What is THAT?

[JacktheRabbit]

A 6 foot tall gorgeous woman wearing no clothes and sporting huge batlike wings and wreathed in flames is flying at your party?


What is it?


Well as my 3rd level party kind of learned while running like mad and fighting some it was a female sorcerer wearing Wings of Flying and with a charisma enhancing spell cast on her.


I have to say that is one of my most rotten tricks as a DM in a while. Luckily for the party they were smart and did not meta-game the situation. No one in a 3rd level party knows what a succubus would be so they did fight while retreating as opposed to scattering in terror.

What nasty switch tricks have you pulled on your party?

 

[TiQuinn]

My party was in a dungeon and encountered what they believed to be an Umber Hulk (judging by the rough size and shape of the creature). The group had fought an Umber Hulk before and thought they were well prepared. The dwarf noticed that the Umber Hulk wasn't giving off any heat with his infravision, but didn't make much notice of it. When the Umber Hulk hit the party with a Slow spell, a couple of players figured this was some sort of variant creature. Also their spells were having zero effect...obviously due to some magic item the creature must've had. Well, the opponent was a Stone Golem, shaped as an Umber Hulk, which they found out when they got close enough to engage the creature in melee.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Another one I considered was a mimic that has learned to take on humanoid form. He would be very slow moving but quite deadly.

 

[Dr_Rictus]

I've learned that my current party doesn't recognize most of the standard monsters I throw at them. Any bait-n-switches are just lost on them.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

This comes from the players side of the table, but it fits. About a year ago, our then-3rd level party was investigating an underground stream that fed a local woodsmans well. When the well ran dry, he asked for our assistance in finding out What the problem was. Being adventureres, we promptly climbed down the well, followed the streambed, and eventually entered a series of underground caverns. After exploring for a while, we eventually came to a room with a large pool of water on one side, and noticed a large shape in the bottom of the pool. I was playing a care-free bard who was always inviting trouble, so I picked up a rock and tossed it into the pool to everyone elses horror. As the creature rose up from the water, it glissened with slime, had several long tenticles, and a fish-like tail. Without realizing it, I blurted out "An Aboleth?!? We're only 3rd level!" (In my defense, I was sick, and heavily medicated at the time...) My outburst ticked-off our DM a bit, and he proceded to pound on our party. However, as players, we never saw the typical aboleth abilities used. After finally managing to retreat from the room with everyone alive, we left to regroup. Eventually we overcame the creature, although we never did find out exactly what it was. We took to calling it the "psudo-aboleth" even though our characters wouldn't have had any idea what an aboleth was. Our DM never did tell us what it was, but did glare at me whenever it was brought up for a while after that.

 

[thundershot]

I get pissed off too when one player has a tendency to blurt out what the creature is, or even worse, he'll go "HOLY CRAP! WE'RE SCREWED! HOW COULD YOU THAT!?" and get the younger players all riled up. Ohhh.. I just fume...

So I use the Monster's Handbook to alter things now.



Chris

 

[DonAdam]

I may have gotten it off of this board, but one time I threw an ogre and a troll at my party.

The troll was polymorphed to look like the ogre, and vice-versa. The ogre went down to fast for the party to use all their fire and acid on it, but it was a good try.

 

[Drawmack]

Paratrooping goblins riding wyverns and using rings of feather fall. The PCs were in a clearing and the goblins were trooping into the woods around them. Once on the ground the goblins retreated met back up and made another attack.

40 goblins almost took out a 5th level party

 

[DragonLancer]

I did the Gas Spore/Beholder trick a few scenarios back, and then used a real Beholder in the current scenario. It has the party a little confused as to whats what at the moment.

 

[Dave G]

"Darn freaky-looking chickens! Stop pecking me!"

Our first encounter with the cockatrice in 3E was pretty funny... my character had an absolutely awesome fortitute save, and I did my best to play dumb, someone in the party nailed a knowledge roll and figured out what they were, but before he had time to tell us, I finished off the last of 'em!