How to challenge a high powered group?

[the Jester]

Do they have a worthy adversary? Maybe they need an archenemy who can throw assassins at them and so forth. Do they have vulnerable friends, lands, etc? You have to challenge them in different ways. In my Great Conflicts story hour, the pcs are currently being struck from planes away by an epic spell called scrystrike several times per day. It's pretty bad news. And some epic assassins have been dogging their heels. High level is a whole different beastie, especially if your party is smart about divinations.

 

[werk]

the group is made of a cleric 18, a wizard 10/archmage 3/fatespinner 5, a cleric 17, a rogue 16, a wizard 10/initiate of the seven foil 7 and a druid 18.

I'd have them experience some weird fog that disables their spellcasting ability and then throw a mob of gnolls at them. All their gadgets will still work, just no casting. Have it return after a few days, however long you wish.

Push them out of their comfort zone.

 

[kenobi65]

This bears repeating. When the entire party can focus on one baddie, that baddie is most likely going to go down fast. Especially with five high-level spellcasters in the party. (Unless that one baddie is an Adamantine Golem. )

I agree entirely with this advice. When the party can take multiple actions for every one action of the opposition (because there's only one opponent), the odds skew substantially in the party's favor.

 

[Nail]

A trick I used last session: Give the enemies the ability to split the party up. Wall of Stone works well in this respect.

 

[Plane Sailing]

You can also give them challenges without hit points - provide them with moral quandaries, decisions which are likely to turn out badly whichever way they go (without some really smart thinking), massive famine and plague - can they use their powers to feed the hungry?

 

[Felnar]

how about using wall spells to break up the battlefield?
how about drow-archers shooting arrows with silence cast on them?
how about assassin shadowdancerPrC's popping out of the druids own shadow?
how about the villain holds a hostage as a human shield?
how about illusionary enemies?
how about a battle on a staircase that gets grease cast on it?
how about being ambushed by some 20hd Huge invisible stalkers?
how about the PC's eat some bad fish at a restaurant?
how about leading refugees through a blizzard?
how about a pickpocket stealing spell material components on the parties way out of town?
how about a mental puzzle or a cryptic message?
how about the town guards arresting a lawful good character (who can't resist)?
how about walking through the woods and being the victim of an entangle spell?

how about thats enough for now...

 

[moritheil]

Not to sound mean, but if you're a newbie you might not want to DM for such high level characters.

Anyhow, on with the show. I used to think the Elder Orb was pretty weak for its CR, but it appears with an entourage of beholders and death tyrants (I want to say a couple d6 of each, but I forget). Toss in a few dozen lensmen for fodder (and to use their Heal ability to keep the living beholders in good shape) and you have the makings of something that can challenge your party. Remember that the regular beholders and lensmen probably are too low CR to contribute any exp, so just assign exp for the elder orb (and maybe the death tyrants depending on how generous you feel).

Also, in many cases, the suggestions for combat are outright stupid. Beholders should not melee, even though the MM suggests it, as anything near their CR will tear them apart really fast.

You will also benefit from using the typical player tactic of focusing fire - anything as intelligent as a beholder can certainly pull off this tactic as well. Essentially, while one part of the group is bathed in antimagic (from more than one beholder - redundant fields prevent them from simply killing one beholder to solve the issue), all the remaining effects should be fired on only one party member. This should kill him or her instantly. Then move on to the next party member. Beholders can only fire a few rays at the same target, so just hit with all the hard ones.

Hello guys, i'm a newbie in the forum and i'm with a great problem in my group... i don't know more how to challenge them... they are indestructible... just in a antimagic field i can put monsters that they have more than a "little" problem to defeat... i need ideas to challenge them, the group is made of a cleric 18, a wizard 10/archmage 3/fatespinner 5, a cleric 17, a rogue 16, a wizard 10/initiate of the seven foil 7 and a druid 18.

 

[Dark Dragon]

I enjoy throwing large numbers of opponents in the way.... not a mere 7 or 8 but twenty, thirty, (once even 2000.... a constant stream of opponents flowing onto the battlefield) or more....

First, they have to even recognize which one's are the real threat....

Oh yeah, yesterday's session went exactly that way. Ever watched Army of Darkness...(or Dawn of Dead, if you want)? Exchange the castle by the small city of Shevel in Rashemen and replace Ash by a group of level 9 characters and there you are...

Hordes of intelligent skeletons attacked the city (and some found a way into town via a tunnel) and every dead defender rised as a zombie a round later...plus there were some rampaging mosters that escaped a bestiarium (a troll, a dire bear, a dire wolf and some strange white rabbits with sabretooths). We've finshed off dozens of skeletons and zombies and the troll...but there are still more and we're out of spells...no chance to escape, the two gates are blocked...we cannot get out...

 

[Plane Sailing]

Plus read Piratecats storyhour and Sepulchraves story hour - both have parties higher level than this who face some pretty epic challenges. By golly they get challenged!

Cheers