D&D 5E DM Advice: Running a "Climactic" Combat

[GwaihirAgain]

IMC, the PCs have tracked a traitor of the summer court through the feywild and back to the Summer Court, where she intends, along with a Winter aligned NPC, kill Titiana the summer queen.
One of the PCS, who had previously visited the Winter court had the ability to one time Summon Mab, the winter queen. Which he did.

Once Mab arrived, the traitor NPC, who turned because she has the Eye of Vecna (PCs do not know this), Summoned Vecna. So now I have Mab & Titiana on one side and Vecna and traitor and one winter dude on the other.

This is all leading up to my PCs starting the Eve of Ruin (Modified) campaign, in short, I want Vecna to win (causing the Feywild and shadowdark to merge =Feydark) and the PCS to survive.

Question, how do I run this combat? Im thinking Ill have Vecna and the queens duke it out "Offscreen" while the PCs fight it our with The Traitor and her Winter comrade.

Thoughts please.

G

 

[aco175]

You might have to separate them for that to work. Maybe one of them casts a spell and the land under them rises 60ft in the air like an earth node and creates an area of difficult terrain where it was and leaves the smaller bad guys on one side and the PCs on the other. Summon in some more bad guys to help deal with the PCs. Narrate a few explosions and such from up above, but be aware of players wanting to go help and having a way to do so at that level. Allow for PC actions to help the game along and try to not railroad the players with obvious means to get what want in the end.

 

[Stalker0]

Question, how do I run this combat? Im thinking Ill have Vecna and the queens duke it out "Offscreen" while the PCs fight it our with The Traitor and her Winter comrade.

Thoughts please.

G

This is 100% what you should do if you want a specific outcome. If PCs are involved in the fight, than you need to accept their actions messing with your plan. But if you do it off screen, you can prearrange the results of that conflict, while the party's win or lost dictates another portion of the story.

 

[billd91]

Question, how do I run this combat? Im thinking Ill have Vecna and the queens duke it out "Offscreen" while the PCs fight it our with The Traitor and her Winter comrade.

Yes, I think this is an important thing to do - the PCs fight what the PCs can fight.
But, assuming they win in their fight but their patron loses, they're going to feel pretty low if there isn't something they gain from it. If their fight has no impact on the large one between the Titania and Vecna, or at least preserves some legacy of the Queen of the Summer Court, they're going to feel that their fight was useless and not worthwhile. So I'd recommend making sure they get something out of it other than survival or a thirst for revenge.

 

[Deset Gled]

Question, how do I run this combat? Im thinking Ill have Vecna and the queens duke it out "Offscreen" while the PCs fight it our with The Traitor and her Winter comrade.

I think you should consider not running this as a combat at all. Find an excuse to disable the PCs (and the traitor), and just describe the Vecna/Queen battle as a cinematic scene. I've played in a number of combats where the PCs were just there to "help" in a battle between bigger players. Sometimes it works out, but lots of times it feels like there's barely any point to having the smaller combat. It can just be a long time with a lot of rounds where not much that the PCs do makes a difference.

Then, have the PCs battle the traitor after the main fight is done. I would be tempted to engineer it into part of an "escape sequence" where the party is running away from the Summer Court as the Feywild violently merges with the Shadowdark. The traitor makes their escape difficult (blocking an exit, for example) and the part gets to decide if they focus on running or killing first.

 

[Stalker0]

Yes, I think this is an important thing to do - the PCs fight what the PCs can fight.
But, assuming they win in their fight but their patron loses, they're going to feel pretty low if there isn't something they gain from it. If their fight has no impact on the large one between the Titania and Vecna, or at least preserves some legacy of the Queen of the Summer Court, they're going to feel that their fight was useless and not worthwhile. So I'd recommend making sure they get something out of it other than survival or a thirst for revenge.

yeah like if they win they find some crystal or something that holds the soul of the summer queen after her defeat....so she could be brought back. but if they lose she is dead dead as one spit ball.