Im planning an encounter where the party will partake in a tournament/event of sorts to be able to talk to the queen after succeeding. The whole thing will go down in a Colosseum. The event itself will include gigantic beasts of all different sizes and strengths, but only if you take the biggest down will you be allowed to meet and talk to the queen afterwards.
For this fight im planning to place a bunch of ballistas on towers in the arena. Their objective will be: restrain the creature. For this to succeed they will need to keep the towers in tact and distract the creature in the right way.
For this i need a creature that is as large as they come. It also needs to be something they can't fight normally as a party of 5 level 8 PCs. I want them to learn to coordinate and to strategically play together taming a wild beast. Since later on the real boss fight is supposed to happen in this same arena. The boss they'll be fighting may be humanoid but he will effectively be an unstoppable beast and this way i want to give them a chance.
So my question is this: which creature would you recommend? I want something thematically similar to a tarrasque but not even close to that difficulty/stats. Something closer to a CR of 17-22.
Oh yeah and important is that it does not have a flying/burrowing speed. Only having a swimming speed could be arranged but wouldn't be preferred.
I'm fry, and I make doodles. That's why they call me FRY DOODLES. Also no pressure but check out my YouTube channel (Fry Doodles) Soli Deo Gloria(Sed servus eius crustulum vult) I'm a disabled, neurodivergent, artsy dumpster fire, and somewhat of a clown. But, I'm also god's favorite princess and the most interesting girl in the world. Crafter of Constellations, vocaloid enjoyer, waluigi’s #1 fan, space alien, your favorite pretty boy, and certified silly goose
Just to kinda clarify, are the PC’s in the ring with this monstrosity, or are they trying to snare it with the ballistas you mentioned? Also, what about a creature with either flying or burrowing but restricted by snares, chains, or weights? I’ll admit I’m not sure about how to prevent burrowing except by having bolted plates across the whole floor. Or underneath it, with 20 foot deep earth tamped on top.
Dragon Turtle or Dragon Tortoise, as mentioned above. Below average movement, good AC, tons of hit points, massive size and reach weapons, plus a breath weapon to punish poorly planned positioning. Tortoise is from Candlekeep Mysteries, CR 17, but is really just the same thing. The turtle is better because it has a swim speed and a better recharge on its breath weapon (5 or 6 on 1d6, vs 6 on 1d6)
I really do want to recommend either a Frost Worm (from Explorers’ Guide to Wildemount) or a Purple Worm. The obvious difficult is that not only CAN they Burrow, but that they NEED to Burrow, to actually earn their CR. The best recommendation I have is to layer the absolute bottom of the Coliseum with massive metal plates, with 20 feet of earth on top of that.
The Goristro is a wondrous brute. No ranged attacks but it can punish PCs that keep their distance with its charging gore. It’s AC and hit points are bolstered by good Saving Throws, Resistances, and Magic Resistance.
Again, I actually feel Dragons work perfectly so long as you bind and chain or otherwise clip their wings (and even potentially put heavy chains attached to blocks on their body to restrict their movement). Change out their Wing Attack for a Sweeping Tail Attack that does mostly the same thing.
All said and done, I probably recommend the Dragon Turtle (good call @Varek_Cellarbrew) or the Goristro as both of those most perfectly fit your requirements. Be aware that even with really good builds and their superior action economy, any of these could very quickly turn the fight into a TPK with some unlucky rolls for a group of 8th level characters. You can also be an evil jerk and have the terrain be difficult or include things like sinking mud in places. A Dragon Turtle encountered in ankle to thigh deep mud, with pits of sinking mud here and there. Now *that* sounds terrifying.
Maybe a colossus of akros? Or a Kraken? Polukranos? A Zaratan? Or, like the others said, a Dragon turtle could work too.
The Colossus of Akros is also a good one, and it’s Immunities are as suggestive as anything of something unstoppable. It’s one CR past at 23 but it doesn’t exactly deal disgusting damage or have anything close to absurd health when compared to the Dragon Turtle or Goristro (which are still the recommendations I stand with). That’s a well known issue in 5e: monsters only get better by a hairs breadth every CR past 20 (or even a little below). It’s one of the reasons the official Tarrasque is looked down on with disgust. It’s far too easily dispatched by 20th level PC’s, when the DMG and the Monster Manual both very clearly say a creature of that CR should destroy them.
I'm doing a Coloseum fight with players going against a Shadow Hag. She's a ruler in the City, and is the "announcer" . So here's the thing. I'm aiming for a Roman Coloseum. Ie- environment hazards.
In first round, there will be 2 "lazy susan" areas that will activate individually once a creature or player gets onto it. Looks like normal dirt until it rotates randomly based on die rolls. Yup. Your range is gonna change.
Second round? I'm adding in PacMan style teleport doors. Toss a spell sideways into the door to get targets, or step through and teleport to other side.
Third and final round? Time bubbles. Area of effect like 30ft. Random effects like "your arrows/magic take effect next round". Or, " you get a bonus action for free." I'm keeping this to either a d4 or d6 for effect, to keep it easier for me to handle as a DM. Random effects to be determined.
