A Brush With The BBEG

[MortalPlague]

My party is currently hunting some werewolves. Not just ordinary werewolves, but a trio of potent, custom-built 7th level elite werewolves! Together, they'll make a fight to remember. But to really set the stage, I want to have the PCs briefly encounter one or two of them (not all three), scrap a little bit, then have the villains make an escape.

I'm loath to make this fight a foregone conclusion. I tried it once where the bad guy showed up and immediately tried to flee the encounter, only to have the PCs throw down all their attacks on him. He barely survived, and the players were left feeling cheated that he'd escaped. So I'd really prefer to avoid a completely staged deus ex machina escape.

What I really want is to have them go a few rounds with the party (I have six players), give them a taste of how dangerous the fight will be later, then have them dash off. Then when they find the villains at last, they'll be prepared for revenge.

So... any thoughts or suggestions as to how this might be done smoothly?

 

[Rune]

I'm loath to make this fight a foregone conclusion. I tried it once where the bad guy showed up and immediately tried to flee the encounter, only to have the PCs throw down all their attacks on him. He barely survived, and the players were left feeling cheated that he'd escaped. So I'd really prefer to avoid a completely staged deus ex machina escape.

Perfect opportunity to develop the players' hatred of your villian(s). Should the villains escape (and they should do so as soon as one of them is bloodied), they should revise their plans (now that they are familiar with the PCs' tactics and abilities) to really mess with the pcs effectively, frequently, and very noticably. Escape should not be a problem, because they should not go into any fight with the PCs without plans to escape, but if they are killed you can always have henchmen/followers raise them later.

What I really want is to have them go a few rounds with the party (I have six players), give them a taste of how dangerous the fight will be later, then have them dash off. Then when they find the villains at last, they'll be prepared for revenge.

As I mentioned above, have them flee as soon as one of them is bloodied, but don't rely on running away as an effective means of escape; they need some more reliable plan (perhaps a flanking force of followers comes up to skirmish with the PCs while they escape). If this feels like a deus ex machana to the players (even though it isn't), good! If they feel that your villains don't fight fairly, they'll hate them more. If you do a good job of hounding them after that fight, when they do get their revenge it will be the sweetest thing ever!

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Make it a group of 4. The PCs can kill one, after a struggle.

 

[Mengu]

I love brushes with BBEG's. And this setup seems great.

I'd have them fight one of the WW's accompanied by a bunch of soldiers and skirmishers. Have the WW use hit and run to stay safe. When half the group is dead or the WW is bloodied, enter the rescue force.

Another one of the WW's shows up with a dozen minions. 6-8 minions run in to engage. 4-6 of them create a shield for the wounded WW to escape, while the second WW is tossing some ranged attacks as they retreat at high speed (give the WW's and their minions speed 8, maybe give the second werewolf a proning, dazing, immobilizing, or blinding AoE to make the escape easier). The minion's job is to jump in front of bullets to take the hits as the other two werewolves are running away, so give them the ability to do so. Meanwhile the remaining skirmishers/soldiers and the minions should keep the PC's sufficiently busy. (If the PC's mop up quickly and try to pursue, create some terrain challenges, perhaps a rope bridge the werewolves cut off, or a log over a ravine they knocked over.)

The PC's spot a wolf's silhouette atop a distant hill, seemingly observing, perhaps a third werewolf? Introductions complete.

 

[MrMyth]

My party is currently hunting some werewolves. Not just ordinary werewolves, but a trio of potent, custom-built 7th level elite werewolves! Together, they'll make a fight to remember. But to really set the stage, I want to have the PCs briefly encounter one or two of them (not all three), scrap a little bit, then have the villains make an escape.

If you want to give a bad guy a chance to escape, there are a couple ways to go about it. The best way to do so, without making the PCs feel like it is scripted, is to give the players the chance to expend their resources beforehand - of their own volition.

So you could just have him the last fight at the end of a long series of rough encounters, but that can feel unfair.

Instead, I'd make sure you have at least one fight beforehand, giving players a chance to burn Action Points and the like. The next fight is where the Werewolf will show up - but with the key that he isn't there at the start. Instead, it starts off like a normal fight, with at least one key enemy for the PCs to already be hurling attacks at.

Two or three rounds in, the Werewolf shows up and makes an appearance, maybe causes some damage. Maybe he's there after something in specific, such as an item or to make sure an NPC dies. Or maybe just to test the PCs strength, or to get a taste of their blood, or the like.

