Tactics for 9th level druid?

[azhrei_fje]

Hi, all. The wisdom of the hivemind is needed!

My party is going up against a 9th level druid and his (3.0E) animal companion (although I'm playing a 3.5E game, I'm going to allow my NPC druid to keep his dire bear, since the party is quite strong).

The druid has access to one 5th level spell. What is a good choice? I had originally considered transmute rock to mud, thinking that after the party was trapped I could dispel it, but the effect is permanent.

I'm now thinking that wall of thorns is a good choice. It won't damage the cleric much in his full plate, but the other party members will take damage from it whenever they move or attempt to move. Now my questions...

If a spellcaster attempts to move and takes damage, then stops and stands still to cast a spell, do they need to make a Concentration check? (I'm thinking they do.)

If a spell has somatic components, will the spellcaster take damage when casting the spell? (I think not, except for spells that require specific actions, such as drawing a circle for the magic circle spells.)

Does the druid's "woodland stride" extraordinary ability allow him to move through the wall of thorns unimpeded? The class feature says it doesn't apply to magically enhanced plant growth, but the spell description says that a creature that can move through undergrowth without penalty can do so through the wall of thorns. (I'm thinking that the druid can pass through without penalty, since the spell description should trump the general prohibition described in the class feature.)

At the end of the spell description is something to the effect that a slashing weapon can cut away the wall at the rate of 1 foot per 10 minutes of chopping. But the spell will last 90 minutes, so a creature that is caught can only make it 9 feet before the spell effect disappears? Is that right? (I'm thinking that 1 foot per 10 minutes seems awfully slow. Maybe it should have said 1 foot per minute?)

If the wall covers an area from floor to ceiling, will flying creatures likewise take the same damage if they attempt to travel through the wall? (I see nothing in the spell description to the contrary.) And what about tiny creatures, such as wizard familiars? (The spell description doesn't exclude based on creature size, so I think they should both take damage as described in the spell.)

Are there any other "fringe cases" that I should be prepared for? Interesting counters that the party may come up with that I would need to rule on?

Thanks everyone!

 

[Jackylhunter]

I'll give it a bit more thought, but at first blush, I'd think about having the druid cast Animal Growth on the dire bear, then sit back and watch the carnage. Summon Nature's Ally V has some interesting possibilities, Dire Lion + Dire Bear = Carnage. Otherwise, if your evil dude has other traps available, you could use that 5th level spell to tree stride him/her/it away.

Anyway, as to your questions, the spell description says if you stand motionless you'll take no damage, so I think a spellcaster would take damage if casting inside a wall of thorns. I also think your druid could move through unhindered. I think your on the right track with your other questions. I'd hate to be your party when they face this dude...=)

 

[kerbarian]

My party is going up against a 9th level druid and his (3.0E) animal companion (although I'm playing a 3.5E game, I'm going to allow my NPC druid to keep his dire bear, since the party is quite strong).

The druid has access to one 5th level spell. What is a good choice? I had originally considered transmute rock to mud, thinking that after the party was trapped I could dispel it, but the effect is permanent.

I'm now thinking that wall of thorns is a good choice. It won't damage the cleric much in his full plate, but the other party members will take damage from it whenever they move or attempt to move. Now my questions...

Wall of Thorns is a good option, but I'd expect the party would dispel it rather than spend a lot of time trapped and/or taking damage from it. One thing that's interesting -- I don't see anything in the spell description about the wall providing concealment, blocking ranged attacks, etc. My best guess would be to treat it as heavy undergrowth, which provides concealment with a 30% miss chance. That would mean that you could still target spells and such at anyone trapped in the wall or on the other side of it.

Your idea of Transmute Rock to Mud is a good one, too -- you *can* dispel it to turn the mud back into rock. The spell is permanent, not instantaneous, and the spell description even explicitly mentions that Dispel Magic can end the effect. Depending on how the party is deployed, there's a good chance you could catch all of them and provide a 10' buffer of mud surrounding them, meaning they wouldn't be able to crawl out before you can cast dispel. If the party understands the tactic (perhaps allow them a spellcraft check to figure it out?), one of the casters will ready an action to counter your follow-up dispel magic. Short of that, though, this could pretty easily result in a TPK.

