My players are currently on the road to see Tasha and ask her for her boon or fight her? The problem is I don't know how to build her. The only thing I can think up for her is that she is a hexblood and she would know any spell with her name in it? Please help me with this build. :)
She would exceed character options, so don't just stat her as a lvl 20 Wizard. She also has access to a ton of Legendary magic items and has alliances with Demon Lords and mythical beings. She wouldn't be alone... she'd likely have several demons at her command that could appear in an instant if the party attacks her. She would definitely know all of her own spells, plus probably most necromancy and conjuration spells.
If you've played Dungeon of the Mad Mage, the Mad Mage himself is Halaster Blackcloak... he's a CR 23 human spellcaster, so if you have his stat block that would be a good base to build someone like Tasha from.
As I recall, Mordenkainen is deliberately de-powered for story reasons in that module (I haven't played it, just had it described to me). I feel like, if he had full access to all his resources and abilities, he'd probably be much more powerful.
D&D3.5 has her at a CR 30, so I would base it around that.
Personally, I would start her with the archmage statblock as a level 1 character and build her as you would a PC. Then modify further to reach the desired CR rating (CR 30 or not).
As Iggwilv, she appears in the 3.5e Savage Tide adventure series as a CR 30 wizard 26/archmage 4. Aside from a ton of magic items, she has access to epic level magic and dark speech, which allows her to do awful demonic things. I'd start with an archmage with a focus on conjuration, then add in some features common to demons including their resistances. She also has a unique spell allowing her to conjure an aspect of Graz'zt. The key with Iggwilv is that she's razor sharp and always prepared. She has a slew of teleportation abilities, contingency spells that counter harmful effects, and a contingent resurrection spell. She'd also conjure an army of demons if she's expecting a fight.
As I recall, Mordenkainen is deliberately de-powered for story reasons in that module (I haven't played it, just had it described to me). I feel like, if he had full access to all his resources and abilities, he'd probably be much more powerful.
Yup. He appears in the 3e Epic Level Handbook as a 27th-level wizard. If it were up to me, I'd have given him archmage levels. He has access to epic-level magic and his stat block more or less says that he has access to every known spell up to 9th-level.
Her spellbooks will be the same as the mad mage but TCoE spells as well as the PHB and any spell with her name on it: 1st to 3rd level at will and anything else 3/day or 5/day
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Chromatic (Red) Dragonborn Sorcerer, the best matchup in the game #5e
My players are currently on the road to see Tasha and ask her for her boon or fight her? The problem is I don't know how to build her. The only thing I can think up for her is that she is a hexblood and she would know any spell with her name in it? Please help me with this build. :)
It could be fun to make a master of tasha's spells. For an encounter I think she needs a powerful introduction so what I would do is something like this:
I would probably start the encounter with her appearing angelic as per Tasha's Otherworldly Guise perhaps a check during the conversation reveals can reveal angelic persona to be a deception using magic. If combat breaks out this illusion is dispelled and she reverts to her witch form. If the party angers her and she initiates combat then she makes a threat that isn't funny but the whole party is effected by tasha's hideous laughter.
As for running her in combat. I think she makes sense to be a two stage fight. The first form being a witch form and the second form being a demonic form as per Tasha's Otherworldly Guise which I would probably just bake into the stat block. I'd build it off the Iggwilv the Witch Queen so it would be two back to back cr 20 encounters as so.
In the first form she has a powerful version of [Tooltip Not Found] and hideous laughter at will as a legendary action. Her attack combo would probably be using the caustic brew either as a recharge ability, a minion doing it or one of her attacks and then she casts a spell. In combat she'd use hideous laughter to prevent attacks on her self by pre-empting players turns and maybe also try to further punish failed saving throws on her cauldron with it by disabling characters. The igwilv stat block also has things like at will invisibility and a teleport which are also good ways for her to defend herself round by round using legendary actions. Minions would probably be animated objects.
In the second form she becomes more demonic, flies and uses [Tooltip Not Found] probably a two and a spell. To set the tone the first round they'd have a fear effect either a fear aura or the dark speech ability from the witch queen stat block . There may be a mechanic like she opens a gate to summon demons which continue to come until she is defeated or she uses her abyssal rift ability from the with queen stat block replacing the cauldron. It also overall would be more offensive with damaging spells as opposed to illusions ect... minions would obviously be demons
here are some quickly made stat blocks as examples
I wouldn't run the encounter to the death. When defeated Tasha would revert to human and trap herself in an impenetrable barrier to talk or visa versa with the party. If she initiated the combat because they angered her they can be polymorphed into animals and you can do an animal escape sequence modeled after this free adventure except they make the potions to revert themselves https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1058-free-adventure-play-as-familiars-and-undo-a . You can also end the combat at any time with a strategy like this if it seems to be dragging on, you run out of time or players seem to lose interest.
All of that should make Tasha pretty memorable as an encounter.
