nasty epic level encounters

[meltinbradley]

The PC's are nearing epic level and I have never done a epic campaign.
Wondering if anyone would like to share some nasty epic encounters they let loose upon their players or share ideas. Thanks.
MB

 

[Dandu]

Mithral golem is hard on casters (though you can defeat it with imaginative enough use of spells).

Also, ban Epic spellcasting.

 

[kyonu]

Or just throw in a Terrasque and tell them "gg".

 

[Dandu]

Or just throw in a Terrasque and tell them "gg".

The Tarrasque can be defeated pre-epic with a moderate amount of effort. It is not an epic level challenge in either sense of the word.

For example, it doesn't have fly. This means it is a nonthreat to anyone who can fly. It also can't sense invisible things aside from listening to them.

It has a lot of HP, and high AC, plus various immunities. This makes a "frontal assault" difficult. However, it has a touch AC of 5 and is not immune to ability drain. Therefor, one could, say, send Allips at it and drain its wisdom to zero, putting it into a comatose state. (Unless I misunderstand how ability drain works, in which case let us move on.)

858 HP and regeneration 40 make it hard to kill with damage, but Vile damage can't be regenerated from, and metamagicked Orbs can deal hundreds of damage individually. Just tack on Violate Spell and you should be good to go. (Unless I misunderstand how Vile damage works, in which case let us move on.)

It can't knock down Walls of Force. Throw up four walls around it during a Time Stop. This gives you a few rounds to pull shenanigans while it's behind bars. You can use Shapechange to turn into a Zodar each round and use Wish 1/round as a (Su) ability If you have prepared a trap beforehand, such as having a reservoir full of water covered by rocks that were created from Polymorph Any Object'd sand, you could dispel the sand and send the Tarrasque into the water, cover it in a Wall of Iron, and have it drown before it tunnels out. (You'll need to have thick walls and work out many technical issues, but this is doable in principal, if a little labor intensive.)

Once it drowns, it will regenerate, but stay unconscious. Whee! That was complicated, now wasn't it?


Reverse Gravity it into a Gate and send it through to a different plane.

 

[Runestar]

Even without abusing loopholes or taking advantage of flight, I am sure the tarrasque can be taken down by as low as a 14th lv party. No tricks or shennigans, just take it head on, on its own terms, the way it was designed.

Higher lv challenges just don't go very far without some form of magical support or additional action economy.

Of course, it relies a fair bit on arcane debuffs, but with a co-ordinated effort from all team members, definitely possible. Assay resistance to overcome its sr with ease, limited wish to lower its will save, slow to reduce its 6 attacks to a measly one (because charm spells are soooo cheesy).

The fighters then gang-tackle it, with support from the cleric. Remember to procure a scroll of wish/miracle from somewhere first.

I know it is not optimal. My point was even with such a setup, you can still defeat it. At lv14!

 

[Asha'man]

I'm sorry if this doesn't seem particularly constructive, but really, I think this thread is more or less useless until you provide more information. Each epic level group is unique, and each epic game has its own balance dynamic. To know what's an appropriate challenge for your group, we need to know how many they are, their classes and levels, and their power level ("degree of optimization", if you like). And personally at least, since I think Epic-level threats rarely just crawl out of the woodwork once you ding 21, some context about their adventures would be nice too.

 

[Runestar]

I recall a post some time back which argues that what makes an epic campaign epic is not just about throwing more powerful monsters at your party, but changing the feel of the campaign to also have the players deal with the rammifications of them being epic.

Cannot recall what suggestions it made though. Anyone care to add on to this?

 

[Asha'man]

That's also true, although that's mostly level-independent. Although (or perhaps "also",) I find that a more consequence-oriented game tends to emerge naturally once power levels get high. That's far from the only way to play, though.

 

[Brace Cormaeril]

Also, ban Epic spellcasting.

If you use most/all of the splat-books and companion materials in you game, there is no reason to ban epic spellcasting. Epic spellcasting allows for some very dramatic, but balanced play. If the DM is willing to familarize himself fully with the rules for casting epic spells, as opposed to a brief once-over, I'm sure you will find the system fun and exciting.

 

[Dandu]

if you use most/all of the splat-books and companion materials in you game, there is no reason to ban epic spellcasting. epic spellcasting allows for some very dramatic, but balanced play. if the dm is willing to familarize himself fully with the rules for casting epic spells, as opposed to a brief once-over, i'm sure you will find the system fun and exciting.

You really need to acquaint yourself with CO.