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Have you experienced very high-level (18+) play in 5e? Tell me about it!
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<blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 6978308" data-attributes="member: 12731"><p>Can add that my campaign (Out of the Abyss) has just reached level 15. </p><p></p><p>The time has come to remove the silk gloves; that is, to completely throw out the prebuilt encounters and instead throw some real opposition at them. </p><p></p><p>They have the following scenes left, roughly speaking:</p><p>[sblock]</p><p>By the adventure, everything is set up for the final showdown: activating Vizeran's ritual. I skipped Grin telling them outright they don't need to place the Dark Heart in Menzo; I feel this works better if it's a kind of "why didn't you tell us, Vizeran? You didn't ask" type of deal. Besides, I'm pretty convinced they WANT to wreck the city.</p><p></p><p>Anyways. </p><p></p><p>To pad the ramp-up to the end scenario, partially because they (for reasons) missed out on the fungus subthread of the story (I'm saving the myconoid encounter and Zuggtmoy's wedding for another day), I had devised two other storylets:</p><p></p><p>1) they found out about a <em>Dagger of Innocence</em>, rumored to be able to permanently kill even a demon lord, such as Demigorgon. This made them chase the drow dragon <em>Nurvureem</em> (per the Wyrms of the North write-up accessible from the WotC archive site). A surface adventure, a nice change of scenery. This they have just completed, after a (supposedly) hard showdown with a pair of Cult of the Dragon followers and a Death Knight and his retinue.</p><p></p><p>2) the other is about a Marilith they "befriended" while in the Labyrinth. She claims to know about a plan to avoid Vizeran's ritual, cooked up by her former master Graazt the Dark Prince. This plan is lifted from the AL module <em>DDEX 3-16 Assault on Maerimydra</em>.</p><p></p><p>To gain the details, she wants them to spring her from prison. When they activated the Maze Engine, she along with all other outsiders were returned to their home plane, leading to her capture by Graazt's henchmen. But this is no ordinary prison: it's the Wells of Darkness in the Abyss. This part is lifted from the <em>Wells of Darkness</em> adventure in Dungeon #148. </p><p></p><p>3) My aim is to significantly buff the end combat, and to increase PC participation. </p><p></p><p>Instead of merely passively watching six demon lords brawl and then kill off the weakened victor, I plan to describe a truly epic hellscape, including many more demon lords and hundreds of other demons. Pazuzu, Turaglas, Kostchtchie, Pale Night, Ugudenk, Vucarik, Ereshkigal. The point is that Menzoberranzan is a mighty city. When reading about the end game, I immediately worried "couldn't city defenders take these guys out all by themselves?". With my description it's clear the city will be engulfed even though parts of the city (notably the Gromph citadel) will resist. Vizeran's revenge will be complete. </p><p></p><p>Besides, I want the heroes to have more of an agenda than just duck and wait it out. In addition to swatting away random demons, they need to enter one of the vortexes opened by the ritual and go to Maerimydra and defeat Graazt before he can complete his ritual to counter Vizeran's (per that AL module).</p><p></p><p>This means that when they presumably return to face Demogorgon, they too won't be freshly rested. But even more importantly, they will hopefully feel they have their hands full, rather than just watching ESPN. </p><p>[/sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CapnZapp, post: 6978308, member: 12731"] Can add that my campaign (Out of the Abyss) has just reached level 15. The time has come to remove the silk gloves; that is, to completely throw out the prebuilt encounters and instead throw some real opposition at them. They have the following scenes left, roughly speaking: [sblock] By the adventure, everything is set up for the final showdown: activating Vizeran's ritual. I skipped Grin telling them outright they don't need to place the Dark Heart in Menzo; I feel this works better if it's a kind of "why didn't you tell us, Vizeran? You didn't ask" type of deal. Besides, I'm pretty convinced they WANT to wreck the city. Anyways. To pad the ramp-up to the end scenario, partially because they (for reasons) missed out on the fungus subthread of the story (I'm saving the myconoid encounter and Zuggtmoy's wedding for another day), I had devised two other storylets: 1) they found out about a [I]Dagger of Innocence[/I], rumored to be able to permanently kill even a demon lord, such as Demigorgon. This made them chase the drow dragon [I]Nurvureem[/I] (per the Wyrms of the North write-up accessible from the WotC archive site). A surface adventure, a nice change of scenery. This they have just completed, after a (supposedly) hard showdown with a pair of Cult of the Dragon followers and a Death Knight and his retinue. 2) the other is about a Marilith they "befriended" while in the Labyrinth. She claims to know about a plan to avoid Vizeran's ritual, cooked up by her former master Graazt the Dark Prince. This plan is lifted from the AL module [I]DDEX 3-16 Assault on Maerimydra[/I]. To gain the details, she wants them to spring her from prison. When they activated the Maze Engine, she along with all other outsiders were returned to their home plane, leading to her capture by Graazt's henchmen. But this is no ordinary prison: it's the Wells of Darkness in the Abyss. This part is lifted from the [I]Wells of Darkness[/I] adventure in Dungeon #148. 3) My aim is to significantly buff the end combat, and to increase PC participation. Instead of merely passively watching six demon lords brawl and then kill off the weakened victor, I plan to describe a truly epic hellscape, including many more demon lords and hundreds of other demons. Pazuzu, Turaglas, Kostchtchie, Pale Night, Ugudenk, Vucarik, Ereshkigal. The point is that Menzoberranzan is a mighty city. When reading about the end game, I immediately worried "couldn't city defenders take these guys out all by themselves?". With my description it's clear the city will be engulfed even though parts of the city (notably the Gromph citadel) will resist. Vizeran's revenge will be complete. Besides, I want the heroes to have more of an agenda than just duck and wait it out. In addition to swatting away random demons, they need to enter one of the vortexes opened by the ritual and go to Maerimydra and defeat Graazt before he can complete his ritual to counter Vizeran's (per that AL module). This means that when they presumably return to face Demogorgon, they too won't be freshly rested. But even more importantly, they will hopefully feel they have their hands full, rather than just watching ESPN. [/sblock] [/QUOTE]
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