Balrog (er Balor) combat

richard d wrote:
> A bit of advice needed.
>
> My little party of characters of approx 12th level are now face to face
> with one of these. Shame - but they brought it on themselves.

OK, unless they have a great escape plan or really, really planned
ahead somehow they are all dead. I have a party of mixed 12-15 and
they ran into a Balor who, in passing, just about killed them all. The
Balor wasn't interested in them and they did their best to keep out of
his way but at one point he chopped at one who was trying to run away
(but within reach) and rolled a crit (Balor's have vorpal swords)...

Heck, the Firestorm it can do can very possibly take out most of a 12
level part all on its own.

I suppose you could have it toy with them a bit and then lose interest
and just leave them after ripping a few limbs off and grabbing some of
their more interesting magic items or something.
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Sea Wasp wrote:
> Lorenz.Lang.RemoveThis@gmx.de wrote:

> > We're both blind - or correct and they really can't Plane Shift.
>
> So you just fix it so they can. That's what being a GM is *FOR*.

Well, that's one use for being GM. And given 666+ layers of the abyss,
each one infinite in extent and the chaotic nature of the inhabitants,
one might reasonably assume that some Balors can plane shift and that
those are the ones most often encountered on the material plane.
Alternately those on the material plane may be those with an "Amulet of
the Planes", "Cubic Gate", or "Obsidian Steed", note that Obsidian
Steeds probably tend to accumulate in the lower planes anyway and are
well within the expected treasure value of a Balor, but Cubic Gate is
far more effective for dragging others off to the Abyss.

> Demons from another plane HAVE to be able to go home, don't ya think??

None of the demons and Devils in the SRD except Bebiliths have plane
shift, and Bebiliths don't play well with other demons. I assume this
is deliberate to explain why the material planes aren't flooded with
fiends. Only it doesn't work since one ally with gate (or demon with a
one cubic gate, or a few demons with obsidian steeds and a bit of time)
can let as many of them through as it wants to, and they can clearly
manage to get at least one ally. The reason material planes aren't
flooded is that the more powerful fiends prefer to stay where they are.

But the lack of Plane Shift doesn't stop them from getting home if they
are stuck on the material plane.

Balors have minions. Notably they have Glabrezu who can cast wish as a
spell-like ability, BtB they can only do that for humanoids, but it
should be easy to offer a mortal something where he'll let the wish
help the demon go home. "Tell him to wish I was back where I came from
or I will kill you painfully" just sort of leaps to mind as a way to
get home.

Alternately any level 9 cleric can get you home, and the average level
9 cleric has no chance at all vs. a CR20+ Balor if he doesn't do what
the Balor tells him to. In summary, any Balor who can't get home isn't
really trying.

Or maybe almost all the really powerful demons know the name of someone
they can summon who does have an Obsidian Steed, you summon him, use
the steed to go home, and then return it.

DougL
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richard d wrote:
> A bit of advice needed.
>
> My little party of characters of approx 12th level are now face to
> face with one of these. Shame - but they brought it on themselves.

I hate to get all thespian here, but what's its motivation?

Why is it there, how did they bring it on themselves, and what is it trying
to accomplish?

If it has no interest in the party, maybe it just hits them with one of its
area-effects, then teleports off to get on with its much more important
business. If they've done anything whatsoever to piss it off, then it kills
them.

If it's annoyed with them, but really in a hurry, it teleports out, but
summons another Balor first.

--
Mark.
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drow wrote:
> Alien mind control rays made Mark Blunden <markATmarkdb.plus..com.DeleteThis@address.invalid> write:
>> I hate to get all thespian here, but what's its motivation?
> it's a demon. chaos and destruction.

Have another one port in to rend chaos and destruction, and have the PC's smartly and
quietly slink away.
--
"... respect, all good works are not done by only good folk. For within these Trials, we
shall do what needs to be done."
--till next time, Jameson Stalanthas Yu -x- <<poetry.dolphins-cove.com>>
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David Alex Lamb wrote:
> In article <1146870745.410182.216120.RemoveThis@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> DougL <lampert.doug.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:

> >None of the demons and Devils in the SRD except Bebiliths have plane
> >shift, and Bebiliths don't play well with other demons.
> >...
> >Balors have minions.
> >...
> >Alternately any level 9 cleric can get you home
> >...
> >Or maybe almost all the really powerful demons know the name of someone
> >they can summon who does have an Obsidian Steed
>
> Interesting, but I'd be inclined to add a restricted 'only-to-go-home' plane
> shift for greater demons. Maybe not usable for a short time after being
> gated.

Have to be careful not to wreck planar binding and all the adventures
that depend on demons who are trapped for some reason. Make it a ritual
with a casting time of 24 hours that any outsider with 6 or more
outsider HD can use and it doesn't work unless you are free to move
about on your current plane and not in an area bared to dimentional
travel.

Heck add a 100GP material component and I'd let anyone use it, "Oh yeh,
everyone knows if you crush a pearl while saying 'there's no place like
home' you appear in a random spot on your home plane, shame most of the
material plane is covered by water".

DougL
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Re: Balrog's motives:

(A little Tomb of Horrors spoiler here)
..
..
..
..
..
..
The characters in Tomb used the cursed wishing gem to cause a mummy
they were fighting to spontaneously combust. It did, and out of the
flames this creature stepped out.

It's motivation - I think it's quite happy to leave most of them to the
Demi Lich, but it'll grab the twit who made the wish and take him away
plus this rather powerful angel character who's trailing along with the
party.

Richard
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