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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 7197668" data-attributes="member: 63">They're also supposed to level up mid-"Grinding Gears." The PCs in Avatar are at max level, fully healed, having just woken from a strange dream and perhaps knowing talents and infused with magical power they did not previously have. I'd have them start with fully prepared spells, and before they leave Flint for Axis Island they could certainly have local casters heal them, but I wouldn't let them shop for anything powerful enough to make a difference. Honestly, high-level combat can be such ridiculous rocket tag that I tried to give the final encounter a mandatory pacing, and at least some sort of puzzle component since if nothing else, Nicodemus is basically invincible at the beginning. I just finished playing the finale of Iron Gods, and we stomped the final fight because we could all focus fire on the big bad. But in that case we only had two encounters before the finale, whereas Z tries to deplete at least your spells with the cold ziggurat, Harkover in Flint, and an individual encounter for each PC. Even if the party is very strong going into the final fight, I wanted to at least give the scene a narrative component to string it out. Make them do stuff other than unload all their strongest attacks in a single round.However, based on <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?524113-We-Finally-Finished!" target="_blank">ltclnlbrain's recounting</a>, I apparently made it too easy to just jump on the airship and take that out, then talk to the colossus, while ignoring the ritual entirely. I really want people to fiddle with the ritual, with some action on the airship, some on the ritual.Perhaps the airship should be invincible at the start too, protected by a shield that hedges out enemies and teleportation and which seems to be mostly immune to cannonfire. Let the first couple rounds just completely stymie the PCs' efforts, and then they witness Borne slotting the air pillar into place, which grants Nicodemus a surge of power. Then make it clear that they could use similar power to take out the ship's shield if they could change one of the icons.In my experience even after 7th level, it's pretty hard to ever have PCs go into a fight at less than full HP.</blockquote>

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