Hello! I have said this so much, but i am a DM running Dragon of icespire peak. And my anchorites are dying. Moesko was charmed and yargath was ganged. I fear the same will happen to the other guys at the circle of thunder. What are some of your experiences with anchorites of talos? How do I make them harder to kill in one round(2 paladins vengeance,devotion, dual wielder champion, drow evoker, half elf bard college of valor) without changing any of their statistics.
When you thought you knew about spellcasting - you played a warlock
Why are most bard colleges a pain to type? I mean bard college of valor, compare to champion or evoker. Same goes for sacred oaths: paladin oath of devotion. That's even worse.
I don't think WoCE were very creative with the rogue and ranger subclass titles. I mean ranger archeotype? Roguish archeotype? Bro! Fighters are better but still is somewhat unsatisfying compare to a monastatic tradition or sacred oath.
why dont you want to change their stats? increase their health a bit, give them a +2 to their con. give them some better armour, make them harder to hit.
That will make them live longer.
Without changing stats really the only way to make them last longer is to keep them far away and focus on using Lightning Bolt, if they start over 70 ft away from the players then they will get a free round to cast spells. But I wouldn't do that, give them max health, if not more and increase their armour, maybe increase damage done on a hit to make them more dangerous, so the players dont rush in.
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"The D&D rules help you and the other players have a good time, but the rules aren't in charge. You're the DM, and you are in charge of the game" - Dungeon Masters Guide
If you don't want to touch the NPC statblocks, then you have at least two other factors to consider, (A) the environment and (B) the players.
(A) I haven't played this particular setting, but by making the combat venue more dynamic, you can give the NPCs the "homefield advantage". They will know where the traps are, where the best hiding places are, and you could even have caches of resources for the NPCs to use as needed.
(B) If the players are going into every encounter with full health and resources, then they are going to be able to go overboard every single time. If you can give them a couple of smaller encounters leading up to a more important encounter, then they will have less firepower, and start off closer to death. Maybe even find a way to give them levels of exhaustion. One level of exhaustion will give them disadvantage on Perception, Initiative, Grappling, and avoiding hazards, etc... Two levels of exhaustion will massively decrease their mobility. Three or more levels of exhaustion will lead to a really bad day.
You can also consider giving the NPCs some support. Maybe they can have their own lesser minions, such as pet wolves, or you could introduce secondary objectives, such as saving hostages or children. Introduce consequences for being too direct.
You have multiple high spike melee damage and anchorites aren't boss fight level enemies, so dying in one round if focus fired is to be expected. In general the fix it make it not possible to focus fire them, through some combination of terrain and additional foes, or make it so their spike is already consumed by the time they run into the monster.
Hello! I have said this so much, but i am a DM running Dragon of icespire peak. And my anchorites are dying. Moesko was charmed and yargath was ganged. I fear the same will happen to the other guys at the circle of thunder. What are some of your experiences with anchorites of talos? How do I make them harder to kill in one round(2 paladins vengeance,devotion, dual wielder champion, drow evoker, half elf bard college of valor) without changing any of their statistics.
They have pig forms, those are damage sponges and ability drains. Have them attack as a herd and as they kill the pig form then have them start by always casting lightning bolt. Just have the two orcs with their boars attack the party, then poof 6D8 lightning.
They have pig forms, those are damage sponges and ability drains. Have them attack as a herd and as they kill the pig form then have them start by always casting lightning bolt. Just have the two orcs with their boars attack the party, then poof 6D8 lightning.
It's monster polymorphing, not wild shape; pig form doesn't make them any tankier than they normally are.
Hello! I have said this so much, but i am a DM running Dragon of icespire peak. And my anchorites are dying. Moesko was charmed and yargath was ganged. I fear the same will happen to the other guys at the circle of thunder. What are some of your experiences with anchorites of talos? How do I make them harder to kill in one round(2 paladins vengeance,devotion, dual wielder champion, drow evoker, half elf bard college of valor) without changing any of their statistics.
They have pig forms, those are damage sponges and ability drains. Have them attack as a herd and as they kill the pig form then have them start by always casting lightning bolt. Just have the two orcs with their boars attack the party, then poof 6D8 lightning.
Technically 8d6.
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When you thought you knew about spellcasting - you played a warlock
Why are most bard colleges a pain to type? I mean bard college of valor, compare to champion or evoker. Same goes for sacred oaths: paladin oath of devotion. That's even worse.
