How do you handle fights with Stirges?

[jester47]

when I run an adventure with Stirges, I can never figure out how to run it well, mainly because stirges fly. It seems to me that they would be really hard to hit as they swoop in and out of range of the players attacks. Or do they just hover around thier targets?

I have always thought it would be better to have Stirges as a swarm. But can you have a swarm of say, 12?

How do you do it?

Aaron.

 

[Dragon-Slayer]

I have always used a swarm of stirges in attacks. In a recent encounter I had a swarm of 9 attack the party in a dense forest which gave them an advantage over the quarterstaff wielding character. I run them as a hover and attack creature, getting the players worked up over how to get the stirges off of them. The stirges got a few good hits in as the party panicked. I took a hint from watching vampire bats on nature shows attack cows, except the stirges I make more frantic and more numerous. Vampire bats sometimes crawl about their victims before biting, looking for a choice spot to feed from. This can be unsettling to players if done right.

 

[jester47]

the hovering makes sense. It all seems easier now. I was trying to use them as swoopers. But then combat took way too long. you would have a stirge swoop in and attack. Next round it would swoop out. next round it would swoop in again. If the target missed, and the stirge missed, this could go on forever...

Aaron.

 

[Dog Moon]

The way I handle a fight with stirges was make them multiheaded [cryo] stirges. They swooped down on the party, breathing cold on them first. Then, they moved to attack, attaching themselves to the players. With two heads, they were gauranteed to suck 4 con from the player and with about 30 hit points, they weren't easy to kill. One player took 12 Con damage from 3 stirges. Man, my group will never look at stirges the same way. Oh yeah, they didn't like the Multiheaded [pyro] half-troll Stirge of Legend either. Hehe. That was a fun battle...

With normal stirges, I think you need a large swarm, probably at least 2 per party member because once they attach to you, their AC drops considerably and their hit points are low. They also lose their dex to AC and are sneak attackable. There needs to be enough time for them to survive a round to drain to become a real threat and by threat, to be challenging.

The flight and the size let them come from anywhere. Think about the group in an abandoned house. They are checking it out and they hear a buzzing. The group looks around but sees nothing. Then suddenly, these tiny little creatures come from everywhere, cracks in the floor, ceiling, walls, inside the chimney, etc. I think it would be more frightening for them to be all around you than to see them flying towards you from a single direction. (Unless they're mutated. Then you want the group to see them coming and wonder what the heck is up with the stirge.)

Aw well, good luck on the Battle of the Stirges.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

I like to use stirges in my games. In fact, they're a major part of the ecology. Created by the goddess of disease, I've taken the mosquito analogy further and made them notorious spreaders of plagues and diseases. There's also a type of giant (based on legends of Goo-teekhl among the Kwakiutl) that, when killed, releases a swarm of stirges.

 

[Crothian]

There is actually a new book out in print and PDF about swarms of stirges called: Horde Book 1: A Swarm Of Stirges



http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=currentprod&which=Stir

 

[Darren]

when I run an adventure with Stirges, I can never figure out how to run it well, mainly because stirges fly. It seems to me that they would be really hard to hit as they swoop in and out of range of the players attacks. Or do they just hover around thier targets?

I have always thought it would be better to have Stirges as a swarm. But can you have a swarm of say, 12?

How do you do it?

Aaron.

Well, technically, they don't swoop or hover, since they have only average maneuverability and no flyby attack or hover feats. I don't see anything wrong with them swooping or hovering purely as flavor though, as long as their actual attack doesn't rely on either of those feats.

Stirges are basically just overgrown mosquitos. They fly around your head a bit, land, then drain blood. Whoever the stirge is trying to attach itself to gets an attack of opportunity since the stirge has no reach and must enter their space. After it attaches, the target gets a round to try to remove the stirge. After that, the stirge drains blood each time it begins a round attached until it drains at least four Con or is removed.

They really aren't much of a threat unless two or three can attack a single character at once. I think the most our group of six ever encountered was about 20 at third or fourth level. (Visualize a swarm of pennies slowly advancing on the battlemat...) A couple of characters managed to get by unscathed, but a couple of others were looking rather pale after it was all over.

 

[saturnin55]

If many (6-8 and more) stirges can surprise AND have a higher init than most of the party members.... That's mean they are flat-footed for almost two rounds before they can react! That means LOTS of problems! Sure they are going to be kill soon, but not before draining lots of CON !

I like to surprise my players with stirges hidden (attached to walls), when the party walk by, they often surprise the party because they have a very high Hide modifier...

 

[Particle_Man]

Another way to mess players up is have the stirges attack while the characters are climbing something (and so lose dex mods to AC). My rogue had fits when he was attacked by stirges while climbing the inside of an volcano. No dex mod + touch attack = AC 10! Luckily he had a ring of telekinesis.

 

[jester47]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Aaron.