Yeah, that's a long title, but I'm a tiny bit desperate to be sure I catch the attention of a few to help me. Not only am I working on a one-shot campaign that I aim to run for my group as a Christmas gift very early this January as my first ever campaign DMing, but I only started playing D&D this past winter - not even a full year of playing under my belt. (If you recognize this and are a part of my group, please turn back now before you are further spoiled lol)
The one-shot I'm working on is set to be a pirate campaign with the party discovering that their Cleric of Valkur Captain is actually a Chosen of Valkur. They discover this as they attempt to puzzle out how their captain disappeared from her cabin with all windows intact and the door still locked when a crew member that had been with the Captain for a very long time reveals the Captain's background. They then (hopefully) set out to speak with Valkur who will point them to Umberlee explaining that she had their captain kidnapped and his request that they rescue her from Umberlee's avatar.
I found this stat block for an Avatar of Umberlee, but the CR is insanely high and I'm struggling to figure out how exactly to make this a more even fight so the party has a chance of defeating the avatar and living to tell the tale. I assume there should be a way to rework the stats to scale the avatar down, but I really have no idea how to go about doing that. I'm also planning to have Valkur tell them of a weapon for them to retrieve before challenging the avatar and possibly giving them some other buff in guise of a blessing or some such since I do not want to scale the avatar down TOO much. I still intend for this final battle to be a challenge and tense, but it's a one-shot for a Christmas gift, so I definitely want them to have a chance at a positive outcome. I am trying to figure this out sooner rather than later so that I can tell the party what level to build their characters up to, so I'd really appreciate some help so I don't end up taking a month to get back to them.
I'm open to criticisms and suggestions if the original idea just doesn't seem feasible as I bow to experience. I have enough of a storyline figured out but vague enough that I should be able to shift it into a realistic one-shot by January. Thank you ahead of time for any and all input!
Simply put, the stat block you are currently using has a higher CR than Tiamat. In its current form, even a 20th level party will put a good fight before being killed.
As you have several months, I suggest picking up the DMG and reading Creating a Monster. I would use the stat block as inspiration but weaken it significantly. Some advice, perhaps make it smaller, gargantuan creatures have a very different hit die than medium. Don't have all their ability scores above 25. 25 is already a lot, perhaps use that as a cap. And don't give out high level spells at will.
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
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Yeah, that's a long title, but I'm a tiny bit desperate to be sure I catch the attention of a few to help me. Not only am I working on a one-shot campaign that I aim to run for my group as a Christmas gift very early this January as my first ever campaign DMing, but I only started playing D&D this past winter - not even a full year of playing under my belt. (If you recognize this and are a part of my group, please turn back now before you are further spoiled lol)
The one-shot I'm working on is set to be a pirate campaign with the party discovering that their Cleric of Valkur Captain is actually a Chosen of Valkur. They discover this as they attempt to puzzle out how their captain disappeared from her cabin with all windows intact and the door still locked when a crew member that had been with the Captain for a very long time reveals the Captain's background. They then (hopefully) set out to speak with Valkur who will point them to Umberlee explaining that she had their captain kidnapped and his request that they rescue her from Umberlee's avatar.
I found this stat block for an Avatar of Umberlee, but the CR is insanely high and I'm struggling to figure out how exactly to make this a more even fight so the party has a chance of defeating the avatar and living to tell the tale. I assume there should be a way to rework the stats to scale the avatar down, but I really have no idea how to go about doing that. I'm also planning to have Valkur tell them of a weapon for them to retrieve before challenging the avatar and possibly giving them some other buff in guise of a blessing or some such since I do not want to scale the avatar down TOO much. I still intend for this final battle to be a challenge and tense, but it's a one-shot for a Christmas gift, so I definitely want them to have a chance at a positive outcome. I am trying to figure this out sooner rather than later so that I can tell the party what level to build their characters up to, so I'd really appreciate some help so I don't end up taking a month to get back to them.
I'm open to criticisms and suggestions if the original idea just doesn't seem feasible as I bow to experience. I have enough of a storyline figured out but vague enough that I should be able to shift it into a realistic one-shot by January. Thank you ahead of time for any and all input!
Bethany
Simply put, the stat block you are currently using has a higher CR than Tiamat. In its current form, even a 20th level party will put a good fight before being killed.
As you have several months, I suggest picking up the DMG and reading Creating a Monster. I would use the stat block as inspiration but weaken it significantly. Some advice, perhaps make it smaller, gargantuan creatures have a very different hit die than medium. Don't have all their ability scores above 25. 25 is already a lot, perhaps use that as a cap. And don't give out high level spells at will.
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Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett