So, here's the deal. I've been thinking about trying out some monsters I'd never get to use in my actual games in some wild one off encounters. The ones I've been eyeing in particular are the greatwyrms from Fizban's. Thing is, with a CR of 27, if I were to trust the calculator(s) I'm using, not even my usual party of five would be able to challenge one with an full level 20 party. So how are you even supposed to fight those? What kind of party make up should you have? I know there are epic boons and such, but even then I'm not 100% sure if that would tip the scales back into order. Anyone familiar with fighting creatures at that CR?
At this level, you need to consider what the monsters CR comes from, and what it can do to invalidate PC abilities. Similarly, you need to consider the PCs abilities vs the monster.
For example, if you're DMing a group like mine, where every character has a magical weapon of one form or another (whether it's inherent from monk abilities or hexblade, or whether it's an actual item), then the CR for something which has immunity to nonmagical damage needs to drop - that ability will do nothing unless they drop their weapons!
Another thing to consider is whether the characters main methods of attack will work - for example, a barbarian raging and running at the enemy will not be very good against a flying enemy, so that ups the CR. If the enemy relies on being a tank and soaking up damage then a high damage output party will walk all over it. If the monster relies on charming the enemy, then a party of fey-ancestry races will do better than a party which is susceptible to charming.
Finally, consider more than just a "you were walking in the long grass, music plays, Fight!" kind of encounter. A CR27 greatwyrm which is trying to catch a helpless person riding a flying horse is going to be dissuaded more than outright fought. It might breathe fire as a parting remark, and this might leave the players thinking "wow, it's a good job we didn't try to kill that!". Giving he monster a motive and something to distract it is a good option to make a combat encounter less of a slugfest. Stopping the tarrasque from attacking the city is a more interesting and achievable encounter than just killing it!
So, here's the deal. I've been thinking about trying out some monsters I'd never get to use in my actual games in some wild one off encounters. The ones I've been eyeing in particular are the greatwyrms from Fizban's. Thing is, with a CR of 27, if I were to trust the calculator(s) I'm using, not even my usual party of five would be able to challenge one with an full level 20 party. So how are you even supposed to fight those? What kind of party make up should you have? I know there are epic boons and such, but even then I'm not 100% sure if that would tip the scales back into order. Anyone familiar with fighting creatures at that CR?
At this level, you need to consider what the monsters CR comes from, and what it can do to invalidate PC abilities. Similarly, you need to consider the PCs abilities vs the monster.
For example, if you're DMing a group like mine, where every character has a magical weapon of one form or another (whether it's inherent from monk abilities or hexblade, or whether it's an actual item), then the CR for something which has immunity to nonmagical damage needs to drop - that ability will do nothing unless they drop their weapons!
Another thing to consider is whether the characters main methods of attack will work - for example, a barbarian raging and running at the enemy will not be very good against a flying enemy, so that ups the CR. If the enemy relies on being a tank and soaking up damage then a high damage output party will walk all over it. If the monster relies on charming the enemy, then a party of fey-ancestry races will do better than a party which is susceptible to charming.
Finally, consider more than just a "you were walking in the long grass, music plays, Fight!" kind of encounter. A CR27 greatwyrm which is trying to catch a helpless person riding a flying horse is going to be dissuaded more than outright fought. It might breathe fire as a parting remark, and this might leave the players thinking "wow, it's a good job we didn't try to kill that!". Giving he monster a motive and something to distract it is a good option to make a combat encounter less of a slugfest. Stopping the tarrasque from attacking the city is a more interesting and achievable encounter than just killing it!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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