D&D question: any advice for an 18th level dungeon?

[SurfMonkey01]

** double-posted from RPG.Net **

My Forgotten Realms group has asked for a dungeon crawl for this coming weekend, and I'm drawing a blank... the average party level is 18, how can I make this challenging? I've found a few traps and puzzles from Traps & Treachery and the Book of Challenges that I like, but that does not a coherent dungeon make... anyone have any ideas/suggestions/etc? Thank you

 

[Leopold]

** double-posted from RPG.Net **

My Forgotten Realms group has asked for a dungeon crawl for this coming weekend, and I'm drawing a blank... the average party level is 18, how can I make this challenging? I've found a few traps and puzzles from Traps & Treachery and the Book of Challenges that I like, but that does not a coherent dungeon make... anyone have any ideas/suggestions/etc? Thank you

go grab jamis bucks' dungeon generator, set it to 20+ and hit the go button.

it's under enworlds, electronic aid section.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

For a challenging combat, make sure your spellcasters cast lots of summons and buffs.

Direct Damage is for end-of-combat killshots.

 

[clockworkjoe]

give everything the half fiend template.

Make the dungeon look like a normal village that the players usually rest and recover at. Then when they go to sleep, the half fiend peasants sell their equipment and throw them at the bottom of the dungeon.

 

[Oracular Vision]

Welcome to the Beholder Village...

The gates of Hell await you...

Tinker gnomes invite you over to see their latest invention - the matter/anti-matter engine!

What did you do to cheese off the demigods this time...

Vecna's House of Pancakes

 

[Zog]

Giants with class levels

Cloud city of the Cloud giants.

A cloud giant lvl 15 sorcerer. Lvl 15 rogue cloud giants. Their dire bear pets. The awakened vampiric dire bear barbarian, and his former friend now minion druid friend.

Giants are great for high level parties. Give them big magic items (so party is unlucky to be able to use them), class levels, and they can ruin the party's day with ease. Make the 'dungeon' be their cloud city/castle. Everything is BIG. Party needs to use resources just to move around. Toss dispel magics around to strip those fly spells and bull rush them out the windows - its lloooooong way down.

 

[Lazybones]

Re: Giants with class levels

Cloud city of the Cloud giants.

A cloud giant lvl 15 sorcerer. Lvl 15 rogue cloud giants. Their dire bear pets. The awakened vampiric dire bear barbarian, and his former friend now minion druid friend.

Giants are great for high level parties. Give them big magic items (so party is unlucky to be able to use them), class levels, and they can ruin the party's day with ease. Make the 'dungeon' be their cloud city/castle. Everything is BIG. Party needs to use resources just to move around. Toss dispel magics around to strip those fly spells and bull rush them out the windows - its lloooooong way down.

Quick note: this was pretty much just done in the last issue of Dungeon (the "Storm Lord's Keep" or something like that). It was designed as an epic-level module but could pretty easily be downsized to 18th.

Dungeon also had a gateway-to-epic module a few months back that involved a very high level group of assassins threatening a coastal town.

Finally, four or five issues ago there was a module, "Glacier Season," which involved exploring the dungeon of an ancient white dragon.

All could easily be ported to FR, IMO. The best part is that you don't have to make the page-long stat blocks you normally have to create for high-level NPC adversaries.

 

[Nightfall]

Could Run Rappen Athuk..

Or do what I'm doing, have some Troll Ranger 6/ Fighters 6, a Troll Ranger Leader (12) and a Druid Troll (12th) with a powerful animal companion. Plus have some mid level dragons and a REALLY powerful one in there as well.

 

[ashockney]

Forgotten Realms

Here's the 18th level module I threw at the party the last time I ran that high, based in FR.

I've got stats too if you're interested.

Bane is sick and tired of being outnumbered by the "good" guys, so he's decided to create himself some Chosen of Bane. To do so, they've converted the temple in Voonlar into an extra-dimensional unholy shrine to himself. In the process, they killed a good portion of the town (part of the sacrifice necessary) and knocked out a couple of Knights of Myth Drannor, trying to brave their way into it. They were disintegrated before they reached the front door. The harpers have since cordoned off the area, and are awaiting help from a strong party (all of the seven sisters and El seem to be busy elsewhere...)

First Encounter:
4 Unholy Obsidian Hounds (16 HD cross between golem and hell hound)
16 Dire Baneguard
2 Dire Baneliches (who cast spells while scrying from inside the temple)

Second Encounter (inside the temple):
4 Advanced Helmed Horrors
The High Tyrannical Vengencemaster to Bane
(a half-fiend werewolf minotaur fighter 4/unholy liberator 6)...hee, hee, hee.

Third Encounter (Temple Dungeon):
Advanced Balor and Advanced Hezrou and everything they can summon.

Fourth Encounter (Bottom Dugeon of Temple):
Fzoul Chembryl and 4 Death Tyrants

In the adventure I ran Fzoul was simply a "shadow" which fought, acted, and was empowered like a clone of Fzoul's, but was merely an avatar.

Good luck!

 

[SurfMonkey01]

Ouch... that sounds icky, ashockney. If you wouldn't mind, kick the stats my way when you get a chance... I dunno if I'll use it for sure this weekend or not, but that's nice to have around... the email is fjarome@cis.ysu.edu

everyone else: I've done a little thinking on this, and I think I want this dungeon to segue into the next big adventure. Here's the quick version: the Shadow Thieves have merged with a bunch of drow and the whole shebang is now led by Jarlalxle. The group wants to head down to the Underdark and deal with this little dark elf problem. So I'm probably going to have them start out in a trapped-as-all-hell guildhouse, and then maybe lead them through a trapped-as-all-hell dungeon on their way down to the real Underdark guildhouse. How does this sound, and anyone got any ideas to help me make this work?