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<blockquote data-quote="cooperjer" data-source="post: 7142198" data-attributes="member: 6862150">What occurred to me while reading the responses is that there is opportunity for the players to &quot;win&quot; regardless of the outcome of their characters.&nbsp; Let's say the characters actually defeat that encounter.&nbsp; Then the players feel very confident and they have proven that they are more powerful than an immortal lich.&nbsp; Let's say the characters are defeated in that encounter.&nbsp; What can you do to ensure the players still have interest in their now dead character?&nbsp; One idea that came to mind was that the lich offers to not kill the PCs, but offers them a life of allegiance.&nbsp; If the characters have proven to be powerful enough to get this far without dying, surly they can be used to protect the lich from other similar adventurers that happen around every so often.&nbsp; If a player decides their character would die instead of working for the lich then the death was in the players control and not subject to a die roll.&nbsp; If they decide to keep the character alive, then this gives you a new NPC/PC that can interact with the new story you may have in mind.&nbsp; The NPC/PC is owned and controlled by the DM, but the Player is an advisor to the character actions.I would have to check the DMG, but if the XP you listed for the encounter is at 70%+ of the daily XP for the group then it most likely will be a TPK.&nbsp; Since the characters already spent some resources on an encounter they may be short those resources for this new encounter.&nbsp; I don't have enough detail to determine the risk of a TPK because I don't know what was used in the previous encounter.&nbsp; It may not make a difference if you find a way to make it a win regardless of the encounter outcome.Edit Added the followingIf you want to keep the level 20 game going, then consider allowing the PCs to work for the lich.&nbsp; The lich will have enemies and goals to retain and increase its power.&nbsp; Will the players allow their characters to work for this lich if it means their assigned tasks to destroy other liches?&nbsp; Will they continue to work for this lich if they're assigned tasks to recover a relic that is in the control of a tyrannical king?&nbsp; This may allow the characters to continue play at level 20.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="cooperjer, post: 7142198, member: 6862150"] What occurred to me while reading the responses is that there is opportunity for the players to "win" regardless of the outcome of their characters. Let's say the characters actually defeat that encounter. Then the players feel very confident and they have proven that they are more powerful than an immortal lich. Let's say the characters are defeated in that encounter. What can you do to ensure the players still have interest in their now dead character? One idea that came to mind was that the lich offers to not kill the PCs, but offers them a life of allegiance. If the characters have proven to be powerful enough to get this far without dying, surly they can be used to protect the lich from other similar adventurers that happen around every so often. If a player decides their character would die instead of working for the lich then the death was in the players control and not subject to a die roll. If they decide to keep the character alive, then this gives you a new NPC/PC that can interact with the new story you may have in mind. The NPC/PC is owned and controlled by the DM, but the Player is an advisor to the character actions. I would have to check the DMG, but if the XP you listed for the encounter is at 70%+ of the daily XP for the group then it most likely will be a TPK. Since the characters already spent some resources on an encounter they may be short those resources for this new encounter. I don't have enough detail to determine the risk of a TPK because I don't know what was used in the previous encounter. It may not make a difference if you find a way to make it a win regardless of the encounter outcome. Edit Added the following If you want to keep the level 20 game going, then consider allowing the PCs to work for the lich. The lich will have enemies and goals to retain and increase its power. Will the players allow their characters to work for this lich if it means their assigned tasks to destroy other liches? Will they continue to work for this lich if they're assigned tasks to recover a relic that is in the control of a tyrannical king? This may allow the characters to continue play at level 20. [/QUOTE]

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