Dragon Encounters

The empyrean is the child of a deity, with all the power and arrogance that implies. Hercules is nothing compared to these guys.

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How to Use an Empyrean – Friendly

When asking an empyrean for help, the key is to flatter him so outrageously that the flattery feels thick enough to take physical form and be spread on bread instead of butter. Then take that level of flattery and increase it sevenfold. It still won’t be enough.

Fortunately, D&D players tend to have a better time acting in an exaggerated way than acting subtly, and at the levels we’re probably talking about, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to carve the empyrean’s head atop the nearest Mt. Rushmore.

(I’d like to give credit for this idea to the web novel Pale, where a girl conjures up two fake dragons to get one pompous guy’s attention. In this case, I suggest going further.)

Oh, and when the empyrean finally deigns to grace them with his presence and agrees to help (probably after making them risk life and limb on a task that he could have accomplished in his sleep), the empyrean will decide how to help.

Protests that they need something else will be irrelevant. They’ll have to figure out how to use what they’ve been given to accomplish their goals. As far as DMing goes, it doesn’t get easier, or more hilarious, than this.

More social encounters

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How to Use an Empyrean – Enemy

Having to fight an empyrean is a totally different subject. These guys make for a boss battle on par with fighting the tarrasque. While they aren’t quite as powerful as the tarrasque one-on-one, an empyrean will start the battle accompanied by allies. Its stats require it.

Before they can fight the empyrean, they have to get the empyrean to want to fight them. If not, plane shift is an automatic escape option that can’t really be blocked. If the empyrean sees that they can counterspell it, he can always fly out of range first.

Important Note:
When deciding whether or not to flee in a situation where you feel the empyrean needs a round to analyze the threat, do not let the empyrean attack while judging the players. As soon as the empyrean fights back, it has committed to fighting, and plane shifting away will look like fleeing.

To preserve dignity, the empyrean would rather spend a round just taking the damage, showing that the players’ best efforts are far beneath its attention and not worth responding to. Then, when it leaves, it will look like it simply can’t be bothered to be there any longer—not that it’s fleeing, G-d forbid.

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Getting the Empyrean to Agree to a Fight

In order to achieve a fight, the players will have to shame it with at least one of the following:

• Humiliation:
  Find something that is sufficiently close to it, then remove that thing. This can be killing a close advisor (hopefully one who deserves it), defacing or destroying a hard-to-reach monument, or stealing a treasure. Whichever they choose, they should be encouraged to do it in a way that will seem as humiliating as possible.

• One-Upmanship:
  The empyrean has a problem, such as a monster threatening people on one of his borders, that he hasn’t managed to deal with. By taking care of the problem and letting people know, the players are stealing adulation that should have been the empyrean’s.

If you like, you could have a second stage prompted by the empyrean.

• The Public Trap:
  Upset by the players’ audacity, the empyrean issues a proclamation that a royal object will be on display, or that a royal ritual will be taking place in such-and-such a location on such-and-such a date. He also lets it be known that if the PCs are so foolish as to interfere, it will be their end. This is an obvious trap, but he’ll look really stupid if the players pull it off anyway.

• The Hero’s Dare:
  The empyrean proclaims that if they really consider themselves heroes, he challenges them to take care of threat X. He won’t sabotage them, as that would admit that he needs to, but he might mislead them in describing threat X, as he “can’t be bothered” to be accurate. He’ll also use this to spy on their capabilities “out of curiosity.”

While matching humiliation with the dare to steal from him, and one-upmanship with taking care of threat X, might seem the most logical sequence of events, you can do it the other way around.

In his humiliation, have him say, “Let’s see if they can deal with a real danger, or if they’re just arrogant gnats.”
Alternatively: “They dared take care of a minor problem, but they would never dare provoke me. This shows that they realize I’m greater.”

The main reason you might want to do it this way is to have two very different scenarios instead of two similar ones.

