DM request: Big Evil Things

[Kyramus]

level 18 party?

Get 2 sor or wiz that can cast dispel magic, make a lot of scrolls, and have them be improved invis.

Start casting dispel magic on everyone until all items are inert.

Force a fight where their magic items don't work and spells are being targetted by wands of dispel magic to counterspell (still invisible)

The fight has creatures that mixes spell casting and fighting. This should confuse the players into not realizing there's more npcs out there.

Dwell into the past of these people, one of their enemies that hasn't re-occured in a LOOOOOONG time. That's because he's been scrying and spying and watching and learning what he can of the pcs. What are their strengths and weaknesses. and uses it trully against them.

Have a rogue replace the cleric's holy symbol sometime before this encounter and make all of his spells fizzle for no reason. (make sure that spells that need a divine focus don't work, all else does, but don't tell him that) If the cleric should ask what's happening with his spells, you answer back "you are unsure, you feel strangely out of synch with your deity".

 

[Kyramus]

Something really big? Not necessarily evil.

Devastation Vermin. I love the poison DC, surely a challenge for the pc's. You could always scale them back a little, the ones the PCs encounter were babies. lol

 

[Al]

An Atropal from the ELH: I mean how putrid is an undead stillborn godling?? You may have to lead up to it with...

I am probably not alone in thinking that an atropal would annihilate an 18th level party. SR 42 means that the party caster would need Greater Spell Penetration and roll a 20 to hit it with anything. DR 40/+8 laughs in the face of the party martial types. Undead means that the rogue is effectively useless (and with 66 HD, the cleric is not going to realistically turn it). It is CR *30* for good reason.

My suggestion: perhaps a change of pace. The PCs are 18th level, and sounds like they've been through a lot of fiend-bashing. I'm not sure if they'll like this, but try throwing some intrigue at them. The next villain is not a bigger, badder fiend, but a conniving courtier. Perhaps the PCs have upset him, or destroyed one of his 'associates'. Whatever the reason for the slight, they suddenly find that the legitimate authorities are turning nasty. This is not a threat they can beat with force: any direct assault on the villain will have them either permanent fugitives or hanging for high treason. They must find out about this nemesis, and somehow turn the tables...

 

[Wicht]

Cthulhu and co. (complete with crossover madness rules from CoC d20)

 

[Sejs]

Colosal Zombies!

 

[Nifft]

They have faced off a couple of dragons, including one fairly nasty red one recently. It's the sort of thing that high-level characters hunt down when they need some quick cash....

Dragons are perfect then. They don't get to be over a thousand years old by ignoring significant threats. Have some VERY old & powerful dragons conspire against them, behind the scenes (and perhaps behind the throne... )

-- Nifft

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Ok, there's all sorts of stuff to reply to here....

Here's one you might want: Evil clones.

This has sort of been done already- while going through the Demon God's Fane, the illusionist was possessed by the demons (she tried to use probe thoughts on the fisherman- he exploded, spreading the corruption). When the party finally figured out what had happened, she'd given them the slip and gone off to start her own little cult of madmen. Since she was by herself (effectively), and needes some high-level help, I had her make simularcrums of the abjurer and cleric PCs, who were there specifically to counter the party's spells and heal the illusionist.

Whatever the reason for the slight, they suddenly find that the legitimate authorities are turning nasty.

I've already had them arrested and charged with treason recently. They killed a insane wizard who happened to be a noble. Sure, he was summoning up gobs of elementals to create an army, but the political enemies of the party didn't care- they just saw a good opportunity to get rid of their foes. It was fun watching the party go from a dungeon crawl (Demon God's Fane, actually) to a politics/legal maneuvering story. They eventually got out of it, but now they owe a LOT of people.

Funny thing is, the government knew what was going on, and if the party had been willing to wait a while, agents would've gotten the guy without their help (the party went after him as part of a deal with an elemental lord, who didn't like what this mage was doing to his subjects).

Dragons are perfect then. They don't get to be over a thousand years old by ignoring significant threats. Have some VERY old & powerful dragons conspire against them, behind the scenes (and perhaps behind the throne... )

Yeah, come to think of it, they've pissed off a lot of dragons. Though there's no reasons for the chromatic dragons to avenge each other, they'd definately have noticed the party's actions. Actually, they know that one of their main political foes is a dragon in human disguise- the trick is using the information effectively, as it's unlikey the rest of the noblility would care all that much. And since I'm setting things up to run Bastion of Broken Souls (has anyone run this, btw? I'd be intereted in hearing about it), getting a Great Wyrm introduced early would be good.

Plus, this current module is a sort of sequel to/rehashing of the module which started this campaign off, and ended with a dragon fight. So there's definately some karma there....

 

[ArcOfCorinth]

Beholders is the key.

Attack the players with multiple Beholderkin. Regular beholders stay back and surround the players and completely trap them in their anti-magic cones. Then the Death Kiss beholderkin charge into melee.

The death kisses target mages first. Once they've been taken out, the beholders can close their central eyes and start using their rays.