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Message: <blockquote data-quote="foreverdarkwoods" data-source="post: 6088241" data-attributes="member: 6706090">Hello. New here, but I found this place looking for a forum to get some feedback on how to design an ancounter/make it winnable.Basically, I am the DM of a party that likes to just rush in and steamroll everything. Usually when I design encounters, steamrolling them is their first instinct. And they're pretty good at it too. But based on feedback I've gotten from them, they like it more when I put a little twist on the encounters and force them to go about it differently. As a result of this, I designed some puzzles and some encounters which they had to approach more carefully and where simply steamrolling everything wasn't an option. Sure, they managed to steamroll some of these as well, as steamrolling and breaking things are their first instincts, but they appreciated the encounters which had a twist to them. So now I'm trying my hand at a type of encounter I have never tried before during my time as a dm, and it's one they certainly can't just steamroll. I do, however need some feedback and some help to make sure it's actually winnable but still interesting and challenging.The party have at this point been tasked with removing an enclave of necromancers, a few mercenaries they've hired and some of their undead from an encampment they've made in a cave in the mountains. I needed to make sure that they couldn't simply steamroll the entire encampment and take out the fragile necromancers instantly, and after some deliberation I drew a grid map of the area outside of the cave where they are holed up, featuring a primitive wall around the cave entrance with one barred gate as the only entrance and sharp wooden poles sticking out towards the outside.The purpose of this is to prove to be somewhat of a challenge. To get into the cave where the necromancers are holed up, the fort outside has to be breached somehow. Simply steamrolling it isn't really an option, and the wall, being a wooden pallisade is sturdy enough to not be easily breakable. There are some trees around it, and during the night it would perhaps be possible to sneak up to it. I have considered the players setting fire to it as an option for them regarding how to deal with it, but other than that I really don't know how it could be handled. I really like the idea of having the party attack a walled structure (it also gives me the oppurtunity to use a really large battlemap), but I'm not sure the party will be able to survive the attack. But then again the party is around ECL 8 and can take a bit of punishment at this point.So first thing I'd like to know is:Does anybody have any experience regarding this kind of scenario? Is it even viable? What are some ways a party could pull it off (the party in question is one barbarian, one ranger, one cleric, one ninja and one warmage)? I have considered giving them some mercenaries they can control so that they have some kind of meat shield or distraction. Is this a good idea.Second thing I really would like is some suggstions regarding what kind of enemies to use here. Archers on the wall are a given, probably a mix between skeleton archers and mercenaries (neither particularily strong on their own, but owing their difficulty mostly to the wall). Aside from this, I've considered using mounted skeleton warriors on skeletal horses to be sent out through the gates in case the party is spotted on approach. This means the party having to fight riding skeletons in a vast open area. Other than that, I don't know what kind of undead could be used to spice up the encounter (skeletons can be very easily turned, and as such I don't think only skeletons is a good idea with a level 8 cleric around). Any suggestions?</blockquote>

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