Topic: Tower/Stargazer Help with Uravulon Calcidius' Attacks [Spoilers!!]

I'm running "Tower of the Stargazer" for friends tomorrow and could use some help.

I haven't used D&D style magic in a while (and was never that good with the use of magic in combat as a GM in years past), so I'm looking for some help with Sir Uravulon Calcidius.

Caldicus has the following spells remaining:
1. Charm Person, Magic Missile, Magic Missile, Sleep
2. Invisibility, Levitate, Mirror Image
3. Dispel Magic, Fly
4. Improved Invisibility, Protection from Normal Weapons
5. Conjure Elemental
6. Death Spell

If the PCs free him, what is the optimal spell to shoot off first? And/or what is the strategy for using Calcidus' spells to effectively take down the party. There are many options, and I'm simply not as good a wizard as Calcidius is. What would be his thinking if he gets the chance to be free and angrily takes the party out?

Thanks!

Last edited by CK! (2013-12-22 00:31:08)

Re: Tower/Stargazer Help with Uravulon Calcidius' Attacks [Spoilers!!]

CK! wrote:

I'm running "Tower of the Stargazer" for friends tomorrow and could use some help.

I haven't used D&D style magic in a while (and was never that good with the use of magic in combat as a GM in years past), so I'm looking for some help with Sir Uravulon Calcidius.

Caldicus has the following spells remaining:
1. Charm Person, Magic Missile, Magic Missile, Sleep
2. Invisibility, Levitate, Mirror Image
3. Dispel Magic, Fly
4. Improved Invisibility, Protection from Normal Weapons
5. Conjure Elemental
6. Death Spell

If the PCs free him, what is the optimal spell to shoot off first? And/or what is the strategy for using Calcidus' spells to effectively take down the party. There are many options, and I'm simply not as good a wizard as Calcidius is. What would be his thinking if he gets the chance to be free and angrily takes the party out?

Thanks!

I think it depends on what the party looks like to him (amateurs? veterans packing magical weapons?)

His best bet will be Protection from Normal Weapons first, then to focus on killing the spellcasters with the Death Spell and Magic Missiles.  Once they're dead, he can focus on the fighter-types with Sleep and Conjure Elemental.  If the fight is still going on when his protection wears off, he can Fly (if they aren't using missile weapons) or become Invisible to avoid being attacked.

My players discovered the servant's journal and so they were well-informed by the time they met him (and didn't let him out, of course).  I'd be interested to hear what your players do!

Re: Tower/Stargazer Help with Uravulon Calcidius' Attacks [Spoilers!!]

ahhh the old spell list. (the reprint will just list how many spells per level, to be generated by the individual Ref)

But of these...

Crunk's got a good strategy, but I'd think that if the party is looking/acting like novices, then he could start off with Sleep and maybe take the whole party down at once.

Re: Tower/Stargazer Help with Uravulon Calcidius' Attacks [Spoilers!!]

I guess it depends on how impatient the wizard feels.  Sleep is a good fight-ender, but it can be particularly risky, especially if there are more than a few of the PC's.  Protection from Normal Weapons would be a lot safer of a bet to hedge on, but it wont protect him from getting grappled.  Personally, I'd start with Improved Invisiblity, which he could then escape and try to even the odds with Conjure Elemental.  Then, once reingaged, try to buy some time with Mirror Image followed by Sleep to disrupt their number, and use Death Spell to take out the biggest threat.  Charm Person the last guy to get him to help clean up the bodies.

Last edited by islan (2013-12-22 02:25:05)

Re: Tower/Stargazer Help with Uravulon Calcidius' Attacks [Spoilers!!]

Honestly, unless the PCs have a few levels each and/or there's just a LOT of them, it shouldn't really take more than one Magic Missile to basically end the fight. That's 13d4 divided any way he wants among the party with no attack roll and no save. If anyone is still standing, they should be sufficiently motivated to beat a hasty retreat.

IMHO, what order you do his spellcasting in is more determined by how angry you think he should be at the party. If angry enough, go for the kill with magic missile right off the top.

Re: Tower/Stargazer Help with Uravulon Calcidius' Attacks [Spoilers!!]

My players were dumb enough to start shooting at him, but smart enough to try to wrestle with him after, making it a close fight. He killed them all in the end, but the wrestling made it impossible for him to cast most of his spells without getting interrupted.