Herremann the Wise
First Post
This is using 3.5 xp awarding too.
Party
19th level Ranger
17th level Fighter/Talesman (Very powerful prestige class)
17th level Sorcerer
17th level Gestalt Sorcerer/Favored Soul/Angel - Who I rate a 20th level in terms of xp although he is obviously a little higher than this in strictest terms - any suggestions?
The Party are currently deep under the earth under the Five Towers of Arakarn in a series of caves and caverns. One of these towers has an item created by a dark god that is like a godlike-unhallow over almost the entire area - several miles in radius. This disallows the use of interdimensional travel (dimensional anchor) by non-evil entities as well as scrying and a few other factors (protection from good) relative to the unhallow spell.
They have been in an enclosed space above a massive underwater lake. The lake is several hundred foot deep yet there is only 10 to 15 feet of musty, fetid air above the waters oily black surface. They have moved to an enclosed tunnel 20 foot in width with the same head space.
They have already been attacked by a single undead Drowned (MMIII - CR 8) and have experienced how bad their drowning aura is - effectively the same as the Miasma spell but in a 30' radius around the Drowned: DC 10 Con check, 1st round go to 0hp and unconscious, 2nd round to -1hp and then 3rd Round Dead. They have been unwilling however to take further precautions aside from an elven rope tied to each.
They note that they are being chased by two of these Drowned (They see a watery glint above the surface of the water) but fail to see the huge Drowned ahead of them - they have a hide skill of 20. With all of these drowning auras around them (three of them) the angel and the sorcerer go down in seperate rounds before the fighter and ranger force the huge drowned (Effectively a Drowned Eldritch Giant also from MMIII - but minus all its magical abilities) to sink into the water defeated - but not dead. They had killed one of the other drowned and the other retreated ready to attack when suitable again.
They all had fly spells on - except for the angel who as a 17th level favored soul who can fly anyway - and were joined by strong elven rope one to the other so they could not sink into over 400 feet of diseased water.
After the battle, the player who plays the fighter was incredulous when I said that a normal Drowned was CR 8. They have 20HD and an instantly helpless ability that would appear to breach spell resistance - as their drowning ability is supernatural. The Con check DC 10 keeps going up by 1 each round while they stay in the aura. The fact that they cannot teleport out makes this particularly deadly.
My questions:
For those of you with MMIII, would you review the CR of the creature (A CR 8 seems dreadfully low)? For those of you without, the 30' aura similar to but significantly more powerful than the dreaded Miasma spell would seem to guarantee a much higher CR. The fact that they have 20HD and thus are more difficult to turn and also regularly have over 100hps - I roll all my creatures up using excel - makes me think they left out a 1 before the 8.
Has their been any official errata?
The Eldritch Giant Drowned (my own enhancement - in terms of size and strength going to huge and 42 respectively) had double the hit points and a plus to hit that could actually breach this parties defences - the other Drowned at +12 could not. What should it's CR be?
However, what effect should the environment play on this encounter? The enclosed space made the Drowned 30' aura significantly more powerful as did the god-like unhallow. A simple water-breathing could have alleviated many issues but this was not available to them (powerful but limited magical choices).
My initial 2 times CR 8 and 1 times CR 13 would seem unsuitable. Any suggestions?
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
Party
19th level Ranger
17th level Fighter/Talesman (Very powerful prestige class)
17th level Sorcerer
17th level Gestalt Sorcerer/Favored Soul/Angel - Who I rate a 20th level in terms of xp although he is obviously a little higher than this in strictest terms - any suggestions?
The Party are currently deep under the earth under the Five Towers of Arakarn in a series of caves and caverns. One of these towers has an item created by a dark god that is like a godlike-unhallow over almost the entire area - several miles in radius. This disallows the use of interdimensional travel (dimensional anchor) by non-evil entities as well as scrying and a few other factors (protection from good) relative to the unhallow spell.
They have been in an enclosed space above a massive underwater lake. The lake is several hundred foot deep yet there is only 10 to 15 feet of musty, fetid air above the waters oily black surface. They have moved to an enclosed tunnel 20 foot in width with the same head space.
They have already been attacked by a single undead Drowned (MMIII - CR 8) and have experienced how bad their drowning aura is - effectively the same as the Miasma spell but in a 30' radius around the Drowned: DC 10 Con check, 1st round go to 0hp and unconscious, 2nd round to -1hp and then 3rd Round Dead. They have been unwilling however to take further precautions aside from an elven rope tied to each.
They note that they are being chased by two of these Drowned (They see a watery glint above the surface of the water) but fail to see the huge Drowned ahead of them - they have a hide skill of 20. With all of these drowning auras around them (three of them) the angel and the sorcerer go down in seperate rounds before the fighter and ranger force the huge drowned (Effectively a Drowned Eldritch Giant also from MMIII - but minus all its magical abilities) to sink into the water defeated - but not dead. They had killed one of the other drowned and the other retreated ready to attack when suitable again.
They all had fly spells on - except for the angel who as a 17th level favored soul who can fly anyway - and were joined by strong elven rope one to the other so they could not sink into over 400 feet of diseased water.
After the battle, the player who plays the fighter was incredulous when I said that a normal Drowned was CR 8. They have 20HD and an instantly helpless ability that would appear to breach spell resistance - as their drowning ability is supernatural. The Con check DC 10 keeps going up by 1 each round while they stay in the aura. The fact that they cannot teleport out makes this particularly deadly.
My questions:
For those of you with MMIII, would you review the CR of the creature (A CR 8 seems dreadfully low)? For those of you without, the 30' aura similar to but significantly more powerful than the dreaded Miasma spell would seem to guarantee a much higher CR. The fact that they have 20HD and thus are more difficult to turn and also regularly have over 100hps - I roll all my creatures up using excel - makes me think they left out a 1 before the 8.
Has their been any official errata?
The Eldritch Giant Drowned (my own enhancement - in terms of size and strength going to huge and 42 respectively) had double the hit points and a plus to hit that could actually breach this parties defences - the other Drowned at +12 could not. What should it's CR be?
However, what effect should the environment play on this encounter? The enclosed space made the Drowned 30' aura significantly more powerful as did the god-like unhallow. A simple water-breathing could have alleviated many issues but this was not available to them (powerful but limited magical choices).
My initial 2 times CR 8 and 1 times CR 13 would seem unsuitable. Any suggestions?
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
