Need advice for EL for the Dungeon adventure path (possible spoilers)

In my campaign we´re playing the adventure path from Dungeon. Right now we play Lords of Oblivion and next session will be a very high EL 20 battle. Not all enemies will be prepared for combat, some will stay out of it or spend time casting buff spells. The adventure is designed for four 13th level PCs. The module has guidelines if the PCs have lower levels and recommends that the PCs encounter not all enemies as a group.

I have five players, four of them are 11th level and one is 13th level. I wonder if I could run the encounter as it is without reducing the foes (or their class levels). I need advice if a larger party can handle a higher EL that was designed for four PCs.

Spoilers ahead...






I too am going to be running Lords of Oblivion next weekend and was concerned about this encounter. My characters are 13th level (except for one, who's 12th) and I felt that this encounter my be a bit much for them, as well. Having said that, there is one creature in the encounter, Mhad (half-elf vampire Mnk9/Sha4), who is by far the badest of the bunch. She is stated in the tactics section as being the most lethal of the opponents, but, she doesn't like fighting unfamiliar foes and stays out of the combat for as long as possible. On top of this, when she does get into the fight, I plan on having her use her +2 keen kama instead of her unarmed attacks, so that she doesn't hand out negative levels like cake at a birthday party...

One other thing of note, Erik Mona stated on another thread that he had added another adventure to the path, called Strike on Shaterhorn or something similar. The Ruins of Shatterhorn is where Mhad is from, and the tactics state that she returns there if she and the PC's are the only ones left standing in the fight. Perhaps she can retreat from the battle and be encountered again in [/I]Strike on Shaterhorn??? That's how I'll do it, anyway.

After some thinking I guess I have my solution: See how my players react. If the two magic users (Sorceror and Wizard) lob some are attack spells in a surprise round I guess some NPCs won´t survive that or begin to flee. If they botch it I´ll adjust the encounter on the fly (leave out some save or die spells or fireballs and similar spells, buff a few rounds, leave Mhad out of the fight, etc.).

>>>
. Perhaps she can retreat from the battle and be encountered again in [/I]Strike on Shaterhorn??? That's how I'll do it, anyway.
>>>

This is absolutely a possibility presented in "Strike on Shatterhorn," which goes to press in about a week.

I suggest that very early when things appear to start going against the PCs, Mhad flees the scene to return to Shatterhorn, planning (eventually) to catch up to the PCs and knock them off one by one, when she can better control the circumstances. Unfortunately for Mhad, time is not on her side, and the heroes catch up with her first.

You might even throw in a few creepy "you feel like you're being watched" encounters during the course of the next few adventures. Perhaps the PCs spot a cloaked female figure observing from a shadowy allyway as Cauldron burns during "Foundations of Flame." Perhaps the PCs encounter Mhad's wraith servant Hate in the stronghold of the Thirteen during "Thirteen Cages." With enough build-up, the final confrontation will be that much more sweet for your players.

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon

Thanks, Erik. I am certainly excited about the upcoming final adventures in Cauldron. You guys have really outdone yourselves with the Aventure Path. Hope the next one is just as good. And I'll be sure and give my players your regards as I'm running them through Lords of Oblivion and Foundation of Flame this weekend.

Can someone give me the list of Dungeon Issues that cover the adventure path?

I'm starting a new campaign next week, and this is on my list as a possibility.

Also any advice on getting it started would be cool.

Thanks

#97, 98, 102, 194, 107, 109, 111, 113, 114, 115 & 116, as I see from the thread about Dungeon 114. Some advice: The path can be very hard sometimes, look closely on encounter levels and enemy statistics. Maybe start with a larger group or level 2 characters. I don´t know how the first adventure starts (I began with the third adventure) but it´s a good idea to let the PCs come from Cauldron or have other ties with the city. The players will be even more involved and caring, especially if they own a house, pay taxes or are related to some minor npcs. There was an excellent thread who had tons of advice for the path, it may be worthwhile to search for that.

And you should check out several of the story hours, there should be at least two (Jollydoc´s and Lazybones).

The big encounter wasn´t that bad for the group (in fact very easy how I presented it to them). The PCs had a surprise round and threw some spells (Flamestrike, Cone of Cold, Evard´s Black Tentacles). Then they butchered (fully buffed to the hilt) the unbuffed NSCs. The enemy wizards couldn´t escape the grappling or were killed/feebleminded and the rest was easy. As for the vampire, I left him completly out of the fight. Maybe that was a mistake, maybe not.

I´ll hope a certain beholder will get revenge next time...

Longbow said:

#97, 98, 102, 194, 107, 109, 111, 113, 114, 115 & 116, as I see from the thread about Dungeon 114. Some advice: The path can be very hard sometimes, look closely on encounter levels and enemy statistics. Maybe start with a larger group or level 2 characters. I don´t know how the first adventure starts (I began with the third adventure) but it´s a good idea to let the PCs come from Cauldron or have other ties with the city. The players will be even more involved and caring, especially if they own a house, pay taxes or are related to some minor npcs.

Click to expand...

And don't forget the two Web Enhancements on Paizo.com for Life's Bazaar & Flood Season , they add some very good background info and other useful stuff.

Thanks for those issue #'s. I picked up three of them tonight.

I just got back from our set up session and it looks like I will be running this campaign starting next Thursday.

Aside from the web enhancements mentioned does anyone know of any other online resources for this campaign?

Thanks