From: jc@optimla.aimla.com (John VanHoozer)
Subject: Re: Tarresque - Anyone killed one?
Reply-To: jc@optimla.aimla.com (John VanHoozer)
Organization: OptImage Interactive Services Co., L.P.
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 16:26:26 GMT

In article <1992Aug20.124943.28331@watson.ibm.com>, 
royle@highland.manassas.ibm.com (Matthew Royle x4553 highland) writes:
|> In article <1992Aug20.111513.10456@spdcc.com>, pentangl@spdcc.com 
|> (Scott Moir) writes:
|> |> In article <1992Aug19.234212.19759@leland.Stanford.EDU> 
|> |> tremblay@leland.Stanford.EDU (Marc Tremblay) writes:
|> |> >In article <1992Aug19.190028.21199@mcs.kent.edu> adray@Chaos.mcs.kent.edu
|> |> > (Adam Dray) writes:
|> |> >>In article <u894793.714246199@bruny>, u894793@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au 
|> |> >>(Timothy D Little) writes:
|> |> >>|> 
|> |> >>|> I'm interested in knowing if anyone has ever actually killed a 
|> |> >>|> Tarresque in a
|> |> >>|> non-Monty Haul campaign.  Any stories?
|> |> >>
|> |> >>It's a trick question.
|> |> >>
|> |> >>Tarrasques don't exist in non-MH, non-Munchkin campaigns.
|> |> >
|> |> >Hmmm, I'm not sure I agree. Granted, I haven't looked at its specs in
|> |> >a while... But, I think a cleaver/ressourceful party of reasonable
|> |> >level could come up with a clever way of defeating one given adequate
|> |> >preparation time. It would be interesting to see. Obviously, they
|> |> >wouldn't go head to head with it...
|> |> 
|> |> I placed one in a desolate spot in my world just for the sake of placing
|> |> the thing. As it turned out, the party ended up going into the area on
|> |> thier own. 
|> |> 
|> |> They ran into the terrasque and killed it pretty effectively. We discussed
|> |> other ways of doing it and actually found a couple of effective ways.
|> |> 
|> |> The way they did it was that they engaged it in combat while an illusionist
|> |> in the group made a ledge seem further out than it was. The main fighters
|> |> deliberately led it onto the ledge (They went out too) and dropped down
|> |> into a lake. The terrasque drowned. No little terrasques, and no damage to
|> |> regen from.
|> |> 
|> |> They also mentioned using a mirror of entrapment to capture one, and kill
|> |> it off later by dropping it into a volcano or something. Another suggestion
|> |> was to transmute rock to mud under it, then mud to rock and let it starve.
|> |> 
|> |> Scott
|> |> 
|> 
|> 
|>   Those are some pretty good ideas for finishing one... But seriously
|> people, is a Tarrasque really that tough?  I know the stats, roughly, and
|> they arent that big of a deal.  (300 hit points or something, big deal)  I
|> mean, sure they are tough to kill for people of level less than, say, 15, but
|> you should not be fighting them if you are that low of a level.  Although
|> even a group of 2 or 3 15 level characters could probably take one.  Throw
|> a mage, a druid, and a Ranger (15th level mage, 17th level ranger, 13th level
|> druid)  at the Tarrasque and it wouldnt last 5 rounds (well, maybe 5, but
|> not much more)  against them.  If you have ever seen a Druid run *well* you
|> would know that few characters are as powerful as the druid.  And a
|> tarrasque is basically just a lumbering giant, a mage can easily stay away
|> from his attacks, as can a druid.  The ranger can do his damndest to stay
|> out of the way, with help from the mage, then take it out with ranged attacks
|> and a few well placed sword swings... Any monster can be defeated (any normal
|> monster) rather easily by a group of characters that are good at what they
|> do, and very used to working together to defeat things...
|>     -Rastafan Ballista Durskaen, Legion of the Storm, 44th Ranger Battalion
|>  
|>     -Matthew Royle
|>      royle@manvmd1.vnet.ibm.com
|> 
|> 
|> p.s. My character (rastafan) does not play in a monty haul campaign, our DM
|>      is against gold and magic items.  At 18th level (played up from first)
|>      I have seen a total of 4 magic items.... One of which is a weapon that
|>      I carry.  And the same goes for the other two members in our group, and
|>      between us, we have 150 gold coins. (I am 18th, the ranger 20th, and the
|>      druid is 16th level) We have played for a long time and have defeated
|>      some pretty powerful foes, much more powerful than a tarrasque would ever
|>      be...


Well,  I'd have some trouble with that.  The terrasque(?sp?) is, I believe,
a neutral animal.  Why would a druid do anything to harm it when he could
simply cast speak with animals or some other non-destructive spell.

A druid (and to some extent, a ranger) should realize that this is an
animal that is just following it's nature.  It is not a monster and 
I think that the Earth Mother (or whatever) would not find it amusing if
her one, unique, _most_powerful_ animal were to be destroyed.


Just my $0.02


					jc

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