Paragon Stirge

[Atavar]

Hello Everyone,

I recently wrapped up a high-level, home-made, D&D adventure I DMed. I thought I'd post the stats for the Paragon Stirge. My party fought 2 of these things:

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Paragon Stirges (2)
Tiny Beast
Hit Dice: 1d10 + 19, Maximized (29, 29); Fast Healing 20
Initiative: +12 (Dex)
Speed: 30 ft., fly 120 ft. (average)
AC: 53[57] (+2 size, +12 Dex, +29 other). Touch 48[52]. Flat footed or attached 41.
*: +1 Dodge against 1 opponent. +4 v. AoO. +4 when hasted AC in []
Attacks: Touch +39
Damage: Touch 1d3+24
Face/Reach: 2.5x2.5/0 ft.
Special Attacks: Attach; Blood Drain 1d4+13 temporary Constitution damage
Special Qualities:
Spell-like abilities: Greater Dispelling, haste, see invisibility 3x/day (15th lvl. Caster)
Fire and Cold resistance 10
Damage Resistance 20/+6
Spell Resistance 29
Fast Healing 20
Saves: Fort +19; Ref +24; Will +18
Abilities: Str 18, Dex 34, Con 25, Int 16, Wis 27, Cha 21
Skills: Hide +35
Feats: Weapon Finesse (Touch), Dodge, Mobility
Challenge Rating: 19 each (EL 21)
Alignment: Neutral

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When hasted and drawing an AoO against its designated Dodge opponent, it has an AC of 62. And it has a touch attack of +39. Its one (great) weakness is its hit points: 29.

My party took out one with an implosion spell. The other fell victim to a hold monster and was coup-de-graced. Still, two party members were low on Con, and one party member died from Con drain.

Thanks,

Atavar

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"The only thing evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Oh, and a rediculously slow execution device."

 

[Atavar]

So, has anyone had a chance to use this in his or her own campaign? How did it go?

 

[Jemal]

Haven't used them yet, But I've got a swarm of them ready to attack some of my epic PCs in a RL game... hehe, they are SO gonna hate me.

Course if they figure out how many HP's these things have they could take'em out with a single Power Word: Kill or Maximized Meteor Swarm spell. Paragons are awesome, but any high CR, low HP monster has a big problem in that area.
I'm just glad none of my PCs are in the habit of reading this forum (Heck, only one of them is on ENWorld at all).

I'll tell you how it works out, and thanks for the idea, man.

 

[Atavar]

Hey Jemal,

Did you get a chance to run that encounter yet?

Thanks,

Atavar

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"I'm Zaphod Beeblebrox!" -- Zaphod Beeblebrox

 

[Hackenslash]

Cool adaption of mundane Creatures.

Hello,

I think that this "Stirge" would be an excellent choice to add to my high level campaign, but I think that the PC's are not quite ready to handle a creature with such a devastating attack and high AC as my PC's are only 14th level but have a few really powerfull magic items. However, a few more levels and who knows, maybe I will chuck in a few of these Paragon Stirges. I do have a couple of questions, I only have a limited number of books and do not have access to the Epic Level handbook, Does the Paragon Template come from that Book ? Also what is the main difference between the CR and EL of the creature and how does it effect the running of the encounter in your campaign ? For instance would you pit them against a group of 17th -19th level PC's or due to the EL-21 would that be unfair and should they be 20th level+ ? I would like the challenge to be hard but not deadly as I plan on taking the PC's thru a few epic levels. Excellent Critters by the way and thanks for the inspiration, I would have never of thought of using low level monsters in this way. Cheers for any forth coming advice or suggestions.

 

[Atavar]

How About a Paragon Triceratops?

Yep, Paragon is a template from the Epic Level Handbook (pp. 208-210). I don't think I am allowed to post the entire template here (I don't think it's in the SRD), but for the Challenge Rating it says, "Up to 6 HD, as base creature +18." A base stirge has a CR of 1/2, which would make a Paragon Stirge a CR 18.5 creature. Since I wasn't sure how to handle fractional CR's above 1, I ad hocked the CR up to 19.

According to the DMG Table 4-1: Encounter Numbers (p. 101) two CR 19 creatures would make an Encounter Level 21 encounter. According to Table 4-2: Encounter Difficulty (p. 102) this would be an Overpowering encounter for a level 14 party. So would just one Paragon Stirge (EL 19), but once the party gained one more level one of these things would be considered Very Difficult rather than Overpowering.

That's all by-the-book, though. My level 20 party still had one death and two other near-deaths before taking two of these out. Had they been unlucky with penetrating their SR more of them would have died. Had they thought to use hold monster or similar things sooner, it wouldn't have been so tough. All in all, I've found EL to be a pretty good guide, but it can be way off depending on the nature of the foes v. the strengths and weaknesses of the party.

Like Jemal pointed out, though, sending a non-epic party against a Paragon creature that they have any chance of defeating means applying the template to a low CR (and, thus, usually low HP) creature. There is rarely a one-to-one correspondence between CR and HD, though. Find a relatively high HD, low CR creature and you'd have a Paragon creature with good hit points yet, technically, still would be within non-epic challenges.

