How to stop a Warden?

[Miio]

I am running a campaign for adventurers who just hit level 5 last night. The party makeup is as follows: (Tactical) Warlord, (Fey) Warlock, (Earthstrength) Warden, and (Hunter) Ranger. They are currently in an abandoned castle in the Fey that has been used by some human Wizards to hide and protect a powerful artifact.

My Goliath Warden has a 20 AC and 69 HP. He is a very intelligent player and I can't seem to put him into any kind of peril. Help! I don't want to kill him, but I would like to make him stress out a little bit.

Last nights encounter included some Satyr Rakes, Satyr Pipers, and Fey Panthers. I set up the encounter because I figured the shifting enemies would really be his bane. The Warlord made the shifting enemies nearly bunk. I had planned a separate encounter involving 2 Phantom Warriors, 2 Trap Haunts, Wailing Ghost, and an Elite False Floor Trap. They actually avoided the encounter via diplomacy and other such things. Which is fine. I rewarded them for it.

I would like an encounter that will at least make the players sweat.

 

[the-golem]

Giant Frogs.


No, I'm not kidding. Giant Frogs are built specifically to swallow. When swallowed, the PC is stunned (so no actions), takes some ongoing damage, and cannot be targeted by any effects. (Save ends all).

I encountered a couple of these last week, and boy did I hate them.

If the Giant Frogs don't really fit the theme of the castle, you could use it as a base creature and modify it. Maybe instead of a giant frog, it's a construct with an inner cavity similar to an Iron Maiden.

Heck, you're in the Feywild, so it could be even an Uber-Giant Frog.

 

[Miio]

Giant Frogs.


No, I'm not kidding. Giant Frogs are built specifically to swallow. When swallowed, the PC is stunned (so no actions), takes some ongoing damage, and cannot be targeted by any effects. (Save ends all).

I encountered a couple of these last week, and boy did I hate them.

If the Giant Frogs don't really fit the theme of the castle, you could use it as a base creature and modify it. Maybe instead of a giant frog, it's a construct with an inner cavity similar to an Iron Maiden.

Heck, you're in the Feywild, so it could be even an Uber-Giant Frog.

Love it.

My other issue is that save ends effects don't scare him. He can use Font of Life most times and not feel it!

 

[Nightson]

If the defender was easy to kill then he wouldn't be fulfilling his role.

Primarily, making the party sweat involves hitting the other party members and the defender not being able to take everything.

When attacks ping off his AC, you aren't losing, you're winning. The player invested in being hard to kill and you're throwing the challenges and they aren't killing him.

But all that said, if you want to knock him about some throw out a monster with a ridiculously strong attack, let him mark it and tank it and let it smash him a bunch before going down.

 

[Miio]

If the defender was easy to kill then he wouldn't be fulfilling his role.

Primarily, making the party sweat involves hitting the other party members and the defender not being able to take everything.

When attacks ping off his AC, you aren't losing, you're winning. The player invested in being hard to kill and you're throwing the challenges and they aren't killing him.

But all that said, if you want to knock him about some throw out a monster with a ridiculously strong attack, let him mark it and tank it and let it smash him a bunch before going down.

Our Defender doesn't care about the other players. It doesn't stress him at all when other people in the party are dying.

Also, I said I didn't want to kill him.

 

[theNater]

Minions. Swarm 'em with minions. With no controller, they're limited in their AoE, so they'll have a tough time taking out numerous targets. The two strikers' bonus damage doesn't help against minions, and the mobility the warlord provides doesn't help much if there's enemies everywhere. The warden may have some trouble controlling his marking-mark too few targets, and they kill the strikers, mark too many and they kill him(if he gets completely surrounded, he'll probably take more than 20 damage a round; Inspiring Word can't keep up with that).

The one thing you really need to watch out for is automatic damage. If the warlock has a Rod of Reaving, he can take out one target a round just by cursing it, for example.

 

[Miio]

Are there any minions with reach?

 

[OnlineDM]

I disagree with the Giant Frog suggestion. At-will stun (save ends) at low heroic tier is not fun, in my opinion. If you do use the Giant Frog, allow the swallowed player to attack the frog from inside, and consider allowing other players to attack the frog and, instead of dealing damage to it, grant the swallowed player a saving throw.

Make sure you're using updated monster damage expressions (Monster Manual 3, Dark Sun, Monster Vault). Monsters deal much more damage on a hit now than they originally did.

Use monsters that attack something other than AC (and I'm guessing the Warden's Fortitude is very high, too). Throw in some artillery monsters that attack Reflex from a distance, for instance.

Finally, a Warden who doesn't care if the rest of the party is dying? How in the world do they justify that from a role-playing perspective? That seems pretty heartless for a defender.

 

[the-golem]

Love it.

My other issue is that save ends effects don't scare him. He can use Font of Life most times and not feel it!

True, he could use that. One could argue that since Font of Life only allows for one effect, he'd have to pick which one, as there are three. You could also argue that those are all secondary effects of being swallowed. Honestly, I don't know. I guess if "save ends all" then they're technically all linked.

We only had two frogs in our encounter, but you could throw in some more. You could have them (the construct alternative) in one of the castle rooms, looking completely normal, and if an unsuspecting PC happens to walk by, GULP!

Going off of this theme, you could have some sort of rope or chain that is dangling from the ceiling, and if the PCs get to close, or something, the ropes/chains grab them, and turns the PC into a marionette.

 

[Miio]

I disagree with the Giant Frog suggestion. At-will stun (save ends) at low heroic tier is not fun, in my opinion. If you do use the Giant Frog, allow the swallowed player to attack the frog from inside, and consider allowing other players to attack the frog and, instead of dealing damage to it, grant the swallowed player a saving throw.

Make sure you're using updated monster damage expressions (Monster Manual 3, Dark Sun, Monster Vault). Monsters deal much more damage on a hit now than they originally did.

Use monsters that attack something other than AC (and I'm guessing the Warden's Fortitude is very high, too). Throw in some artillery monsters that attack Reflex from a distance, for instance.

Finally, a Warden who doesn't care if the rest of the party is dying? How in the world do they justify that from a role-playing perspective? That seems pretty heartless for a defender.

He's only in character out of battle. Out of battle, he is like the jolly green giant. He is kind and simple-minded and gives village children rides on his shoulders. As soon as we get into battle it changes to "I am going to hit that mother eff in his -special place-!" Whilst being a cold and calculating tactician. The character is simple, the player is one of the most intelligent people I have met.