Thanks
How's play been at nearly 20th level?
Challenging!
At 18th-20th level, and with a 6-PC party that includes two high-level clerics and two high-level wizards (plus an effective spellsword, an optimized-for-sneak-attacks rogue/lasher, and a rogue NPC), there's very little the party cannot do if they want to. Also, with so much divination magic at their disposal (commune, legend lore, vision, etc.) there's very little they can't find out. On top of that, I'm a total softy when it comes to handing out loot, so the party is loaded down with powerful magic items. And, finally, if I challenge them
too much, they can whip out miracles and wishes.
The sorts of adventures I can challenge them with have become harder to invent, and I often solve that problem by giving them quests in Unique And Epic Locations(tm) that have unusual rules. The Crimson Maw, for instance, is a demi-plane that prohibits flight and teleportation.
It's a fine line, though. On the one hand, limiting the party's toolset makes them approach problems in new and fresh ways*, and often improves the game. On the other hand, they've
earned that toolset, and it's pretty unsporting to keep nerfing their powerful cool abilities.
* In one of the next couple installments, you'll see how the party figured out how to completely do an end-run around an absolutely majestic set-piece I had envisioned. And you know what? It was my own damned fault! You could hear the sound of my head-smack from three blocks down when they realized they could [details redacted].
