Pimp my Naga

[Kalendraf]

I'm trying to pimp/tweak/etc an encounter featuring either an evil Naga (Dark or Spirit) serving as a guardian. This encounter will be for a 9th level party. Without making any changes, I fear this fight will be too easy. I'd prefer it was a decent challenge instead of a simple 1 to 2 round kill. Here are the details:

Rules:
3.5 core books only

Room info:
The Naga's chamber is approximately a 25' diameter circular room. The main entrance/exit consists of a long (100' or so) set of 45 degree stairs leading up from this chamber at one end. At the opposite side of the chamber is a door.

Motive:
The Naga serves as a guardian. Anyone coming down these steps who doesn't call out the correct password in advance is assumed to be an intruder. The naga is devout, serving his masters without hesitation, and will even sacrifice himself to prevent anyone from passing. It's spell list will reflect this as it attempts to neutralize multiple enemies quickly.

Encounter details:
Most likely, the Naga will be on alert (thus not caught sleeping), but only receive about 2 to 3 rounds of advance warning as the intruders descend. Thus, the number of buff spells it will have time to activate is fairly limited.

Stats:
Choose which Naga. The stats of the Naga will be the same as found in the monster manual. The Dark Naga features a better Dex and Int score, but the Spirit Naga is clearly stronger.

Feats:
Up to you. (Alertness and Combat Casting are probably good choices, but perhaps there's something else worth examining. No craft feats please)

Skills:
Up to you (spot, listen and concentration are likely to remain the most important, but feel free to mix it up).

Spell list:
Up to you (lightning bolt or fireball are likely choices to catch characters on the steps, but what other nasty spells can it use in case characters survive that initial blast?)

Equipment:
Up to you, but with these limits: Dark Naga has 2400 gp to work with while the Spirit Naga has 3200 gp

Tactics:
Up to you.

 

[Simplicity]

Easy-fo-sheezy.

Spirit Naga

Wait for the characters to come a ways up the corridor... Then Stone Shape. Stone Shape is a 3rd level Cleric spell, meaning that a Spirit Naga can cast it. Say bye-bye to 17 steps (if they're a foot tall each, or 34 steps if they're each a half-foot tall). Typical configuration, with heavy fighters in front turns the heavies into boulders that crush the poor weak spell-slingers of the party.

Once the adventurers start trying to climb the steps... Animate rope. This is real fun. It's ranged and there's no saving throw. Anyone climbing the rope gets attacked by the rope itself (entangled).

Follow that up with some nice, cheap cauldrons of boiling oil at the top of the stairs. 45 degrees is pretty steep. Oil would give some nice burns and make climbing pretty difficult.

A fireball for those who remain persistant.

A summon bat swarm spell can hamper movement as well as deal with those players who think they can just fly over this little obstacle (no spider swarms... there's burning oil on the floor after all...).

Oh yeah, and we've also installed a TV, so your Naga can defend its lair in style.

........ Actually I just re-read your description of the room... The stairs go DOWN into this room? Ah, well... The Naga's dead. Might as well cast lightning bolt at its own head.

 

[Al'Kelhar]

I'm trying to pimp/tweak/etc an encounter featuring either an evil Naga (Dark or Spirit) serving as a guardian. This encounter will be for a 9th level party. Without making any changes, I fear this fight will be too easy. I'd prefer it was a decent challenge instead of a simple 1 to 2 round kill.

Apart from the bit about core 3.5 rules, I'd use a bone naga from Monster Manual II. A CR 11 undead beastie formed from the remains of a dark naga, with the spellcasting ability of a 14th level sorcerer.

For a "normal" naga, to avoid a 1-2 round kill against 9th level characters, you need to put them at a disadvantage. The 100' of steps down into the room should be trapped; a simple slide trap with a spiked pit at the bottom is fine. Use grease spells to make things extra-slippery.

Avoid melee combat; the naga should be up in the air - either magically or simply on a platform above the floor. Nagas are snakelike so can climb and/or swim (even if not in the stats, I tend to house rule this one; snakes are excellent swimmers and climbers). Have it entwined around a 20' high pole in the middle of the room, or have the room full of water. With a 10' reach, it could strike from above or out of the water without having to expose itself to retaliation. In short, establish a battlefield which enhances the naga's abilities and confounds two-legged humanoids.

The naga can cast shield, to protect it from magic missiles and give it better AC against the arrows inevitably shot its direction. Etc.

I've forced a party of 6 8th level characters to retreat from a single banelar (a naga-like monster from Monsters of Faerun) before, largely because of its positional advantage. I can send you the set-up if you're interested.

Cheers, Al'Kelhar

 

[Derulbaskul]

(snip) A CR 11 undead beastie formed from the remains of a dark naga, with the spellcasting ability of a 14th level sorcerer. (snip)

In other words, it's at least CR 14 but the MMII got it wrong. Serpent Kingdoms has the bone naga as a template (as it should have been in that great mass of turgid dreck which is MMII) plus the new illustration, um, doesn't blow chunks like the one in MMII.

As for actual encounter, what is the naga guarding? If it's a religious site then it might be appropriate to have an unhallow spell tied to sanctuary or similar. I would also make sure that the naga has both wind wall (stop missile attacks) and shield (stop magic missile attacks) and possibly have the room wardedby walls of (greater) dispel magic.

