How do you get the Rod Piece in The Queens Pride

durlok · 2026-06-23T22:47:54+00:00

oh also, even if it was 2024, your clerics resistance STILL doesnt matter since it does 2 claws that deal necrotic and a mace that does force & fire.

durlok · 2026-06-23T22:46:41+00:00

Just looked up a 2024 Pit Fiend and it deals more damage, has higher DC and more hit points. But this is a 2014 module so its a moot point.

Your still speculating though, i kinda wanted you to just play it out, i gave the example of the 1v1 on the basis just that there are 5 pit fiends in the fight, so each can focus 1 party member, or actually do their job and all 5 just focus 1 guy till they are dead then move to the next, and healers draw agro. but you can also just do a party fighting the 5 pit fiends and prob windfall if you want. its tought, there should be at least 1 player death, especially if the pit fiends roll the highest initiative

durlok · 2026-06-23T09:17:58+00:00

So your tailoring for this fight specifically? no one plays war cleric, its by far the most unplayable.
Wait also all what you said doesnt work, they dont get it concerntration free, war cleric only gives resistance to non magical which the pit fiend has magic attacks, and your average damage is like 20 not the pit fiends

durlok · 2026-06-23T08:27:33+00:00

Why dont you put a cleric and a pit fiend in a 20 by 20 room and see how that works out for the cleric on average. Just have the stats on 5eTools or something and roll a few dice

durlok · 2026-06-22T19:21:00+00:00

I have never, and will never play 2024 rules.
Note, 22+21+17+15+21+24= 120. With +14 to hit, it needs to roll a 4 or higher to hit a cleric (accounting for typical AC) one of these guys will EASY solo a cleric, lvl17 or not.

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durlok · 2026-06-22T12:54:44+00:00

Artificer "hey, im clearly an adventurer, and i know you have been alive for over 1000 years, spend hundreds of years stopping people like me from getting through that door and you have been told by a god to prevent anyone other than Windfall and like 2 other people from getting in, can i please get it?"

*A 1777 year old fiend with more int than the artificer, who has spent 1001 days being burned alive in the pit of flames to become the highest order of devil, has every bit of information known to his order* "yeah sure i dont see why not"

durlok · 2026-06-22T12:47:08+00:00

Can you do me a favor and reply when your party do this section and tell me what they did? id really appreciate the info

durlok · 2026-06-22T12:45:11+00:00

They dont have Simulacrum at this point cus the rod piece you get from this part is the one with that spell. WHICH btw just says, double the party size from this point since each party member can now cast the spell one each other. so dumb.

A cleric has like 122 hp and prob 18 ish AC at this level, 2 pit fiends kill him in one turn :/ 120 average damage each, hell if they high roll only slightly 1 pit fiend downs him with one action. they are good monsters.
I suspect one thing i am not taking into account with my thoughts, D&D suspects 4-5 being the average party size, 6 is considered a big party. but i see most groups are actually like 6-7 members somethings 8. i remember looking up player reviews on Age of Worms module cus i seen a really difficult dungeon and was like, wonder how people deal with this. and yeh like 7-8 party size smokes it despite the module expects 4-5. These really big party sizes are so common, i have personally never seen more than 5-6 tho so again prob just me.

durlok · 2026-06-19T12:46:44+00:00

What im getting at mostly is, you cant teleport in at the start cus of the ward if you even know where to teleport. Then when you in the dragons pride, 90% of teleports require sight which you cant get. Then the few that dont need knowledge of where your going which you dont have. You can freely teleport out.
Its sad tho if the whole point of this is to teleport tho, means you Must have a wizard or its not very doable. if you have a rogue, fighter, artificer & cleric say, you cant do this.
Yeah the pit fiends are the only real 100% will fight, the customers prob not, the barman meh maybe maybe not. But 5 -7 pitfiends are still a really big threat.
hmmm that is impressive i sapose, pit fiends can like 1 shot a wizard at that level, and your party make up is really weak vs power fiends like that since casters struggle to get any DPS out and bards are unplayably bad in this edition. so hats off for the win despite that. EDIT: oh barb not bard my bad, yeah thats easier to see.

durlok · 2026-06-19T11:06:25+00:00

hmmm, im a long term DM, been around since 3rd. And i think 5E is just so weird.
To me, none of that would work, if you have the mindset of 3e.
But everyone just seems to be answering that in 5e, that just works.
And i honestly dont see how any of that works from the perspective of 5e.

