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Need help for complex encounter: Gates of Firestorm Peak.
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<blockquote data-quote="Ancalagon" data-source="post: 7288463" data-attributes="member: 23"><p>So. My players are about to enter the classic late 2e dungeons, The Gates of Firestorm Peak.</p><p></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gates_of_Firestorm_Peak" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gates_of_Firestorm_Peak</a></p><p></p><p>SPOILERS AHEAD! </p><p></p><p>Now, at the very entrance the PCs must force their way through a gauntlet of duergar who have been ordered to keep out all intruders. They are ready for a fight. These Duergar have seeded the area with invisible caltrops, are themselves invisible (but not improved), have cover from walls, have long polearms *and* are enlarged to huge size, giving them 20 foot reach.</p><p></p><p>This "gauntlet" can be seen here: <a href="http://dmdavid.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Gates_of_Firestorm_Peak41.jpg" target="_blank">http://dmdavid.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Gates_of_Firestorm_Peak41.jpg</a></p><p></p><p>The entrance is on the left. There are 2 groups of elite duergar dwarves with the pole arms - 4 directly guarding the entrance behind the first spiked wall, and the second in the "enclosed" rectangle of spiked walls, with about 30 hp each. There is a third group about midway of somewhat smaller/weaker (only large) duergars having formed a pike wall formation These are cannon fodder, with 10 HP each. Should this formation be breached, there are 2 more sets of spiked wall with more pike wielding duergars behind them. (10 veterants with 20 hp each)</p><p></p><p>I have a lot of rule-related questions here, as how I should translate these rules from 2e to 5e, and how to "run" the fight so it's challenging but fun.</p><p></p><p><strong>1: </strong> <strong>Enlarging and reach. </strong> 2e Duergars were bad-asses, and I've ruled that these Duergar are warped by the local eldrich energies and thus are a bit "more" than the 5e equivalent, so their enlarge is much more powerful. However, I need some help/advice on how to rule it.</p><p></p><p>Damage wise, the adventure says that their damage is multiplied by 3 (!), but said damage is only 2d4. This result in a hard hitting - but nowhere giant-strenght - 6d4 points of damage (the weaker duergar do less damage). Furthermore they only have one attack. </p><p> What is troubling me more is reach. In the original adventure, that's <strong>25 feet </strong>- meaning that there if a lot of the battle field where a PC can be hit by several polearms coming from all directions! However, I'm having the hardest time figuring out the reach of larger creatures in 5e. I see giants have a reach of 10 feet (except for the stone giant which has a reach of 15 feet for some reason). </p><p></p><p>Does the damage seem reasonable? Any comments on the reach?</p><p></p><p><strong>2: Attacks of Opportunities</strong>: No matter the exact area the creatures can reach, it's clear there is going to be a lot of potential for AOO. In 3e this would have been almost paralyzing (I can't remember for 2e, sorry!). However in 5e there is more freedom with moving around threatened zones, although perhaps not as much since there will be a lot of "edges" of threatened areas. Are there special rules for AOOs and polearms in 5e that I should know about?</p><p></p><p><strong>3: To hit numbers: </strong> To hit numbers have gotten better in 5e - the duergars had thacos of 17 and 19 (ie, +3 and +1 to hit). I definitely am going to have to increase that, but this may make the encounter *very* deadly as many pike hits are likely... This leads to a question about<strong> numbers</strong> - there are a *lot* of foes here (by my count, 26 total) and the party doesn't have fireballs. </p><p></p><p><strong>4: Cover</strong>: The 15-16 feet tall enlarged duergars are fighting behind a 10 feet tall wall. That should provide cover bonus right? Should it be even possible for a character at the foot of the wall to this them?</p><p></p><p>Any and all advice is welcome <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>P.S. Lastly, because people will ask, the party, all level 6</p><p></p><p>Half-elven Oath of the ancient paladin with high AC but ok-ish HP (12 con), the party tank</p><p>Slugman cleric, knowledge domain</p><p>Human warlock, tome, elder ones patron</p><p>Human Monk of the open hand.