D&D 5E Has anyone ran an encounter (or fought) with The Kraken form the MM?

[machineelf]

What level are they? Any wisdom you can impart about running a Kraken from watching it?

I believe the danger level of encounters is very DM dependent. For a long time when I was first DMing, I was very concerned about not making things too difficult for my players. I was afraid of creating a TPK. So in a lot of subconscious (and sometimes not-so-subconscious) ways I would go easy on my players. My monsters were not out for blood. Cut to a couple of years later, and I am much more sadistic. What I really learned is, my players were much more capable of dealing with tough situations than I realized. And often, players find a way to seize victory out of the jaws of defeat. And it will be an epic victory when they do.

So my philosophy now is, I don't want my players to die. I want them to have a tough challenge but ultimately prevail. But the monsters and NPCs they fight definitely want them to die. They will fight tooth and nail to survive themselves. When I prepare for combat scenarios, I make sure to be fully aware of all the monster's abilities, and I make sure they use them as effectively as possible.

I say all that to say, that had the old me DM'd a fight with a kraken, my 13th level players would stand a real chance of beating it. If the current me DM's a fight scene with a kraken, 13th level characters would get eaten up (literally). I would say it would be a challenge even for 16th and 17th level characters, the way I run it. Keep in mind that the kraken is very, very intelligent, and they are most likely fighting underwater, in the Kraken's territory. The kraken is going to be able to blind the characters with ink clouds and swallow them whole. Things can go down hill for your characters very quickly if that happens.

 

[Kalshane]

From what I remember, there were 6 of them in the neighborhood of level 15 except for Terry who was lower since Sam Reigal had only recently introduced him to replace Scanlan. All were rested and at full abilities and HP. Vax (Rogue/Paladin) actually died and had to be resurrected. At least two others were on Death Saves at some point during the fight. They didn't kill the Kraken either. They escaped once they had the stones that were required to complete a ritual right of passage for the Druid.

As great as that fight was, it was definitely modified. They weren't allowed to kill the kraken (as doing so would have doomed a nearby druid enclave) so they used different tactics than they might have in a normal fight. Also, the DM modified the kraken to allow the tentacles to be severed after taking enough damage (to make up for the fact they couldn't kill the kraken and their martial characters wouldn't have had anything to do if they weren't allowed to hit anything.) Also, their party includes a gunslinger, whose guns flat-out didn't work underwater, which reduced him to being little more than a cheerleader. (Though he did get a few sword swipes in.)