Question about a planned massive battle.

[Telor]

I plan on having a massive battle against 3 PCs in a week or 2.

They have to protect a group of powerful wizards casting a ritualistic epic spell.

I plan on having the spell take 10min to cast with the army arriving to stop the spell on the 5th minute, thus the group must maintain for 50 rounds. The army will only attack from one side due to physical obstructions from the other '3' sides. The 'side' that the group will have to protect will be roughly 60ft across.

I plan on throwing at them: 1 ftr14(EL+2), 4 wiz7(EL+2), 2 ftr5(EL+2), and 50 ftr2/sor1. The tactic is that the infantry will be wasted to soften up the group and as the battle progresses; the big guns will meet the PCs. I'd like to have the ftr16 meet the group about round 30 and the wiz17 to meet the group about round 40. The group has already encountered the ftr16 and upon seeing the army the group will likely prepare to face the fighter.

My question is: How fast do you think an earth genasi ftr12 (with whirlwind), elf dru13, and hum sor13 (evoker type) can waste the peons?
Do you think that they will be overcome by the artillery and generals? They will know ahead of time that they will be protecting the group from bombardments but will not expect the army.

They will be given a contingent: If they are within the ritual spell on the 50th round they will be swept away to another plane with the epic wizards.

If any wizards are killed or fail their Concentration DCs, obviously the spell fails. Failure will result in some kind of warp with magic and the objective will never be able to be repeated.

I don't have the ability to playtest this with anyone.

I greatly appreciate your help.
-Telor

Edit: changed the composition of the army to reflect the help I've received so far. Thank you.

 

[mikebr99]

I am thinking that this is going to be over shortly after the big baddies arrive on the scene... A prepared 17th level Wiz. is going to rule the day.

[edit]
Wiz: "ok... I'm here, everyone pull back"
Everyone else: "Roger that Howitzer"

Wiz: " Can you say Meteor Swarm boys and girls??? (from 1000FT.!!!)

 

[Limper]

Your army should waste the party.... I see 150 magic missles a round... if those are focused on one person at a time... you said there are only 3 PCs right?

The Higher lvl fighters run in and occupy the PCs and the massed magic missle fire should kill the quick. The 17th level wizard does nothing but cast haste and dispel the bejezuz out of the party.

 

[Telor]

The PCs and the wizards are immune to Magic Missle, have nondetection, resist elements (electricity), undetectable alignment, and +5 resistance to mind-affecting effects

Does that make much of a difference?

Thanks for the replies thus far,
-Telor

 

[Limper]

That shouldn't matter as to the result... only the means.

The party should still die when confronted by this army.

 

[AuraSeer]

I concur; unless their tactics are spectacularly bad, the army will roll over the PCs without much trouble.

I recently ran a single Wiz15 (plus a template) versus five 11th-level characters. The wizard mopped the floor with them, and only a massive stroke of good luck allowed the party to survive. Since you're adding a high-level fighter and the infantry mass, I think you'll need a squeegee to recover your PCs' bodies.

Caveat: this assumes a standard campaign balance, and smart enemies. If you just have the villains charge in blindly (which many DMs seem to do), the PCs may defeat them through superior tactics. If your campaign has a Monty Haul flavor, superior magic items could save the day. Otherwise, assuming you've told the whole story, your PCs should be toast.

Anyway, if the baddies were really smart, this whole army would just be a diversion. The fighter and wizard would show up while the PCs were still occupied with the peons, so as to cause maximum distraction. Meanwhile, an invisible high-level rogue would slip past the battle and sneak attack one of the concentrating wizards. Poof bang, no more epic spell.

 

[Telor]

Ok, I removed the 100 peons and the wizard, since he hasn't been referred to at all yet he doesn't have to exist. I can save him for a rainy day.

I want this to be extremely 'iffy' but at the same time I don't want the PCs to be exterminated as that would not be fun for any of us.

What's listed is all that is available in the area. The baddies only know that the PCs messed with them recently. They won't know about the spell until they see the light show and thus won't be as prepared as possible.

I appreciate all of the support. If you still think this is too much, please suggest what level the NPCs should be to make things more fair; however the fighter can not be adjusted since the party already seen him in action.

Thanks,
-Telor

 

[Macbrea]

I plan on throwing at them: 1 wiz17, 1 ftr16, 4 wiz9, 2 ftr7, 50 ftr2/sor1, 100 ftr1/sor1.


My question is: How fast do you think an earth genasi ftr12 (with whirlwind), elf dru13, and hum sor13 (evoker type) can waste the peons?

-Telor

Ok, I have a feeling your party will be wiped. But if you run it against them I will tell you how the party will probably work it.

The Sorceror is going to haste himself and the Genasi. And start laying down area effect spells. Assuming that they are immune to magic missile they will survive the first round because they know its coming. This will allow two of them to wipe out about 50 of the peons. The Druid will have to concentrate a couple of flame strikes on the sorcerors. At about the end of round 5 all the 150 peons will be dead and 3 of the wizards. If your wizards have not killed the druid he will be fully healed. If they choose to concentrate their fire on the either the sorceror or the fighter they will be dead. This means that it will come down to a duel between 1 wizard and the other 2. If the druid isn't silly he will use his lesser spells to do the job.

Assuming that happens, then when the fighter shows up he will die in one round to creeping doom. Druid moves forward and casts creeping doom centered on the fighter, 1000 points of damage dead.

This leaves the 17 level wizard showing up and Meteor swarming the party...... dead.

 

[Kershek]

Get rid of the high level wizard running the show and let the high level fighter run everything. Make the peons War1 and War2 and send wave after wave against them (with higher level lieutenants), slowly wearing down their spells. Spread it out so that it takes a few minutes of game time, perhaps giving them a few rounds of rest in between. Have the 3 of the 4 wiz9's stick near the fighter to protect him with counterspells and dispel magic. Have the last wiz9 do artillery and make sure he's prepared with scrolls.

To make things interesting, you could have the main bad guy enter the scene with a higher level druid and cause weather effects. Even better would be to have the weather effects start before they enter the scene to create the proper mood that the boss is coming.