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Help me stat out Tharizdun
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 5681430" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>Awesome. Your PCs are going to fight the most legendary evil in D&D. If they win I say you buy everyone t-shirts that say "I won D&D" or custom print your own that have something about "Unchained" but make them look like metal shirts. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>I'm not going to tackle any stat block stuff right now but instead some story and encounter-framing ideas...</p><p></p><p>The 4 Princes of Elemental Evil should be faced along the way of course: Imix, Ogremoch, and...Uh...those other two.</p><p></p><p>The reason gods can't take Tharizdun head-on is because he has a corrupting aura which causes immortals to warp and become slaves to his will, possibly even sending them into a demiplane prison outright. This could lead to situations where the PCs have to deal with Pelor in order to get to Tharizdun, and that would definitely be less of a standard combat and more of a puzzle/skill challenge/RP opportunity.</p><p></p><p>Also Tharizdun seems to have power over dream/nightmares so you can play up that angle with saving an NPC or PC from a dreamscape. Could make for a fun one-shot, even could let the imprisoned PC's player DM that one. But mucking with extended rests could really be the most effective, requiring the PCs find a way to protect their dreams from Tharizdun.</p><p></p><p>There's a scenario I've always wanted to run called "Through a Mirror Darkly" which would really fit Tharizdun's nodus operandi. When the PCs use a teleport/portal they end up in different rooms (or so it seems). Each room has several dangerous monsters equal to the number of other PCs. Likewise there are an equal number of frosty mirrors. Each PC is given a monster analogue (without the players knowing), though the monsters should have a subtle personality/characteristic hint. My examples aren't epic but...</p><p></p><p>E.g. The fighter faces 4 monsters - a Displacer beast (the Rogue), an evil Treant (Druid), a fire elemental (Mage specializing in pyromancy), and a marut (the stoic Cleric). In the other PCs rooms the fighter appears as a lumbering troll.</p><p></p><p>There's more specifics and countermeasures I've written up, but that's the gist of the scenario. It's the sort of thing Tharizdun can pull when he retreats across the planes or through a teleportation circle, with the PCs in hot pursuit.</p><p></p><p>Oh, one more thing, at those levels you've probably already started doing this, but damaging terrain really helps to speed things up and introduce more threat. In your case I'd give Tharizdun power over the elements which can either happen as a background hazard or can activate when he becomes temporarily invulnerable and sends minions at the PCs. These elemental hazards should be insanely high damage, like bloody in one hit damage (and should be two damage types); also have them changing during the course of battle, both in damage type and mode of attack. You could have a whirpool of darkflame which then becomes pillars of searing acid which spreads among adjacent creatures. It probably would be a pain to map all this changing terrain, but it would give the fight a really unique character.</p><p></p><p>I'll post more once I've had time to digest [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] 's great comments. Good luck!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 5681430, member: 20323"] Awesome. Your PCs are going to fight the most legendary evil in D&D. If they win I say you buy everyone t-shirts that say "I won D&D" or custom print your own that have something about "Unchained" but make them look like metal shirts. :) I'm not going to tackle any stat block stuff right now but instead some story and encounter-framing ideas... The 4 Princes of Elemental Evil should be faced along the way of course: Imix, Ogremoch, and...Uh...those other two. The reason gods can't take Tharizdun head-on is because he has a corrupting aura which causes immortals to warp and become slaves to his will, possibly even sending them into a demiplane prison outright. This could lead to situations where the PCs have to deal with Pelor in order to get to Tharizdun, and that would definitely be less of a standard combat and more of a puzzle/skill challenge/RP opportunity. Also Tharizdun seems to have power over dream/nightmares so you can play up that angle with saving an NPC or PC from a dreamscape. Could make for a fun one-shot, even could let the imprisoned PC's player DM that one. But mucking with extended rests could really be the most effective, requiring the PCs find a way to protect their dreams from Tharizdun. There's a scenario I've always wanted to run called "Through a Mirror Darkly" which would really fit Tharizdun's nodus operandi. When the PCs use a teleport/portal they end up in different rooms (or so it seems). Each room has several dangerous monsters equal to the number of other PCs. Likewise there are an equal number of frosty mirrors. Each PC is given a monster analogue (without the players knowing), though the monsters should have a subtle personality/characteristic hint. My examples aren't epic but... E.g. The fighter faces 4 monsters - a Displacer beast (the Rogue), an evil Treant (Druid), a fire elemental (Mage specializing in pyromancy), and a marut (the stoic Cleric). In the other PCs rooms the fighter appears as a lumbering troll. There's more specifics and countermeasures I've written up, but that's the gist of the scenario. It's the sort of thing Tharizdun can pull when he retreats across the planes or through a teleportation circle, with the PCs in hot pursuit. Oh, one more thing, at those levels you've probably already started doing this, but damaging terrain really helps to speed things up and introduce more threat. In your case I'd give Tharizdun power over the elements which can either happen as a background hazard or can activate when he becomes temporarily invulnerable and sends minions at the PCs. These elemental hazards should be insanely high damage, like bloody in one hit damage (and should be two damage types); also have them changing during the course of battle, both in damage type and mode of attack. You could have a whirpool of darkflame which then becomes pillars of searing acid which spreads among adjacent creatures. It probably would be a pain to map all this changing terrain, but it would give the fight a really unique character. I'll post more once I've had time to digest [MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] 's great comments. Good luck! [/QUOTE]
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