Adventure climax question from a prospective DM

Spiral

First Post
Hey. As you can see from the post count, I'm one of the new guys, and I thought I'd tap the knowledge and opinions of the ENWorld crew.

Is it possible for an adventure to be satisfying for players when the final encounter at the bottom of the dungeon isn't a knock-down, all out brawl? I'm mulling over something where a trapped ghost has been wreaking havoc in a small town. Nobody even knows it's there, in a buried and forgotten ruin of a wizard's tower. All they need to do is open the cells in the prison where the ghost and numerous others starved to death more than a century ago.

Of course, they have to figure out what the heck's happening and fight their way to the end, first. }:)

Would something like that work, or would it just fall flat? I realize it depends a lot on the players, but I haven't got a group going. I was thinking of writing it out, playtesting it then "unleashing" it on the internets. It's been floating around in my brain for a couple years.

Any thoughts are welcome. If you have any stories or examples to share of adventures like this, please share also.

Thanks,

Spiral
 

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That's an excellent way to end an adventure. You don't need a big brawl to finish things unless the storyline leads you there (and you do if it does). If you want the big exciting scene to be the PCs finding some bones in the bottom of a tower, spend some time getting them invested in the problem. Have them meet townspeople who are plagued by the ghost. Have them see someone sicken or die from the ghost's actions. Have the ghost mess with their stuff. Then they'll be invested in solving the problem. Sure, fighting along the way wouldn't be a bad idea, but it's entirely possible to wrap things up without it.
 

Maybe make opening the cell doors a dramatic moment, or one that saves them a tough problem (though that last option can be railroady if not handled properly).

Otherwise, no I still don't think it'd fall flat really, it'd be more denouement than climax, so no problem.
 

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