RttToEE: Moathouse climax battle - Need advice!

[Corsair]

>> May contain spoilers for those who haven't played RttToEE <<


Ok here is the deal: It is the parties 3rd trip to the moathouse. It is 72 hours since their first incursion, and as such, the cart picking up the remaining clerics is there.

I want to push the party to their limit and make sure its a memorable battle. So far, nothing they've encountered has been that much of a challenge, mainly since nothing they've fought hits that hard. The clerics and undead don't have high enough attack bonuses to hurt them. The baddies also lack any serious ranged attack to be a threat.

The party:

Psion (kineticist) 4
Wizard 4
Warlock 4
Cleric 4 (Helm)
Fighter 2 / Cleric 2 (Torm)

As you can see, they usually just let the two clerics or a beefed up astral construct stand in front while the other three just pound away from the back lines.

So here is what I have to work with so far:

Main Forces: Human cleric 2, Troglodyte Cleric 2, Grick, 2 Gnolls.
Unknown forces: Wagon driver/escorts
Optional Forces: 4 zombies

The twist: Rogue 5 / Assassin 1 (accompanying the party in disguise)



Here is my dilemma: Other than the assassin (who will likely use hit and hide tactics) there is no real threat to the party from these guys, even though the EL is supposedly over 8. So what should I include as Wagon drivers/escorts to make it more of a challenge? Note the massive lack of ranged combat ability on the side of the badguys.

 

[Corsair]

Bump and minor comment: I've posted this on two other forums (WotC and Monte's temple forums) and it seems like I'm invisible. It makes me sad.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Bump and minor comment: I've posted this on two other forums (WotC and Monte's temple forums) and it seems like I'm invisible. It makes me sad.

Gimme a bit on this. I'm currently playing RttToEE. We missed the moathouse because the party got sidetracked and all the bad guys got away. But I have some ideas. Will post in a bit.

 

[sukael]

A goliath (from RoS) fighter specializing in a Large composite greatbow (from CWar)? That would mean up to 1d12+Str damage per attack.

 

[JimAde]

One or two rogues should do it. If they can either be invisible or effectively sneak up behind the party, they'll get a round of sneak attacks on your casters. That ought to keep things interesting.

Or even a single tough fighter who is invisible. The invisibility goes away as soon as he attacks, but by then he's behind the party's meat shields wreaking havoc on their casters. All it takes is a potion worht 300 GP, which I don't think is too out of line for this encounter. You can give it to one of the existing NPCs if you don't want to beef them up too much.

 

[Corsair]

Biggus: Thanks, I'll be waiting in anticipation!

sukael: You know you always hear about goliaths (and half-giants, etc) with oversized melee weapons, but I had never considered an oversized bow before. Definately worth considering.

JimAde: I already have the one assassin involved, I'd prefer not to add more rogues, if only for style reasons.


Another possibility: Someone quoted Monte Cook suggesting giving critters in major battles max HP, just to make the fight longer and more memorable. Is that worth it?

 

[thompgc]

I believe that a large great bow does 2d8 damage
(1d10 -> 2d8)

A large long bow would do 2d6

So that goliath archer can deal some damage

 

[BiggusGeekus]

The party:
Psion (kineticist) 4
Wizard 4
Warlock 4
Cleric 4 (Helm)
Fighter 2 / Cleric 2 (Torm)

A little light on melee and traps. That'll come back to haunt them unless the Warlock turns into Mr. Diplomat/Bluffguy.

Main Forces: Human cleric 2, Troglodyte Cleric 2, Grick, 2 Gnolls.
Unknown forces: Wagon driver/escorts
Optional Forces: 4 zombies

The twist: Rogue 5 / Assassin 1 (accompanying the party in disguise)

Round 1: Both clerics cast obscuring mist between themselves and the party. This eliminates the party's range attacks. They're going to want to cast through this, so read up on the spell and decide if they can. The clerics move 30' to get line of sight if they can.

Zombies, grick, and gnolls advance as fast as the slowest one of them will permit. Zombies move 30' but can not run. If the party is further away than 60', the gnolls and grick will advance independant of the zombies.

The assassin casts True Strike and positions himself near the cleric.

Round 2: Both clerics cast cause fear on the fighter/cleric if able. One of the two castings should stick.

Zombies, grick, and gnolls advance as fast as the slowest one of them will permit. If they are within striking range, they move to attack the closest spellcaster.

Assassin jumps the cleric with poisoned blade (go after the Cleric's CON) and death attack. It is not unreasonable to assume the assassin has been studying the cleric. The combination of sneak attack, poision, and death attack means that if the assassin hits, the cleric is in deep doo-doo. Your party cleric will probably scream in rage at this point, so be sure you've done everything by the book.

Round 3: If all goes well your three spellcasters should be in melee with the zombies, grick, and gnolls. The two healers should be out of the combat.

If able the clerics both cast command on one of the spellcasters (or the cleric or cleric/fighter) if either remain standing. The command will be to "fall", which will put them at +4AC to melee attacks.

As of now you are looking at two potential character deaths with the fighter/cleric getting ready to return in a round or two. The assasin will, in order of preference:

1) make a coup de gras attack on the cleric
2) take a stab at a wounded party member
3) take a stab at the closest person available.

Round 4: The party will have likely done a good job on the melee fighters. The gnolls will probably run if it looks bad. The assassin will probably drop another obsuring mist and run for it. He gets a disguise type spell later on, so he can extract his vengence the next time the party sleeps at an inn. The clerics are out of decent spells and will probably try to run for it.

Issues:

The key is the inital placement of the clerical obscuring mist. The idea is to prevent the party from targeting the advancing melee fighters.

If the asassin is surprised he will probably not be able to make his death attack on the cleric. Ah well. At least he has +4d6 of sneak attack damage. If the cleric does not drop right away, he'll be a target for the gnolls while the zombies and grick attempt to take care of the other spellcasters.

That's how I'd use your given forces. The wildcard/optional forces you already have some pretty good ideas for.

Happy gaming!

 

[Tinner]

Another possibility: Someone quoted Monte Cook suggesting giving critters in major battles max HP, just to make the fight longer and more memorable. Is that worth it?

I have used this tactic, and it does make for a more interesting fight.
In fact, there were some scenarios, where the opponents were dropping so fast, I actually doubled their hp. It definately made the scenario more challenging. YMMV

 

[Corsair]

Tinner: glad to hear that the HP increase works. I'll definately do it.

Wow Biggus, you're my hero. I tend to overlook spells like Obscuring Mist. Unfortunately it's centered on the clerics, but a couple castings as they move should work.

Things to note:

* The assassin (Chatrilon) already has acquired a hat of disguise. Spot DC 30 for his disguise. He'll be accompanying the party on the way in, posing as a good NPC. He'll pump them for information before deciding who to try to off at the start of combat. Depending on what the party is willing to reveal, he'll decide who is the biggest threat, and try to off them quickly.

* Wagon forces: I think I'm going to have the wagon driver be a Cleric 3. This will give the party access to Silence, something that they themselves have used effectively. Should be fun to see what they do when the enemy uses their strategies against them. I'll add some sort of CR 2-3 ranged combatant as an escort

* The bad guys are expecting an attack. They have a general idea of what to expect (the Troglodyte Cleric has personally witnessed the wizard and psion in action, including a very difficult to hit astral construct with lots of HP)