The Tarrasque: Unstoppable killing machine?

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This thread I designed for the purpose of discussing whether or not the Tarrasque can be killed.

A little backstory for my killing of the Tarrasque. One day I decided to test out the Tarrasque's abilities, so I got together the five people I knew who had 20+ level characters, and gave them a quest (as DM) to find out what had happened to a nearby kingdom recently gone silent.

They traveled together, seeing nothing but absolute carnage, in the wake of a beast that not even the well-traveled ranger could identify. All attempts at scrying failed, so the party had to continue on not knowing what they would face. Eventually, they caught up to the mighty Tarrasque.

The bard died quickly, followed after a time by the ranger and finally the cleric, who had been too busy healing the warriors to do much himself. The brave paladin fought the now wounded creature to a standstill while the clever mage, disguised as a bush (remember this thing is almost as dumb as a rock ), summoned monsters and 'buffed' the warriors.

The mage recognized the creature from the rare legends of such a killing machine called the Shrike (not very original, but it worked ). He saved his Wish spell, and when the monster finally fell (and got hacked up a bit -> -37 HP) he cast it and Wished the abomination away.

The two remaining heroes found that almost the entire kingdom had been ravaged by the Tarrasque, and the royal family was dead. With nothing left that they could do, they reported back to the king who had given them the quest. They mourned their comrades and continued with their lives, eventually ascending to godhood and becoming part of my pantheon.

Unfortunately, this happened about 6 years ago, when I was 15, so I don't remember many names. Now, let the argument begin!

 

Of course it can be killed, as such, it's not unstoppable

 

it IS by far the strongest monster in existance (that's with an 'a' right?) in the world of dugeons and dragons. in my current campaign there was a battle between the waterdhavian guard + my party (3 lvl 11 characters) and an army of drow and beholders. we were winning (i got desintegrated in the first round) and then the tarrasque came and killed us all. remember: if the tarrasque does his tail swipe he can hit dozens of people at the same time! hidden as bush or no, if he hits someone standing ext to you, you're dead as well. in the end, everyone was dead. the tarrasque CAN be killed, but it surprises me that a party of lvl 25 can do that....well.....25 IS lot...

 

Hidden as a bush, about 50-150 yards away from the action as it moved around. The Tarrasque isn't that big. Besides, after the 30th level bard was slaughtered in the second round, I remembered to play the Tarrasque's stupidity (easily confused by illusions, picking random targets, picking new targets before the first ones are dead, etc.) and that's what gave them a chance.

And who's this idiot that sicced a Tarrasque on 11th level characters? I guarantee you that it was not part of his original plan, and he just wanted to punish you for winning a battle you were 'supposed to' run away from. Either that, or he's just an ass.

 

no it's all part of a campaign; we keep travelling back in time to try and stop halaster from summoning it in the first place....very difficult to explain...and if you're 30th level, you are already titans on yourself, and if there are 6 of you....yeah then it's possible...very possible even

 

Well, I said 20+ level. I think the ranger was 21st, and the cleric was 24th, so the average level would be 25/26. The bard wasn't much help aside from absorbing the initial blows, either. Also, the five characters were developed in other people's campaigns.

I think what most DM's neglect (myself included at first) is the lack of intelligence and cunning that this monster should display. Most who use it, do so as an ultimate monster who will use its abilities to the greatest effect, almost like the avatar of a powerful god.

 

<I sneak peeks around the forum for any of my D&D buddies. Finding none, I cautiously post.>

Well, I'll keep this in mind when I unleash this baby in my campaign. My first DMing will be interesting, to say the least. A party with no cleric? Three magic-users? <insert Ogre Mage laugh>

From what I recall from the MM, the Tarrasque can't be 'killed', per say. The best a party can hope for is to whack down its non-lethal damage total (hit points + 10 = 867?) and use Wish to wish it the heck outta there. I rolled up a monk NPC as part of the plot for my campaign and let me tell ya, she doesn't have to out run the Tarrasque. She just has to outrun the party. Though a 20th level monk can outrun the Tarrasque.

 

Interesting and short.

From 2nd ed. MM:

It starts with 300hp and regenerates 1hp per round. They had to do 380+ damage before the wish.