I don't think WoCE were very creative with the rogue and ranger subclass titles. I mean ranger archeotype? Roguish archeotype? Bro! Fighters are better but still is somewhat unsatisfying compare to a monastatic tradition or sacred oath.
Ok, I am also DMing DoIP for the first time and found them a bit underwhelming. From my experience, my suggestions are:
1 Always cast Lighting Bolt first. It is tempting to try to line up a shoot to get more than one player, but if that is not possible, better to use it on just one than to have it go unused while waiting for the perfect shot.
2. Either change their transformation to work as a Moon Druid Wild Shape instead of Polymorph (that is, different health bar and it can be used as a bonus action) or don't bother with it. Have the Anchorites always start in their humanoid shape so that they can cast spells without wasting an action.
3. If you have two anchorites and one dies without casting Lighting Bolt while the other already used it, use revivify then have the dead one cast lightning bolt.
4. Give them pet boars or cultists that work with them. They have low CR so you can use several and they can close in while your players focus on the Anchorites; they also have bigger health and speed than the Twig Blights so just replace those and they would be more of a threat. Alternatively, have them summon an Ankheg. You can buff them with bless.
5. If the module says they have an item, have them use it. Example, Yargaths potion of greater healing.
6. Don't be afraid to alter the number of enemies depending on your party's level. If your party is level 5 or 6, have 3 Anchorites instead of 2.
7. Augury lets them know if an action they will take within the next half an hour will go well or badly. Use that as justification to have them exect something will happen, so they are not as easily caught by surprise.
8. Use their maximum theoretical health. You are given a range so that it can be adjusted for difficulty, so instead of 58, the named ones can have 90 (for example, the ones I used at Woodland Manse had 58 save for Grannoc who had 90). Say that the ones doing the ritual are senior members or something like that.
Other untested options would be to add enviromental effects to the ritual they are doing (lightning falling from the sky, gusts of wind that make long range attacks harder, magnetize the stones in the circle of Thunder to either give disadventage to attacks with metal weapons or throw around those with metal armor, etc). And if you want to buff one in particular (like in a boss battle against the cult leader), make them a Wereboar
I actually nearly killed my players with these guys. I forgot that lightning bolt was a 1/day usage. If you wanted, you could change that.
I found it helpful to have the Talosites attack the players in the courtyard while the tree is attacking them during the Manse Quest. That way the tree (or the blights) is restraining the players and giving the anchorites advantage.
At the circle of thunder, have the twig blights engage the players in melee to slow them down, while the Talos anchorites snipe from far away. The thunder pig can also show up before the anchorites die, to give them some backup.
Make sure to have the anchorites blast that Lightning bolt right at the start of the battle. And, I know you said not to mess with their stats, but I would change their Spell Save DC from 12 to 14 or 16. Just that one small change alone, is going to make their Lightning bolt and Thunderwave so much more deadly. Also, never let an anchorite be alone ... it's death for them. For Moesko I would have had him with a pet harpy or two.
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Hello! I have said this so much, but i am a DM running Dragon of icespire peak. And my anchorites are dying. Moesko was charmed and yargath was ganged. I fear the same will happen to the other guys at the circle of thunder. What are some of your experiences with anchorites of talos? How do I make them harder to kill in one round(2 paladins vengeance,devotion, dual wielder champion, drow evoker, half elf bard college of valor) without changing any of their statistics.
When you thought you knew about spellcasting - you played a warlock
Why are most bard colleges a pain to type? I mean bard college of valor, compare to champion or evoker. Same goes for sacred oaths: paladin oath of devotion. That's even worse.
I don't think WoCE were very creative with the rogue and ranger subclass titles. I mean ranger archeotype? Roguish archeotype? Bro! Fighters are better but still is somewhat unsatisfying compare to a monastatic tradition or sacred oath.
why dont you want to change their stats? increase their health a bit, give them a +2 to their con. give them some better armour, make them harder to hit.
That will make them live longer.
Without changing stats really the only way to make them last longer is to keep them far away and focus on using Lightning Bolt, if they start over 70 ft away from the players then they will get a free round to cast spells. But I wouldn't do that, give them max health, if not more and increase their armour, maybe increase damage done on a hit to make them more dangerous, so the players dont rush in.
"The D&D rules help you and the other players have a good time, but the rules aren't in charge. You're the DM, and you are in charge of the game" - Dungeon Masters Guide
If you don't want to touch the NPC statblocks, then you have at least two other factors to consider, (A) the environment and (B) the players.
(A) I haven't played this particular setting, but by making the combat venue more dynamic, you can give the NPCs the "homefield advantage". They will know where the traps are, where the best hiding places are, and you could even have caches of resources for the NPCs to use as needed.
