That's it right there. Try to break up the army into smaller manageable pieces. Cause diversions to make the Slaver split his forces then hit those forces with everything you got.
Level 8 party defeats 30 level 6 fighters?
- Thread starter aboyd
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That's it right there. Try to break up the army into smaller manageable pieces. Cause diversions to make the Slaver split his forces then hit those forces with everything you got.
Jeff Wilder
First Post
Is there any way you can adventure in the tomb to -- ding! -- get to 9th level?
Honestly, the difference between 4th-level and 5th-level cleric spells is hee-yooge ... combined with everybody else's leveling up, that's probably the difference between "TPK" and "BGO" ("bad guy obliteration") right there.
Honestly, the difference between 4th-level and 5th-level cleric spells is hee-yooge ... combined with everybody else's leveling up, that's probably the difference between "TPK" and "BGO" ("bad guy obliteration") right there.
I know, a slaver seems like a good recipient of a level 5 Flame Strike... or, how about a Greater Command of "Flee" or "Fall" that lasts for 9 rounds and affects 9 bad guys if they fail their will saves (which probably aren't great for Fighters!) or casting Righteous Might and joining the melee as a size Large creature with DR? Or, if they stay in the dungeon and know the bad guys are coming, cast Symbol of Sleep and take out a whole slew of 'em.
aboyd
Explorer
No way to get to level 9. 
The DM awards XP only when he's ready for us to level up, and he intends for this to be a level 8 adventure. Anyway, we're about to play so we will see how it pans out.
Thanks for the tips. The whole team has been reading the this. I hope the DM is surprised, tho.
The DM awards XP only when he's ready for us to level up, and he intends for this to be a level 8 adventure. Anyway, we're about to play so we will see how it pans out.Thanks for the tips. The whole team has been reading the this. I hope the DM is surprised, tho.
roguerouge
First Post
Let us know how it goes.
Herzog
Adventurer
Throwing in a bit of metagame here:
What's your guess on the intentions of the DM?
Is this a 'free the town from the evil slavers' adventure?
Because in that case, although 'stupid' actions (like waiting for the badguys to replenish their losses) will be used by the DM to re-even the odds, in the end you should be able to win this.
If, however, the DM intended this to be a 'dungeon-crawl with XP gain but no monetary gain because it goes to the slavers', then no matter what you intend to prepare, the slavers will win (unless you can pull a rabbit out of your hat the DM didn't see coming)
Of course, this assumes a DM-vs-players style of game, which from your posts seems to be the case.
If the DM simply introduces challenges and then awaits your replies on how you will deal with them (the DM not favoring the NPC's, but fascilitating), this becomes a whole different ballgame, and good planning can get you anywhere.
In case of the latter, however, keeping things hidden from your DM, or 'surprising him', as you state, is a Very Bad Idea(TM)
Although most DM's can handle spur-of-the-moment ideas, when you introduce tactics, spells or monsters the DM hasn't had time for to look up, I have known DM's to simply prohibit the use. Not because he wants to 'win', but because the player appearently didn't trust him to run the encounter fair if he'd known what the player was planning, and therefore doesn't trust the player to play fair either.
What's your guess on the intentions of the DM?
Is this a 'free the town from the evil slavers' adventure?
Because in that case, although 'stupid' actions (like waiting for the badguys to replenish their losses) will be used by the DM to re-even the odds, in the end you should be able to win this.
If, however, the DM intended this to be a 'dungeon-crawl with XP gain but no monetary gain because it goes to the slavers', then no matter what you intend to prepare, the slavers will win (unless you can pull a rabbit out of your hat the DM didn't see coming)
Of course, this assumes a DM-vs-players style of game, which from your posts seems to be the case.
If the DM simply introduces challenges and then awaits your replies on how you will deal with them (the DM not favoring the NPC's, but fascilitating), this becomes a whole different ballgame, and good planning can get you anywhere.
In case of the latter, however, keeping things hidden from your DM, or 'surprising him', as you state, is a Very Bad Idea(TM)
Although most DM's can handle spur-of-the-moment ideas, when you introduce tactics, spells or monsters the DM hasn't had time for to look up, I have known DM's to simply prohibit the use. Not because he wants to 'win', but because the player appearently didn't trust him to run the encounter fair if he'd known what the player was planning, and therefore doesn't trust the player to play fair either.
Aran Thule
First Post
I tried something in a recent gaming session that might work well for you and i think rogurrouge already mentioned it.
Lesser Planer Ally to call a hound archon, this gives you several options.
Cast a mage armour on it and with its damage reduction you have a good tank to help on the front lines.
Or have it pretend to be a wolf and have it cast aid on your fighters.
Either way its aura of menace and magic circle vs evil should give good defensive bonuses.
Splitting the foe does sound like a good plan, If you have time to prepare you could put some gylphs in the cave to weaken any searchers or try a roundabout route to the town to avoid the investigating party.
Lesser Planer Ally to call a hound archon, this gives you several options.
Cast a mage armour on it and with its damage reduction you have a good tank to help on the front lines.
Or have it pretend to be a wolf and have it cast aid on your fighters.
Either way its aura of menace and magic circle vs evil should give good defensive bonuses.
Splitting the foe does sound like a good plan, If you have time to prepare you could put some gylphs in the cave to weaken any searchers or try a roundabout route to the town to avoid the investigating party.
green slime
First Post
I'd suggest preparing a bunch of silence spells, and taking out the guards in isolated groups. With the fighter and knight silenced, using the ranger or sorceror to attract a guard or three into a small area with a single entrance, shut them in, kill them quickly, rinse, repeat. If you succeed with this three or four times, you'll have halfed the force against you. Pity you don't have rogue in the party, this kind of thing really is their forte, and the sneak attack damage is something you guys really are missing.
If you go about trying to divide / conquer (which is really the only way to go about it), you have to focus on killing/incapacitating the victims as quickly as possible, with as little effort as possible. Perhaps use charm person or intimidate/diplomacy. Focus on rendering one dead/incapicitated and ask the others to surrender or suffer a similar fate. (Keep them well tied up).
Use your prisoners to lure more groups away, either to ambush, or away from areas were you want to act (free slaves, poison their supplies, kill their horses (reducing their mobility)).
And once you've started your war, keep moving! Stay fluid.
If you go about trying to divide / conquer (which is really the only way to go about it), you have to focus on killing/incapacitating the victims as quickly as possible, with as little effort as possible. Perhaps use charm person or intimidate/diplomacy. Focus on rendering one dead/incapicitated and ask the others to surrender or suffer a similar fate. (Keep them well tied up).
Use your prisoners to lure more groups away, either to ambush, or away from areas were you want to act (free slaves, poison their supplies, kill their horses (reducing their mobility)).
And once you've started your war, keep moving! Stay fluid.
aboyd
Explorer
You guessed it.
It was fun planning out strategies with all of you guys, though.
However, if calling Lesser Planar Allies, I believe it is the DM's choice of what you get, though for a good aligned cleric, the Hound Archon or Bralani Eladrin are probably the most common choices. The bralani does have a CR6, which is 2 higher than the Archon, so hopefully the DM would have mercy on you. (the MM bralani has an AC that is 1 higher, 12 more hit points and gets a 2nd attack) You can have at least a couple of them protecting the sorcerer and cleric, while the others "man" the front lines with the knight, fighter & ranger to take advantage of flanking. The hound archons can also teleport at will, so could suddenly appear behind the bad guys as a flanking force, which would be nice. The bralanis could also cast lightning bolts - if you can call 6 of them, that is half a dozen 6d6 bolts of lightning.