Probably less effective overall but still interesting could be something like Baleful Polymorph or Dire Hunger to disable one party member -- probably an arcane caster, since they have poor fort saves and you'd also be knocking out one of the possible sources of a dispel.

Also, if you're using non-core spells, don't forget Arc of Lightning -- it's a great 4th-level Druid attack spell.

 

[azhrei_fje]

@Jackylhunter: Hmm, the animal growth does look good. Especially since it can affect multiple animals. If I use summon swarm to gather rats or bats, could I use animal growth on a few of them? Naw, probably not. Since I'm thinking of going with the mud attack (see below), I don't want my druid's friends getting caught in the mud. So I don't think I'll be able to use animal growth.

Wall of Thorns is a good option, but I'd expect the party would dispel it rather than spend a lot of time trapped and/or taking damage from it.

Hmm, I hadn't considered that. That makes the transmute rock to mud a better choice -- if they dispel it, they've trapped themselves!!

One thing that's interesting -- I don't see anything in the spell description about the wall providing concealment, blocking ranged attacks, etc. My best guess would be to treat it as heavy undergrowth, which provides concealment with a 30% miss chance. That would mean that you could still target spells and such at anyone trapped in the wall or on the other side of it.

Hmm, interesting. It's too bad the druid doesn't have cloudkill or stinking cloud, since those would be great when combined with wall of thorns or lesser spells such as entangle.

Your idea of Transmute Rock to Mud is a good one, too -- you *can* dispel it to turn the mud back into rock. The spell is permanent, not instantaneous, and the spell description even explicitly mentions that Dispel Magic can end the effect.

Darn! I don't know how I missed that! Probably just looked at the effect entry and forgot that permanent doesn't mean instantaneous. :\

Depending on how the party is deployed, there's a good chance you could catch all of them and provide a 10' buffer of mud surrounding them, meaning they wouldn't be able to crawl out before you can cast dispel. If the party understands the tactic (perhaps allow them a spellcraft check to figure it out?), one of the casters will ready an action to counter your follow-up dispel magic. Short of that, though, this could pretty easily result in a TPK.

Well, one of the details I didn't provide was the composition of the party: 7 characters with a mix of meatshields, rogues, and wizards, with a single cleric in the group. And they are all at least 9th level. So the druid will be a pushover unless I can use the home-turf advantage. This druid is in an underground setting (mushrooms and fungi fill his demesnes), so he doesn't have a lot of choices when it comes to running away. He might have to direct his dire bear to overrun the party and get to the other side, then he casts wall of thorns on them. Then he can shapechange into a bird or something and fly through the area along a route that doesn't provoke AoOs.

He has prepared summon swarm to harass the spellcasters with, too. I'm thinking he could summon bats, then take the form of a bat to fly through the thorns; the party wouldn't be able to easily pick him out from the rest of the swarm.

Since you've reminded me about the dispel magic (thanks!), I think I'm going to use it! This druid could also have meld into stone prepared so that he and his animal companion (via share spells) could leave the area by moving inside the wall, in case they need to get away.

Probably less effective overall but still interesting could be something like Baleful Polymorph or Dire Hunger to disable one party member -- probably an arcane caster, since they have poor fort saves and you'd also be knocking out one of the possible sources of a dispel.

I thought about baleful polymorph but wrote it off because it can only affect a single character.

Also, if you're using non-core spells, don't forget Arc of Lightning -- it's a great 4th-level Druid attack spell.

Nope, strictly core. Eventually I'll apply the errata'd wild shape and polymorph changes (from Feb 2006), but I haven't reviewed them in detail yet. (The players don't have polymorph and most of the NPCs are clerics without access to it.)

 

[Plane Sailing]

Rangers get woodland stride too, so if there are rangers they might be able to waltz straight through a wall of thorns.

