Building an mindflayer boss fight for a D&D 3.5 game.
Party consists of five level 6 characters:
Elan Psion (shaper)
Azurin Psychic Warrior
Human Crusader (spiked chain based)
Human Swordsage (shadow hand based)
Gnoll Totemist
This is going to be a big boss fight (CR 9).
I want to use a mindflayer (psionic variant) with grimlock minions.
Ideas:
The party is sneaky, so it might be a good idea to give the mindflayer the Mindsight feat from Lords of Madness.
The party can dish out a lot of damage, so I also need to make the mindflayer tough.
Maybe swap out Improved Initiative for Psicrystal Affinity (nimble personality) and give the psicrystal the Mind Sight feat.
Then I can swap out one of the mindflayer's level 2 powers for Share Pain and do the Vigor +Share Pain+Psicrystal combo.
Larval Flayers is a flavorful power, and it could add a second wave of minions to the encounter when the grimlocks are knocked out, but it is kind of a weak power and a waste of power points. What I may do instead is give the mindflayer a Dorje of Larval Flayers and points in Use Psionic Device so it has something to do when its power points are all gone.
The grimlocks can get Thrall Bred instead of Track, and some other feat instead of Alertness since the mindflayer already has that covered.
Terrain will have features that impair visibility, such as fog or darkness, since none of the monsters need to be able to see.
Suggestions?
>>47649364
i-is thatsemen???
>Obligatory don't play 3.5
As a DM, you can change the Mindflayer however you want. Feel free to give them at-will Larval Flayers if you're worried that you'll need to sacrifice any power overall for fluff. Also, it seems the party is heavily melee. Use things like pits and copious amounts of difficult terrain.
>>47649364
Some more specific questions for all of you:
Should I use just four grimlocks, or two grimlocks with templates?
If the psicrystal has the same skills as its master, then can the psicrystal use a dorje?
I'd like to give the mindflayer tentacle extensions from The Illithiad, but I can't find stats for those in Lords of Madness. Any ideas?
My campaign has wand chambers from Dungeonscape adapted into dorje chambers. If the psicrystal can't use a dorje, I may put dorje chambers in the mindflayer's tentacle extensions. And maybe stick some poison wells and weapon augment crystals on there for good measure. What's a good way to fit that into the gear budget?
>>47649442
>>Obligatory don't play 3.5
3.5 is actually pretttyfunwith Psionics and Tome of Battle.
>>47649442
Good idea, anon.
Murky pools of water would be appropriate.
I could have the mindflayer sitting on a raised platform in the middle of a underground lake where it can draw line of sight to everyone in the chamber and pick them off with ranged attacks.
Grimlocks around the pool would block any PC's that try to get too close.
>>47649491
I'm one of those DM's that actually bans the PHB.
ToB, XPH, and MoI classes only.
How many grimlocks are you going to use op?
It would take 5 base grimlocks to equal out a CR 9 encounter and your players party is overall a 6.8. putting it right at point where it goes from Extremely Difficult to Impossible.
Consider knocking it down to three grimlocks with 2 levels of warrior, giving the mindflayer nothing beyond basic kit and the CR will still be 9 and the grimlocks will be more of a challenge while not being blasted to oblivion in round 1.
Also probably want to have the mindflayer in difficult terrain, making it hazardous to try and take him out first and also a slightly higher challenge.
Also note that this should be a very difficult fight and should have used a bit of resources but not have them run dry for the day.
>>47649402
It's just squid juice.Yes.
>>47649721
Three sounds good.
I don't mind the grimlocks getting bumped off quickly as long as it buys the mindflayer some time to do something cool. Again, I intend of on having the mindflayer generate waves of Larval Flayers throughout the fight to serve as reinforcements. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to go about that. I could just straight-up give the mindflayer at-will Larval Flayers, as suggested. If I want to play it by the rules (so I don't have to put up with one particular player groaning) I could give the Linked Power feat, and have the mindflayer use the Larval Flayers power linked to something else every round.
Working on an appropriate treasure for this.
1,668gp for three CR2 grimlocks...
6,800 for one CR8 mindflayer...
...The party could really use a boat at this point. Stormwrack has stats and prices.
Should I give out a boat as treasure for this? Or should I give out enough gold for the party to buy a boat of their choice. Hmmm...
>>47651030
Use mythweavers treasure generator, subtract any equipment from the base gold rewarded and convert 90% of the rest to gems, wands or scrolls.
There is never any reason why monstrous enemies should have large amounts of regular coin unless they just killed someone or it is a quest hook.
>>47651134
Got it.
In that case, maybe give the grimlocks breastplates and falchions since they are supposed to be like elite guards for the mindflayer.
Put the mindflayer in some masterwork silk swaths because it's flavorful, but pin a least augment crystal of deflection to the silk swaths in case one of the PC's pulls out a bow.
That will leave about 5933gp for 'potions and wands' (or dorjes, psionic tattoos, power stones, and shards since I'm using XPH) and 660gp on gems.
Thanks, anon!
>>47651528
How about this:
Three psionic tattoos of body purification worth 300 each, worn on the grimlocks
One dorje of larval flayers worth 4,500gp, held by the mindflayer
Two shards +5 worth 250gp each and three shards +1 worth 50gp each in a pouch on on the mindflayer's belt
660gp worth of gems in the water, plus 3gp worth of odd coins of different denominations
Sounds good?
>D&D 3.5
>>47649364
God damn it op.... now I need more pictures of slutty mindflayers
>>47651770
Memes aside, 3.5 is almost a different game entirely with Psionics, Tome of Battle, and Incarnum.
>>47651798
Yeah, it's actually pretty fun.
I've been running as a swords & planets + wuxia setting, similar to Dark Sun + Oriental Adventures.
>>47651788
Here you go, anon.
>>47652888
uuuuuuuhhhhhhhh yeeesssssssss...
Thats the good stuff
>>47649442
How about the obligatory "go drink whatever you find beneath your sink"?
>>47649402
Possibly, It's implied in that setting that those squid things they have on them were men they seduced and turned into those things.
>>47649442
How many more years will you be butthurt?
>>47652888
Mmmm, that's nice. Got anymore?
>>47649364
mind yourself, shoggoth-chan
I may not be the best drawfag on 4chan, but I give you...
>>4653133
I love playing 3.5. I was just pointing out how people always flock to these threads to complain about the system.
>>47649364
She crafted that living artifact dress after a campaign in the underdark.
>>47652888
>>47649364
>>47653949
I'm loving it.
>>47649364
>>47652888
>>47653949
mindflayer dress is best dress.
