Hydra

[Grogg of the North]

Hydras are, according to the MM, found in marshes. If it's in a big, deep, marsh the body could be submerged. The water's surface, IIRC, blocks line of effect. Now you have to target the heads. For extra deception, you can "hide" some of the heads underwater*.


*How would that work for things like drowning? Do all the heads need to be above the surface? Just one?

 

[Greenfield]

How about a salt marsh? A broad, shallow area overgrown with plants and some bits of relatively solid land at the edge of the sea.

I've seen areas where, at low tide, a bay becomes a real mess made impassable by thick seaweed. Too thick to move a non-powered boat through, likely to tangle the prop of a powered boat, not solid enough to walk on or shallow enough to walk through and suicide to try and swim in.

Sounds a lot like a marsh to me.

As for drowning: If one head can surface to breath, do the others even have to?

 

[delericho]

It provides no advancement entry but I would advance its HD anyway to be an appropriate CR...

Be wary of doing this. The standard hydra is a fairly simple bruiser with no magical or ranged attack and few immunities to speak of. Such creatures don't scale well at all - PC abilities essentially make them trivial to take out. As soon as the PCs can take off and fireball the site from orbit, anything that can't fire back is a non-threat.

 

[Umbran]

As soon as the PCs can take off and fireball the site from orbit, anything that can't fire back is a non-threat.

Unless it is.. immune to fire, as has been mentioned a couple times for a pyro-hydra.

 

[delericho]

Unless it is.. immune to fire, as has been mentioned a couple times for a pyro-hydra.

Well, I did specifically note that I was talking about the standard hydra - the pyro has a breath weapon so would be able to fire back.

Though even so, the pyrohydra isn't a great threat for 12th level PCs. If fireball doesn't work, there's lightning bolt, or cone of cold, or disintegrate, or a whole raft of other, cleverer, options. And if all else fails, they can just fly over the creature and ignore it.

The capabilities of upper-mid-level PCs in 3e are such that melee-based monsters just can't scale well to match them.

 

[Greenfield]

Hydras have a base move of 20. They can just walk away from it. They don't even need to run.

Ah, but where's the Exp in that?

 

[Shin Okada]

Thank you all for a lot of suggestions.

Advancing the Hydra with Magical Beast HDs may work for adjusting CR.

In regard to using Pyro Hydra, I want to avoid that. The PC party has a multiclassed wizard (conjurer) and a multiclassed Cleric/Warlock who knows Brimstone Blast. So, the party can make enough number of Fire damage attacks. But in regard to Acid or Cold attacks, I am afraid that they don't have enough spells or items at hands. If they can't seal the stamps, they cannot but attack the body. That is not what I want to encourage them to do.

Do you think that giving the hydra some barbarian levels and 4+ levels in Frenzied Berseker work? Deathless Frenzy may continue the body living until the frenzy ends, no matter how much damages it takes. But it will not prevent it from dying because of the loss of all heads.

I am not sure if it is fair to give such class levels to a INT 2 magical beast (or INT 3 with Fiendish template), though.

 

[Voadam]

Thank you all for a lot of suggestions.

Advancing the Hydra with Magical Beast HDs may work for adjusting CR.

In regard to using Pyro Hydra, I want to avoid that. The PC party has a multiclassed wizard (conjurer) and a multiclassed Cleric/Warlock who knows Brimstone Blast. So, the party can make enough number of Fire damage attacks. But in regard to Acid or Cold attacks, I am afraid that they don't have enough spells or items at hands. If they can't seal the stamps, they cannot but attack the body. That is not what I want to encourage them to do.

Do you think that giving the hydra some barbarian levels and 4+ levels in Frenzied Berseker work? Deathless Frenzy may continue the body living until the frenzy ends, no matter how much damages it takes. But it will not prevent it from dying because of the loss of all heads.

I am not sure if it is fair to give such class levels to a INT 2 magical beast (or INT 3 with Fiendish template), though.

Absolutely fair. It mostly gains rage, fast movement, BAB, and d12 HD from barbarian levels, it won't be able to use the weapon proficiencies or armor and the trap bonus. This makes it a more ferocious beast.