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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Riley37" data-source="post: 6476983" data-attributes="member: 6786839">What if he tends to engage from long distance, and flee when PCs get close enough to counterattack?PC parties tend to have huge burst firepower *at close quarters*. Sure, they can close with him, but can they all arrive at the same time? If not, then the first one to arrive is fighting one-on-one. And possibly running into traps; for example, he's sniping from the top of a tower, and he's sabotaged the staircase, because he's planning to escape via a rope hanging down the outside of the tower, or by magic."You enter the tower's ground floor. There are caltrops, and a spiral wooden staircase. This floor is illuminated by the light through the doorway, but the stairs up are in darkness. At the top of the stairs, you see a trapdoor to the tower top; it's closed.""I carefully step around the caltrops, then charge up the stairs, using normal move plus Dash.""Perception check, at Disadvantage for darkness, DC 15. No? Okay, you move the first 10' at half speed to avoid the caltrops, then you charge up two flights of stairs, then the steps break under your weight. You fall, onto the caltrops. Make a CON saving throw against poison. Yes, you can apply Inspiration, that was wise! Now make a DEX save to avoid falling chunks of staircase, at Disadvantage while prone. No? Meh, it's just 1d4 bludgeoning." This should not kill the PC, but it could add up to maybe half their HP total. The poison on the caltrops could be cheap and weak... it still adds to the question of "how bad will it be, next time".And then you get the who-knows-what game: how does he know where the PCs are, or will be, to set up an ambush position? Can they predict his next attack? There's a thread about ruthless villain strategy.With sufficient investigation, the PCs can find the carpenters who had, the previous day, taken a very odd, but very lucrative job. They started at the top of a tower staircase, and, working their way down from the top, sawed halfway through each step of the top 10' of stairs. They were paid in in gold coins with Elvish stamps. Sure, they'd trade one of those coins for a locally-stamped gold coin. Now the PCs have an item handled by the villain. Time to hire a diviner!</blockquote>

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