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Combat Encounter: Pride Before the Fall (difficulty 30)

Stage 1: The Empyrean’s Minions

The empyrean will come accompanied by their minions. Their stat block demands that, and it’s easy to frame it as a king coming accompanied by his servitors without it being a sign of weakness. This is why an empyrean fight should be treated as roughly on par with a tarrasque fight, despite the difference in CR.

If they’re meeting for a prearranged duel, the empyrean’s side will have exactly as many people as the players have. While the empyrean’s allies shouldn’t be as powerful as the PCs, they shouldn’t be pushovers either. When choosing enemies, a variety of different types will be harder than having them all the same. Choose as you think best.

If the empyrean is catching them in a trap or mass arrest, there is no limit to the number of allies he can bring. In this case, a large number of enemies that the players can kill fairly easily will make both the players and the empyrean look good. Keep things simple by using at most two types, aside from the empyrean himself.

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The Empyrean’s Movement

As mentioned above, the empyrean’s defining trait is his arrogance. He will die before he lets himself look weak. This gives him a disadvantage in his movements.

The empyrean will never walk past an opponent that is capable of attacking him, nor will he ever walk around or fly over an opponent. To do so would imply that the opponent he’s moving toward is dangerous to him and needs to be dealt with swiftly.

If he has two enemies in different directions and neither—or both—are near enough to hit him, he’ll choose whichever is best tactically.

He’ll walk instead of flying, as that looks more majestic. He will end his turn hovering slightly above the ground to protect himself from falling when he uses Trembling Strike or Shockwave of Glory. He’ll never use the Dash or Disengage actions, as those look desperate.

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The Minions’ Movements

There are at least three different ways you can play the minions, presented from easiest to hardest. Choose your favorite.

• Archers:
  The most basic and most sensible option. They stay near the empyrean to benefit from his Bolster ability. To make them a bit more special, play up their advantage on saving throws by describing them cartwheeling and performing similar gymnastics to make Dexterity saves and dodge attacks. This is less effective for the 2014 empyrean, but you can play them as royal guards who also have ranged attacks.

• Advance Attackers:
  Have the allies go ahead of the empyrean, dashing and taking opportunity attacks if needed, to engage the PCs. In this version, they benefit little from the empyrean’s abilities, but instead work to restrict the players’ movements and hold them in place for the empyrean. If needed, they can even use their attacks to shove and trip PCs so the empyrean can go past and attack someone else.

• Arresting the PCs:
  The allies mostly stay near the empyrean, only fighting if attacked. Their main move is to wait until the empyrean has knocked PCs to the ground, then grapple or use nets to hold them in place. In this scenario, you might need to let the empyrean fly in order to target the most PCs possible. If the minions’ strategy isn’t working out, switch to attacking PCs and restricting their movements (the previous strategy).

There is a chance the empyrean will outpace his minions, given that he has fifty feet of movement. This is unlikely as long as the players aren’t too far from the empyrean when the battle begins. If needed, the minions can spend a turn or two dashing to keep up.

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Stage 2: Breaking the Battlefield

Begin stage two with the last of the minions losing heart and fleeing.

If there’s only one, you might consider having the empyrean hit him with a ranged attack as he flees, killing him. Only use this if you’re willing to cheat and have the attack automatically succeed and wipe out whatever HP he has, regardless of how much. You’ll have to sacrifice the action, but you can cheat on the effect.

The other option is for the empyrean to state that they’ll be executed for cowardice. Stating this in a matter-of-fact manner is more imposing than raging mad.

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Collapsing the Arena

There are a few options for how the next stage of the battle should go, but they’ll all start with the empyrean collapsing the area.

If you’re using the 2014 empyrean, use the earthquake spell and set the battle somewhere built-up, such as a city square or stadium. If you’re using the 2024 empyrean, have the empyrean smash a supporting pillar with a melee weapon or divine ray and narrate a chain reaction of collapsing pillars. You can then have the building collapse into underground sewers for even greater destruction.

There are three ways to handle what comes next. Choose one, and if it doesn’t seem to be working, change it.

