Encounter-specific Details, Actions and Tactics
To defeat Vespula, the portal to the Outer Rifts must be open and Vespula must be below 30hp, leading to the portal sucking her back to her home plane.
Attempting to activate the portal requires an Interact action and a relevant skill check with a baseline DC of 25, applying modifiers based on the suitability of the skill (e.g. DC 22 Outer Rifts/Abyss Lore, DC 25 Occultism/Religion, DC 27 Arcana). This action has the Manipulate trait, provoking Reactive Strikes. 5 successes are required to activate the portal, with a critical success providing 2 successes.
Vespula will attempt to spawn in Vespine Soldiers during the fight by using her Hatch Grub action. A player can spend one action to gather a chalky flower they are adjacent to or in the same square, and can attempt to administer the flower to the cocoons as another action (requiring a DC 21 Medicine or Occultism check, or DC 18 with a relevant lore skill). On a success, the cocoons consume the flower and partially calcify, causing Vespula's next Hatch Grub action to automatically fail.
Vespula only ever hovers 5ft above the ground. She stays near the runic pillars, wanting to prevent a portal being opened between them. At the start of the fight, she prioritizes spreading her Damage over Time effects widely to the entire party, possibly using a Feint action to increase hit and crit chance as her first action, and possibly using Hatch Grub as her final action.
If Vespine Soldiers spawn, they prioritize casting Heal on Vespula until out of spell slots. They then prioritize positioning for (or using) Autothysis.
Room Description/Flavor Text
As you enter this room, the temperature changes, the air becoming sticky, humid and warm. Walking down a hallway, flanked by pools of acid either side, a series of fleshy cocoons sit off to the side, contrasting with the chalky flowers that grow in the hallway. Two pillars, inscribed with inactive runes, sit opposite the cocoons. And between them, you see two sets of wings, as a gigantic red-and-yellow creature, resembling a blowfly, hovers just above the ground.
Recall Knowledge DCs
Runic pillars:
DC 23 Religion, Occultism
DC 25 Arcana
Recalling Knowledge on the pillars allows the party to learn that this is a deactivated portal to the Outer Rifts, Vespula's home plane, and that if the portal was reactivated it would likely try to pull Vespula back in.
Cocoons/flowers:
DC 23 Religion, Occultism
DC 25 Nature, Survival
Recalling Knowledge on these allows the party to learn that the cocoons could hatch if subjected to a significant impact, but that correctly administering the flowers could partially calcify the cocoons, potentially making it harder for Vespula to hatch them. Due to the linked nature of these cocoons, one flower could potentially affect all of them.
Vespula:
DC 25 Religion, Occultism
DC 22 Outer Rifts/Abyss Lore
Recalling Knowledge can allow the party to determine Vespula would retaliate very aggressively against anyone trying to tamper with the pillars. It can also be used to determine that Vespula may become fatigued if harmed significantly, but that slaying it outright seems infeasible. Normal information on Vespula's stats can also be gained, as normal for Recall Knowledge.
Vespine Soldier:
DC 20 Religion, Occultism
DC 22 Nature
DC 15 Outer Rifts/Abyss Lore
On a successful Recall Knowledge check, reveal the following additional information:
These creatures seem to behave a little like ants. These are the soldiers, and you are fighting their queen. Their safety isn't just low priority to them, it isn't even a consideration.