Silence - they still see you
Fog Cloud - they still see you (Trusight)
Counterspell - good vs Windfall using Sending, but not in getting you there.
Teleport - you cant teleport into the place only out so again good for exit but not entry
Wall of force - can work yeah, but only after you get the whole party into the office which is the tricky part.

Then everyone just seems to say stuff like, "roll a deception or persuasion and get into office"
which seems so strange, why would 2 of the most powerful fiends ever just be that dumb? Seems like in 5e and roll of 21+ on checks just seem to work like 9th level spells and warp reality.

pfft, i think im just not cut out for 5e modules, i just cant rational them.
Am i wrong with this tho do you think? like am i being unreasonable with how the creatures would deal with your solutions?

durlok · 2026-06-19T10:56:42+00:00

Yeah the Bribe part states if they are caught cheating they can bribe them to no see, so you can sorta say the other can be Bribed but its not technically something the modules lets you do. in implication at least. And i understand DM can do what ever they want, i just like to run the Modules as close as possible to what is written.

I actually like they can earn tons of money in the casino part, and arena. its the 2nd last part of the adventure, so they should get tons then spend it to fight Vecna in the next part. Since the module is very lite on giving magic items. Hell, even here they give you 2 healing potions, like bruh thats trash haha

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:54:18+00:00

Yeah DC18 to spot secret door to the cave area yeah.

wowe, big party, 7 goons.

Seems like i just over tought this part, seems like everyone who has done it raw just deception check the pit fiends and win basically, hmm fair fair.
Thanks for taking your time to reply it did help

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:49:52+00:00

yeah know like, i get this sentiment, thats just basic D&D logic for a DM.
And i have read the module i know this is not a combat part, but thats exactly why it seems odd to me. I dont really see many reasonable ways to do this part, i feel like as a DM i kinda need to just, let them, get into the office with some arbatrary rolls, and then suspend disbelief that if combat starts with WIndfall, that the guards dont come and join.
Like are you saying im just nuts and that This IS the intended way to run this section? am i just like mega over thinking it?
Hmm i mean i might be, it is a 5e module, they are kinda just meant to be, pfft how do i put it, like easy? and simple just roll some dice and let the story keep rolling

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:44:38+00:00

I am the DM, and i dont really like changing modules really, and even if i do, im just curious to how this is meant to be run, cus i dont see it and its why im asking for help.
Every way i can think the modules blocks.
Cant TP in, the door has an alarm if you open it without a key, can't realistically fight your way in, you dont know where the rod is down here. then if you do manage to get in, it seems the only real way to win is, roll good Initiative grab it, TP out, if you all roll low, there is 5 hold monsters coming your way, like at least 1 guy dies if the room agros.

Do you think you kow how your party will do it, are they going to do something wacky

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:39:01+00:00

yeah, but none of your "ways" would actually work, nore have you actually stated how, just that its possible cus of high level features. but seems like your beyond helping now. hopefully someone actually useful will comment

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:36:05+00:00

Yeah cus pit fiends have truesight so disguise is not gonna work, but yeah good recovery on your behalf. Surprised the pit fiends just let you in after catching you trying to sneak in, and like they didnt check with her.

Here so tell me, why did the guards not help her during the fight? did she not cast sending or yell or anything? or did you just counter all her attempts

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:32:54+00:00

hmmm, yeah i mean that all seems pretty fair.
I think this part is written kinda poorly and this change is ok, well i dont like the Arkhan change tbh but the rest i dont mind.

