I once showed that a Tarrasque could be killed by the Sprite familiar of a Warlock, assuming the familiar has access to an unlimited number of needle/arrows. The last time I used a Tarrasque, I gave it a breath weapon with a several hundred foot range (as the attack was outdoors and the characters had access to a skyship). I also put a storm overhead making it risky to fly too high.
It's notable that the 3e tarrasque, despite having insane raw stats, is only CR 20, presumably because they recognized that people will just... not get into melee with it.
Power scaling in 3rd Edition was very different from 5E. A 3rd Edition party at 20th level had higher AC, higher attack bonuses, more damage output, and considerably more spells than a 20th level 5th Edition party would. Magic items could go up to +5 instead of +3, there were no caps on ability score maximums, high mental stats gave bonus spell slots, the base spell slot charts gave more spells per day at every level... A CR 20 monster in 3rd Edition was ''expected'' to be something that was such a threat to a 15th level party that they'd get an automatic level up just from surviving the encounter, with no chance of actually winning. In 5th Edition it's possible if difficult for a prepared party to beat the Tarrasque.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Power scaling in 3rd Edition was very different from 5E.
While true, not really my point. The thing is, its actual raw numbers are crazy, far higher than other CR 20 monsters, it's just that it doesn't actually do anything but be a fairly indestructible brute.
Yeah, but that's partially because it's got defensive capabilities no other CR 20 had: massive regeneration with no damage type that overcame it, DR/epic (meaning that you needed at least a +6 weapon to deal full damage to it), and not just a high chance to not be affected by spells but to also bounce them right back on the caster.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Just because the stat block doesn't have options for chucking something at your flying Tiefling doesn't mean I'm not going to allow improvised weapon use rules to have the monster throw a wagon at your PC.
Just because the stat block doesn't have options for chucking something at your flying Tiefling doesn't mean I'm not going to allow improvised weapon use rules to have the monster throw a wagon at your PC.
I imagine the adventurers seeing the Tarrasque rise up over the city of Baldur's Gate and say, "we'll save you" then promptly spam toll the dead while the city burns. A funny vision, and while you'll get the XP, I think the repercussions will be quite awful for everyone except you.
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I once showed that a Tarrasque could be killed by the Sprite familiar of a Warlock, assuming the familiar has access to an unlimited number of needle/arrows. The last time I used a Tarrasque, I gave it a breath weapon with a several hundred foot range (as the attack was outdoors and the characters had access to a skyship). I also put a storm overhead making it risky to fly too high.
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (original Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
Is this a spherical sprite in a vacuum? 😂
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It's notable that the 3e tarrasque, despite having insane raw stats, is only CR 20, presumably because they recognized that people will just... not get into melee with it.
Power scaling in 3rd Edition was very different from 5E. A 3rd Edition party at 20th level had higher AC, higher attack bonuses, more damage output, and considerably more spells than a 20th level 5th Edition party would. Magic items could go up to +5 instead of +3, there were no caps on ability score maximums, high mental stats gave bonus spell slots, the base spell slot charts gave more spells per day at every level... A CR 20 monster in 3rd Edition was ''expected'' to be something that was such a threat to a 15th level party that they'd get an automatic level up just from surviving the encounter, with no chance of actually winning. In 5th Edition it's possible if difficult for a prepared party to beat the Tarrasque.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
While true, not really my point. The thing is, its actual raw numbers are crazy, far higher than other CR 20 monsters, it's just that it doesn't actually do anything but be a fairly indestructible brute.
Yeah, but that's partially because it's got defensive capabilities no other CR 20 had: massive regeneration with no damage type that overcame it, DR/epic (meaning that you needed at least a +6 weapon to deal full damage to it), and not just a high chance to not be affected by spells but to also bounce them right back on the caster.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Didn’t you also need to cast wish after it died so it would stay dead? I think that was still the rule in 3e.
Yes, after dropping it to -40 HP. Most creatures died at -10.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I don't know about the one in 3e, but it was the requirement in AD&D 1e.
Just because the stat block doesn't have options for chucking something at your flying Tiefling doesn't mean I'm not going to allow improvised weapon use rules to have the monster throw a wagon at your PC.
It was the case in 3E as well.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Wagons, ho!
I imagine the adventurers seeing the Tarrasque rise up over the city of Baldur's Gate and say, "we'll save you" then promptly spam toll the dead while the city burns. A funny vision, and while you'll get the XP, I think the repercussions will be quite awful for everyone except you.