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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 5534641" data-attributes="member: 20323">More? Well, you're right about the party, they are a lean mean minion-killing machine!I'm using Riastlin's advice about "add minions to spice", so I can throw in a level 9 lieutenant of some kind, and if it's too tough just reduce the waves of minions. Maybe a protege of the blackguard, some kind of misguided cavalier/knight being led down a dark path?I'm actually considering turning that bizarre amalgam of minions into a homebrew level 11 elite. That way I can design it pull off tricks specific to the enemies they've defeated, but still have an illusory feel.My thinking was the party would be worn down by the third part and so it should be prepared a little easier, but I'm rethinking that now. Thanks <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Great advice! "Schrodinger's minions": they don't exist until they're observed <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  It's actually an old tunnel network beneath the castle (I use 'tunnel' loosely since it is rather grandiose) based on ancient trollish construction before the monarchy. It's not really guarded because there's only a handful of people who know about it, and it hasn't been used in ages. While the doppelganger and some minions infiltrated the castle proper, the deep gnome was setting up explosives & poison gas traps. Totally. And then with the doppelganger there is another decision "Do we go along with this double/triple agent to infiltrate the kidnapper's organization, or do we rescue the king right now and worry about it later?" Easy answer, the court mage isn't evil and despite his rhetoric against the monarchy, he has some respect for the young king (a bastard raised among commoners).The 5 villains (court mage, tiefling witch-finder, human blackguard, deep gnome sapper, and doppelganger abductor) are basically "the bad party", each a foil to one of the PCs. They each have different motives and were assembled by a BBEG in the Order of the Chimera. Unbeknown to them, the plan is to compel the kidnapped king to train a shapeshifter to play his role perfectly. I'm not yet sure if the shapeshifter is a doppelganger or what.How does that sound? Haha, yes, exactly what I'm going for. Thanks for the extensive feedback!If the PCs take a short rest the villains get away with the king.I'm planning to treat each part as a separate encounter, so before part 2 and again before part 3, all encounter powers refresh (including second wind) but encounter-long effects end.Range. The villains are pretty much off the map (~30 squares), and there's plenty of superior cover. Only the crossbow-wielding artificer can shoot that far, and I'm fine letting them take a few pot shots on a villain or two. The setup is flexible enough that no villain absolutely *needs* to be in a specific part of the running battle.Thanks for keeping me on my DM toes <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

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