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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="SwivSnapshot" data-source="post: 6979807" data-attributes="member: 6800720"><p>After our group finished Tyranny of Dragons, I ran a 2 night, level 20 dungeon crawl because I had doubts about the monsters in the MM scaling properly to be challenging to a high level party.</p><p></p><p>1. What was the party composition?</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Vengence Paladin</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Assassination Rogue</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">_____ Sorceror</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">_____ Ranger</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">_____ Monk</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">NPC Evocation Wizard</li> </ul><p></p><p>Players were allowed to pick any published magic items, but we're limited to having three attuned items being equipped. They could have other items requiring attunement with them but they would have follow the attunement rules to get the benefits. Artifacts and homebrewed items were prohibited.</p><p></p><p>2. What did you fight?</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 1: Investigation or religion skill check with DC 25 to identify a ritual of a death cult. Failure resulted in a DC 20 CON saving throw vs poison. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 2: 6 Death Knights and 16 mummies.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 3: Poison trap with DC 20 CON saving throw vs poison.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 4: Investigation (DC 20 after spending a minimum of 1 hour searching the cult leaders private library) or arcana skill check (DC 25) to deactivate a magically sealed portal.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 5: 4 Death Tyrants with lair abilities available (I fudged the rules a little on this).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 6: A custom party of NPC's built using PC classes and levels.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 7: A custom built 3.5 version of Orcus.</li> </ul><p></p><p>The NPC Wizard was a traitor and counted as a bonus encounter.</p><p></p><p>All monsters had max hit points.</p><p></p><p>3. How did the fight go? Did you enjoy it? Was it too easy or too hard?</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 1: PC's ignored the clues and opened the temple. After the Paladin remembered he had an aura, all of the PC's made their saves.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 2: PC's completed the encounter in less than 6 rounds without taking damage.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 3: PC's triggered the trap. Sorcerer and rogue were the only PC's in the AOE. Rogue saved while Sorcerer took 50 hp poison damage with 50 hp ongoing, but Paladin was able to use his aura on the next round, then lay on hands to heal the Sorceror.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 4: Sorcerer took the time to investigate the library while the rest of the group did a short rest and found the key to unlocking the portal.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 5: PC's completed the encounter in less then 10 rounds. Lair effects were the Death Tyrants only successful attacks/abilities due to PC's high saving thow mods.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 6: The most balanced encounter, but also the most difficult to DM. NPC party had the early edge, but once the players realized I had set them up, they were able to hold their own. Encounter was stopped early so they could reset to take on Orcus.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encounter 7: PC's couldn't counter Orcus's legendary abilities and let him escape before he killed the party.</li> </ul><p></p><p>A few PC's were suspicious of the NPC Wizard but never followed up, so his treachery went unrevealed.</p><p></p><p>4. What would you change to make very high-level encounters better?</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">DC's on saving throws needed to be raised (30+) due to the Paladin's aura.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Monster HP needed to be maxed then doubled to keep them competitive.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">For a long term game, more skill checks would need to be included with more detrimental consequences for failures.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">NPC party needed to be simplified to be faster and more usable.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SwivSnapshot, post: 6979807, member: 6800720"] After our group finished Tyranny of Dragons, I ran a 2 night, level 20 dungeon crawl because I had doubts about the monsters in the MM scaling properly to be challenging to a high level party. 1. What was the party composition? [LIST] [*]Vengence Paladin [*]Assassination Rogue [*]_____ Sorceror [*]_____ Ranger [*]_____ Monk [*]NPC Evocation Wizard [/LIST] Players were allowed to pick any published magic items, but we're limited to having three attuned items being equipped. They could have other items requiring attunement with them but they would have follow the attunement rules to get the benefits. Artifacts and homebrewed items were prohibited. 2. What did you fight? [LIST] [*]Encounter 1: Investigation or religion skill check with DC 25 to identify a ritual of a death cult. Failure resulted in a DC 20 CON saving throw vs poison. [*]Encounter 2: 6 Death Knights and 16 mummies. [*]Encounter 3: Poison trap with DC 20 CON saving throw vs poison. [*]Encounter 4: Investigation (DC 20 after spending a minimum of 1 hour searching the cult leaders private library) or arcana skill check (DC 25) to deactivate a magically sealed portal. [*]Encounter 5: 4 Death Tyrants with lair abilities available (I fudged the rules a little on this). [*]Encounter 6: A custom party of NPC's built using PC classes and levels. [*]Encounter 7: A custom built 3.5 version of Orcus. [/LIST] The NPC Wizard was a traitor and counted as a bonus encounter. All monsters had max hit points. 3. How did the fight go? Did you enjoy it? Was it too easy or too hard? [LIST] [*]Encounter 1: PC's ignored the clues and opened the temple. After the Paladin remembered he had an aura, all of the PC's made their saves. [*]Encounter 2: PC's completed the encounter in less than 6 rounds without taking damage. [*]Encounter 3: PC's triggered the trap. Sorcerer and rogue were the only PC's in the AOE. Rogue saved while Sorcerer took 50 hp poison damage with 50 hp ongoing, but Paladin was able to use his aura on the next round, then lay on hands to heal the Sorceror. [*]Encounter 4: Sorcerer took the time to investigate the library while the rest of the group did a short rest and found the key to unlocking the portal. [*]Encounter 5: PC's completed the encounter in less then 10 rounds. Lair effects were the Death Tyrants only successful attacks/abilities due to PC's high saving thow mods. [*]Encounter 6: The most balanced encounter, but also the most difficult to DM. NPC party had the early edge, but once the players realized I had set them up, they were able to hold their own. Encounter was stopped early so they could reset to take on Orcus. [*]Encounter 7: PC's couldn't counter Orcus's legendary abilities and let him escape before he killed the party. [/LIST] A few PC's were suspicious of the NPC Wizard but never followed up, so his treachery went unrevealed. 4. What would you change to make very high-level encounters better? [LIST] [*]DC's on saving throws needed to be raised (30+) due to the Paladin's aura. [*]Monster HP needed to be maxed then doubled to keep them competitive. [*]For a long term game, more skill checks would need to be included with more detrimental consequences for failures. [*]NPC party needed to be simplified to be faster and more usable. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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