D&D 5E Gut-Checking to My Jerk-DM Level (ToA Spoilers)

[Swarmkeeper]

By RAW you can only take one long rest every 24 hours. Is that how you played it? If they are stopping after every room, then they need to wait 15 hours before the next rest...15 hours packed with tomb guardians assailing them if they decide to stand still.

I'm glad someone brought this up. I could be wrong, but the OP really reads as though the players whined themselves into free & safe long rest recharges throughout the adventure... and they will be upset when they are denied the same before the final battle. The bed, it would seem, has been made. Good lesson to carry into the next Session 0 to avoid this type of headache in a future campaign.

 

[BluejayJunior]

It seems like everyone (you and the players) are just ready for the campaign to be over. Let them do whatever they have been and just try to make the last fight fun for them. Sounds like you have maybe 1-2 session left to beat it. Too late to try to force a new play style on them. Try to just let it go and have a fun final fight. Or let them steamroll it so it's just over and you all can move on.
But definitely have a good conversation about the next campaign. So everyone has the same expectations. That will be a big help. Matt Colville has a few videos on this issue about letting your players know what kind of campaign you run and how to help work with them to make things enjoyable for all.

 

[ccs]

If the place is warded against teleportation, is it also warded against planar travel? That would prevent the night hag from going ethereal in the first place, which might explain the "third hag begs for her life" encounter advice.

The adventure has a chart of wich spells & effects are altered & their results.
Straight from the adventure:
"Etherealness The caster enters the Border Ethereal but can't move through surfaces or doors in the tomb. Ethereal characters might encounter one or more of the Sewn Sisters."
The Sewn Sisters are the hags being discussed.

It also goes on to specify that the alterations do not apply to Acererak himself. Wich leads me to remind you that....
In any adventure of any edition, it is a grave error to assume that what affects the PCs one way also affects the villains in the same manner.
In case you've never noticed, NPCs often manage feats of magic the PCs can't even begin to match. Ex: Any flying castle, the ToA, etc.

If you want a climactic final battle, let the PCs take a full long rest, and then up the difficulty of the bad guys. How many simulacrums can Acererak deploy at one time? Maybe double the Atropal's damage across the board?

Having just finished running this, none of that'll (likely) be necessary.
*Follow the rules for movement, concentration, etc.
*Play the atropal & Acererak SMART - they're INT.25 & 27 respectively....
*Study Acereraks listed spells & items carefully & use them well.
*You know that hag? If she cuts a deal with the party there's a curse effect that'll hit them if they then attack her. I had her enter the room (to spectate) while the party was fighting the atropal/Acererak. One of the players assumed she was up to no good &, encouraged by several others, attacked her.... The curse then triggered on all 3 of them - auto-fail save vs Contagion & immediately contract Slimy Doom.

The only thing you might do is up the Atropals HP. I had a ranger, barbarian/monk, & fighter/rogue in the party that were very good at pumping out the damage. So I rarely ever used the listed average. Often 85%-100% HP for things.

 

[Riley37]

If the PCs easily defeat the BBEG, will the players then say "That was too easy to be satisfying"?

Or will YOU be dissatisfied?

 

[billd91]

If the PCs easily defeat the BBEG, will the players then say "That was too easy to be satisfying"?

Or will YOU be dissatisfied?

Does it matter? The DM isn't the players' trained monkey - he's not playing for their satisfaction and fun alone, but also for his own. Whether or not he will be dissatisfied should factor into the decision made.

 

[Riley37]

Whether or not he will be dissatisfied should factor into the decision made.

Indeed it should!

If a path which satisfies both sides of the table is readily available, then that's a good path. If not, then it's time to negotiate.

It might well be time to go meta - "of course your characters want to maximize their chances of victory; but do you, the players, want a situation which makes that easy?" If not, then maybe tell them that the hags ARE part of the endgame, and that they've already crossed a Point of No Return. And *then* tell them the in-game situation: that door is closed.

 

[Hussar]

Yeah, I'm going to go with the chorus here. This is WAY too late to start changing playstyles now. Just run with it, as is, treat it as a learning experience, and move on. Trying to force things isn't going to work. It just isn't. All it will do is lead to everyone digging in their heels and bad feelings all the way around.

So, you have to ask yourself, which is worth more to you?

 

[candidus_cogitens]

You want to conclude the game giving the impression that you have been fair and (importantly!) also in a way that they have fun. Fun is important or they won't keep playing.

 

[Stalker0]

Yeah at this point I say beef up the final encounter and let them go in fresh.

You mentioned you are on a time crunch...worst thing would be to waste time arguing with your players.

 

[Brotton Goodfellow]

If you want a climactic final battle, let the PCs take a full long rest, and then up the difficulty of the bad guys. How many simulacrums can Acererak deploy at one time? Maybe double the Atropal's damage across the board?

This is probably your best bet. Having run the last boss fight, it was tough for the party, but I also didn’t play as cunning as I ought to have. So even running as per the book might be enough. If you were to change the difficulty simply making the Atropal hit harder and more often could do the trick.

Also, if the party retreats back into the tomb, I’d have a wave of Tomb Guardians constantly chasing them. Maybe the hag retreated back and rounded up a bunch of Tomb Guardians and other monsters to kill the party. That’s something a smart and devious bad guy who can’t go toe to toe with adventurers would do.