Problem with Voidmind Wartroll

[javcs]

Doesn't look like decapping will work on regeneration ... severed body parts grow back, or can be reattached.

Drown/suffocate it.

EDIT: What level are we looking at?

 

[Gerion of Mercadia]

polymorph it into something that doesn't have Regeneration

I'm not sure if this one works...

btw - Flesh to stone would stop it, at least temporarily. Problem is they need to be DEAD. No mindflayer coming around to release them. Summon Baslisk/cocatrice is great idea however.

I am unsure if the now turned to stone creature would still have regeneration(Ex). Same goes for Polymorphing it.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The wording inside the regeneration ability is a bit "fuzzy" when it comes to this, because while it states a CDG needs to deal "lethal damage" a CDG attempt as I understand it never dealt damage - it was a straight fortitude save or die...

Hmm? A CDG attempt deals damage as if you'd scored a critical hit. The DC of the fortitude save is based on the damage dealt.

I am unsure if the now turned to stone creature would still have regeneration(Ex). Same goes for Polymorphing it.

Well, with Baleful Polymorph, its Regeneration definitely goes.

The subject takes on all the statistics and special abilities of an average member of the new form in place of its own except as follows:

The target retains its own alignment (and personality, within the limits of the new form’s ability scores).

If the target has the shapechanger subtype, it retains that subtype.

The target retains its own hit points.

The target is treated has having its normal Hit Dice for purpose of adjudicating effects based on HD, such as the sleep spell, though it uses the new form’s base attack bonus, base save bonuses, and all other statistics derived from Hit Dice.

The target also retains the ability to understand (but not to speak) the languages it understood in its original form. It can write in the languages it understands, but only the form is capable of writing in some manner (such as drawing in the dirt with a paw).

With those exceptions, the target’s normal game statistics are replaced by those of the new form. The target loses all the special abilities it has in its normal form, including its class features.

As far as I can tell, a petrified creature is still a creature and retains its type... I don't see any reason it would lose Regeneration.

-Hyp.

 

[Gerion of Mercadia]

level range anywhere from 16-26; Books in play are PHB, DMG, MM 1-4 and ELH

I'm thinking that decapitation might somehow cause it to suffocate...

Problem I have with "rip the lungs out" is that the lungs themselves might "regenerate" the rest of the body. OUCH.

This is where regeneration gets real thorny... if it won't die when you chop it up into a bunch of pieces, its bad. At least 1 part is all that will grow back.

Magical Means are possible, but are looking at 4 potential problems.

1. Spell Resistance
2. Death Ward
3. AMF
4. Spell Immunity

Parts of the "Dungeon" are dead magic and wild magic zones... Magic is REAL iffy as a way to kill this thing.

 

[Gerion of Mercadia]

Darn - Considering I haven't had to use a CDG since 2.0 ... that changes things for 3.5 - Going to have to brush up on the "fighter basics"

 

[James McMurray]

You don't have to rip the lungs out to suffocate it, just make sure that in your hacking you never decapitate it, then stick its unconscious head in a bucket of water.

 

[Sejs]

AMF's out.

It's an emination from the caster. Can't gift it away, unless the troll's really good with UMD and they've got a scroll handy.

Death Ward only works against [Death] effects and negative energy effects.

Spell Resistance and Spell Immunity would work as normal. They're both cleric spells, though, and Spell Immunity only works on spells of 4th lvl or lower - won't stop most of the things that would bypass regen anyway. Greater Spell Immunity would, but it's an 8th lvl cleric spell.. and if you have an illithid that can toss around 8th level cleric spells, you've got bigger issues than just buffed wartrolls. Also the durations are a factor: 1 min/lvl for Spell Resistance, 10 min/lvl for Spell Immunity. They're not all-day spells. If they show up, that means whomever did the buffing A) knows you're on the way, and B) is somewhere in the area. Neither are exactly pleasant thoughts when it comes to mind flayers.

 

[Gerion of Mercadia]

Voidmind template means Illithid Master can "jump into" the war troll from a considerable distance - making the troll the "caster" if you will. The link is darn near instantaneous over a tactical distance measured in miles. We are bound and determined to whack all three of these BBEG;

The buffed war trolls are BBEG Mind flayers x3 "bodies" to use while attacking party...

I am looking at not 1, not 2, but THREE mindflayers here... much ugliness.
1 Clerical, 1 Wizard, and Probably 1 Sorcerer - probably all of whom are caster level 16-20

Dramatically reducing the number of bodies available is going to be of critical importance.

The problem is that we do NOT want to be engaging these guys in a war of attrition. The War trolls have been moving largely in pairs, and we suspect these suckers have got at LEAST a couple dozen available, not to mention that most of the "local riff raff" can be raided for undead nasties.

Only way party thinks the Mind Flayers are coming out to fight personally is if we knock off the War Trolls. Ambushing isn't THAT hard... the problem is keeping the things dead.

Suffocation seems to be option number 1 -

What we REALLY need is something other than suffocating them that doesn't involve magic;

Recapping

1. Suffocation - good
2. Death Effects
3. Disintegrate
4. Implosion
5. Baleful Polymorph
6. Trollbane
7. Greymantle

all but 2 involve Magic... and 6 isn't in the Core books available.

 

[Sejs]

Looking over the Voidmind template, it looks like the mind flayers can only use their innate psionic abilities when 'in' their minion, so spells that come from class levels are probably out.

 

[lukelightning]

DMs need to realize that taking away a monsters vulnerability can drastically increase its challenge. They need to change the regeneration ability in so many ways, but one of them I'd propose is that regenerating creatures always retain their vulnerability.

It seems like you never encounter a troll that isn't immune to fire these days.