Rat-bastardly... or just plain horrible? (DTW Gameday people stay out!)

[LazarusLong42]

I know that little "Stay out" thing is only a bit of a warning, but really, stay out! Or you may ruin your fun

So, here's the idea: The enemy in question is a goblin Wiz7/Rog5 (going up against 12th level characters). As the party approaches, his first action will be to cast greater invisibility. Now, he pulls out his trusty wand of scorching ray. Because he's invisible, the targets have no Dex bonus, and because it's a touch attack, their armor is useless, so only deflection and similar bonuses to AC matter--in other words, most PC's effective AC will be between 10 and 12.

His scorching ray almost always hits, and it does 4d6 fire + 3d6 sneak attack damage (within 30 ft, because it's an RTA), with no save. Two rays per shot. (I'm assuming he made the wand at 7th level.)

There are a number of counters available, especially to 12th level characters, such as true seeing, glitterdust, faerie fire, dust of appearance, and the like... but they may not have those immediately available.

So, the question is: Is this a rat-bastardly and cool idea, or is the inflicted damage too high (49 per round average with 80-90% chance of hitting) and therefore unbalanced?

 

[trentonjoe]

I know that little "Stay out" thing is only a bit of a warning, but really, stay out! Or you may ruin your fun

So, here's the idea: The enemy in question is a goblin Wiz7/Rog5 (going up against 12th level characters). As the party approaches, his first action will be to cast greater invisibility. Now, he pulls out his trusty wand of scorching ray. Because he's invisible, the targets have no Dex bonus, and because it's a touch attack, their armor is useless, so only deflection and similar bonuses to AC matter--in other words, most PC's effective AC will be between 10 and 12.

His scorching ray almost always hits, and it does 4d6 fire + 3d6 sneak attack damage (within 30 ft, because it's an RTA), with no save. Two rays per shot. (I'm assuming he made the wand at 7th level.)

There are a number of counters available, especially to 12th level characters, such as true seeing, glitterdust, faerie fire, dust of appearance, and the like... but they may not have those immediately available.

So, the question is: Is this a rat-bastardly and cool idea, or is the inflicted damage too high (49 per round average with 80-90% chance of hitting) and therefore unbalanced?

I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with that. ALthough I don't think you get sneak attack damage on the same person twice in this situation. I could be wrong though.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

I agree with Trentoejoe that sneak attack damage will only be applied once per casting of Scorching ray, so you get an average damage per round of 39, to ONE PC. The PC's are 12th level. The PC's will be able to pinpoint the origin of the Scorching Ray, since you can't really miss where the Scorching ray is coming from, and the goblin will be less that 30' away.

A good rat-bastard ambush, but on the 2nd round, maybe third if the characters roll bad initiatives, the goblin has reappered, or is dead even.

Edit: Also, crafting a 7th level wand of Scorching Rays has cost your NPC a third of his wealth.

AR

 

[Liolel]

A 12 level party should be able to survive and destroy this ambush. A area dispel, glitterdust, fairy fire, see invisibility, true seeing, all of these would allow the goblin to be targeted. And a lone 12 level goblin is not going to last long once the might of a 12th level party is brought upon it.

 

[the Jester]

Looks like good tactics. Well done.

But they're right about the sneak attack only applying once per use of the wand (like attacking with shuriken).

 

[RangerWickett]

Every good Goblin has a few dozen goblin buddies who are too stupid to realize fighting can kill them. So have your invisible wizard chillin' with his buddies from high school, all of whom are just plain old normal Goblins. Maybe three or four at 3rd or 4th level, so, y'know, they'll have a chance of hitting the PCs. That way, the cannon fodder will distract the party for a few rounds.

Make sure the cannon fodder swarms in from sides and back as well as front, to avoid the fireball formation.

 

[shilsen]

A couple more options

That goblin's going to be toast in a round, two at most, if the party uses their heads. Is there any particular reason he has to be Wiz7/Rog5? Instead you could go for two or three goblins of slightly lower level (two Wiz5/Rog5 or three Wiz4/Rog5 would have the same EL as the single higher-lvl goblin) and replace the greater invisibility spells with scrolls.

Also, while Scorching ray is good for damage, a wand of Enervation can be really nasty (PCs hate negative levels). Or Vampiric Touch for a little pick-me-up during the combat.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

I agree with everyone else here. I don't think it is unbalanced. and I think the PCs may take out the goblin in 3-5 rounds or less. It depends on how many PCs there are, but if you figure a typical party of 4 (wizard, cerlic, rogue, fighter), they should do fine.

I also wouldn't count on all of them having an adjusted AC of 10-12. I made a plan similar to that about a year ago (enervation was the spell I used, rather than scorching ray). I also had the NPC flying at maximum range above the PCs and with a hoard of other minions attacking them. I was surprised when the wizard's flat-footed touch AC was still really high (can't remember the exact number now). He had a lot of magical enhancements that I hadn't counted on.

 

[Plane Sailing]

His best tactic would probably be to go invisible and start summoning beasties (ideally around the corner so they run into the PCs rather than appear in their midst). After a few rounds when there are some beasties to draw attention *then* start in with the scorching ray wand.

 

[Jolly Giant]

I'd say this goblin still needs to have more going for him. How about making him rog3/wiz5/arcane trickster 4 ? His casterlevel goes up by 2 and he gets another d6 worth of sneak attack.

Also, I'd let him use Vampiric Touch instead of Scorching Ray. That'll give him the staying power needed to make the fight last longer. However, if you're going with the ray, give him the Point Black Shot feat; remember, it applies to ALL ranged attacks!