Kinak
First Post
Stage 1:
Assuming the cambions reveal themselves, rather than disappearing or something, after Stage 1, it'll actually be better for the players to kill them. Left over cambions, plus minions, plus succubus, plus portals will get pretty frantic.
For stage transitions that are actually made consciously by an NPC, I usually just play it by ear. I think something like "most of the guards dead or the succubus is out of stage 1 hit points" would be a good rule of thumb.
Stage 2:
The minions sound good and I like the basic ideas of the zones.
My gut says to up the noxious gasses and burning sands a bit, but I don't have an eye for 4e balance. I'd probably do half healing values for the gasses and "walking creatures grant combat advantage" for burning sands.
Difficulty:
As a general point of advice, design a few "outs" into your most difficult fights. For example, you've got the duke there and at least one ally to the party.
Once stage 2 hits, it's pretty reasonable for the duke to switch sides. If you don't want to run him, maybe let the players make Diplomacy or Intimidate checks as a minor action to motivate him to action (with the first successful player getting control of him).
You also have their ally on the council, who might help in some way based on his/her level of competence. Maybe he/she disrupts a portal when things seem dire, distracting the succubus for a round as she eviscerates him. Whatever you want. Just keep that card in your back pocket.
Other council members may also help, if you have them there. I'd be worried about including too many moving parts, though.
Mini-Milestones as Outs:
A more 4e-specific piece of advice is that you can do mini-milestones in the middle of combat. Maybe with each portal they close, the party gets a benefit. Action points are always good, regaining or spending healing surges improves survivability, and regaining an encounter power (or even a daily) would help prevent it from becoming an at-will fest.
I'd probably just let people choose from a list: gain an action point (and you can use another action point this combat), recharge an encounter power, or heal an amount equal to your surge value. But you could also associate different options with different portals for flavor.
If the party's doing okay through stage 2, you can hold that for the last portal. If they're struggling, you can throw them out like candy.
Cheers!
Kinak
Assuming the cambions reveal themselves, rather than disappearing or something, after Stage 1, it'll actually be better for the players to kill them. Left over cambions, plus minions, plus succubus, plus portals will get pretty frantic.
For stage transitions that are actually made consciously by an NPC, I usually just play it by ear. I think something like "most of the guards dead or the succubus is out of stage 1 hit points" would be a good rule of thumb.
Stage 2:
The minions sound good and I like the basic ideas of the zones.
My gut says to up the noxious gasses and burning sands a bit, but I don't have an eye for 4e balance. I'd probably do half healing values for the gasses and "walking creatures grant combat advantage" for burning sands.
Difficulty:
As a general point of advice, design a few "outs" into your most difficult fights. For example, you've got the duke there and at least one ally to the party.
Once stage 2 hits, it's pretty reasonable for the duke to switch sides. If you don't want to run him, maybe let the players make Diplomacy or Intimidate checks as a minor action to motivate him to action (with the first successful player getting control of him).
You also have their ally on the council, who might help in some way based on his/her level of competence. Maybe he/she disrupts a portal when things seem dire, distracting the succubus for a round as she eviscerates him. Whatever you want. Just keep that card in your back pocket.
Other council members may also help, if you have them there. I'd be worried about including too many moving parts, though.
Mini-Milestones as Outs:
A more 4e-specific piece of advice is that you can do mini-milestones in the middle of combat. Maybe with each portal they close, the party gets a benefit. Action points are always good, regaining or spending healing surges improves survivability, and regaining an encounter power (or even a daily) would help prevent it from becoming an at-will fest.
I'd probably just let people choose from a list: gain an action point (and you can use another action point this combat), recharge an encounter power, or heal an amount equal to your surge value. But you could also associate different options with different portals for flavor.
If the party's doing okay through stage 2, you can hold that for the last portal. If they're struggling, you can throw them out like candy.
Cheers!
Kinak
