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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Saagael" data-source="post: 5248534" data-attributes="member: 84839">Another combat design thread, so I hope no one is getting tired of those yet.Here's the scene:Players break out of their prison and are running through the tower trying to catch the villain, all the while being chased by the guards that they run by. When they finally catch up with the villain, the players get some more bad guys thrown at them while the villain makes his escape. They fight through those foes, chase the villain some more, and end up in a similar situation again, with some more bad guys thrown at them.Finally the players catch the villain and the real showdown starts, with a few henchmen bursting into the room during the fight.I've got some ideas on how to mechanically achieve this, but I've had success getting forum feedback, so I'm posting this to spark ideas and get help.First off, the players won't have a chance for a short rest from the beginning to the end. This is to wear them down to the point that the showdown will be tough, despite only being with two elites and some minions (I'll have contingencies in case the players end up with more than I anticipated).Here's the run-down for how I see this happening:Phase One - Skill Challenge:The players speeding through the villain's tower, fighting past guards and breaking into where the villain is. The better the players do on this challenge, the fewer henchmen there will be during all of the sub-encounters, and the fewer enemies that will be arriving mid-combat.Phase Two - Sub-Encounter 1: The players face 12-15 minions, led by 2-3 standard monsters. Minions will arrive based on the success of the skill challenge described above. At the very start of this fight, the main villain will create some kind of hindering terrain, and then leave (most likely light stuff on fire, though I'm not too good with unique terrain, so any input is welcome).Phase Three - Sub-Encounter 2:The villain has had more time to prepare the area, and has set up some inconveniences for the players. There is some sort of room-wide trap, along with 2-3 standard monsters and several more minions. Again, there will be some hindering and challenging terrain to navigate to slow the players down.Phase Four - Showdown:Here's the showdown, and it takes place on top of the tower, which is something like a pyramid. The fight will consist of the villain (an elite soldier) and his flying mount (an elite skirmisher). The first part of this fight will be while the villain is mounted, and flying around the tower several hundred feet above the ground, trying to knock the players off. The players must first kill the mount, then kill the villain. I will post stat-blocks when I have time, but for now I want to get a feel for how things will play out.Minions will show up periodically to mess with the players, and the pyramid shape of the tower will cause a problem (especially when falling).Does anyone have any experience with encounters like this, and if so, any advice, comments, critiques or criticisms are always welcome.</blockquote>

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