I am running Tyranny of Dragons. We are at the Well of Dragons, and Tiamat has begun to appear - i.e. the ritual is complete. I have one character who's wife was killed in his backstory, and given to him as his warlocks familiar by his god. This warlock asked me about the following:
This is a Temple. It has walls that can be destroyed. I have like, 8 spells slots that I can use Shatter with. Could I use shatter, and bring the whoe temple down on me, the portal to Avernus, and Tiamat, thus preventing Tiamat from entering by forcing her back through the portal and destroying the temple? This goes with my character, as I would tell Jenai I would be with her soon, and then bring the whole thing down on me after teling the rest of the party to run.
MY question is two part.
1) Is this feasible, and how best could I do it(keep running initiative order and allow him to do 1 shatter per round, also allowing the heads of Tiamat to continue to appear? Allowing one massive confluence of spells in one round?)
2) If feasible, would you as DM's allow it?
We meet in 4 days, so feedback by then would be helpful. Thanks!
It's generally a DM call whether things not addressed in the adventure will be effective. I would probably say no -- the temple is not made of mundane stone and is probably a bit too durable to collapse with shatter spells (earthquake might do the job, if it can be maintained for long enough).
1) Technically, yes, it is completely raw. If the walls are segmented into 10 by 10 feet large objects, they would have 27 (5d10) HP each. The spell does need to use an action, so he’s pretty limited by both time and resources. The best way to run it would probably be having Tiamat slowly emerge and have a few heads attempt to attack the party, this forces the Warlock to focus on destroying the temple or help their party fight.
2) Frankly, it’s a very big maybe, it’s something that I may structure an entire fight around. But here’s another question, how does he have 8 spell slots worth of Shatter spells, a Warlock typically has 4 at most.
1) Do you want it to be feasible? Do you think his proposed solution is a good way to end the campaign?
2) I would do the following:
a) Require set up that involves the rest of the party - e.g. they have to find weak points in the temple.
b) Have combat erupt and threaten the warlock (e.g. one of two head of Tiamat appear and try to kill the warlock) so the rest of the party have to protect him to finish the job.
c) Create a really cool Chase scene for the rest of the party trying to escape the temple (perhaps accompanied by cultists/enemies also fleeing).
1) Technically, yes, it is completely raw. If the walls are segmented into 10 by 10 feet large objects, they would have 27 (5d10) HP each.
A 10'x10' area of wall of stone has 180 hp and is only 6" thick.
I was using object rules, unless the temple was built using that spell, I think it would be unlikely for something that small to have that much health.
What is the timing of shattering all of the walls? Is it simultaneous or does he need to do multiple spells so only a single wall at a time will fall?
As the DM it is is your choice if it is destroyed. If one wall falls at a time it is possible that the collapse is not complete enough per spell and the end result is no damage to the portal.
It is also possible, that the creators of the portal/temple/etc. considered that if the temple collapses, the portal is still functional. There could be an invisible shield/inner wall/etc. over the portal so the building collapse will not affect the portal, just make a mess to reach the portal.
The meanest thing is to have the temple collapse, burn spell slots and the portal is still functioning.
The above are reasons to not let the portal be damaged, as mentioned, it is the DM call.
The sourcebook itself says that damage to the temple could stop the ritual/cause it to fail. At this point though the ritual is complete and Tiamat is emerging.
I was using object rules, unless the temple was built using that spell, I think it would be unlikely for something that small to have that much health.
I'm pretty sure that's just normal for stone walls. It's the same 30 hp/inch for mighty fortress.
I would not allow it - honestly whats the point of the BBEG if you banish it - this to me smacks of the same kind of thinking its get around a thing without actually playing the encounter.
I am running Tyranny of Dragons. We are at the Well of Dragons, and Tiamat has begun to appear - i.e. the ritual is complete. I have one character who's wife was killed in his backstory, and given to him as his warlocks familiar by his god. This warlock asked me about the following:
This is a Temple. It has walls that can be destroyed. I have like, 8 spells slots that I can use Shatter with. Could I use shatter, and bring the whoe temple down on me, the portal to Avernus, and Tiamat, thus preventing Tiamat from entering by forcing her back through the portal and destroying the temple? This goes with my character, as I would tell Jenai I would be with her soon, and then bring the whole thing down on me after teling the rest of the party to run.
MY question is two part.
1) Is this feasible, and how best could I do it(keep running initiative order and allow him to do 1 shatter per round, also allowing the heads of Tiamat to continue to appear? Allowing one massive confluence of spells in one round?)
2) If feasible, would you as DM's allow it?
We meet in 4 days, so feedback by then would be helpful. Thanks!
It's generally a DM call whether things not addressed in the adventure will be effective. I would probably say no -- the temple is not made of mundane stone and is probably a bit too durable to collapse with shatter spells (earthquake might do the job, if it can be maintained for long enough).
1) Technically, yes, it is completely raw. If the walls are segmented into 10 by 10 feet large objects, they would have 27 (5d10) HP each. The spell does need to use an action, so he’s pretty limited by both time and resources. The best way to run it would probably be having Tiamat slowly emerge and have a few heads attempt to attack the party, this forces the Warlock to focus on destroying the temple or help their party fight.
2) Frankly, it’s a very big maybe, it’s something that I may structure an entire fight around. But here’s another question, how does he have 8 spell slots worth of Shatter spells, a Warlock typically has 4 at most.
A 10'x10' area of wall of stone has 180 hp and is only 6" thick.
I was using object rules, unless the temple was built using that spell, I think it would be unlikely for something that small to have that much health.
What is the timing of shattering all of the walls? Is it simultaneous or does he need to do multiple spells so only a single wall at a time will fall?
As the DM it is is your choice if it is destroyed. If one wall falls at a time it is possible that the collapse is not complete enough per spell and the end result is no damage to the portal.
It is also possible, that the creators of the portal/temple/etc. considered that if the temple collapses, the portal is still functional. There could be an invisible shield/inner wall/etc. over the portal so the building collapse will not affect the portal, just make a mess to reach the portal.
The meanest thing is to have the temple collapse, burn spell slots and the portal is still functioning.
The above are reasons to not let the portal be damaged, as mentioned, it is the DM call.
The sourcebook itself says that damage to the temple could stop the ritual/cause it to fail. At this point though the ritual is complete and Tiamat is emerging.
I like the chase/fight their way out idea! Thank you!
I'm pretty sure that's just normal for stone walls. It's the same 30 hp/inch for mighty fortress.
I would not allow it - honestly whats the point of the BBEG if you banish it - this to me smacks of the same kind of thinking its get around a thing without actually playing the encounter.
While I agree to a point, I do like the idea. And there WAS a way to avoid this fight within the context of the premade adventure so...