Looking for predictions on a battle setup.

[Quasqueton]

How would you expect this battle to go?

PCs (28 point buy, little over ~9Kgp worth of equipment):

- Human Sorcerer 6 - specializes in damage spells, especially magic missle, scorching ray, and fireball.

- Dwarf Cleric 6 - high AC and high HP, the "meat shield"

- Elf Ranger/Rogue 3/3 - only character with magic weapons, rapier and handaxe

- Human Druid 6 - specilizes in summoning spells

- Halfling Rogue 6


Opponent:

- Stunted, fiendish treant druid 4 - stunted = Large instead of Huge; 8 treant HD instead of the normal 7, for a total of 12 HD; +50% damage from fire, but fire resistance 10; damage reduction 10/slashing and magic; spell resistance 17. CR11 (8 for base treant, -1 for reduced size, +2 for fiendish template, +2 for druid levels)

- 20+ twigblights (CR 1/3 each)


Battleground:

Underground "forest" of stunted (Large) trees and bushes. The undergrowth reduces movement to half, and prevents charging or running. Glowing fungus gives shadowy illumination, but the party has everburning torches and lanterns and a pre-cast light spell.


How would this fight go?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.

Quasqueton

 

[Joshua Randall]

Assuming the PCs win initiative - if the other PCs can keep the twig blights off the sorcerer, he should be able to blast every one of them to charcoal with a single fireball. And then it'll be 6 PCs versus the treant, which is well protected, but cannot survive those odds.

In general a single monster/villain is no challenge to a party of PCs, unless the monster/villain is ludicrously overpowered for the EL. Adding smaller monsters helps (er, helps the monsters!), but in this case the twig blights are too fragile to make much of a difference.

 

[Henry]

No power hitters means that the treant is going to mop the floor with the meat shield.

The halfling rogue in the absence of some arcane magic and a use magic device skill, is going to feel useless.

The sorcerer will be preoccupied with obliterating as many twig blights as possible, if the group is smart. The Druid could turn the whole tide with a few proper spells (entangle, flame blade, produce flame.

If the twig blights attack en masse, they're toast. If they split up and attack all over, the sorcerer is minimalized, though still extremely useful.

If the Dwarf Cleric has had time to buff at all, they'll make it easy (Magic weapon on his battle axe/war axe/whatever).

I'd say it'll be quite challenging and will work out pretty well, if the party shows a small amount of tactics.

 

[the Jester]

I pretty much agree with Henry's analysis- a tough but doable fight for the group.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

If I was the treant, I'd have Resist Elements (fire) cast on myself. When the party comes close, I'd entangle them all, and then cast Summon Swarm on the Sorcerer, or, after Entangling them, I'd cast Obscuring Mist on the sorcerer, and move from my original spot.

A 6th-level party is facing a CR 11 creature. That smells a whole lot of trouble to me, especially since both rogues can't do much (ie can't sneak attack). If the sorcerer is neutralized, I say they're toast. If the sorcerer can't throw enough spells at the treant, they'll be ok.

Tell us how the fight goes!

AR

 

[Cbas10]

One thing I am curious about is how much the party and the Treant know about each other. If the party is unaware of him and the numbers of twig blights, they are in serious trouble. If the treant is able to discern who the sorcerer is before they all meet, they are in trouble there, too.

Who in this scenario is going after whom? Is it a surprise? Or is it a D&D Minis-style all-out slugfest? Depending on the status of these situations, the entire battle would surely change.

By the way, why does the Treant only have +2 CR for 4 levels of Druid? I assume you appropriately adjusted the ability scores of the Treant when reducing it from Huge to Large, correct? Also remember that several twigblights would be able to dogpile that sorcerer. Assuming that everyone (including the treant) has fair amounts of treasure, as per the DMG, a spell or item that allows him to cast or use Dispel Magic would put a serious hurt on those who depend on "buff spells."