 

actually, now that kuemper mentioned it, i think i read that the wish wouldn't kill it but send it to another plane

 

The way I heard it is that if the Tarrasque is hurt enough, the wish will kill it, but if it's not hurt enough, then all the wish will do is send it away. (Note the words "SLAYING of the Tarrasque" in my excerpt.)

 

Well as a DM I'm very careful with letting the players use the wish spell. It has happened a few times but it has allways backfired. Usually I take some time to think of a loophole to come with a catch to the wish, unless of course there is no doubt in my mind that the character knows what he's doing. So if someone used the wish spell in my game to slay a tarrasque they might just be dealing with a very angry undead tarrasque.

So yeah if I'd be the DM the tarrasque would be unkillable. A friend of mine actually had a campaign where the sole goal for adventurers were to find and kill the tarrasque, and they started at lvl1 from a small village as boys who had just heard an interesting story about a legendary monster. They never found the beast of course but from what I've heard it was a funny campaign.

 

here are the 3E stats for the tarrasque:

Tarrasque


Size/Type: Colossal Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 48d10+594 (858 hp)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 35 (-8 size, +3 Dex, +30 natural), touch 5, flat-footed 32
Base Attack/Grapple: +48/+81
Attack: Bite +57 melee (4d8+17/18-20/×3)
Full Attack: Bite +57 melee (4d8+17/18-20/×3) and 2 horns +52 melee (1d10+8 ) and 2 claws +52 melee (1d12+8 ) and tail slap +52 melee (3d8+8 )
Space/Reach: 30 ft./20 ft.
Special Attacks: Augmented critical, frightful presence, improved grab, rush, swallow whole
Special Qualities: Carapace, damage reduction 15/epic, immunity to fire, poison, disease, energy drain, and ability damage, regeneration 40, scent, spell resistance 32
Saves: Fort +38, Ref +29, Will +20
Abilities: Str 45, Dex 16, Con 35, Int 3, Wis 14, Cha 14
Skills: Listen +17, Search +9, Spot +17, Survival +14 (+16 following tracks)
Feats: Alertness, Awesome Blow, Blind-Fight, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack, Toughness (6)
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 20
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 49+ HD (Colossal)
Level Adjustment: —

The tarrasque is 70 feet long and 50 feet tall, and it weighs about 130 tons.

The tarrasque cannot speak.
Combat

The tarrasque attacks with its claws, teeth, horns, and tail.

The tarrasque’s natural weapons are treated as epic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Augmented Critical (Ex)

The tarrasque’s bite threatens a critical hit on a natural attack roll of 18-20, dealing triple damage on a successful critical hit.
Frightful Presence (Su)

The tarrasque can inspire terror by charging or attacking. Affected creatures must succeed on a DC 36 Will save or become shaken, remaining in that condition as long as they remain with 60 feet of the tarrasque. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Improved Grab (Ex)

To use this ability, the tarrasque must hit a Huge or smaller opponent with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can try to swallow the foe the following round.
Rush (Ex)

Once per minute, the normally slow-moving tarrasque can move at a speed of 150 feet.
Swallow Whole (Ex)

The tarrasque can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of Huge or smaller size by making a successful grapple check. Once inside, the opponent takes 2d8+8 points of crushing damage plus 2d8+6 points of acid damage per round from the tarrasque’s digestive juices. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by dealing 50 points of damage to the tarrasque’s digestive tract (AC 25). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out. The tarrasque’s gullet can hold 2 Huge, 8 Large, 32 Medium, 128 Small, or 512 Tiny or smaller creatures.
Carapace (Ex)

The tarrasque’s armorlike carapace is exceptionally tough and highly reflective, deflecting all rays, lines, cones, and even magic missile spells. There is a 30% chance of reflecting any such effect back at the caster; otherwise, it is merely negated. Check for reflection before rolling to overcome the creature’s spell resistance.
Regeneration (Ex)

No form of attack deals lethal damage to the tarrasque. The tarrasque regenerates even if it fails a saving throw against a disintegrate spell or a death effect. If the tarrasque fails its save against a spell or effect that would kill it instantly (such as those mentioned above), the spell or effect instead deals nonlethal damage equal to the creature’s full normal hit points +10 (or 868 hp). The tarrasque is immune to effects that produce incurable or bleeding wounds, such as mummy rot, a sword with the wounding special ability, or a clay golem’s cursed wound ability.

