CUTHBERT & IUZ, Temple of Elemental Evil ToEE, Mid-combat Parley

Temple of Elemental Evil supports smooth and seamless phased combat encounters in which combat stops, dialogue kicks in for some parley or scripted movement/action, and then combat starts back up again or the situation is resolved non-violently. This is all done smoothly and seamlessly, but also strictly, in that players are unable to break the flow against the designer's wishes or otherwise employ brute-force cheese.

The lead-up to the Iuz-Cuthbert parley is pretty standard. First, we face off against Supreme Commander Hedrack and his 15-strong backup crew consisting of bugbears, giants and wizards:

After a few rounds, when he thinks things are going pear-shaped, Hedrack calls upon the demigod known as the Old One, or Iuz the Evil.

After a brief parley in which we can give up the Orb of Golden Death or not (if we yet have it), we must then slay Iuz or at least survive his onslaught until the lesser god known as St. Cuthbert intervenes.

The party member that gives up the OoGD is merely dominated for the duration of the battle. cf. TSR 9147: Any character who actually gives the Death Orb to either Zuggtmoy or luz becomes the hopeless thrall of the appropriate Evil being ever afterwards. (This permanently removes the character from PC play.)

Another parley fires after the third round of combat concludes, and presuming Iuz hasn't been miraculously slain by us.

It's a back and forth between St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel and Iuz the Evil:

When both Iuz and Cuthbert take their leave, the party is healed/raised by Cuthbert and Hedrak is raised and his backup crew are brought back as zombies by Iuz. In the Co8 version, the backup crew maintain their original forms, but are zombified, and Lord-Wizard Senshock comes down from his lair to back up Hedrack as well (unless Senshock was dealt with in his lair beforehand).

Senshock and Hedrack CR (Co8 8.1.0):

Lesser God: St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel

St. Cuthbert appears as a stout red-faced man, with a drooping white moustache and flowing white hair [...] St. Cuthbert hates Evil, but his major interest is in Law and Order, and the dual work of conversion and prevention from backsliding of "true believers." [...] He seldom leaves his plane, unless some great duty brings him forth. -- Gygax, ToEE, TSR 9147.

Cuthbert isn't supposed to leave himself open to any kind of attack, but due to a glitch of which I haven't yet found the source, Cuthbert can sometimes spawn as force-attackable, and he can even be slain by the party. However, major cheese must be employed in order to survive his 15 attacks per round, hit an AC of 71 and drill through 1,735 HPs. Remember, the party is just 10th level maximum.

Cuthbert attack roll (patch2):

Cuthbert damage roll (patch2):

Cuthbert AC (patch2):

Cuthbert has no DR or SR. In TSR 9147, Cuthbert has 80% MR.

Original loot: Full Plate Armor, Plate Boots, Plate Gloves, Spiritual Weapon: Heavy Mace (generic stuff). In TSR 9147, Cuthbert's armor is of +5 enchantment.

Demigod: The Old One aka Iuz the Evil

Whether luz is a human who has become demon-like through the centuries, or whether he is a semi-demon, a cambion (as some suggest, a by-blow of Orcus), no mortal knows. He is, however, the first known godling of Chaotic Evil, whose wickedness and treachery are infamous throughout the Flanaess. -- Gygax, ToEE, TSR 9147.

The original Troika versions of Iuz were majorly nerfed. Though his CR is reported at 52, his HD at 48 (376 HPs) and his AC at 31 (+ SR 25), Iuz is unarmed and executes only two attacks per round (though he does have 8d6 Sneak Attack).

Iuz attack roll (patch2):

Iuz damage roll (patch2):

Iuz AC (patch2):

Iuz DR & immunities (patch2):

Original loot: Leather Boots, Leather Gloves, Greater Temple Black Robes (generic stuff).

Iuz Co8

Co8 Iuz is much tougher than patch2 Iuz. Co8 Iuz executes nine attacks per round while wielding his greatsword. He also has 35 SR and 780 HPs.

Iuz attack roll (Temple+ 1.0.75 + Co8 8.1.0):

Iuz damage roll (Temple+ 1.0.75 + Co8 8.1.0):

Co8 Iuz Sneak Attack has been reduced from 8d6 to 5d6. However, he does inflict Crippling Strike with each hit.

Iuz AC (Temple+ 1.0.75 + Co8 8.1.0):

Iuz DR & immunities (Temple+ 1.0.75 + Co8 8.1.0):

Casting spells against Iuz which are subject to SR doesn't work in Co8 because the DC for overcoming his SR is 35. Even when 10th level spellcasters roll 20s and add Spell Penetration and GSP on top of that, it isn't enough.

In Co8, the weapons of Cuthbert & Iuz cannot be looted from their corpses, but they can be consoled in, checked out and wielded:

Note the erroneous weapon proficiency of the cudgel.

In TSR 9147, Cuthbert wields two weapons. The first is a Mace of Disruption +5 that inflicts on-hit, no-save, MR-bypassing one-point Intelligence drain on criticals; the second is a bronzewood cudgel of +3 enchantment that inflicts on-touch beguilement on Humans for 5-20 turns.

ToEE How to Beat Iuz

In order to slay Iuz legitimately, we're going to need a strong warrior or cleric that can wield Fragarach or Scather with Power Attack cranked. For example, Fighter Build ToEE. Buffed to the heavens, they will have no problem smacking down Iuz.

Useful equipment includes Axiomatic/Holy/Keen great weapon (for those unable to wield Fragarach or Scather), crafted +3 full plate, Gloves/Belt of Giant Strength +6 and Ring of Protection +3. cf. ToEE Crafting.

Useful buffs include Stoneskin, Greater Invisibility, Haste, Good Hope, Enlarge Person, Righteous Magic, Magical Circle Against Evil/Chaos, Bless, Aid, Prayer etc. cf. ToEE Wizard Spells.

Note that we can cheese the fight by casting Otiluke's Resilient Sphere on a decoy. Iuz futilely whales away on the invulnerable decoy even as our other martials tear into him. The trick is to have Iuz lock on to the decoy and only THEN cast ORS on the decoy.

(It's cheesy because we're taking advantage of dumb-as-rocks AI.)

While there is bug that causes ORS decoys to incur Strength drain from Iuz Crippling Strike (and other effects besides, such as Trip), stat-drain kills don't occur.

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