</p><p></p><p>The party will be assisted by a human rogue (won't be doing much but distractions etc) and one TINY SERVANT lantern provided by an NCP mage with the dragon breath spell (3d6 damage cone)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ancalagon, post: 7288463, member: 23"] So. My players are about to enter the classic late 2e dungeons, The Gates of Firestorm Peak. [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gates_of_Firestorm_Peak[/url] SPOILERS AHEAD! Now, at the very entrance the PCs must force their way through a gauntlet of duergar who have been ordered to keep out all intruders. They are ready for a fight. These Duergar have seeded the area with invisible caltrops, are themselves invisible (but not improved), have cover from walls, have long polearms *and* are enlarged to huge size, giving them 20 foot reach. This "gauntlet" can be seen here: [url]http://dmdavid.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Gates_of_Firestorm_Peak41.jpg[/url] The entrance is on the left. There are 2 groups of elite duergar dwarves with the pole arms - 4 directly guarding the entrance behind the first spiked wall, and the second in the "enclosed" rectangle of spiked walls, with about 30 hp each. There is a third group about midway of somewhat smaller/weaker (only large) duergars having formed a pike wall formation These are cannon fodder, with 10 HP each. Should this formation be breached, there are 2 more sets of spiked wall with more pike wielding duergars behind them. (10 veterants with 20 hp each) I have a lot of rule-related questions here, as how I should translate these rules from 2e to 5e, and how to "run" the fight so it's challenging but fun. [B]1: [/B] [B]Enlarging and reach. [/B] 2e Duergars were bad-asses, and I've ruled that these Duergar are warped by the local eldrich energies and thus are a bit "more" than the 5e equivalent, so their enlarge is much more powerful. However, I need some help/advice on how to rule it. Damage wise, the adventure says that their damage is multiplied by 3 (!), but said damage is only 2d4. This result in a hard hitting - but nowhere giant-strenght - 6d4 points of damage (the weaker duergar do less damage). Furthermore they only have one attack. What is troubling me more is reach. In the original adventure, that's [B]25 feet [/B]- meaning that there if a lot of the battle field where a PC can be hit by several polearms coming from all directions! However, I'm having the hardest time figuring out the reach of larger creatures in 5e. I see giants have a reach of 10 feet (except for the stone giant which has a reach of 15 feet for some reason). Does the damage seem reasonable? Any comments on the reach? [B]2: Attacks of Opportunities[/B]: No matter the exact area the creatures can reach, it's clear there is going to be a lot of potential for AOO. In 3e this would have been almost paralyzing (I can't remember for 2e, sorry!). However in 5e there is more freedom with moving around threatened zones, although perhaps not as much since there will be a lot of "edges" of threatened areas. Are there special rules for AOOs and polearms in 5e that I should know about? [B]3: To hit numbers: [/B] To hit numbers have gotten better in 5e - the duergars had thacos of 17 and 19 (ie, +3 and +1 to hit). I definitely am going to have to increase that, but this may make the encounter *very* deadly as many pike hits are likely... This leads to a question about[B] numbers[/B] - there are a *lot* of foes here (by my count, 26 total) and the party doesn't have fireballs. [B]4: Cover[/B]: The 15-16 feet tall enlarged duergars are fighting behind a 10 feet tall wall. That should provide cover bonus right? Should it be even possible for a character at the foot of the wall to this them? Any and all advice is welcome :) P.S. Lastly, because people will ask, the party, all level 6 Half-elven Oath of the ancient paladin with high AC but ok-ish HP (12 con), the party tank Slugman cleric, knowledge domain Human warlock, tome, elder ones patron Human Monk of the open hand. The party will be assisted by a human rogue (won't be doing much but distractions etc) and one TINY SERVANT lantern provided by an NCP mage with the dragon breath spell (3d6 damage cone) [/QUOTE]
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