1. Scattered PCs:
   The collapse leads to the PCs being scattered. They can sort of see each other, but they have to regroup carefully, as the empyrean stands between them waiting for them to emerge.
   To prevent them from simply charging him, make it clear that the area is loose rubble, and if they don’t reach safer ground, the empyrean’s blows will collapse more of the area onto them. You might need to demonstrate this.
   Another option is to have some of their items trapped under rubble, forcing them to free them before facing the empyrean.

2. Aerial Assault:
   The empyrean takes to the air and starts shooting at them. For an even more majestic version, have the empyrean pick up large chunks of rubble and hurl them down (use the same stats as one or two normal empyrean ranged attacks).
   To keep this from becoming a boring back-and-forth, have the empyrean collapse walls onto them with some attacks, pinning them in place until they can be dug free. Use Earthquake rules, possibly with a lower DC. Alternatively, make the entire area unstable, forcing the PCs to escape while fighting back.
   Include jammed passages, chasms to cross, and collapsing walls—some that trap PCs, and others that can be held up just long enough for allies to scramble free.
   Ideally, give them multiple escape routes with different obstacles and rewards, such as treasure, plot-relevant items, or NPCs to rescue, making it impossible to simply wait until after the fight.

3. Fire and Ruin:
   Similar to the above, except the empyrean sets the area on fire after collapsing it. If using the 2014 empyrean, he can cast fire storm, with parts of the area made of wood. Otherwise, he may have placed oil and fire-starters in advance as a backup plan.
   In this version, you might have the empyrean simply stand nearby and watch. The players must choose whether to flee to safety—letting the empyrean choose when and where to attack—or risk attacking him while still surrounded by fire, hoping to catch him off guard.

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How to Keep an Empyrean Dead (The Aftermath Stage)

The final challenge of an empyrean scenario is preventing its G-d parent from resurrecting it. There are three ways to handle this.

1. Kill the Deity:
   This is a battle in itself and usually implies that killing the empyrean was only one step in a much larger goal. For a final battle against a deity—especially after a climactic empyrean fight—consider placing the players inside a surreal landscape representing the deity’s consciousness. They must destroy parts of the environment before it destroys them.
   If you can tie in themes established earlier, this makes for a satisfying conclusion.

2. Convince the Deity Not to Resurrect It:
   This can involve one or both of the following steps.
   First, establish that the empyrean failed to champion the deity’s cause. This doesn’t require outright betrayal—being unable to stop the players may be enough.
   Second, run a trial scene where the players and the empyrean’s spirit stand before the deity. Both sides can call witnesses, visions, or past events. The players must argue that the empyrean was wrong.
   While each deity has its own agenda, they tend to value strength. Making the empyrean look ridiculous is therefore a universally effective strategy.
   If you like, you can reveal that an NPC resistance leader has been doing this behind the scenes all along, planting clues throughout the campaign. This gives you most of the material you’ll need easily, without spending game time doing it yourself. If you plant a few clues beforehand, you’ll have fun scenes, and you’ll look clever when you reveal what you were up to all along.

3. Let Him Be Resurrected:
   If the empyrean isn’t the main villain, a temporary defeat may be enough to seize a quest object, destroy a magical structure, or free his subjects.
   You can even have the empyrean take his defeat to heart and seek redemption (more fitting for celestial empyreans), or return later as a vengeful enemy with stronger allies and better preparation. The choice is yours.

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Summary: Six Ways to Use an Empyrean

1. The empyrean is the epitome of arrogance. Enlisting his help requires ridiculous levels of flattery—enough to be fun to roleplay, but never enough to outshine him.

2. An empyrean can leave at any time via Plane Shift. Fighting him requires making him want to fight you, ideally by humiliating him publicly.

3. An empyrean’s stats and personality make allies mandatory, effectively turning a CR 23 creature into a CR 30-style boss fight.

4. Allies can stay close to benefit from the empyrean’s boosts, pin down PCs, or arrest them with grapples and nets after knockdowns.

5. A proper climax involves collapsing the battlefield—through Earthquake or structural destruction—forcing the PCs to regroup under pressure.

6. End an empyrean saga by ascending to the heavens and arguing before the empyrean’s divine parent why resurrection should be denied.