Pesky little Balor

Leviticus

First Post
So, my group, which is made up of a 11th lv Cleric/2nd lv Ranger, a 7th lv Rogue/6th lv Ranger and a 13th lv Monk, are very soon (w/in 2 levels or so) going to be fighting a Balor.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how, if at all possible, we can go about making this a winnable fight.

I am open to any suggestions.

Thanks,
Soon to be burnt to a crisp or decapitated adventurer
:(
 

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It's CR 20. You're level 13. Unless the DM deliberately throws the fight, you're screwed.

Any way to pursue a diplomatic settlement to hostilities, or to make it so that something the balor REALLY wants (souls, anonymity) is ruined if you die? I think that if I was in your shoes I'd desperately try to recruit a huge number of devils to ambush it after you lead it into a trap. You'll probably still be killed afterwards by the devils, but at least you'll go out stylishly.

Oh, and welcome to the boards. :)
 

Leviticus said:
So, my group, which is made up of a 11th lv Cleric/2nd lv Ranger, a 7th lv Rogue/6th lv Ranger and a 13th lv Monk, are very soon (w/in 2 levels or so) going to be fighting a Balor.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how, if at all possible, we can go about making this a winnable fight.

I am open to any suggestions.

Thanks,
Soon to be burnt to a crisp or decapitated adventurer
:(

Make plans for a Resurrection. There is a reason why they are CR 20 (as you'll soon find out). :] Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...
 

A level 13-15 party of three PCs taking on a balor? Sounds crazy, but it's possible... just!

Everything hinges on you setting the time and place for the encounter, though! When fighting a superior enemy the element of surprise is your strongest weapon. If the balor knows you're coming, your chances are very slim indeed! If you can somehow catch him flatfooted so that everyone in the party gets a surprise attack, that will be your best hope of success.

Also, get some help! Hire some seasoned mercanaries and a wizard or two; guarantee them ressurection after the fight if you have to. If you get the chance to set the time for the battle, you only need to hire your helpers for a few minutes time! ;)

Appeal to any good-aligned churches or other organizations for help; anything they can contribute would be useful: Clerics, paladins, warriors, magic or simply cash.

Buff everyone up as much as you possibly can (don't forget fire-protection!) and Teleport in. Having a Freedom of Movement spell on each character is also a good idea, as it will keep you from getting entangled by the balors whip.

If you can't get a wizard to come with you, consider buying/borrowing a ring of spell storing and get a wizard to cast some spells into it. Quickened True Strike is a great aid for melee experts with the power attack feat! Of course, Heal is also a good choice, but I'd go for buffs my self; try to make the battle as brief as possible! Don't bother putting any offensive spells into a ring of spell storing; you'd probably need to roll a 20 to beat the balors SR...

Make sure everyone has weapons that can overcome the demons DR! The monk can pull this of through feats from BoED, if you use it. Also, get Holy or Outsider Bane weapons, if you possibly can! If nothing else, at least coat your weapons (or hands, in the case of the monk) with holy water.

You also need to have some way of dealing with the balors spell-like abilities. One possibility is having a spell caster along that does nothing but stand around with a readied Greater Dispel Magic, prepared to counter anything the balor attempts to cast. Dimensional Block can also be useful, to stop it from Teleporting away.

One of it's many spell-like abilities is Greater Dispel Magic - at will! This could blow away your buffs rather sooner than you'd like, but will automatically be countered if you bring along somebody who does nothing but cast Greater Dispel Magic.

Another option is of course to use anti-magic field to stop it from using spell-like abilities (and teleporting away), but that would probably hurt your PCs more than the balor. After all, the demon (probably :confused: ) has far better stats than the PCs without magical aid.

Of course, all of these measures and precausions indicates that the PCs knows exactly what they're getting into. :\ If no-one in the party has sufficient Knowledge Planes, roleplay them gathhering information from every available source! After all, they know they're going up against a vastly superior foe and if they don't know too much about it, it makes sence for them to try to lear as much as possible. "Know Thy Enemy" has always been a wise motto. ;)

Hope some of this helps. I know it's largely dependent on your playing a fairly high-magic campaign; if you're playing a low-magic campaign I honestly don't think you stand a chance. Unless of course your DM has nerfed the balor to better suit the campaign. If that's the case there's really not much I can say, not knowing how the balor's been changed...

Good luck anyway, and let us know how it went afterwards! :)
 
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No, Mr Leviticus, I expect you to die.

Kidding (and I'm not) aside, there's some very good advice from Jolly Giant above, but I still can't see you beating a balor without the DM fudging or so much good luck that you'll be hit by a meteor walking home in order for universal balance to be achieved. Is there no way you can avoid the fight? Why exactly are you fighting a balor?
 

screwed.jpg


Sorry to say, man.
 


Leviticus said:
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how, if at all possible, we can go about making this a winnable fight.

I am open to any suggestions.

Threaten the DM with bodily harm?
Cheat like mad?
Beg for your lives and then kick the balor in nutz?
Um...yeah...Im all out.......your screwed......
 

1. Perhaps the "Balor" is really something else pretending to be something more powerful.

2. Maybe it's "The Littlest Balor".

3. Perhaps the PC's need to do something good for that good church who can loan them that +3 Holy Lawful Icy Burst Greatsword, Bane vs Evil Outsiders.

4. Find or craft 400 Arrows of Balor Slaying, and hire 400 guys to fire them all at once. Odds are about even that one of them hits with a natural 20 while the Balor rolls a 1.
 

Jolly Greens suggestions are very good. I applaud the tactical thinking.
Another possible reasons is that your GM is used to 3.0 and not thinking about the 3.5 bumped Balors.

Beyond Fire protection of a rather extreme sort, I would suggest trying to fight said Balor in a surround that favorers you. Hallowed ground, with supporting clerics of that particular church can get nasty.

Another suggestion I would make is try to get him in or under water, and have your cleric(s) bless said water. You have the advantage of total emersion (mass damage) in holy water, the fire being less of a problem and if you can grapple him enough you can take him out.

Banishments (lots of them) preverably with holy relics and other such items to add to the save DC's and SR checks.

Any Celestials you can grab (greater planar ally, etc) will really help.
 

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