im trying to set up a ship battle type encounter to fight a massive creature. the party has outfitted the ship with cannons, ballista and a dragonator ( giant rotating harpoon type weapon from monster hunter) but im struggling to figure out how to run the encounter. most of my boss encounters tend to be underwhealming due to seriously metamaxxed players ( i have said no to alot but they are experienced players who know how to cheese their characters) im used to winging it and it works out but figured id reach out to hopefully make an unforgettable fight any tips? Thanks
Use a dragon with a swim speed and have it attack the boat from underneath -- all that deck-based artillery will be useless.
Or have it be working with saguhin (I'm pretty sure I'm spelling that wrong) and their pet sharks. The dragon is flying above breathing, while the saguhin are on the deck forcing the PCs to split their attention, and not just letting them plink away with the ballista.
Have the dragon (or its minions) attack the ship itself, so the characters need to make repairs to it instead of attacking -- if someone has a carpenter's tool proficiency, this will be their time to actually use it.
The overarching thing is to remember the action economy. The party gets five actions (or however many PCs there are), while the dragon gets 1 (plus maybe some legendary actions). The deck is stacked in favor of the party. You need to find ways to either force the party to use their actions on something other than attacking the dragon or give the dragon some allies to boost the bad guy's number of actions, or both.
i was thinking of doing it like that but have it sort of like a staged battle with phases. like first one them finding it/ weakening, then move on to combat with tentacles on the ship and trying to activate the big dragonator to deal big damage and weaken it then phase 3 were it either attempts to escape or goes all out. but i really like the repair and minion idea im definatly going to use that.
If you want a battle with stages you can use a mythic trait such as with the mythic kraken Tromokratis. There is also the options of multiple forms or segments strategy using different stat blocks like Auril from rime of the frost maiden.
It's also worth noting that with ship combat, UA or saltmarsh ships have crew which are required for them to function and can be killed. The ship can also be damaged and require repairs. There are also special ship actions and siege weapons which require multiple actions to fire. There is allot to keep the party busy.
There are many options such as surrounding the ship with tentacles that each get an attack and have a health pool. Then bringing up a head later for the final fight. If you want to encourage siege weapons you could make the main body resistant to damage not from siege weapons or AOE effects due to it's ludicrous size. You could also choose to just run tromokratis. He has an interesting mechanic of only dieing after you trigger his mythic trait and destroy all his hearts. There are also some environmental effects which may be fun to run like Storm of vengeance, Tsunami or Control water to mix up the fight and add some dangers other than creatures. There are other natural hazards to consider from tasha's as well.
Basically:
The minions can be part of the kraken
The ship and damage to it and its crew can be a hazard beyond the kraken
The environment and ocean itself can be a hazard
The kraken can be mythic or multi formed
You can make damaging the kraken a puzzle by favouring some kinds of attacks over other using resistance and immunities
Edit: I also forgot that range is also an option, a long range attacks like say the elder tempest's howling gale would also favor siege weapons if there is some barrier to getting close like the environmental hazards I mentioned earlier. Think a giant dragon head coming from an immense whirl pool or releasing massive waves pushing the ship back while it blasts a long range lightning laser at the ship.
i was thinking of doing it like that but have it sort of like a staged battle with phases. like first one them finding it/ weakening, then move on to combat with tentacles on the ship and trying to activate the big dragonator to deal big damage and weaken it then phase 3 were it either attempts to escape or goes all out. but i really like the repair and minion idea im definatly going to use that.
Just be careful not to let it feel too much like phases, or they’ll think they’re playing a video game. I’m the sense that it can feel contrived, like why didn’t the second thing come out while the first one was happening?
im definatly not going to do that. or atleast try not to. my players normally derail things pretty quick so i have to figure stuff out on the dime. but im also best at winging so chances are im going to have to scrap half my ideas. fingers crossed though il let you know how it goes if they get to it tomorrow or not. lot of other crap going on while they wait for the ship to be retrofitted.
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im trying to set up a ship battle type encounter to fight a massive creature. the party has outfitted the ship with cannons, ballista and a dragonator ( giant rotating harpoon type weapon from monster hunter) but im struggling to figure out how to run the encounter. most of my boss encounters tend to be underwhealming due to seriously metamaxxed players ( i have said no to alot but they are experienced players who know how to cheese their characters) im used to winging it and it works out but figured id reach out to hopefully make an unforgettable fight any tips? Thanks
Use a dragon with a swim speed and have it attack the boat from underneath -- all that deck-based artillery will be useless.
Or have it be working with saguhin (I'm pretty sure I'm spelling that wrong) and their pet sharks. The dragon is flying above breathing, while the saguhin are on the deck forcing the PCs to split their attention, and not just letting them plink away with the ballista.
Have the dragon (or its minions) attack the ship itself, so the characters need to make repairs to it instead of attacking -- if someone has a carpenter's tool proficiency, this will be their time to actually use it.
The overarching thing is to remember the action economy. The party gets five actions (or however many PCs there are), while the dragon gets 1 (plus maybe some legendary actions). The deck is stacked in favor of the party. You need to find ways to either force the party to use their actions on something other than attacking the dragon or give the dragon some allies to boost the bad guy's number of actions, or both.
i was thinking of doing it like that but have it sort of like a staged battle with phases. like first one them finding it/ weakening, then move on to combat with tentacles on the ship and trying to activate the big dragonator to deal big damage and weaken it then phase 3 were it either attempts to escape or goes all out. but i really like the repair and minion idea im definatly going to use that.
If you want a battle with stages you can use a mythic trait such as with the mythic kraken Tromokratis. There is also the options of multiple forms or segments strategy using different stat blocks like Auril from rime of the frost maiden.
It's also worth noting that with ship combat, UA or saltmarsh ships have crew which are required for them to function and can be killed. The ship can also be damaged and require repairs. There are also special ship actions and siege weapons which require multiple actions to fire. There is allot to keep the party busy.
There are many options such as surrounding the ship with tentacles that each get an attack and have a health pool. Then bringing up a head later for the final fight. If you want to encourage siege weapons you could make the main body resistant to damage not from siege weapons or AOE effects due to it's ludicrous size. You could also choose to just run tromokratis. He has an interesting mechanic of only dieing after you trigger his mythic trait and destroy all his hearts. There are also some environmental effects which may be fun to run like Storm of vengeance, Tsunami or Control water to mix up the fight and add some dangers other than creatures. There are other natural hazards to consider from tasha's as well.
Basically:
Edit: I also forgot that range is also an option, a long range attacks like say the elder tempest's howling gale would also favor siege weapons if there is some barrier to getting close like the environmental hazards I mentioned earlier. Think a giant dragon head coming from an immense whirl pool or releasing massive waves pushing the ship back while it blasts a long range lightning laser at the ship.
Just be careful not to let it feel too much like phases, or they’ll think they’re playing a video game. I’m the sense that it can feel contrived, like why didn’t the second thing come out while the first one was happening?
im definatly not going to do that. or atleast try not to. my players normally derail things pretty quick so i have to figure stuff out on the dime. but im also best at winging so chances are im going to have to scrap half my ideas. fingers crossed though il let you know how it goes if they get to it tomorrow or not. lot of other crap going on while they wait for the ship to be retrofitted.