CR of this Encounter

[noeuphoria]

Just curious what experienced DMs think of this encounter:

our group of 7 lvl 13-14 pcs have to fight the king-priest and his goons in their temple. When we walk into the temple, each pc is hit with a targeted greater dispelling at caster level 15. Any spell we cast while inside the temple is also targeted by the greater dispelling effect as if someone was counterspelling it. The temple is also pitch black. Inside are the priest-king, a Kuo-Toa Rog12/Cleric 12, an illitihid cleric 11, 2 kuo-toa rog6/Fi5, and 2 kuo-toa cleric 9s. Any of the enemy NPC's can cast in the temple with no hindrance. The obvious answer is "don't fight in there", but we (the PC's) don't really have a choice. Off the top of my head, this looks like a TPK to me, but wondering if anybody else has a different opinion.

 

[Hawk764]

the Priest-King is like CR 25 by himself. with everything else that puts you at around 26 or 27. your GM is one Crazy SOB who obviously either doesn't know what he is doing or doesn't want you to go that way.

 

[Aeric]

I guess it would depend on the party composition and their usual tactics in combat. If it's a group which relies heavily on its arcane casters to deal the heavy damage, then they're probably in trouble. If it's a group comprised mostly of fighter-type, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem. The light situation might be an issue if too many in the party lack have darkvision. Also important (in my mind, at least) are the types of spells available to the NPC clerics. Clerics don't seem to have a lot of offensive spells, but if prepared properly, a large number of buff spells (Aid, Bull's Strength, etc.) can be just as devastating.

All in all, I would say it is a challenging but not necessarily a TPK encounter.

 

[Hawk764]

if he drops like 10 rogue levels off that Priest King, the encounter is much more tolerable at a very dificult 17 or 18.

 

[Hawk764]

if he drops like 10 rogue levels off that Priest King, the encounter is much more tolerable at a very dificult 17 or 18.

oops, i missed the fact that the second character is an Mind Flayer. that makes him like a CR 19 or 20. your GM has it in for you.

 

[dcollins]

(1) Any chance this is a conversion from an old AD&D adventure? If so, multiclass levels don't work the same. An AD&D Cleric 12/Thief 12 should be converted into a Cleric 12/Thief 4 (according to the official Conversion Booklet). This makes for a CR 17 creature, much more reasonable.

(2) Ummmm... if you're a player in this game, how do you know the precise composition of what you'll be encountering in the future, anyway?

 

[noeuphoria]

Yes, this IS a conversion of Nights Below. The DM is used to do 2nd, so I think he just kept the levels straight. I also think he might have misread the part about "non-associated class levels" adding 1/2 CR. I don't know any precise levels, I'm guessing off of spells I've seen cast, and damage taken from sneak attacks.

 

[noeuphoria]

Party compostion is Dwarf Cleric of Peleor 14, Dwarf Fi 11/Ranger 1/Horiz Walker1, Dwarf Fi 7/Dwarven Defender 7, Human Cleric of Flarnighan 13, Aasimar Druid 12, Elf Fi4/Brd3/Arcane Archer 7, and Human Sorceror 14.

So as you can see, no spells effectively cripples half our team.

 

[Prism]

I wouldn't worry too much about the priest king. By the book this is a Cr26 creature but a multiclasses rogue/cleric isn't particularily optimzed. I'd probably place it at about CR16ish

I assume you will be able to get around the darkness thing with a few low level spells - otherwise I wouldn't even entertain the idea of a fight

The greater dispels will be hard to work past - any ideas what caster levels these work at?

The mind flayer I'd set at about CR13. I wouldn't say that the +6 wis is enough to make the cleric class an associated class but then the example in the book makes sorcerer associated - I don't agree.

The two rogue/fighters are CR15 as a pair and the two clerics another CR13.

So I reckon this is somewhere in the region of a EL19 encounter - vs 7 13th-14th level characters. Just about possible if you remove the darkness penalty and if your spellcasters concentrate on prebuffing the fighter types rather than relying on spells mid combat - unless you can get around the counters

 

[Prism]

Yes, this IS a conversion of Nights Below. The DM is used to do 2nd, so I think he just kept the levels straight. I also think he might have misread the part about "non-associated class levels" adding 1/2 CR. I don't know any precise levels, I'm guessing off of spells I've seen cast, and damage taken from sneak attacks.

If he misread this than it can only benefit the party when it comes to xp rewards. I wish all CR26 creatures were that easy