Though that is actually probably part of the issue - Pyramid of Shadow is almost a full level short on magic items. It alone isn't the problem, but I'm sure that doesn't help.
Pyramid of Shadow, Major Concerns with Climax
- Thread starter Cadfan
- Start date
Though that is actually probably part of the issue - Pyramid of Shadow is almost a full level short on magic items. It alone isn't the problem, but I'm sure that doesn't help.
Correct on the shorting of magic items. First thing I did was go through and add those magic items back in, as well as altering magic items to better fit the party that I had. I think that throwing some of those items in can help the party substantially.
Also note that he is basically a solo here. I think that if your group will cooperate (Aid Another, etc) to allow each of them to hit him with a "good power" each turn, he'll go down OK. Admittedly, I'm talking out my butt, since I haven't run the fight yet.
On the Plinths and the like, I was assuming that this was intentional, to either get people to use powers and abilities that allowed you to make a save when it isn't your turn, or to force people to shove their comrades out of the way. Again, since he's basically a solo in this fight, I thought that there would need to be a lot of terrain features and movement to prevent people from simply surrounding him and whacking out his hit points.
However, bottom line. Go ahead and drop his defenses if you are worried that he will be too hard, or if you are worried that the fight will be too frustrating for your group. He can always have some sort of magical minor action to boost them if you turn out to be wrong, and they start walloping him.
Players generally know how good someone's defenses are after an attack or two, so lowering them in the fight will set off people's "cheat-o-meter". On the other hand, they should have no freaking idea what powers he has, so give him a magical 'whammy' defense booster if he starts getting clobbered. Heck, make it cost hit points to use or something, so they all know why he didn't use it at the start.
Your instincts on your group are probably better than ours are, anyway.
Also note that he is basically a solo here. I think that if your group will cooperate (Aid Another, etc) to allow each of them to hit him with a "good power" each turn, he'll go down OK. Admittedly, I'm talking out my butt, since I haven't run the fight yet.
On the Plinths and the like, I was assuming that this was intentional, to either get people to use powers and abilities that allowed you to make a save when it isn't your turn, or to force people to shove their comrades out of the way. Again, since he's basically a solo in this fight, I thought that there would need to be a lot of terrain features and movement to prevent people from simply surrounding him and whacking out his hit points.
However, bottom line. Go ahead and drop his defenses if you are worried that he will be too hard, or if you are worried that the fight will be too frustrating for your group. He can always have some sort of magical minor action to boost them if you turn out to be wrong, and they start walloping him.
Players generally know how good someone's defenses are after an attack or two, so lowering them in the fight will set off people's "cheat-o-meter". On the other hand, they should have no freaking idea what powers he has, so give him a magical 'whammy' defense booster if he starts getting clobbered. Heck, make it cost hit points to use or something, so they all know why he didn't use it at the start.
Your instincts on your group are probably better than ours are, anyway.
Yeah, in truth all a group needs is good strategy. I'll confess that my group was better suited for this encounter (and I changed treasure parcels in all adventures to get closer to player wish lists), but they did not have much trouble. Between a wizard and an archer ranger the party destroyed the shards quite fast and then they aided each other to land a good number of dailies on him fast. Only thing I regret was the anticlimactic ending (when he tried to move to the top of the stairs for his last stand he ate a bloodied frenzy crit from the ranger's bear . . .)
Vyvyan Basterd
Adventurer
[sblock]I ran this encounter Friday night. I had read the concerns here and contemplated making changes but ultimately decided to leave the encounter as is. (Actually I added 6 more false shards because we had a 6th player. The encounter turned out to be a good challenge. The party was at risk, but not overwhelmed. I have seen the party Bard move people around quite often so I even left the plinths as they were. When the party Fighter was Thunderlanced next to a plinth the group recognized quickly that he was in trouble if not moved away by someone else. What cool power did the group use to save him? None. The Warlord moved over, grabbed the Fighter and pulled him away from the plinth. That's it. No "oh noes! he's stuck and gonna dies!!!!one111!!!" They just thought "what does my character want to do" instead of "what power will save the day" and did what a person in the real world would do if they see someone in a dangerous place, pull them out![/sblock]
Geoff Watson
First Post
Its only in the module for the Black Pillar. Its not in the rules for the Black Plinths or the Energy Orbs. Those nail you with a stun if you're adjacent to them.