Otherwise I find wall of thorns to be exceptionally effective, especially when combined with swarms (which can then just sit there eating the trapped beggers).

The most bang for the buck of your 5th level spell has to be Animal Growth though - if you can use a 4th level spell to summon 1d3 dire wolves, and then cast Animal Growth on them plus the Dire Bear, you have a very, very powerful strike team. The huge dire wolves have obscene trip modifiers.

If the Druid has 20 wisdom you get a second 5th level spell, and use one of those to get 1d3 Tigers which you animal growth... pounce gives 5 attacks which can come to about 11d6+32 per enlarged tiger in their first round. That could spoil a PCs entire day and the improved grab with about +18 to grapple is going to make it hard the pounced PCs to avoid being grappled and bit/clawed/raked in subsequent rounds.

If he is in caverns (which it sounds rather like), you can cast it on a ceiling to do 8d6 bludgeoning to everyone (ref for half) and still embeds them in 5ft deep mud which you can then dispel to turn back into rock.

 

[kjenks]

A level 9 druid should probably have Greater Magic Fang (the +1 on all weapons variety) on his animal companion for most of the adventuring day (1 hour/level). In addition to Animal Growth, don't forget Nature's Favor, a swift action spell from Spell Compendium, which adds bonuses that stack with Greater Magic Fang and Animal Growth.

Now the furry buddy has some serious beef.

Don't just have the druid sit around and watch the fun. Summoning critters is fine. Check out the electrical attacks of the Arrowhawk.

A druid can also do fun things like Empower Spell + Produce Fire. Have him ready an action to lob it at any spellcasters that dare to cast spells, causing decent damage and big Concentration checks.

 

[Stormrunner]

A 7-PC party, all "at least level 9"? For such a group, an 11th-level druid would be an "average" encounter. Your 9th-lvl druid will indeed be a pushover, even with the home field advantage he will have a tough time even surviving, much less defeating the party. After the first round or three he should probably realize this, and seek to flee.
The big problem is being outnumbered - for every action the druid takes, the party takes 7 actions, overwhelming him with sheer numbers. He needs allies to serve as meatshields and/or buffers.
A 9th level druid can cast Awaken; I would suggest he Awaken a few animals as bodyguards. You could keep him 3.5-legal by Awakening the dire bear, and giving him something else as an animal companion (Dire Ape is legal for a druid of level 7+, and its 10' reach can be useful). You then could even add a class level or two to the Awakened bear (Barbarian, anyone?). A couple of drider allies would add a mix of spellcasting and melee to the defenders.

As for limited running-away choices - true, but any pursuers suffer the same limits insofar as they have to follow him down the same corridor - they can't "cut the corner" and head him off they way they might be able to in open terrain. Since the druid has access to spells such as Stone Shape, creating new escape tunnels or reshaping an existing one is trivial. He should probably have at least one escape route that can only be traversed by a Small flying creature (i.e., wildshaped into bat form). The Snare spell lasts until triggered - without a tree to tie it to its effects are minimal (briefly Entangling the target), but with a few days prep time you could scatter multiple snares about, ready to mildly hamper your enemies in combat - it doesn't cost you anything but time and a few lengths of rope.

 

[Hawkson]

some cool spell combos for the druid

sleet storm(3rd level) summon swarm(2nd level). cast sleet storm and while they can't move or see summon bats who can see.

 

[szilard]

Control Water can be terrifying:

Have the druid hit them while they are standing in a puddle in a hollow. Suddenly, the party is in an 18' deep pond. Use Summon Nature's Ally to get nasty aquatic monsters to attack them while you pick off anyone who makes it out of the water with spells and dire bear.

-Stuart

 

[Plane Sailing]

Control Water can be terrifying:

Have the druid hit them while they are standing in a puddle in a hollow. Suddenly, the party is in an 18' deep pond. Use Summon Nature's Ally to get nasty aquatic monsters to attack them while you pick off anyone who makes it out of the water with spells and dire bear.

If that works it would be a neat trick for drowning the plate armoured guys. I'll have to read up the spell to see if it works