My players are currently on the road to see Tasha and ask her for her boon or fight her? The problem is I don't know how to build her. The only thing I can think up for her is that she is a hexblood and she would know any spell with her name in it? Please help me with this build. :)
She would exceed character options, so don't just stat her as a lvl 20 Wizard. She also has access to a ton of Legendary magic items and has alliances with Demon Lords and mythical beings. She wouldn't be alone... she'd likely have several demons at her command that could appear in an instant if the party attacks her. She would definitely know all of her own spells, plus probably most necromancy and conjuration spells.
If you've played Dungeon of the Mad Mage, the Mad Mage himself is Halaster Blackcloak... he's a CR 23 human spellcaster, so if you have his stat block that would be a good base to build someone like Tasha from.
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Mordenkainen in Curse of Strahd uses the archmage statblock with a modified spell list
As I recall, Mordenkainen is deliberately de-powered for story reasons in that module (I haven't played it, just had it described to me). I feel like, if he had full access to all his resources and abilities, he'd probably be much more powerful.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
D&D3.5 has her at a CR 30, so I would base it around that.
Personally, I would start her with the archmage statblock as a level 1 character and build her as you would a PC. Then modify further to reach the desired CR rating (CR 30 or not).
As Iggwilv, she appears in the 3.5e Savage Tide adventure series as a CR 30 wizard 26/archmage 4. Aside from a ton of magic items, she has access to epic level magic and dark speech, which allows her to do awful demonic things. I'd start with an archmage with a focus on conjuration, then add in some features common to demons including their resistances. She also has a unique spell allowing her to conjure an aspect of Graz'zt. The key with Iggwilv is that she's razor sharp and always prepared. She has a slew of teleportation abilities, contingency spells that counter harmful effects, and a contingent resurrection spell. She'd also conjure an army of demons if she's expecting a fight.
Yup. He appears in the 3e Epic Level Handbook as a 27th-level wizard. If it were up to me, I'd have given him archmage levels. He has access to epic-level magic and his stat block more or less says that he has access to every known spell up to 9th-level.
I would toss her in a well and see if she floated.
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Her spellbooks will be the same as the mad mage but TCoE spells as well as the PHB and any spell with her name on it: 1st to 3rd level at will and anything else 3/day or 5/day
Chromatic (Red) Dragonborn Sorcerer, the best matchup in the game #5e
oh and I have proficiency with sickles
Also CR 26 - 29 is a good idea as Tasha isn’t as strong as Tiamat.
Chromatic (Red) Dragonborn Sorcerer, the best matchup in the game #5e
oh and I have proficiency with sickles
There is a stat block for iggwilv(Tasha) in WBtW
It could be fun to make a master of tasha's spells. For an encounter I think she needs a powerful introduction so what I would do is something like this:
I would probably start the encounter with her appearing angelic as per Tasha's Otherworldly Guise perhaps a check during the conversation reveals can reveal angelic persona to be a deception using magic. If combat breaks out this illusion is dispelled and she reverts to her witch form. If the party angers her and she initiates combat then she makes a threat that isn't funny but the whole party is effected by tasha's hideous laughter.
As for running her in combat. I think she makes sense to be a two stage fight. The first form being a witch form and the second form being a demonic form as per Tasha's Otherworldly Guise which I would probably just bake into the stat block. I'd build it off the Iggwilv the Witch Queen so it would be two back to back cr 20 encounters as so.
In the first form she has a powerful version of [Tooltip Not Found] and hideous laughter at will as a legendary action. Her attack combo would probably be using the caustic brew either as a recharge ability, a minion doing it or one of her attacks and then she casts a spell. In combat she'd use hideous laughter to prevent attacks on her self by pre-empting players turns and maybe also try to further punish failed saving throws on her cauldron with it by disabling characters. The igwilv stat block also has things like at will invisibility and a teleport which are also good ways for her to defend herself round by round using legendary actions. Minions would probably be animated objects.
In the second form she becomes more demonic, flies and uses [Tooltip Not Found] probably a two and a spell. To set the tone the first round they'd have a fear effect either a fear aura or the dark speech ability from the witch queen stat block . There may be a mechanic like she opens a gate to summon demons which continue to come until she is defeated or she uses her abyssal rift ability from the with queen stat block replacing the cauldron. It also overall would be more offensive with damaging spells as opposed to illusions ect... minions would obviously be demons
here are some quickly made stat blocks as examples
https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/3953631-tasha-the-witch-queen
https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/3953682-iggwilv-the-demon-queen
I wouldn't run the encounter to the death. When defeated Tasha would revert to human and trap herself in an impenetrable barrier to talk or visa versa with the party. If she initiated the combat because they angered her they can be polymorphed into animals and you can do an animal escape sequence modeled after this free adventure except they make the potions to revert themselves https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1058-free-adventure-play-as-familiars-and-undo-a . You can also end the combat at any time with a strategy like this if it seems to be dragging on, you run out of time or players seem to lose interest.
All of that should make Tasha pretty memorable as an encounter.