Tarrasque or not Tarrasque?

[takyris]

Ditto Psion and PS. If I wanted something that did what the Tarrasque is supposedly good for, I'd build something of my own, and I'd do it better. Godzilla, at least, has a breath weapon.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

I'm gonna put this in spoilers, since I'm not 100% sure none of my players are lurking about on here.

Spoiler

My current Planescapish campaign is going to deal eventually with an uber-enchantress from somewhere, I dunno where, who's travelling from Prime Material to Prime Material, capturing the tarrasques of all those worlds with the aid of a fiend allied with Tiamat. Eventually, she's going to fuse them together through some weird chimeric ritual into a big Revelatory/Tiamat-esque multiheaded beast. So I'll get to use him eventually.

 

[Brother MacLaren]

The Tarrasque, just like Godzilla, stands for the unstoppable forces of nature rising up in revenge against humanity. There is a point to its toughness, which is that there is something non-intelligent that even the mightiest of people fear. Call it "Nature's Revenge", or "The Ravager of Nations" - it doesn't matter. What matters is that humans are reminded that there is always something higher up on the food chain than they are.

I really like this concept. However, to make the Tarrasque properly challenging, it needs a Cult of the Beast. A secretive group of druids or clerics that follow it around, guard it when it's sleeping, spy on groups that are tracking it, and foil PCs uber-cheesy tactics. (I believe Fly plus Horrid Wilting was one of the easiest ways to put it down). Perhaps they even engage in powerful ritual magic to make the beast stronger. Maybe after it dies each time, they ensure that it is reborn stronger. First, with a breath weapon. Next time, with wings. The time after that, spell turning. And additional HD and ability score boosts each time...

Basically, I'm not confident that "the mightiest of people" (17th+ level PCs) will fear anything non-intelligent unless it is even stronger than the Tarrasque is now.

 

[Rugger]

Do you mind if I rant?

I've always considered the creature to be stupid beyond belief, and I'm annoyed that WotC wasted space to include it in the Monster Manual. I don't think it has a single redeeming feature, and will never see use in any game I run.

It is simply pointless and idiotic, with no thought given to ecology or reason for existence. Someone, once upon a time said "Oh, I'll invent the ultimate in unkillable monsters, it will be teh really leet d00d heh".

What rubbish.

It even has a dorky picture (esp compared with the original draft which was available at WotC at one time)

End of rant, thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Cheers

Sheesh! You'd think the Tarrasque pooped in your Wheaties. And you had to eat them to -40 to finish them. And them blow a Wish spell to get rid of them for good.



-Rugger
"I Kid!"

 

[Talmun]

I want to thank everyone who replied for, well...replying.

To those of you who are firmly of the opinion that T is a boring stat block with a bad picture - I'm afraid I must respectfully disagree with you. I think a monster (or anything else in this game) is as interesting as the DM makes him. Certainly there are other creatures that are perceived as being more innately compelling, but every monster has its uses.

To those of you who related stories of your adventures with the big guy - Thank you, some of those made my day, and some of them made me scratch my head (meeting the Tarrasque at 5th level? Ack!).

I believe I'll be using him as the first monster in the short-term epic/divine game I will be running in a month or so. I'll probably be advancing him about 12 HD and/or adding one of a couple templates, and making him a guardian of something the PCs need.

Again, Thanks all.