Encounter with waves of monsters

[Tymophil]

Hi,

I plan to build an encounter where my PCs will meet monsters in waves. What advices and hints would you offer to me ?

This will be a 6th level party of 5 players and the monsters will be undead.

 

[Keenberg]

It might be fun to have a leader involved in this encounter. The leader could re-animate the undead when bloodied, shouting "The power I weild... you weaklings cannot fathom!" The undead then come back a bit stronger than before! (I.E. they glow with a necrotic aura that does 1d6 in a burst 1 to enemies starting their turn adjacent)

The leader could also drain vitality from his animations to power himself back up after being bloodied the first time.

Let me know if you like these ideas. I can help stat up a monster if you do.

 

[MortalPlague]

Give the players terrain they can use. Maybe even dungeon dressing, like traps or ballistas. It would make the fight more interesting if they have a meaningful choice of where to make their stand. Also, have the scenery pieces be minor-action activated. That way the players can attack and still use the scenery. For many, a standard action is just too big to give up, and something cool will be missed.

Secondly, are you going to give the players a short rest between waves? If not, consider giving them back an encounter power between waves, or letting them gain a short rest if they drop a whole wave in a certain period of time.

Thirdly, have the battlefield change. Maybe the second wave has a spectral bridge appear, allowing enemies to get across a chasm they couldn't previously. Maybe the third wave has a section of wall collapse, spreading difficult terrain across the battlefield. Be creative!

These kinds of encounters can be really interesting and exciting. Good luck!

 

[S'mon]

Lots of minions, but not all minions - have some meaty foes for the Strikers.

 

[Halivar]

I ran an encounter with a 6th level party against waves of minions.

They were in a ruined abbey with women and children hidden in the cellar. Waves of zombie minions were streaming towards them.

Each wave was 20 zombies. A new wave appeared each turn. An elite controller pushed them onward. If the elite controller ever died, the waves would be slowed for two turns, whereupon a new controller took his place. This went on for 10 turns.

At the very end of the 10th round, the party was down to the last hitpoint, had completely abandoned the outer defenses, and were fighting at the very entrance to the cellar. Surrounding them was a sea of zombie minions. The cavalry arrived in overwhelming force (the party was unaware that they were coming on the 10th turn).

It was hilarious fun for all.

EDIT: I also gave them full XP for every minion they killed, which was a significant amount.

 

[Tymophil]

Thanks for all the advices so far...

Here is what I now have in mind (shamelesly plundering on what was offered).

A leader undead will send waves of minions against the PCs. Each minion killed will give the leader a new little surge of hp.

The PCs will have to understand that they need to destroy (by fire most likely) the pirate ship to stop the leader in his tracks.

It surely needs a lot of tweaking to make the whole thing work though.

 

[Quickleaf]

Pirate ship? That changes everything!

So is this a "defend the beachhead/port from undead pirate zombies" scenario a la Pirates of the Carribbean?

I've used waves every other round and that seemed to work well, typically between 2-4 waves of monsters, each wave worth about an encounter level equal to the PCs. I like to include a trick which stops the waves of minions, sort of like your burn the boat idea. For example, the zombie pirates are coming ashore in canoes from the main ship (which is somehow life-linked to the leader?), so the PCs can take actions which stop the zombies from ever reaching the shore... firing a cannon/balista, raising an anchor chain/defensive net, grease spells over the surface of the water + fire, etc.

Another possibility is to signal waves with some effect, like a war horn, a pulse of necromantic magic from the masthead, magic mists which whisper and glow for a moment, that sort of thing. You can provide cues to the players this way about when to expect the next wave. And the effec can include a progressively more challenging environmental effect which favors the minions.

Oh, the spectral tendrils from the DMG seems like a good addition, especially if the PCs need to move between different areas between waves (eg. the zombies assault different areas of the port).

Lastly, if you're using a bunch of minions either mix in a couple goons/super-minion, add an extra minion or two for every 5 you include, or give the minions a trait which imposes a cumulative effect regardless of attack rolls. A good example would be the Hanged Ones which immobilize when 3 or more are adjacent to the same creature.

Good luck.