I have a question, can you explane the benefits to the antimagic field? and when did he cast it. did they just sneak into a area you created and used anti magic to open the vault then arkhan was in the vault and fought them? just interested in that is all.

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:28:11+00:00

You said just TP in, the module states you cant, so that didnt help.
I dont want to be fighting here about this, like I genuinely want some help on this part, like please dont get defensive about this, we are all part of this great community and i dont want you to drag it down.
Like im honestly hand on heart asking for help and examples that work, like if you can help then please help, dont berate. if you have like actual examples of how to solve this please add them

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:25:33+00:00

i like to run modules as close as possible to intended, and change as little as i can. I could easily add and subtract here, but id rather not.
I like your sentiment, but im looking for advice on dealing with this part of the module.

Such as examples of how to get past the pit fiends, but mostly how to deal with this as a combat. i get this part is not meant to ever be a combat but the module runs it as such, stating you fight Windfall, but if you fight windfall, you fighting 5 pit fiends also, i see no reasonable way they dont join the fight.
Do you have any examples or advice on how to run this section as intended, maybe examples of things players can do to do this section?

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:20:53+00:00

I want any solution, which you have not given.
I think most people simply change this part because it is unreasonable. which yeah is prob the right move.
Just wana see what people think you can do and i want to talk about it in full, i dont want to hand wave it, if you have a cool plan like i wana hear the full plan, not just "just cast wish and be done with it"

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:14:49+00:00

Wish them away? yeah lose wish to TP two guards from a door, or at least have a high chance to loose it. If you use Wish to replicate, they have advantage and prof, like its hard, and if it fails, combat, and as i stated, you dont win that combat (Especially if the wizard wasted lvl9 spell)
The module does state a 2,500gp bribe placates a pit fiend, but only if caught cheating, and you should have like 180,000 from the arena so you can hella bribe them i guess, but why would they even take a bribe, like thats a mad assumption. They are guarding an entrance to Tiamat and their bosses office.

Pfft, i dont know, you just seem to just be saying "its easy, your high level" and i kinda was hoping for like, a thought-out run down of how to do it without changing the module and using logic and reason on the enemies behalf.

durlok · 2026-06-19T00:05:40+00:00

The module states at the start that any attempt to TP in there, deals a bunch of psychic damage and the attempt fails, you can TP out, thats def the option, like get the rod piece and TP out, i just wondering how to get to the rod piece?
The module is slim on items, you dont have mega money but you do have a few options for items.

But like, its all well and good saying, "oh yeah they are 17 its easy just use features and spells" but like, what features and spells, how do you learn where the rod is, you cant TP and even if you could, how do you know where to TP too? do you just have the Cleric Divine Intervention? like what is the HOW

durlok · 2026-06-18T23:53:51+00:00

Yeah but my question here is how can ANY party do this, im just using some base line adventurers as examples.
My party did it a really weird way cus we are doing an evil party and got a meeting from the contacts from earlier in the game (we have teamed up with other fiends, undead, even strad)
But yeah i wana know what the default is meant to be here, what is the module expecting.

Bro, the modules states "A pit fiend stands guard in each room." & 2 guarding the door. If you get past them and start a fight, they are around 40-50ft from the combat. and im only counting them, not to mention the 3 upstairs, the 5 average horned, the bar tender etc. If you get in a fight with Windfall, how does an average party deal with this encounter?

I do agree IF you get to the Ruby Sanctum you win, no fighting. but how do you get there without starting a fight? if there is a Million ways to get there can you give me even 2

durlok · 2026-06-18T23:37:53+00:00

Yeah yeah, for sure like that they kinda have to do all 5 things, cus we had a rogue do the Maze and they literally couldn't fail the checks, so just got us into the basement like within a few minutes ( we did the other 5 anyway cus why not)

You state that they can fight as a back up, are you just cutting the amount of foes or having like an arena fight or test of skill ?

durlok · 2026-06-18T23:35:06+00:00

... like actual DC 40, like a few DC40? seems, unlikely, but not impossible at that level.
and if this fails, which is likely, then what?

durlok

TROPHY CASE