Help me kill Darmanicus & Friends!

[scrubkai]

Black Columns

Why not just make the black columns be concentrated negative energy.

Each round that a creature comes within 20 or so feet of the columns (or after being hit by one) each creature:
1) Loses 1d6 HP. (Or is healed if they are undead)
2) Loses one "Buff" spell at random
3) Loses the highest level spell they know or gets a -1 to hit (if no spells)
4) One magic item at random goes dormant for 1d6 rounds....

Also I would make it so that if the target or caster of any spells using positive energy (e.g. healing) is within that radius then the spell just fails.

Oh yes, and there's no save against this effect.

Edit: Man I can't type

 

[DungeonMaster]

The last thing he threw at them (the lich queen's sister) was pushing EL 22 and they wiped the floor with her. THIS IS A SMART PARTY.

Or a forgiving DM with special circumstances.
I know the death slaad can stun-lock non-chaotic creatures - but those you posted are souped up creatures able to stun-lock as well. As someone said they're pushing EL 18 - without the special weapons. And each of them can summon reinforcements.

Can anyone link to the lich write up?

 

[Rystil Arden]

Does the group have heavy damage reduction? If not, you could always try a maxed-out Swarm of Crystals (25d4 slashing damage, average 62.5 in a cone-shaped spread, no Save, no Attack Roll) or Crystal Shard (25d6 piercing damage, average 87.5 to a single target on a Ranged Touch attack) if you have them with the lich. Assuming that you have Psicrystal Containment and some Metapsionic feats (because my 6th-level Telepath has those, and this lich is 25th level), you can do 17d4+17d4+17d4/2 = 106.25 damage with a Twinned-Empowered Swarm of Crystals or 17d6+17d6+17d6/2 = 148.75 damage with a Twinned-Empowered Crystal Shard, not to mention (if you're willing to spend 50 PP instead of 25) 19d4+19d4+19d4 = 142.5 with a Twinned Swarm of Crystals followed up by a Quickened Swarm of Crystals or 19d6+19d6+19d6 = 199.5 with the same strategy on a Crystal Shard. If you can hit a good number of them with Swarm of Crystals, the Lich Queen should kill them all in two rounds or so, by herself. And I'm sure she has the Int score to figure out how to gain maximal advantage from her Metapsionic feats. If she has Schism as well, then she can do a bit more damage (the Schismed mind can hit at manifester level 17, so another 17d4 or 17d6, leading to a max damage of 185 per round to the whole party or 259 to a single character). And this is just using a pair of 1st and 2nd level powers. I'm sure she has more power than that at her command.

 

[Len]

Hey, is it fair to post in the thread just so it looks like there are more replies coming in to help your players sweat a little more on the metagame level?

It worked.

 

[Arkhandus]

I'm rather confused. It seems like you're using the Lich-Queen of the Githyanki in the Astral Plane or something, but you say that the undead queen is of the githzerai (you recall that githzerai are the contemplative monk-psions who live in Limbo taming the chaos, fighting Slaadi, and sending out rrhakma's to hunt down illithids, right?).........and working with Slaadi? This bit just confuses the heck out of me.....

 

[Varianor Abroad]

It worked.

Yeah. Is there anyone who *doesn't* think at least one of them will read this.

(No slur on your players Morrus. They might actually all be honest. But that's temptation.)

 

[Navar]

I agree. You have 6 PCs vs. 8 enemies (3 slaads + 3 githzerai guards + Queen + King). The minions should be below the PCs in ability, and use relatively simple strategies. Their role is to slow down the party and to force the PCs to expand energy on them. That way, Morrus can concentrate on the big guns to pound the party from a safe position. I think you need to dial down the black slaads a bit -- get them down to 13-14 HD, and take off a few spell-like abilities such as the power words.

If he wanted something weeker he could just use death slaads. He choose to ask for better, and I supplied it. If he feels they are too good, just have them not use word of chaos (unless they really need to) The power words arn't that rough (except for the diviner.) and they have access to death ward so they may be prepaired. I say let them take their chances. I also thought it would be cool to have the 3 githzerai guards be mooks. Like CR 5 mobs just to soak a couple of hits and make the PCs nervious.

 

[coriolis]

No one has touched the githzerai guards yet. I'll throw in my suggestion: make them psychic warriors, or even better, soulknives (the crystal greatswords could simply be the result of a feat -- Greater Shape Mind Blade). 13th-level would seem to be a good range. For their feats, use the Mage Slayer feat tree from Complete Arcane: bye-bye AC bonuses and miss chances from mage armor, shield, displacement, etc.

 

[Navar]

Yeah. Is there anyone who *doesn't* think at least one of them will read this.

(No slur on your players Morrus. They might actually all be honest. But that's temptation.)

I would almost HAVE to read it if I was in this game. I would have to leave my house and not go anywhere near an internet ready computer to not read a thread like this if I was in the game.

 

[Navar]

No one has touched the githzerai guards yet. I'll throw in my suggestion: make them psychic warriors, or even better, soulknives (the crystal greatswords could simply be the result of a feat -- Greater Shape Mind Blade). 13th-level would seem to be a good range. For their feats, use the Mage Slayer feat tree from Complete Arcane: bye-bye AC bonuses and miss chances from mage armor, shield, displacement, etc.

Well lets see um, stat um out