Typical per-round damage output of a 16th level party?

[gnfnrf]

I think you'll see vastly different outputs based on the peculiarities of party structure. Rather than make up plausible parties, I'm using a roughly ECL 17 party I have from an old game. Note that these characters are excessively weird. That was the point of the game they were from, so they may not be terribly helpful. However, unlike the theoretical parties discussed above, these are fully constructed characters made for actual play.

Windtalker the half-fiend voidmind bralani deals an expected damage of about 22 to 24 with her bow, depending on the current energy protections of the dragon.

Wrye the shadow shadow dragon (wrymling) warlock has trouble, since he can barely penetrate SR. This keeps his eldritch blasts down to an expected damage of 4.2 a round.

Caliban the evolved lich wizard is a bit harder to judge. He only has 11 levels of spellcasting, but his spellbooks contain every spell from the PHB and Complete Arcane. It all comes down to what he prepped that day. His orbs would average 38.5 damage, 35 for force (missing and critical exactly cancel out in the math, amusingly).

He also might try a prismatic ray. What with penetrating and saves, plus fire immunity, this only deals 13.2 "damage" on average (some of that is actually Con damage, converted to hp lost). However, it has a 2 percent chance of getting an instant kill, and a 6 percent chance of causing insanity, forcing the mask to expend a heal.

Other useful spells might be acid fog (though exactly how it works is up for debate), feeblemind (again, forces a heal), and so on. However, the orbs will never be beat for damage in this scenario.

Circus the cave troll barbarian isn't much for ranged combat. His javelins only hit on a natural 20, and aren't magic, so his damage/round is negligible.

Johnny Applebough the treant fighter also does not have much to do against a flying dragon, though his 30' reach might make his melee come up on occasion. Also he wouldn't be so happy in the fire, and would probably just run and hide.

Reza the half-lung dragon zakya rakshasa... has no ranged weapons of note either.

So, as it turns out, three of the six members of this party are useless.

In melee, on the other hand, Circus alone can do 113.775 damage on an average charge against the dragon.

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gnfnrf

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

*Nasty* villain Wickett, I like your take on dragons.

At a glance his powers are great, but his main stats (Saves/Ac/Attack bonus) are just a little low for where they should be for a CR 20 creature-I think this is due to a lack of equipment if not anything else. Add in an item that grants him a +3 or 4 deflection to AC and resistance bonus to saves all around and +4 to +6 Strength and Constitution and I think he'd be up to speed. Consider putting in advice for how he uses Power Attack, as is, I'd imagine he'd be using at least 5 points at a time. Rules for the avalanche seem a bit harsh, as most characters can't make a DC 24 strength check, much less three of them (although I guess spellcasters can still use Teleport and the like to get out of it).

Potentially problematic spells available to 16th level casters:
-Earthquake (If the PCs have fought dragons before they should know its nigh impossible to sneak up on one because of its blindsight. Collapsing the clock tower on him should be a good way to deal some initial damage and make him angry)
-Greater Teleport - after he does one ranged attack round on PCs they should definitely consider teleporting next to him for some nice full round attacks.
-Irresistable Dance - Only mildly inconvenient with those inquisitors around, but still No save and because its a Touch spell, if its cast before combat it can still be used.
-Etherealness - Good for getting a drop on the dragon.
-Wall of Force - If a spellcaster gets this off to seal the dragon's chance for escape,the dragon doesn't have any immediate counter to this (Walls of Force can't be dispelled, only disintegrated and such).
-Summon Monster/Nature's Ally spells. Since the group knows where the dragon is, spellcasters can easily summon a good 5 or so critters as backup before combat even begins. Fire or Air Elementals would probably be the only practical choice with all the Reflex saves involved, but they could add a significant advantage to the battle and would take a while to dispel/destroy.

Leska's Ward seems like an immensely powerful nerf to many meleers, I'd like to see it in play but it seems even more powerful than the spellcasting nerfs that his mask affords him. I wouldn't worry too much about the damage output of the party after the initial few rounds because they'll be too busy healing themselves to be attacking every single round (It would be kind of scary if the inquisitors focused on counterspelling the cleric's mass cure and heal spells initially, I could see it leading to an early TPK if the party's not expecting it).

Notes for the Alarm or similar spell around the sky would be useful.

 

[Quartz]

Can the mask be Dispelled or Disjoined? A 16th level party should have some 9th level spells on scrolls or other devices. How much can the PCs find out about this device and his other magic items?

Are you assuming that the PCs are going to walk in the front door? Suppose they summon a few Earth Elementals, and Earthquake the tower? Or fly in through his escape hole? Players seldom follow the script.

 

[Quartz]

I agree that Leska's ward is too much of a nerf. Even at L16, your fighter-types are not going to have good Will saves. And how many spellcasters will buff the fighters with Owl's Wisdom? Chances are that to make the save, they're going to have to roll very high. Unless they've got significant levels in Knight or Monk or are a Paladin.

And what happens when someone uses a Rod of Cancellation or Wand of Negation on the dragon? Or someone throws up an AntiMagic field?

 

[Zurai]

I don't know if you're able to take spells from WotC supplements, but if you are you might give the dragon an item that casts scintillating scales. A wand would do, since it's only a 2nd level spell. Scintillating scales turns the caster's natural armor bonus into a deflection bonus, meaning a dragon will suddenly have a very respectable touch AC.

 

[Thanee]

This beast is a case for Mr Forcecage.

Bye
Thanee

 

[RangerWickett]

This beast is a case for Mr Forcecage.

Bye
Thanee

Well, depending on how you read the spell, the dragon might count as too big to fit, since with wings and tail he extends well beyond his 20-ft. square space. However yes, that spell will really screw with the dragon.

This, combined with complaints about the Leska Ward, make me consider changing the ward so that now the dragon can, as a standard action, create a rod of cancellation effect.

The mask is effectively a barbershop quartet of liches, so no, it can't be disjuncted, any more than a lich can be. I'll clarify that.

Earthquaking the tower is an awesome way to start a fight. If the PCs think of it, bravo for them.

I'll make escaping from the avalanche/house a little easier.

Any other comments/suggestions?

 

[gnfnrf]

The spell selection of the mask inquisitors is a bit odd.

Restoration would be useful, except the casting time is three rounds. Break Enchantment is even worse, with a casting time of 1 minute.

The weird thing is that most people probably forget that spell-like abilities take as long as the spell unless otherwise specified, so would run it as (I presume) you intended. However, those that ran it correctly would cripple the mask's ability to control negative status effects on the dragon.

I'd say, either specifically note that all of the spell like abilities are 1 standard action to activate, or take those out and replace them with different effects.

--
gnfnrf

 

[Quartz]

What should happen if the PC cleric Turns the Mask?

 

[Foret]

What should happen if the PC cleric Turns the Mask?

Or if using the Alternate Turning System, does the mask count as 1 or 4 undead? BIG difference in how much damage it takes from the Turn. And does the Mask have any Turn Resistance?