical: For each Critical weakening, remove 6 points.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Severe: For each Severe weakening, remove 3 points.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Minor: For each minor weakening, remove 1 point.</li> </ul>Once all the point removals have been calculated, compare the result:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">30: Tiamat emerges at full strength, with maximum hit points (900).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">29: Tiamat's maximum hit points are reduced by 75 (825).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">27: Tiamat's maximum hit points are reduced by 75 (750).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">24: Tiamat's attack and breath weapon damage is reduced by 15.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">23: Tiamat's maximum hit points are reduced by 75 (675).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">21: Tiamat's maximum hit points are reduced by 75 (600).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">20: Tiamat cat only take 4 Legendary Actions.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">18: Tiamat loses her Regeneration trait.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">15: Tiamat loses her immunity to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons. It becomes resistance instead.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">14: Tiamat's maximum hit points are reduced by 50 (550).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">12: Tiamat loses Limited Spell Immunity.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">11: Tiamat's maximum hit points are reduced by 50 (500).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">9: Tiamat's maximum hit points are reduced by 50 (450).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">6: Tiamat takes a -5 penalty to attack rolls, saving throw DCs, and to her AC.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">5: Tiamat's maximum hit points are reduced by 50 (400).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3: Tiamat can take only three legendary actions.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">2: Tiamat's maximum hit points are reduced by 50 (350).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">1: Tiamat can only use her Legendary Resistance 3 times per day.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">0 or less: Tiamat is still trapped in the hells; the portal is completely uncontrolled for 1d8 rounds before it collapses completely. During its uncontrolled period, the portal will send a pit fiend, 2 ice devils, 4 erinyes, 4 horned devils, 6 bone devils, 8 chain devils, 10 barbed devils, and 12 spined devils, all with the half-red-dragon template. Only one group of devils will be sent a round, and the groups will be sent in exactly that order. </li> </ul>Once the score has been compared, apply all of the penalties at and above that point.If all the above penalties are successfully applied, Tiamat is effectively reduced to a challenge rating 18 foe-but that's still a deadly fight for four 15th-level characters. Without all of the reductions, the characters stand little chance of surviving a battle against the Dragon Queen, much less winning it.[h2]Banishing Tiamat[/h2]If the characters reduce Tiamat to 0 hit points, her Discorporation trait kicks in. The portal collapses as the shrieking Dragon Queen disintegrates and is dragged back to Avernus. She will remain trapped there until someone else can recreate the conditions of the ritual and try again to free her.[h2]Ruthless Play and High Stakes[/h2]Except as noted above, Tiamat should not be arbitrarily weakened in the interest of a fair fight. Presenting the Dragon Queen as anything less than a deity undercuts the whole adventure. Characters who tangle with Tiamat must know that they are in the fight of their lives.No individual's survival matters against the goal of stopping the Dragon Queen's return, and heroes sometimes die for the greater good. Certainly, fallen characters can be raised again if Tiamat is defeated. And if she's not defeated, dying might not be the worst option.</blockquote>

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