Keeping with the theme? I'm using Displacer Beasts (themed like the Cheshire Cat), Time Mephits, Phase Spiders, and a Chronomental.
They survive each round? They get healed to full before next round. Keep the Spectators happy! Keep the Crowds Cheering? They get +1 to everything. Upset the crowds? -1 to everything.
End battle is the Shadow Hag getting REALLY upset, and jumping in herself to finish the party. IF she can.
Im planning an encounter where the party will partake in a tournament/event of sorts to be able to talk to the queen after succeeding. The whole thing will go down in a Colosseum. The event itself will include gigantic beasts of all different sizes and strengths, but only if you take the biggest down will you be allowed to meet and talk to the queen afterwards.
For this fight im planning to place a bunch of ballistas on towers in the arena. Their objective will be: restrain the creature. For this to succeed they will need to keep the towers in tact and distract the creature in the right way.
For this i need a creature that is as large as they come. It also needs to be something they can't fight normally as a party of 5 level 8 PCs. I want them to learn to coordinate and to strategically play together taming a wild beast. Since later on the real boss fight is supposed to happen in this same arena. The boss they'll be fighting may be humanoid but he will effectively be an unstoppable beast and this way i want to give them a chance.
So my question is this: which creature would you recommend? I want something thematically similar to a tarrasque but not even close to that difficulty/stats. Something closer to a CR of 17-22.
Oh yeah and important is that it does not have a flying/burrowing speed. Only having a swimming speed could be arranged but wouldn't be preferred.
hmmm
Home brew blights.
make up your own
my favorite is the sundew blight (my creation)
I'm fry, and I make doodles. That's why they call me FRY DOODLES. Also no pressure but check out my YouTube channel (Fry Doodles)
Soli Deo Gloria(Sed servus eius crustulum vult)
I'm a disabled, neurodivergent, artsy dumpster fire, and somewhat of a clown. But, I'm also god's favorite princess and the most interesting girl in the world.
Crafter of Constellations, vocaloid enjoyer, waluigi’s #1 fan, space alien, your favorite pretty boy, and certified silly goose
You could go with a Dragon Turtle/Tortoise
Just to kinda clarify, are the PC’s in the ring with this monstrosity, or are they trying to snare it with the ballistas you mentioned? Also, what about a creature with either flying or burrowing but restricted by snares, chains, or weights? I’ll admit I’m not sure about how to prevent burrowing except by having bolted plates across the whole floor. Or underneath it, with 20 foot deep earth tamped on top.
All said and done, I probably recommend the Dragon Turtle (good call @Varek_Cellarbrew) or the Goristro as both of those most perfectly fit your requirements. Be aware that even with really good builds and their superior action economy, any of these could very quickly turn the fight into a TPK with some unlucky rolls for a group of 8th level characters. You can also be an evil jerk and have the terrain be difficult or include things like sinking mud in places. A Dragon Turtle encountered in ankle to thigh deep mud, with pits of sinking mud here and there. Now *that* sounds terrifying.
Maybe a colossus of akros? Or a Kraken? Polukranos? A Zaratan? Or, like the others said, a Dragon turtle could work too.
The Colossus of Akros is also a good one, and it’s Immunities are as suggestive as anything of something unstoppable. It’s one CR past at 23 but it doesn’t exactly deal disgusting damage or have anything close to absurd health when compared to the Dragon Turtle or Goristro (which are still the recommendations I stand with). That’s a well known issue in 5e: monsters only get better by a hairs breadth every CR past 20 (or even a little below). It’s one of the reasons the official Tarrasque is looked down on with disgust. It’s far too easily dispatched by 20th level PC’s, when the DMG and the Monster Manual both very clearly say a creature of that CR should destroy them.
I'm doing a Coloseum fight with players going against a Shadow Hag. She's a ruler in the City, and is the "announcer" . So here's the thing. I'm aiming for a Roman Coloseum. Ie- environment hazards.
In first round, there will be 2 "lazy susan" areas that will activate individually once a creature or player gets onto it. Looks like normal dirt until it rotates randomly based on die rolls. Yup. Your range is gonna change.
Second round? I'm adding in PacMan style teleport doors. Toss a spell sideways into the door to get targets, or step through and teleport to other side.
Third and final round? Time bubbles. Area of effect like 30ft. Random effects like "your arrows/magic take effect next round". Or, " you get a bonus action for free." I'm keeping this to either a d4 or d6 for effect, to keep it easier for me to handle as a DM. Random effects to be determined.
Keeping with the theme? I'm using Displacer Beasts (themed like the Cheshire Cat), Time Mephits, Phase Spiders, and a Chronomental.
They survive each round? They get healed to full before next round. Keep the Spectators happy! Keep the Crowds Cheering? They get +1 to everything. Upset the crowds? -1 to everything.
End battle is the Shadow Hag getting REALLY upset, and jumping in herself to finish the party. IF she can.
Overlap the circles!!! It becomes REALLY fun!!!