In terms of tactics, transmute rock to mud from a scroll of item is probably the best way of causing the party maximum grief in minimum time.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

In a previous campaign we fought a naga (I don't know what kind of naga it was,) and the encounter was made significantly more difficult by the fact that the naga was perched atop a large (30' diameter base) cone, and the naga cast a Wall of Fire in a circle around the base of the cone. So to attack it, we had to pass through the Wall of Fire then manage to balance ourselves on the 45 degree incline long enough to attack it. Suffice it to say, our fighter-types were having difficulty, as the wizard had only prepped a single casting of Fly.

On the other hand, the encounter was really fun, because it used Balance checks, which allowed character who'd put ranks into Balance to really shine. It also gave the rogue a chance to put that +30 Jump check to good use, as she simply Jumped over the Wall up to the naga, attacked, then Spring Attack/Jumped away again.

Ah, good times. In any case, I suggest the cone. It's simple, and yet the quandary it presents is a good one. It can be circumvented by good skill checks or spells, but cannot be outright dispelled since it's not a magical effect at all. And the Wall of Fire if your naga can cast it.

 

[Piratecat]

I read the title of this thread and my first thought was "Where's Hong when you need him?"

Want to freak out the PCs? Imagine that the underfloor of the room is riddled with small tunnels, with a tunnel exit in every 5' square. These dip and twine so that a fireball dumped in one won't travel very far. The naga uses these to pop up, cast or attack, and then vanish again. Even better it could turn invisible, rise up, make an illusion of itself on the far side of the room, then cast an area effect spell at the PCs when they use their readied action to attack the illusion. . .

 

[Kalendraf]

Thanks for the responses. I agree that the room itself was not very defensible for the naga. I am going to change up the layout somewhat, although the fact that the room is below previous areas can't really be changed. Room size, addition of doors and landings is the type of changes I can make at this point. Here's what I'm considering:

The original stairs down lead to a landing (30 feet long) which end at a door. The door leads to the naga chamber. The landing has some kind of silent alarm (magical or mechanical) and the door is both locked and trapped. All of these are intended to slow up the party enough to give the Naga time to prep spells. As for the spell on the door, I'm still debating that. My initial idea is a glpyph of warding that casts web, silence or summon III whenever the door is opened. Other ideas are welcome.

The room itself is still approximately 25' in diameter, but the floor drops down in a series of 5' terraces as you approach the opposite side. There's a raised platform in front of the far door which is at the same height as the entry doorway on the opposite side of the chamber. The platform is supported by a column which the naga can climb (Thanks to Al'Kelhar for that idea). There's also a rope ladder that the naga can lower to allow allies to climb, but at the moment it's not deployed. From below, the platform provides cover to the naga as well.

I'm going to use a Spirit Naga. I'll probably just go with the default feats & skills. The spells I'm considering are these:

1st - Mage Armor, Shield, Shield of Faith, Protection from Good, Magic Missile
2nd - Scorching Ray, Silence, Web
3rd - Lightning Bolt, Protection from Energy

With advanced warning, the naga will have time to raise all of its defensive spells. The question then is what spell it will cast first at the party. Enemy casters are likely to be the largest threat, so it needs to deal with them quickly if possible. That makes a strong case for silence being the first spell. However, it's also the least damaging spell in his arsenal. Web would be useful to trap characters in the landing and set them up as easy lightning bolt targets on the following rounds. Characters avoiding the web and entering the chamber will be targets for scorching ray (2 rays at 7th) or magic missile (4 missiles at 7th level). Anyone within the chamber will need to contend with the naga's gaze as well. Characters who manage to fly or climb to the platform will be subject to the Naga's bite attacks. The protection from good will hedge out any summoned creatures from hitting the naga.

I considered resist energy instead of protection from energy, but at this level a typical elemental spell deals 9d6 fire/lightning/cold/etc which makes protection a vastly superior option. Allies of the naga will have given the naga some basic info regarding any spells they've seen cast by the party in previous fights, so the naga can easily choose the logical elements to defend against.

With these changes, I'll be surprised if the naga dies in just 1 or 2 rounds. Further suggestions are still welcome.

 

[Gothmog]

If this area is lower than the rest of the complex, then have it be flooded by 4-5 feet of brackish water. This gives the naga a HUGE advantage over the PCs, as it can hide and have total concealment, while still popping up to cast spells, then vanishing underwater again. In addition, the PCs movement will be severely hampered, limiting their tactical abilities.

 

[Kalendraf]

Any ideas for what items to equip the naga with? Options are probably things like hats/crowns and lenses for the head and maybe necklaces. Most other equipment just doesn't easily conform to their body, although I could see something like a tail-ring, I guess.

I was considering a +1 hat (or crown) of charisma (1000 gp), and a +1 amulet of resistance (1000 gp), but that won't use the entire 3200gp available to the naga. Not all of it needs to be spent though, and any left over will get combined into another treasure.

 

[Kalendraf]

If this area is lower than the rest of the complex, then have it be flooded by 4-5 feet of brackish water.

There are areas below this one, but it may make sense to have the very bottom of this room filled with some water.

This gives the naga a HUGE advantage over the PCs, as it can hide and have total concealment, while still popping up to cast spells, then vanishing underwater again. In addition, the PCs movement will be severely hampered, limiting their tactical abilities.

I think I'll keep the naga up on the top of the platform. Just having water at the bottom of this room below the platform might scare the PCs somewhat, as they wonder "what's down in the water?"