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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Trit One-Ear" data-source="post: 6203366" data-attributes="member: 6678017">[MENTION=6668292]JamesonCourage[/MENTION] - This is a very good point, and a plot hole my players would spot in a moment. Luckily for me, it's also the perfect opportunity to clue them in to the larger plot. For you see, this succubus is not acting alone, or even for herself. Oh no, there is a plot in the workings, stemming from none other than Glasya, Asmodeus' daughter, herself!Here's my new idea for each stage:Opening "Cinematic"Players can attempt to convince the Duke to see the truth, try to call the succubus out, expose her etc. While this may not direcly change the flow of events, I will award certain benefits if my players embrace the opportunity and really roleplay it well. Ultimately, however, the Duke is too entralled, and calls for the heroes' arrest. They have, after all, organized a rebellion against the Duke in order to get by the cultist agents occupying the city.Stage 1The guards engage the heroes, attempting to keep them from the Duke and his Council (one of which has allied himself with the heroes). 4-5(ish?) guards form a wall, but I expect this will be broken. When the players reach the Succubus, the Duke intervenes, forcing the heroes to either attack him or allow him to strike at them again and again. The Succubus uses wizard-sytle spells, some damage and some control, in line with her appearance as the Duke's Arcane Advisor. Fairly straight forward, this stage ends either when all the guards are defeated, or when the Succubus' health is drained to 2/3 her total health.Stage 2Seeing the heroes will evade the attempted arrest, the Succubus reveals her true form, thinking she's playing her trump card. The tapestries on the walls all burn up (@Kinark - this was acutally not far off an idea I had originally but ditched. You've convinced me it's awesome), revealing portals to four of the different Hells (I have notes on the 4E Hells, but not on me. Firey, Ice, Shadow and... Poison/Acid seem like good variations). Each Hell portal is opened by a Cambion guard who have appear from the wings behind the council chamber. From the portals, a stream (3-5 a turn? Is that too many with four portals?) of appropriately themed minions emerge. A blast 3 zone in front of each portal also becomes afflicted with some bleedoff of the Hell's specific energy (damage, difficult terrain, reduced healing etc). The Succubus disappears into one portal, and emerges every other turn afterwards to strike at heroes within range of them. Any successful attacks against her reward one success towards closing the portal she just emerged from (2 successes on a substantial hit or a crit). Heroes can make skill checks/attacks/spend surges to attempt to close each portal, 3 or 4 successes needed to close one. This stage completes when the heroes have closed 3 of the 4 portals.Stage 3As the last Portal begins to close, the Succubus sees her escape route closing. Leaping through before it vanishes, both she and the players are shocked when she is expelled in a erruption of fire. A soft but firm female voice echoes from within "No, Elspeth, you are not welcome to return. Not until you have proved to me you are not a failure. Do what I have charged you with. Bring me souls... starting with theirs." (The heroes do not yet realize this is Glasya, but will be quick to investigate after this!)Trapped, Glasya attempts one large mental suggestion: SLEEP. As everyone around her succumbs to the power of her mind, she is amazed to see the heroes resist. A ritual, completed by the Head Librarian before the assault, has protected the heroes from the majority of her power. However, with the strength of this assault, the protection of the ritual has been expended.This last stage has Elspeth (our now-named Succubus) fighting like a cornered beast, lashing out with her whip to great effect. Pulling enemies in close to seduce them (with an Aura 1 or 2 that gives -2 to Will), causing them to attack their allies, fliting around the room. I expect this phase will be fairly short lived, but with lots of friendly fire and a satisfaction watching Elspeth fall that will not be soon forgotten.What happens after she "dies?" Will they capture her, or does she simply fade back to her displeased Mistress in Hell? Well, that's a good question. I hope I find out in the future.I really want to thank everyone for the help this far. In the last 12 hours, I've started feeling much much better about where I stand on this Boss fight. I'm going to start drafting up some stat blocks for her different stages, but feel free to comment/critique on what I have so far!Trit</blockquote>

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