Dragon Encounters

How to Use: Whirlwind

Looking at the air elemental’s stat block, its most potent attack is probably supposed to be whirlwind attack, judging by the fact that it’s on a recharge. However, the whirlwind attack doesn’t seem worth it unless the air elemental can capture at least two PCs in its affect, preferably more, and that seems unlikely except perhaps the first time when the players don’t know what it can do.

In this article, we’ll be primarily looking at ways to set up an encounter so as to get big dividends out of the whirlwind attack.

Combat Encounter 1: The Platform and the Valley (difficulty 7)

One way to make whirlwind attack effective is if there is only one place in which to get a good view of the battlefield.

Encounter Setting

Set this encounter in a small battlefield, with one large platform in the middle. This can be a built platform, or perhaps just a standing boulder. The platform itself is ten-by-ten feet, which is the size that an air elemental can occupy, and cast whirlwind attack on.

The battlefield extends 5-15 feet from the platform in every direction, but it’s lower down, which means that the boulder blocks line of sight. In addition, the floor of the area isn’t even.

I have done this in the past by marking each square or hex with a number, representing different heights. The higher the number, the higher the floor in that location. If there’s a space with a higher number than the place the PC is standing and the target location, it blocks sight and line-of-sight.

The platform is high enough to allow sight everywhere, and also to cast an area-of-effect spell without the people on it being affected.

If the above seems too complicated for you, you could instead have the area around the platform contain spires of rock, which are both impassable and block line-of-sight. In addition, have the surrounding wall not be even. At some points, at moves in, with only five feet between it and the platform, at other points in opens into a small dead -end alley.

Air Elemental Tactics

You have two options here. If the air elemental is by itself, it will target the platform with whirlwind attack whenever it contains at least one person (I don’t think the elemental can distinguish between one and two. Remember that its native plane is very different from ours.)

The rest of the time it will rush about below, using its slam attack on two different targets and always using its full movement. (It doesn’t understand opportunity attacks, or damage for that matter.)

The other option is to set up an NPC in a place where it can observe the fight and give orders. If you do that, play the elemental according to the NPC’s intelligence. The downsides are the NPC might not have as good a view of the battle, and be forced to decide based on what he sees. That, and the players might kill him. If they do, go by the air elemental’s independent behavior.

Combat encounter 2: Battle of The Precarious Bridge (difficulty 8)

Another way to force the players into one small area.

Encounter Setting: The Bridge

In order to enter the location, the players have to go along a ten-foot bridge, which reaches a small platform (10X10 feet) from which two other bridges split off, one to either side. (The bridges form a T shape.)

The ends of those bridges have sentries/guardians on them, and a small wall on those bridges makes it so that the sentinels can’t be seen/fought while on the first bridge.

This would already be a fairly hard encounter, with the spellcasters not having anywhere to stand that will both protect them and let them attack (unless the melee manage to push back the sentinels at least a little). This will be made worse by the air elemental showing up and hurling anyone who in the center platform off of it.

Encounter Setting: Below the Bridge

Regarding the area beneath the bridge. You can’t make it anything too lethal, as it’s almost inevitable that at least some of the players will get hurled down there. The best idea would be to make it be plain ground, sloping sharply downward. The land is difficult terrain. The end of the bridges is level with the ground at the entrance of the first bridge, but at least ten-feet up where it is.

Above the head of the T there are also a number of large boulders, giving the air elemental places to hide when it isn’t attacking.

Any players thrown off the bridge can return to the combat, but they’ll need to spend a turn taking a dash action in order to do so.  The only other penalty is the damage from being thrown.

Air Elemental Tactics:

The air elemental will remain in hiding until the players first reach the center platform. It will throw them off it whenever whirlwind attack is off recharge. The rest of the time it will hide at the bottom, above the head of the T.

If anyone is there during the air elemental’s turn, it will rush out, make two slam attacks, then dart back into hiding. It changes its hiding places, and there are enough hiding places that the players will have trouble attacking, even if they go after it. Most likely, 1-2 might get to attack, and the rest will only get to make readied action range attacks.

This is meant to discourage the players from solving the encounter by hunting down the air elemental. Even so, if might be a good idea to give the sentinels some kind of range attack. Perhaps they have a rack of javelins of their side of the wall. That, and some kind of half-cover.

If they take down the sentinels of one bridge, you can move into a second stage by having the air elemental land on the far side of whichever bridge they cleared and advance down its length, using whirlwind attack when available and slam the rest of the time. They’ll probably want to kill the air elemental anyway.

Combat Encounter 3: Scattering the Party (difficulty varies)

The simplest way to use an air elemental’s whirlwind attack. Combine it with several other enemies. Throwing PCs around will complicate almost any battle, especially when they land among enemies or behind them.