The tarrasque can be slain only by raising its nonlethal damage total to its full normal hit points +10 (or 868 hit points) and using a wish or miracle spell to keep it dead.

If the tarrasque loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 1d6 minutes (the detached piece dies and decays normally). The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump.
Skills

The tarrasque has a +8 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.


do keep in mind that it has been weakened a bit since 2E; in 2E it would regenerate 40hp every round and how you could manage to do 800 damage that way....i still say the 2E tarrasque is nigh impossible

 

Weakened my a**!! That guy is more than twice as tough as the 2e Tarrasque! Here is the entire page 339 of the Monstrous Manual 2nd edition:

[ July 12, 2005, 19:54: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

 

I got to thinking about this and came up with a really weird scenario concerning the use of Wish.

1) It is said that the Tarrasque is dormant for 4d6 years (or so), then wakens and feeds for 1d4 weeks (or so).

2) Wish spells are notorious for needing 'proper, precise and specific wording'.

With the above two statements in mind, I think what a Wish spell actual does is put the Tarrsque in its dormant stupor, inwhich it heals up, somewhere else in Faerun.

Just some thoughts.

 

The wording I think you're supposed to use is something like, "Keep it dead forever." Once you get it down to -30 hp, it is actually dead. It's teeny-tiny brain stops functioning, and only restarts once it gets up to 1 hp. So, the wish is meant to stop the regeneration process, so that it can never again regain life or consciousness, and you can strip the hide for its various treasures.

 

Excuse me for being snarky, but what 'it'? The person talking to the genie better be pointing to the enormous carcass when that's said.

 

Ah, thou hast finally gotten me.
[OVERACTING] I am stricken! Woe is me! [/OVERACTING]
I was paraphrasing, but it is a good point. The wish spell is rather difficult to phrase, as you want to say enough to make it clear what you want to happen, but not so much that your words can be twisted to some other purpose.

 

true, the dm will always look for loopholes....if you say, "i want to be more experienced" it will summon a couple of golems for you to fight.....be careful what you wish...

 

Wow! Cool critter!

I wonder how does it do against Harm spells. Looking at the 3D edition stats, the touch AC is only 5. So then a priest would only need to get through the spell resistance - which at 32 is high, but with epic penetration it can be done.

Of couse, he also has to get close enough The 36 DC will save needed might prove tough

With a wizard, I'd try a Weird spell - to take advantage of Ts relatively low Will save. Of course, epic spell foucus in Illusion would be needed - which I think it is pretty rare for wizards.

So, does this monster appear in any AD&D based computer game so far? it would be an interesting challenge

 

The whole idea of this critter is that it's virtually unstoppable. Even though it's only got animal intelligence, that doesn't mean it won't fight smart; if it's too badly hurt, it might run, and it will use every weapon it has to its advantage. It does know how to fight, after all...

Just imagine a bear waking up from hibernation; it's hungry, aggressive and dangerous. Now, if that bear is 50-70ft long and the size of a 5-storey building, and you don't have some serious artillery at your disposal, you need to get the hell away from it. After it eats everything in sight, it goes back to sleep for a while.

IMO, this sort of thing is not meant to be killed. It's meant to be there as something which you should really just turn and run when confronted by. Giving it stats and numbers just means it is quantifiable.

Besides, unique stuff like Mr T is a license for a DM to do whatever the hell they like. You're not restricted to only doing what the book says, after all. The Tarrasque is meant to be an enigmatic destroyer (a bit like FF's Galactus, IMO) - it doesn't matter how or why it's here, it's like a big stupid dog that won't stop eating and will kill and eat whatever it sees. It's not evil; it's just hungry.

Of course, even if it is killed, what happens next? If I was DMing a game with this thing in it, the real question would be finding out what the Tarrasque really is. What created it? If it's naturally occurring, then how would this upset the balance of nature? Hack-&-Slash approaches to this monster miss the point, IMO; there's much more interesting adventure to be had in the origins and consequences of the monster.

True, but do you really want to give this critter an attack of opportunity on you? Besides, RPing it, there's no way in hell I'd let that thing close enough to me to do any damage, much less try to hit it with a touch attack!