D&D 5E (2014) Has anyone fought and killed a Tarrasque?

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Psssht, I soloed one on my fifth-level wizard.

Please don't resurrect that exercise in the ridiculous.

 

[Mad_Jack]

The last time I fought the Big T was in 2nd Ed.

It was largely a run-n-gun chase that involved a 13th-lvl party and a small army of low-level wizards and horse archers using what I'd call mobile siege tactics kiting him across nearly two hundred miles of terrain - massed fire and retreat, massed fire and retreat, in staggered groups, wearing him down by attrition despite the regeneration...
We'd had nearly a game-year of prep time due to a prophecy of its coming, so our opening volley was fired by a battalion of siege engines with enchanted ammo...

We still lost two party members and half the troops.

 

[Dualazi]

5th edition, specifically, but I'm also curious about how encounters went in other editions.

Bonus question: how do you pronounce it? I've always said "tah-ras-kee."

Many level 5 mages have been successful, or so I hear.

edit: Damn, beaten to the punch. Oh well.

 

[AnimeSniper]

Well in this one D20 Modern/D&D 3.5e crossover the BBEG who somehow crossed dimensions into a modern campaign setting our PC's were picked up by Department 7 and given some training in Modern equipment to combat the evil forces that were coming through breaches in the barrier caused by BBEG to distract us from him summoning the Tarrasque

Said Tarrasque which then trampled Tokyo and the surrounding districts before our group arrived and even after launching a boat load of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles and a descriptive scene worthy of the first episode of Evangelion two superpowers and a half fired multiple Nukes at the thing. Thankfully our group and surviving Department 7 troops somehow survived.

 

[Jester David]

Yes! It's a French word with a French pronunciation. ... and, not even close.

It has a French root and has ties to French lore, but it's technically an invention of Gygax. Who made a point of pronouncing his campaign setting of Oerth as "Oi-th", because the game shouldn't be taken seriously. So... *shrug*.

(Canadian French and France French are also not identical, if you can even call all accents and pronunciations in France identical.)

Bonus question: how do you pronounce it? I've always said "tah-ras-kee."

In Dragon #93, Frank Mentzer gives the pronunciation as "ta-R @ SK"

 

[Yunru]

Tour-esque-cow?

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Many level 5 mages have been successful, or so I hear.

Out of curiosity, what is the standard method for this? Does it require ideal circumstances? I'm not sure if it would hold up in actual play.

 

[surfarcher]

Out of curiosity, what is the standard method for this? Does it require ideal circumstances? I'm not sure if it would hold up in actual play.

Using cheese. Use cantrips and range so it can't catch you. There are a few ways to do it - hover above and acid splash, get a fast horse and buffed magic missile, etc.

Check out https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dkb1/dnd/tarrasque.txt for fun too.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Using cheese. Use cantrips and range so it can't catch you. There are a few ways to do it - hover above and acid splash, get a fast horse and buffed magic missile, etc.

In practice, I don't think the cheese methods would actually work, due to a combination of movement and reach and readied actions. A low-level Fly spell would wear off before anyone could kill the Tarrasque, and it's not just going to stand there motionless while you try.

Check out https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dkb1/dnd/tarrasque.txt for fun too.

Unfortunately, that's written from a 3E perspective, with lots of assumptions about magical item availability. The monster has changed a lot since then, too.

 

[Arryn]

The Tarrasque
By Arryn Raven

Once upon a gaming session, my DM taught me a lesson,
When I cried that futile sentence, “I need XP give me more!”
He eyed me with consternation, then he had a revelation,
Grabbed a book for consultation, through the tome he did explore
T’was about then that I noticed what it was he did explore
He read “Monstrous Manual’s” lore.

Scanning the book, humming slightly, his appearance became sprightly.
Sitting there, crossed-legged and reading, giggling on my bedroom floor.
Turning pages with a flurry, his smile, then, did make me worry,
Made me think, “There’s no big hurry, to see what he’s got in store.”
But before I could distract him, he said “Let’s see what’s in store.”
“Sit. We’ll raise your XP score.”

With great zeal he started talking, crushing my last chance of balking.
When he’s started there’s no chance of ever getting out the door
He described to me a setting, in my chambers I was fretting,
O’er some girl I keep forgetting, think the chick’s name was Lenore
“Strange.” I thought, “My character has never met this girl Lenore.”
“Never heard her name before.”

There I was then, so unhappy. Feeling just a little sappy.
I then wondered what the heck my DM thought he had in store.
At my portal came a rumble. Knocked me over, made me tumble.
All of this just made me grumble, “Who’s that outside of my door?”
I stood up and with great rancor flung open my chamber door.
The sight shocked me to my core.

What I saw then was amazing, there was the Tarrasque just grazing,
In what used to be my garden but my garden was no more.
There I stood with my jaw open, “Please don’t see me.” I was hope’n
But the beast of giant scope then turned his head towards my door.
And before I could turn tail and go back through my chamber door,
The beast bellowed, “GRAAA RAAA ROAAAAR!!!”

Through the door I started racing, but the Tarrasque started chasing.
Crushing walls down, smashing trinkets I have had since days of yore.
In the wreckage I tried hiding, but the monster kept on striding
Through my house and with a sliding stop he spied me on the floor.
With a snarl it’s great foot rose and came down crashing to the floor.
My best PC was no more.

That’s the end of my sad story, ending in a death quite gory.
Time to tell the moral that I’m sure you all are waiting for.
If you don’t want a disaster, be nice to your Dungeon Master.
Your PC will die much faster. If you don’t. He knows the score.
So remember not to whine about your favorite PC’s score.
Ask for XP? Nevermore.