(B) If the players are going into every encounter with full health and resources, then they are going to be able to go overboard every single time. If you can give them a couple of smaller encounters leading up to a more important encounter, then they will have less firepower, and start off closer to death. Maybe even find a way to give them levels of exhaustion. One level of exhaustion will give them disadvantage on Perception, Initiative, Grappling, and avoiding hazards, etc... Two levels of exhaustion will massively decrease their mobility. Three or more levels of exhaustion will lead to a really bad day.
You can also consider giving the NPCs some support. Maybe they can have their own lesser minions, such as pet wolves, or you could introduce secondary objectives, such as saving hostages or children. Introduce consequences for being too direct.
You have multiple high spike melee damage and anchorites aren't boss fight level enemies, so dying in one round if focus fired is to be expected. In general the fix it make it not possible to focus fire them, through some combination of terrain and additional foes, or make it so their spike is already consumed by the time they run into the monster.
They have pig forms, those are damage sponges and ability drains. Have them attack as a herd and as they kill the pig form then have them start by always casting lightning bolt. Just have the two orcs with their boars attack the party, then poof 6D8 lightning.
It's monster polymorphing, not wild shape; pig form doesn't make them any tankier than they normally are.
Technically 8d6.
When you thought you knew about spellcasting - you played a warlock
Why are most bard colleges a pain to type? I mean bard college of valor, compare to champion or evoker. Same goes for sacred oaths: paladin oath of devotion. That's even worse.
I don't think WoCE were very creative with the rogue and ranger subclass titles. I mean ranger archeotype? Roguish archeotype? Bro! Fighters are better but still is somewhat unsatisfying compare to a monastatic tradition or sacred oath.
Ok, I am also DMing DoIP for the first time and found them a bit underwhelming. From my experience, my suggestions are:
1 Always cast Lighting Bolt first. It is tempting to try to line up a shoot to get more than one player, but if that is not possible, better to use it on just one than to have it go unused while waiting for the perfect shot.
2. Either change their transformation to work as a Moon Druid Wild Shape instead of Polymorph (that is, different health bar and it can be used as a bonus action) or don't bother with it. Have the Anchorites always start in their humanoid shape so that they can cast spells without wasting an action.
3. If you have two anchorites and one dies without casting Lighting Bolt while the other already used it, use revivify then have the dead one cast lightning bolt.
4. Give them pet boars or cultists that work with them. They have low CR so you can use several and they can close in while your players focus on the Anchorites; they also have bigger health and speed than the Twig Blights so just replace those and they would be more of a threat. Alternatively, have them summon an Ankheg. You can buff them with bless.
5. If the module says they have an item, have them use it. Example, Yargaths potion of greater healing.
6. Don't be afraid to alter the number of enemies depending on your party's level. If your party is level 5 or 6, have 3 Anchorites instead of 2.
7. Augury lets them know if an action they will take within the next half an hour will go well or badly. Use that as justification to have them exect something will happen, so they are not as easily caught by surprise.
8. Use their maximum theoretical health. You are given a range so that it can be adjusted for difficulty, so instead of 58, the named ones can have 90 (for example, the ones I used at Woodland Manse had 58 save for Grannoc who had 90). Say that the ones doing the ritual are senior members or something like that.
Other untested options would be to add enviromental effects to the ritual they are doing (lightning falling from the sky, gusts of wind that make long range attacks harder, magnetize the stones in the circle of Thunder to either give disadventage to attacks with metal weapons or throw around those with metal armor, etc). And if you want to buff one in particular (like in a boss battle against the cult leader), make them a Wereboar
I actually nearly killed my players with these guys. I forgot that lightning bolt was a 1/day usage. If you wanted, you could change that.
I found it helpful to have the Talosites attack the players in the courtyard while the tree is attacking them during the Manse Quest. That way the tree (or the blights) is restraining the players and giving the anchorites advantage.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
At the circle of thunder, have the twig blights engage the players in melee to slow them down, while the Talos anchorites snipe from far away. The thunder pig can also show up before the anchorites die, to give them some backup.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
Make sure to have the anchorites blast that Lightning bolt right at the start of the battle. And, I know you said not to mess with their stats, but I would change their Spell Save DC from 12 to 14 or 16. Just that one small change alone, is going to make their Lightning bolt and Thunderwave so much more deadly. Also, never let an anchorite be alone ... it's death for them.
For Moesko I would have had him with a pet harpy or two.