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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Smeelbo" data-source="post: 5332704" data-attributes="member: 81898">I will be runing a 24-player Dragon Raid at our FLGS on Saturday October 30th, pitting 4 groups of six 9th level PF characters against a colossal white dragon, and I am looking for advice on designing the encounter and running the event. My initial character generation rules are:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">PathFinder RPG Core and Advanced Character's Guide only. No exceptions.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">25 point stat buy, plus racials and levels 4 and 8.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No monstrous races.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">46KGP in gear, with no single item more than 11.5KGP.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No Leadership.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">No Item Creation feats except Scribe Scroll and Brew Potion.</li> </ul>The back story is that Baltadrax, an elder White dragon and among the first-born of Tiamat, was thought slain centuries ago. Recently, an oracle has revealed that he was reincarnated, reborn to a new body, and has been growing from childhood in an icy demi-plane, a second egg, of sorts, where he can regain his elder status. It is nigh impossible to scrye upon this demi-plane, but evidence suggests that time passes there more quickly, and if he is not stopped soon, he will emerge as a Great Wyrm and usher in a new Ice Age, and possibly Ragnarok. The players have discovered a one-way gate that leads to this demi-plane. The gate only operates when the stars are right, and if he is not slain this conjunction, then the next will be too late. The gate admits only 6 characters at a time. The plan is that the groups will arrive one a time at separate locations in the demi-plane, face a number of challenging minions and some drive-by attacks by Baltadrax, then after uniting, meet and hopefully defeat the beast in his lair. In part, I aim to reproduce the feel of the raids I remember from EverQuest (I am clean and sober from EverQuest 4 years 6 months now). I'd also like to make good use of the Colossal White Dragon miniature that has been sitting in the store for a few years now, and which really wants to play. I am looking for advice in the following areas:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What limitations to place on player character builds so that the game is not degenerate.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What kind of point system I can implement to award prizes, especially the Colossal White Dragon mini.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How to design the encounter, especially Baltadrax, so that it is an appropriate challenge for 24 characters of 9th level.</li> </ul>Here are my initial thoughts: 9th level characters are powerful enough to challenge a higher CR dragon, but are low enough level to avoid a number of problematic issues, especially certain spells. Limiting it to the two core PathFinder rulebooks minimizes the number of degenerate combinations I have to account for. Allowing the various 3.5 Complete and Race splat books would be asking for trouble. Likewise, I am disallowing monstrous player races. The way I figure, if you can't kill a dragon with a couple core books, you might as well hang up your dice in shame. I will have 3 or 4 assistant referees available, one for each group. They will arrive in separate locations, fight for a while separately, but join together for the big battle at the end. Baltadrax will drop in on each of the groups at least once before the final battle, in order to rough them up and force them to consume some of their resources. There will be a variety of "minions" defending the lair, based primarily on the miniatures I have available. None of the minions will be a serious challenge to the group, but they will harrass and threaten them. They will vary from groups of CR3 to CR6 or maybe CR7. I am big fan of complex terrain. I will be taking advantage of movement modes like fly, climb, icewalk, and burrowing. There will be multiple icy terrain effects, like grease, for example. Since The Egg of Baltadrax is a demi-plane, it will have its own rules. These will be aimed at countering some of the most obvious strategems, but not to screw over the players. If certain spells are inappropriate or largely ineffective, the players will be informed in advance. Baltadrax will definitely be a spellcaster. To stat him, I will start with an appropriate CR dragon (CR15-17 I estimate), and compare him with a Dragon Disciple/Sorceror of similar level, and come up with a synthesis between the two. I will compare his stats to the DCs, attacks, and so on I estimate he will encounter. Ideally, he'll be able to drop in on each of the groups once, mess them up pretty good, and then be able to withstand all the survivors for between 5 and 10 rounds for the final battle.  He will have some access to healing between combats. I understand that a CR15 Ancient White Dragon is Huge, not Colossal. I intend to customize his armor, saves, spell resistance, and so on, to be just within reach of the characters. A big concern is save-or-die spells. Although obviously Baltadrax is a cold-based dragon, he will have other options available to him, and he will obviously be prepared for fire attacks.The raid should last 5 hours. I would appreciate any thoughts or feedback. My highest goal is to provide a hellaciously fun experience for my players, and to make the best use possible of the miniature. Thank you in advance!Good Smeelbo always helps</blockquote>

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