Will a pair of Owlbears wipe out a 6th-level party?

[OnlineDM]

I'm unfamiliar with three of those classes

Still, I know their roles (battlemind = defender, monk = melee striker, artificer = leader, warlock/sorcerer = artillery striker).

There's advantages to using two big owlbears rather than three; it'll be a lot harder for one to slip around and eat the warlock, as the battlemind can more easily tie them up. On the other hand, using three weaker ones would let the monk's and warlock's higher damage shine, as they could eliminate the younger ones fairly quickly. (I assume the monk does decent damage, but am not in a position to know.)

I know the artificer is some kind of buffer, and I suspect the battlemind can buff himself too. Can either or both boost his AC? That might be critical (no pun intended).

Yeah, it's an interesting party. The Battlemind is a defender who leans toward leader a little bit as a secondary role with some of her feat choices (a little healing). She marks creatures, but she's nowhere near as sticky as a fighter.

The artificer is a leader, mainly working at range (crossbow). Her main buffs for her allies are on attacks - she loves the Magic Weapon at-will power. I don't think she has anything that pumps up defenses.

The monk is indeed a melee striker, and he's the one who dishes out the most damage. He leans a little toward both defender (high AC) and controller (some good burst attacks) as secondary roles.

The hybrid sorcerer/warlock is a striker with a STRONG leaning toward controller - he LOVES to use Blazing Starfall to unleash fiery fury in an area burst 1, penalizing enemies for leaving the area.

No one can really boost the Sorlock's AC, although his armor does give him +2 to AC when bloodied and he has a daily power that gives him an AC bonus as well. So, if he gets trapped in melee, he can try to pump up his defense. But he REALLY doesn't want to get trapped in melee. What he could really use is something to let him get OUT of melee (a teleport or big shift power). Alas, he has nothing like that.

 

[TerraDave]

Ok,

What about a 7th level party vs. an owlbear and a bullete working togehter in an unholy alliance?

 

[Scribble]

Ok,

What about a 7th level party vs. an owlbear and a bullete working togehter in an unholy alliance?

Especially if they're both on fire.

 

[TerraDave]

Hmm. Those feathers won't last that long.

But seriously, I am did just think up that unatural pairing and wonder just how unaturally nasty it will be.

 

[Bold or Stupid]

Ok,

What about a 7th level party vs. an owlbear and a bullete working togehter in an unholy alliance?

"One is a part Ursine part avian beast from the fairy realms, the other is a halfling eating monster based on an oriental toy. Together they FIGHT CRIME!"

Yes I can see that working.

 

[Almacov]

One possibility could be that they're crossing a frozen lake or river when the owlbears attack. The Sorcerer/Warlock has tons of fire powers that could melt the ice beneath the owlbears, and the Artificer has things like Alchemist's Fire. On the downside, walking on ice would be tricky for the players (either treat it as difficult terrain or use an Acrobatics check to move at full speed but risk falling prone on a failure) but probably easier for the owlbears with their talons/claws.

Heheh. This reminds me of an encounter I ran in elementary school. I had a really fast and loose sense of physics in-game then, which basically amounted to "anything half-plausible and cool can happen".

Anyway, the party was walking through a forest and things were getting darker and darker, with creaking sounds overhead. Suddenly the giant mounds of snow that had been building on the canopy of the trees came crashing down, burying the human characters pretty much up to their chests. The halfling was less lucky. Some winter wolves thought it was a good time to ambush, and then things started getting interesting.

Someone cast fireball, which (rather unscientifically) resulted in a massive pond of meltwater that the halfling was now struggling to swim in.
Which made him a prime target for the winter wolves.
Who have freezing breath weapons.
So there was a halfling icecube floating around in the middle of the battle.
I don't think the halfling's player has ever forgotten that fight, but he did forgive it.

It was interesting though, seeing some of the other players struggle to help his character throughout the battle. There's something about those times when one of the party is in serious danger that can make gameplay suddenly feel much more meaningful.

If one or more of the party falls into the icewater during your encounter, consider a skill challenge (or disease track) involving hypothermia during their rest.
If the rest of the party has to put some care in to keep them alive, it may strengthen the group's bond a bit.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Yeah, I'm struggling with that a little bit for this encounter. They're defending a wagon from attack. The terrain currently consists of a road with some icy patches, some trees in the area, and some cliffs about 30 feet off the road on either side. The wagon could be used as terrain in itself - it can be moving. I'm not sure how INTERESTING that would be, but it's something.

I want the battles to have that epic fantasy feel, of course, but I want them to fit with the reality of the game world. Owlbears seem to be big brutes who live in caves. I could have the wagon crossing a bridge, perhaps, but beyond that I struggle to come up with anything especially fascinating.

One possibility could be that they're crossing a frozen lake or river when the owlbears attack. The Sorcerer/Warlock has tons of fire powers that could melt the ice beneath the owlbears, and the Artificer has things like Alchemist's Fire. On the downside, walking on ice would be tricky for the players (either treat it as difficult terrain or use an Acrobatics check to move at full speed but risk falling prone on a failure) but probably easier for the owlbears with their talons/claws.

I'd shy away from a frozen lake as you'd run the real risk of taking out a weak(ish) PC as they wouldn't be able to make the Str checks to get out. I think it is the DMG 2 that has lists of interesting terrain *checking* yup pages 58-63 has some great stuff - Creeping Ice might be a nice option for a cold-themed area (patches of ice that do 5 cold damage to anyone within 1 space) the DMG2 suggests placing it where range attackers might want to attack from to encourage them to move about. Also just simpler things like a ice covered boulder that can easily to pushed onto an opponent - DMG 1 pg 42 in action there. Even just some trees and difficult ground makes a world of difference - having them defend the wagon (and use it as cover) is a great idea!

 

[OnlineDM]

As long as folks don't feel like a wagon, some trees and some icy terrain make for a boring encounter, I'll go with that. The frozen lake sounds like it might be an interesting location for an encounter someday, but I think the party will have enough to think about with just the owlbears in this one.

Thanks for all the feedback on this!

 

[TerraDave]

Did the frozen lake with some will-o-wisps. The wisps, of course, lure the PCs on to it while they fly over it, basically a variation on the standard lure into a swampy ground.

Multiple charecters and their horses go into the water. This included the armored cleric. And he stayed in it for a while. Rounds are short, and its takes a while to drown or be effected by exposure. Eventually he got to the edge and hacked his way out. Can't remember if I let him cast under water, but being there kept him from getting zapped by the wisps, who hammered the rest of the party.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

As long as folks don't feel like a wagon, some trees and some icy terrain make for a boring encounter, I'll go with that. The frozen lake sounds like it might be an interesting location for an encounter someday, but I think the party will have enough to think about with just the owlbears in this one.

Thanks for all the feedback on this!

Yeah, that will be a reasonable amount of terrain. Maybe have a tree loaded with snow that can be knocked down to create an obscured area UEOYNT and then becomes difficult terrain, etc. Some snow drifts that can be cover and difficult terrain, maybe a slippery slope things can slide down. You really don't need much IME and just the trees, wagon, and some ice patches is probably enough to get the players thinking tactically and moving around.