Two enemies besides the air elemental are enough for a challenging battle, but the more enemies, the harder the battle will become. A dozen weak enemies and an air elemental ought to be a proper nightmare.

Air elemental tactics

The air elemental has no tactics. It will use whirlwind attack when active, slam when not, it will choose its targets at random and rush about with its full movement each turn, not noticing opportunity attacks. Simple and mean.

Wild Air Elemental 

In the Monster Manual, it says that all elementals on the material plane are there because they’ve been summoned. I’ve seen a lot of games use elementals as creatures that sometimes wander into the material plane by accident, and I would accordingly like to end each elemental article with a wild elemental discussion and encounter.

The air elemental has always struck me as more of a wind elemental. If it was purely an elemental of air, it would probably spread itself out if possible, or remain passively in one place. As a wind elemental, however, it will travel around, and be drawn to places like high mountain passes that are often buffeted by fierce winds.

Combat Encounter 4: The Mountain Pass and the Whirlwind (difficulty varies)

While traveling along a mountain pass, the players find themselves repeatedly buffeted by a playful air elemental. Playful is relative, however. The elemental might not mean any harm, but just getting thrown about is doing significant damage, and that’s without the issue of what they’re getting thrown into.

A few ideas:

• On a mountain, even being thrown a short distance could see them collide with a slope, possibly sliding quite a way down before catching themselves. Then, they have to get back up, which might require climbing or assistance.
• Even worse is when they land on a ledge hugging a cliff opposite. Now they have a gap of open air to somehow cross.
• Being flung against a cliff could cause a minor rockfall, doing extra damage and/or pinning them in place. Or it could cause a dust slide, obscuring the area around them.
• Being thrown into a cave could cause any of the above, with the addition of poor visibility.

You can use one of these by itself as a predicament to be overcome, and gain another 1-2 uses from combining it with a nearby monster who sees their predicament and takes advantage of it to attack. Any more, and it will become boring. Aside from that, use these to justify extra damage if you want it.

Player Solutions

The logical solutions are either to wait in ambush, or to travel in single file so as not to have more than more member caught at a time. An ambush is tricky, as the air elemental has enough movement to appear, attack, and disappear in a single turn, especially with a winding path. Traveling in single file will require at least five feet between every PC, leaving them split up and vulnerable to enemy attacks.

You, as DM, will have a lot of influence over which tactic they choose. If the mountain pass is short, there’s a decent chance they’ll opt to stick it out, especially if the air elemental’s attacks don’t get too bad. (Note that the ideas above are worst case scenarios. They don’t have to happen.) Incidentally, this will let you bring back the air elemental when and if they need to cross the path again.

If they decide to ambush, I generally recommend asking the players what type of area and/or conditions they’re looking for, and then letting them find most or all of what they need, providing they’re looking for something they could reasonably expect to find in the area.

(I think their best bet would be luring the elemental into a cave, preferably with a scarecrow, and triggering a collapse, but they might have other ideas.)

Air Elemental Tactics

The air elemental is in a playful mood. It will move around, using whirlwind attack mischievously (and unaware that people are fragile, or that they mind being killed), and then move on that same turn.

This lasts until its movement is restricted. If that happens, whether through an enchantment, illusion, or obstacle, the elemental goes berserk, making slam attacks until all nearby enemies are dead/unconscious. Once that happens, it returns to its previous behavior.

For more forced movement ideas, see Goristro

Monsters sorted by combat style

Summary: Six Ideas for an Air Elemental’s Whirlwind

• The air elemental’s main move is whirlwind attack, which is mostly effective when the players are in one place. One way to do that is to put an elevated spot in the middle of a small battlefield. If they don’t stand there, they won’t all see the enemy.
• For a hard air elemental battle, place a different enemy in a sheltered area which they can only see when they’re very close. Of course, is several of them go there, the air elemental will fling them anywhere else.
• The simplest way to use an air elemental’s whirlwind attack? Combine with several other enemies. Whether it’s the fighter getting knocked out of the way, or the mage thrown into the enemy, this is always a problem.
• Send an air elemental at the players as they’re traveling along a mountain path. It can knock them down a slope or even across to an adjacent mountain peak.
• Send an air elemental to hassle the players with hit-and-run attacks as they travel along a narrow path. If they want to avoid all being swept away by the whirlwind attack, they’ll have to keep a distance from one another. Then spring an ambush.
• An air elemental that makes occasional hit-and-run attacks is impossible to stop. It has too much movement. What they’ll have to do is lure it into a trap of some kind. If it feels its movement is constrained, it’ll go ballistic and lose all caution.