Low Level PCs and Swarms

[nogray]

I have some low-level PCs that are playing through "The Forgotten Forge" from the Eberron Campaign Setting. One of the first encounters in part three of the adventure is a CR 2 swarm of beetles (diminutive Vermin). I know that swarms of fine or diminutive creatures (like this swarm) are immune to effects and attacks that target a specific creature or number of creatures.

My question is this: how do low-level PCs (specifically, mine) deal with the swarm?

The party consists of a human warblade, a human sword sage, a human (vow of poverty, shapeshifting variant) druid, a human favored soul, and a whisper gnome spell thief. All of them are first level.

My first impulse was splash weapons, but most of those deal only a single point of damage to those in the splash area (and I would think that the direct damage would be a thing that "targets a specific creature," like a regular weapon). I don't recall how many splash weapons the party has access to, either. I would also disagree that a torch could be used effectively (one of the module suggestions), due to the swarm traits. I don't know if my players will think to avoid the swarm, but that is an option presented in the adventure.

More generally, area-of-effect attacks would be best, like the Burning Hands spell, but the party is notably missing a primary arcane caster, and even then, the Burning Hands spell isn't that great at first level. It's less than even odds that a given party will have access to it. So, what other AoE spells are there at first level? What about maneuvers? (I think the first AoE maneuver is 2nd or 3rd level in Desert Wind. Am I right about that?)

I was considering planting a bit of low-level treasure for the party before the swarm encounter, such as a single-use burning hands item (caster level 3 or 4--the swarm has 4d8 hit points). Do you have any other suggestions for me?

 

[Rystil Arden]

If you look at the Swarm traits section of the MM or SRD, it calls out that a Torch is specifically does damage swarms.

 

[Pell-Mell]

Flasks of oil may be valuable as well.

For low-level treasure, a scroll or two of Gust of Wind could prove useful for the druid. Swarms are treated as the size of its constituent creatures for wind effects.

 

[Nifft]

Torches + oil
Area spells
Alchemical (splash) weapons
30 ft. move speed + Run feat

Cheers, -- N

 

[Doug McCrae]

My reading of the rules is that you can deal energy damage to swarms, even fine or diminutive ones. Torches work, so do flasks of acid (which deal 1d6, not just the splash) and alchemist's fire.

Your interpretation makes them deadlier than they ought to be, imo, invulnerable to everything except area effect spells. If you stick with that interpretation you probably shouldn't use fine/diminutive swarms against low level parties.

 

[Nifft]

From the SRD:

Vulnerabilities Of Swarms

Swarms are extremely difficult to fight with physical attacks. However, they have a few special vulnerabilities, as follows:

A lit torch swung as an improvised weapon deals 1d3 points of fire damage per hit.

A weapon with a special ability such as flaming or frost deals its full energy damage with each hit, even if the weapon’s normal damage can’t affect the swarm.

A lit lantern can be used as a thrown weapon, dealing 1d4 points of fire damage to all creatures in squares adjacent to where it breaks.

So a Swordsage with Burning Blade could do some damage. Cheers, -- N

 

[Arkhandus]

Your party's really not set up to handle this kind of encounter normally.

I'd recommend replacing the swarm with a different monster of equal CR, or giving the group something they could use against it. I don't think Burning Hands is on any of your PCs' spell lists, is it? If not, then they'd need a high Use Magic Device check (or probably a few such checks, actually) to make a Burning Hands scroll work.

There are no 1st or 2nd level martial maneuvers I can think of that produce an area attack; the earliest maneuver I know of is Death Mark, which is 3rd level Desert Wind, and requires strking a creature first (I don't know if it even works against a swarm, unless you strke someone else that is adjacent to the swarm, since Death Mark causes a burst of fire to spread from the stricken target).

Always keep in mind that modules of any sort typically assume your party consists of a typical Fighter or reasonable substitute (tough guy with good AC and good to high damage output every round, capable in melee, good Fortitude, and probably possessing Cleave or similar), a typical Rogue or reasonable substitute (sneaky guy with decent combat ability, most capable at ambushes and teamwork in battle, good Reflex, can handle traps and junk, good listen/search/spot), a typical Cleric or reasonable substitute (all-around decent combatant, effective and frequent restorative abilities for the group, good divinations, very effective at handling undead, fairly effective at handling outsiders), and a typical Wizard or reasonable substitute (versatile spellcaster that can handle miscellaneous problems or challenges, effective blaster, good buffer for the group, especially for enhancing mobility and senses).

Unfortunately, Burning Hands isn't that great (getting so close is really really bad for Mr. 4-HP Mage), so it's not even that often found with mages. There really needs to be more low-level area attack spells. :\

 

[Hypersmurf]

Area spells (especially Flaming Sphere, technically an area spell with a nice long duration)

No, it isn't... it's an Effect spell, not an area, and it affects a creature, not an area... it's got more in common with Scorching Ray than Burning Hands.

-Hyp.

 

[Nifft]

No, it isn't... it's an Effect spell, not an area, and it affects a creature, not an area... it's got more in common with Scorching Ray than Burning Hands.

You are correct, good sir. I mistook "Effect: 5 ft. sphere" for something useful like "Area: 5 ft. sphere". Ah well.

Thanks, -- N

 

[nogray]

Many thanks

Thanks to all who contributed, especially with pointing out swarm vulnerabilities (Nifft) and using oil (Pell-Mell) and torches (Rystil Arden) as weapons.

I'm pretty sure that the party can handle them, especially with the abilities of the sword sage. She has both burning blade and another (shadow blade) maneuver that adds cold damage. (I would think that the cold damage should be just as effective as the fire damage from burning blade and both should follow the same guidelines as energy-enchanted weapons. Feel free to weigh in with dissenting or affirming opinions.) They should both work okay; she also has the feat that allows her to re-select her maneuvers as a full round action. The party also bought some oil flasks, so they should be able to inflict some damage that way.

I feel reasonably confident that the party will prevail. The swarm in question only deals 1d4 damage, so they should have some time with which to work.

Thanks again for helping me (and them) out. I'll keep checking back later, in case others have more tricks, tips, and information for me.