Double Whammies: Ever Use Complimentary Threats in Game?

[AFGNCAAP]

I would think that Wraiths and even more wraiths or Wights and even more Wights would be more complementary than Wights and Wraiths. Taking half of someone's levels and half of someone's Constitution may be nasty, but taking all of either is lethal.

True, but I think that's true about any sort of overwhelming number of the same creature (against appropriate foes, that is).

However, I was looking at combat combos of "mixed pair" monsters, whose abilities compliment each other. Red dragons & iron golems are a classic example provided by many folks already, though I wanted to see what other types were out there, esp. with how 3.X deals with things now such as poison, saves, & the like.

 

[mmadsen]

True, but I think that's true about any sort of overwhelming number of the same creature (against appropriate foes, that is).

Not necessarily. Often a mixed force is superior to a homogeneous force.

In a game where characters have multiple ablative defenses (hit points, Con, etc.), and where reducing those ablative defenses has little effect compared to finishing them off, then it's more effective to focus on one thing -- hit points or Con, not half one and half the other.

However, I was looking at combat combos of "mixed pair" monsters, whose abilities compliment each other. Red dragons & iron golems are a classic example provided by many folks already, though I wanted to see what other types were out there, esp. with how 3.X deals with things now such as poison, saves, & the like.

I understand what you were looking for, but wights and wraiths were a bad example.

Skeletons and zombies were another spurious example. Because the two have different vulnerabilities, each member of a mixed party can always find a target that is vulnerable to his favorite attack.

 

[rgard]

I was looking through the Monster Manual for an idea for an encounter, and looked over the Wight. Then, I looked over the Wraith.

An encounter with both Wraiths & Wights in it seems like a very tough mix. Bad enough that Wights drain levels; but the Con drain of Wraiths could feasibly mean that the Fort save to regain the levels drained could be even harder to do (esp. if the party has no restorative magics, or the cleric was drained enough levels to no longer have access to restorative magics).

Have you ever used/run encounters that have this sort of "Double Whammey" effect? Like an unstable environment that requires Balance checks or Reflex saves, and the opponents have Dex-damaging abilities (like poison, ability drain, etc.)? Highly spell-resistant melee-oriented foes against a spellcaster-heavy party?

If you have, how did the PCs fare in those situations?

I DM'd an NPC who had an 8th level spell 'Bisection Plane' or something like that. I updated the spell to 3.5 from a very old FRG spell supplement. Anyway, the players were confronting a death scarab swarm...easy to run away from, but harder to run away when you fail your save and the spell cuts your feet off.

 

[rgard]

Summoning Elementals against Mind Flayers is one of my go-to tactics when facing them, never thought to use them together, though.

Ooh! That one gets written down for future use!!!

 

[babomb]

What, like "I'm going to kill you because you're so handsome."?

Oh, you meant complementary.