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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 4948082" data-attributes="member: 1210">Here's one that I really enjoyed running.Scenario: Deadly Cliff-Dwellers[sblock]XP Encounter Difficulty: Level 2 encounter (party was 1st level)Brief summary: The pcs are on the run from an army of mixed humanoids. Searching for a secret tunnel that runs under the mountains, the party encounters a group of drakes. In the middle of the fight, a group of goblins, attracted by the noise, cuts the pcs' retreat off.Area setup: The fight takes place in a curving canyon about 140' long that dead ends at the back, our of sight of the pcs' starting area. It is about 20' wide in most places. Near the end, a ledge juts out 20' up, upon which one of the monsters dwells. There is no easy access to it from the canyon; pcs must climb to reach it (Athletics DC 15). Outside of the canyon are the edges of the mountain range to one side and scrubby plains to the other. Enemies:One needlefang drake swarm (level 2 soldier);One spitting drake (level 3 artillery); Four goblin cutters (level 1 minions);Two goblin sharpshooters (level 2 artillery),Enemy setup: The pcs initially see the spitting drake, which is on a ledge 20' up. The needlefang swarm comes in from the back of the canyon, starting off out of line of sight from the pcs. At the end of round 3, the goblins arrive at the entrance to the canyon, possibly cutting off the pcs' retreat. How it went: A very good, very tough fight. The fighter climbed up the cliff to get at the spitting drake while the needlefang drake swarm tore into the rest of the party. There were cool terrain issues (between the canyon and the ledge the drake was on) that made the fight fun, and the combination of the swarm and minions made it nice and hard to deal with the artillery. No pcs died. Actual Difficulty: More like a level 4 encounter than a level 2. The combination of terrain factors and the needlefang's general badassitude made this a tough fight. How well did it work(on a scale of 1-10): It really made for a scary fun fight that could have easily left a couple of pcs dead. I love a good, high-lethality game, so I'll rate it at a 9. Very few other 4e encounters that I've run have felt nearly as dangerous.[/sblock][/sblock]</blockquote>

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