For example, if we apply the Paragon Template to a Triceratops (Monster Manual, p. 55), here would be its stats:

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Paragon Triceratops
Huge Beast
Hit Dice: 16d10+240 (Con) + 192 (Paragon), Maximized (592 hp)
Initiative: +7 (Dex)
Speed: 90 ft.
AC: 50 (10 -2 size, +7 Dex, +11 natural, +12 insight, +12 luck)
Attacks: Gore +51 melee (+8 base, +18 Str [+12 x 1.5], +25 luck)
Damage: Gore 2d8+38 (+18 Str [+12 x 1.5], +20 luck)
Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 20 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Charge for double damage, trample (see below)
Special Abilities: Greater dispelling, haste, and see invisibility 3x/day at 15th caster level
Special Qualities:
Scent
Fire and Cold resistance 10
Damage Reduction 20/+6
Spell Resistance 29
Fast Healing 20
Saves: Fort +35 (+10 base, +15 Con, +10 insight), Ref +27 (+10 base, +7 Dex, +10 insight), Will +23 (+5 base, +8 Wis, +10 insight)
Abilities: Str 35, Dex 24, Con 40, Int 16, Wis 27, Cha 22
Skills: Listen +25 (+7 base, +8 Wis, +10 competence), Spot +25 (+7 base, +8 Wis, +10 competence)
Feats: Any two for which it qualifies
Climate/Terrain: Any land plus underground
Organization: Solitary, pair, or herd (5-8)
Challenge Rating: 19 (7 base, +12 for Paragon template applied to 16+ HD creature)
Treasure: Standard for CR 19 creature
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 17-31 HD (Gargantuan); 33-48 HD (Colossal)

Trample: Medium-size or smaller creatures for 2d12 +25 (+12 Str, +13 insight) points of damage. Opponents who do not make attacks of opportunity against the triceratops can attempt a Reflex save (DC 30 [10 + 1/2 HD + 12 Str]) to halve the damage. (Optional: Change damage to 2d12 +12 [+12 Str] and the DC to 43 [30 + 13 insight]).

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Is this truly a CR 19 creature, or should it be higher or lower? Only play-testing can tell.…

Thanks,

Atavar

----------

“There are 10 types of people in this world: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t.”

[Thanks to whomever I stole that quote from!]

 

[Atavar]

How About a Paragon Triceratops?

Yep, Paragon is a template from the Epic Level Handbook (pp. 208-210). I don't think I am allowed to post the entire template here (I don't think it's in the SRD), but for the Challenge Rating it says, "Up to 6 HD, as base creature +18." A base stirge has a CR of 1/2, which would make a Paragon Stirge a CR 18.5 creature. Since I wasn't sure how to handle fractional CR's above 1, I ad hocked the CR up to 19.

According to the DMG Table 4-1: Encounter Numbers (p. 101) two CR 19 creatures would make an Encounter Level 21 encounter. According to Table 4-2: Encounter Difficulty (p. 102) this would be an Overpowering encounter for a level 14 party. So would just one Paragon Stirge (EL 19), but once the party gained one more level one of these things would be considered Very Difficult rather than Overpowering.

That's all by-the-book, though. My level 20 party still had one death and two other near-deaths before taking two of these out. Had they been unlucky with penetrating their SR more of them would have died. Had they thought to use hold monster or similar things sooner, it wouldn't have been so tough. All in all, I've found EL to be a pretty good guide, but it can be way off depending on the nature of the foes v. the strengths and weaknesses of the party.

Like Jemal pointed out, though, sending a non-epic party against a Paragon creature that they have any chance of defeating means applying the template to a low CR (and, thus, usually low HP) creature. There is rarely a one-to-one correspondence between CR and HD, though. Find a relatively high HD, low CR creature and you'd have a Paragon creature with good hit points yet, technically, still would be within non-epic challenges.

For example, if we apply the Paragon Template to a Triceratops (Monster Manual, p. 55), here would be its stats:

----------

Paragon Triceratops
Huge Beast
Hit Dice: 16d10+240 (Con) + 192 (Paragon), Maximized (592 hp)
Initiative: +7 (Dex)
Speed: 90 ft.
AC: 50 (10 -2 size, +7 Dex, +11 natural, +12 insight, +12 luck)
Attacks: Gore +51 melee (+8 base, +18 Str [+12 x 1.5], +25 luck)
Damage: Gore 2d8+38 (+18 Str [+12 x 1.5], +20 luck)
Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 20 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Charge for double damage, trample (see below)
Special Abilities: Greater dispelling, haste, and see invisibility 3x/day at 15th caster level
Special Qualities:
Scent
Fire and Cold resistance 10
Damage Reduction 20/+6
Spell Resistance 29
Fast Healing 20
Saves: Fort +35 (+10 base, +15 Con, +10 insight), Ref +27 (+10 base, +7 Dex, +10 insight), Will +23 (+5 base, +8 Wis, +10 insight)
Abilities: Str 35, Dex 24, Con 40, Int 16, Wis 27, Cha 22
Skills: Listen +25 (+7 base, +8 Wis, +10 competence), Spot +25 (+7 base, +8 Wis, +10 competence)
Feats: Any two for which it qualifies
Climate/Terrain: Any land plus underground
Organization: Solitary, pair, or herd (5-8)
Challenge Rating: 19 (7 base, +12 for Paragon template applied to 16+ HD creature)
Treasure: Standard for CR 19 creature
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 17-31 HD (Gargantuan); 33-48 HD (Colossal)

Trample: Medium-size or smaller creatures for 2d12 +25 (+12 Str, +13 insight) points of damage. Opponents who do not make attacks of opportunity against the triceratops can attempt a Reflex save (DC 30 [10 + 1/2 HD + 12 Str]) to halve the damage. (Optional: Change damage to 2d12 +12 [+12 Str] and the DC to 43 [30 + 13 insight]).

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Is this truly a CR 19 creature, or should it be higher or lower? Only play-testing can tell.…

Thanks,

Atavar

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“There are 10 types of people in this world: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t.”

[Thanks to whomever I stole that quote from!]