Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Massive Battle to end Paragon Tier
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Riastlin" data-source="post: 6100414" data-attributes="member: 94022"><p>Alright, so here are some more ideas for putting this together, and I would, as always, welcome any thoughts, advice, insight, etc.</p><p></p><p>My main concerns are 1) the players simply trying to fight their way through this, rather than approach it like a skill challenge and 2) upon seeing that its a skill challenge, trying to simply spam their favorite skill/mass aid another.</p><p></p><p>So first off, with the attack option, I'm thinking of making it sort of a double-opposed roll. i.e. first the PC has to roll to hit one of the swarms, but doing so will then subject him to a counter attack. If both attacks miss, no result. If both hit, no result. If the PC hits but the swarm misses, then a success. If the PC misses but the swarm hits, then a failure. Further, I plan to describe this as something akin to Gimli and Aragorn at Helm's Deep. The PC's can cut into the invaders, maybe push them back, and certainly buy time, but if the party tries to fight them by themselves, then its just a matter of time before they are overrun (i.e. look for other options). Further, I won't be mapping the encounter per se (other than having a map of the city handy). That should clue the party into the idea that this is not a typical battle.</p><p></p><p>Next, a success in one of the individual skill challenges will not only rally the forces or push the invaders back, but it will also give the PCs a quick breather, allowing them to recharge some of the encounters, or perhaps even a full short rest if they do really well. A failure in an individual challenge on the other hand, will push the defenders back, but might also result in a mini boss breaking through that the PCs have to fend off. It would not be anything too overpowering, but enough to force the PCs to expend more resources and possibly take more damage. They also would have a hard time getting any kind of rest as they retreat.</p><p></p><p>If the PCs succeed on the overall Skill Challenge, then obviously, they are able to help repel all invaders and save the city (with perhaps some side effects based on assorted victory point conditions which are not relevant here). If they fail the overall skill challenge, then the city falls. One concern is what to do with the PCs should they fail overall. The thought I had was that as it becomes evident that the city is going to fall (i.e. they failed their 3rd challenge), they are tasked with spiriting away an important NPC, artifact, etc. The initial thought is the heir to the empire, but an important artifact also works. Of course its also possible that in the event of a failure, one or more PCs might also die, which is a different issue altogether.</p><p></p><p>To avoid Spamming, I think I can manage it by having the individual challenges progress in stages. (i.e. you see some panicked soldiers and are able to calm them and then inspire them to rejoin the fight, but then they need tactical guidance, etc.) So in that case, Diplomacy or Intimidate might get the soldiers fighting again, but then History would be needed for tactics, or streetwise to get them through the streets, etc.</p><p></p><p>The bigger problem, in my opinion, will come in avoiding the desire to do a mass "aid another" on the best talker, historian, thief, etc. The obvious method would be to have the party constantly under attack, but then that runs the risk of having them think in terms of a typical combat. This might also require me to have to change how I adjudicate the attack action since if the party is getting attacked anyway, then it seems unwise to subject them to further attacks when they do actually attack. The main thing though is that I would prefer not to have to say "Well, only two people can help" unless there's a good reason. </p><p></p><p>Anyhoo, sorry for the really long post, but trying to formulate this to make it the best possible ending to Paragon Tier I can.</p><p></p><p>Thanks in advance for any ideas!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Riastlin, post: 6100414, member: 94022"] Alright, so here are some more ideas for putting this together, and I would, as always, welcome any thoughts, advice, insight, etc. My main concerns are 1) the players simply trying to fight their way through this, rather than approach it like a skill challenge and 2) upon seeing that its a skill challenge, trying to simply spam their favorite skill/mass aid another. So first off, with the attack option, I'm thinking of making it sort of a double-opposed roll. i.e. first the PC has to roll to hit one of the swarms, but doing so will then subject him to a counter attack. If both attacks miss, no result. If both hit, no result. If the PC hits but the swarm misses, then a success. If the PC misses but the swarm hits, then a failure. Further, I plan to describe this as something akin to Gimli and Aragorn at Helm's Deep. The PC's can cut into the invaders, maybe push them back, and certainly buy time, but if the party tries to fight them by themselves, then its just a matter of time before they are overrun (i.e. look for other options). Further, I won't be mapping the encounter per se (other than having a map of the city handy). That should clue the party into the idea that this is not a typical battle. Next, a success in one of the individual skill challenges will not only rally the forces or push the invaders back, but it will also give the PCs a quick breather, allowing them to recharge some of the encounters, or perhaps even a full short rest if they do really well. A failure in an individual challenge on the other hand, will push the defenders back, but might also result in a mini boss breaking through that the PCs have to fend off. It would not be anything too overpowering, but enough to force the PCs to expend more resources and possibly take more damage. They also would have a hard time getting any kind of rest as they retreat. If the PCs succeed on the overall Skill Challenge, then obviously, they are able to help repel all invaders and save the city (with perhaps some side effects based on assorted victory point conditions which are not relevant here). If they fail the overall skill challenge, then the city falls. One concern is what to do with the PCs should they fail overall. The thought I had was that as it becomes evident that the city is going to fall (i.e. they failed their 3rd challenge), they are tasked with spiriting away an important NPC, artifact, etc. The initial thought is the heir to the empire, but an important artifact also works. Of course its also possible that in the event of a failure, one or more PCs might also die, which is a different issue altogether. To avoid Spamming, I think I can manage it by having the individual challenges progress in stages. (i.e. you see some panicked soldiers and are able to calm them and then inspire them to rejoin the fight, but then they need tactical guidance, etc.) So in that case, Diplomacy or Intimidate might get the soldiers fighting again, but then History would be needed for tactics, or streetwise to get them through the streets, etc. The bigger problem, in my opinion, will come in avoiding the desire to do a mass "aid another" on the best talker, historian, thief, etc. The obvious method would be to have the party constantly under attack, but then that runs the risk of having them think in terms of a typical combat. This might also require me to have to change how I adjudicate the attack action since if the party is getting attacked anyway, then it seems unwise to subject them to further attacks when they do actually attack. The main thing though is that I would prefer not to have to say "Well, only two people can help" unless there's a good reason. Anyhoo, sorry for the really long post, but trying to formulate this to make it the best possible ending to Paragon Tier I can. Thanks in advance for any ideas! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Massive Battle to end Paragon Tier
Top