 

[Quasqueton]

One thing I am curious about is how much the party and the Treant know about each other. If the party is unaware of him and the numbers of twig blights, they are in serious trouble. If the treant is able to discern who the sorcerer is before they all meet, they are in trouble there, too.

Neither side knows about the other until they meet.

By the way, why does the Treant only have +2 CR for 4 levels of Druid? I assume you appropriately adjusted the ability scores of the Treant when reducing it from Huge to Large, correct? Also remember that several twigblights would be able to dogpile that sorcerer. Assuming that everyone (including the treant) has fair amounts of treasure, as per the DMG, a spell or item that allows him to cast or use Dispel Magic would put a serious hurt on those who depend on "buff spells."

Druid is a "nonassociated" class, so +1 CR per 2 levels.

Yes, the treant took big hits to its strength and con and other things for the size reduction.

The treant has no usuable magic items.

Quasqueton

 

[Saeviomagy]

Treant stays at extreme range (170feet or so), hiding and using it's 'animate trees' ability to pound the PC's with a never-ending stream of full power treants. Twig blights all die, PC's eventually retreat or run out of resources and die too, unless the DM is particularly generous and makes the treant show himself.

 

[shilsen]

Three letters - TPK

 

[Quasqueton]

Tell us how the fight goes!

I think this situation is a very interesting example for supporting the strategy of learning about your enemy before engaging him.

The first group of PCs, listed above, encountered the treant and twigblights with no warning or knowledge of them. [The info was available in the dungeon before the undergrove, but the party chose to kill all rather than question anything. *shrug*] Slaughter ensued over 21 rounds of bloody combat. The druid was the only PC to escape alive. The treant was reduced to about half hit points, the animated tree was only lightly wounded, and less than a dozen twigblights were killed.

In a nutshell: they attacked an unknown opponent with no tactics and no party coordination. By the time they realized this treant was so tough, they were hindered from retreating by 3 entangle spells (1 cast by the treant, 2 cast by the PC druid) and an animated tree.

So, the Players created new characters to continue the campaign. These new PCs went back to the dungeon in the next game session.

- Human Druid 6 - specilizes in summoning spells
- Elf Rogue 5

- Human Barbarian/Cleric 1/4 - magic greatsword

- Human Bard/Fighter 2/3 - magic longsword

- Gnome Wizard 5

Note that the new PCs are one level lower than the original PCs.

These new PCs were not specifically designed for only the treant, though I suspect a few choices were made based on knowing the battle was coming. This new party also investigated a treasure vault in the dungeon before going down to the treant. (The first party could have done this too, but didn't. *shrug*) A magic item in this vault allowed the wearer to summon a large earth elemental in his place for 12 rounds. (No control over the elemental -- it is basically a defensive item.)

The party then went down to the treant's lair. They buffed up with spells before entering, and made sure not to charge right in. They used group tactics and stuck near each other for mutual support through most of the 25 rounds. When the gnome wizard was grappled by an animated tree (just as the sorcerer in the previous group was), he was able to escape by activating the elemental talisman. But that also took the party wizard out of the fight for 12 rounds. The bard/fighter was the only PC to fall in this battle. (And the barbarian/cleric's greatsword was smashed.)

Compare the results between the two fights:

First: Party of five 6th-level PCs vs. 22 twigblights, one animated tree, one treant.
Result: 4 dead PCs vs. 10 dead twigblights.

Second: Party of four 5th-level PCs and one 6th-level PC vs. 22 twigblights, five animated trees, one treant.
Result: 1 dead PC vs. 22 dead twigblights, three dead animated trees, one dead treant (final two animated trees "de-animate" with treant's death).

The difference a little foreknowledge and tactics made is astonishing. The second party was a level lower, and not particularly "loaded" for this specific encounter, but they overcame the enemy (even though the enemy animated 5 trees in the second battle, and only 1 in the first encounter) that the higher-level group could not handle at all.

Quasqueton