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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6684032" data-attributes="member: 6787650">It's wouldn't be my go-to tactic, no. I suggested a mix of tactics, and my personal favorite would be "bypass the paladin and threaten the party's goals instead of trying to threaten individuals." To that end I would amp up the total encounter difficulty and give the enemy missile weapons. (I run a sandbox, mostly, but that's what I would do if I were building an encounter specifically to mess with the party, as karmic payback for karma the players spent on something else.)But if you think about it, this actually is a reliable, reusable tactic if you build a certain kind of campaign. Consider the Mezzoloth. It's a low-damage, CR 5 creature whose most outstanding feature is the combination of blindsight and the ability to cast Darkvision. But they can also exhale toxic fumes in a Cloudkill (which bypasses AC), and they each can cast Dispel Magic twice per day.You could throw two Mezzoloths and ten Hobgoblins at a four-man level 11 party and it wouldn't even break the Deadly threshold. 1.) The Mezzoloths have pre-cast Darkness so the PCs can't see exactly what they're facing; 2.) The paladin ventures into the darkness, confident in his AC, and attacks something once;3.) The Mezzoloth dispels his magical protections;4.) A few of the hobgoblins grab him, knock him prone, while the other hobgoblins beat on him with advantage and Martial Advantage;5.) If he tries to Shield, the other Mezzoloth can Dispel the Shield;6.) Chunks of paladin come flying out of the Darkness.Will it happen this way? Not necessarily, but as long as it could happen this way, dramatic tension is maintained and the paladin will be appropriately cautious about jumping into balls of darkness.It works almost exactly the same way if the hobgoblins are led by a beholder, except that it costs a lot more of your XP budget (33K vs 13.8K).</blockquote>

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