The PCs have likely already done most of their nova'ing on the previous fight or in the first round or two of this fight (in order to put down the enemy they thought was the threat). So now they get to feel threatened by the Werewolf, and possibly even secretly relieved when he runs off and they don't have to deal with him. Rather than feel cheated, they are likely just inspired to make sure that next time, they are actually ready for him.

Of course, next time they might be up against all three Werewolves, putting the fear right back into them...

 

[Infiniti2000]

Each group of PCs is different, I suppose, but for my group I certainly wouldn't use any minions. They are too unpredictable and may not be a deterrent at all. The players, if they realize some of the opponents are minions, might choose to ignore them entirely in order to take on the obvious BBEG. My players do that frequently, so I'm betting it's a common occurrence for others, too. Instead, devise an encounter that is n+2 from the party (without minions) and THEN add in the BBEG (and also maybe some minions) to "oversee" things and maybe help a little but not much. Have him leave in round two, perhaps, and take his minions with him. Maybe even give him a power called "Blend in with the Rabble" that when activated he becomes indistinguishable from the minions. Use rules similar to 3.X mirror image if the PCs try to target him. I'm sure they'll quickly give up on their plans to drop everything on the retreating bad guy.

Key Note: It should be a retreat, not fleeing.

Another idea is why plan on a combat encounter? Have the PCs meet the BBEG on the street or somewhere else, accidentally even. See how the RP goes. Have the BBEG antagonize them, but not actually start anything. If the players start it, then they can't possibly feel cheated if the BBEG flees first thing. Make sure you give him a power, tactic, or something else that allows him to escape (or gives him a good chance of it). I'm thinking something like "Werewolve Sprint" that could be used as a minor action that allows him to shift his speed+2 or something. Thus, in one round he could move at least his speed x3 and therefore quickly outdistance the party. Do this in an urban environment and the party will not even be able to take pot shots.

 

[Piratecat]

Instead, I would have the PCs meet the villains while they are in human form and being real jerks. Do it somewhere that the groups can argue but not easily fight. That way the PCs will have cause to hate them later.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Another effective way to make the players hate/fear the BBEG(s) is to have them hear about the monsters prior to meeting them. Maybe there are some obscure history books about the werewolves. Maybe there's some old geezer who survived one of their attacks but lost a body part. Maybe there's a weeping monther right now who lost her children to a recent attack.

Let the players/PCs read, hear, and see evidence of the BBEG's evil. That'll make any encounter with them all the more effetive.

Also... and this is somewhat metagamey (but effective)... mix up the BBEG's powers between encounters. Perhaps in the first encounter, he has a lot of mobile hard-hitting attacks. In the second encounter, he has incredibly high defenses and a boatload of hit points. In the third encounter, he unloads area burst after area burst.

You want the players thinking "What the heck is the monster going to do this time?"

And hey, it's only fair -- the PCs collectively have dozen(s) of different Encounter/Daily powers.

 

[Rune]

Piratecat and Joshua Randall:

Those are both good ways to amp up the hatred factor. Put it all together and you could have NPCs with enough character to be villainous for the entire campaign.

 

[MortalPlague]

These are some great suggestions! Meeting face to face with the villain in human form will be delightful, but the identity of the werewolves should be hidden in this first encounter. You see, one of the lycanthropes is the fiancee of the local baron, and very soon, the PCs will be sitting at his dinner table at a banquet in their honor. Add in that one of my PCs is herself a lycanthrope, and we have all the ingredients for a memorable verbal battle.

However, if they find out the lady's true identity too early, they'll cut her out before the dinner. So I'd like to keep that concealed until then.

I think MrMyth's idea might be the easiest to implement; if the PCs are already tied up when the villain emerges, it'll be hard for them to shift their focus away from other foes to this new arrival without finishing off their targets. Especially with the leader werewolf being a skirmisher, she'd be able to pounce around the battlefield pretty effectively.

So ideally, their pursuit of the tracks through the woods leads them to some abandoned lumber mill, which they think might be the werewolves' lair. They venture in, find themselves attacked by some sort of wild animal, or perhaps some bandits, and then the werewolves attack. Then afterwards, they follow the tracks to the castle, where they meet the werewolves face to face over dinner. And likely, the werewolves are revealed, they flee, are chased down, and killed.

All depends on what my players do, but it seems solid.