Shackled City AP - Help my PC's avoid a TPK

[Olaf the Stout]

I am currently running my group through the Shackled City Adventure Path. We are up to Zenith's Trajectory. Last session the party continued their search of Bhal-Hamatugn in search of Zenith.

The party is as follow:

Dwarven Warblade 7
Human Conjurer 7
Half-Elf Cleric 7
Halfling Rogue 7
Human Hexblade 6 (due to a death in Flood season)

The session before last the party defeated the 4 Kuo-toan guarding the entrance as well as the 4 Kuo-toans sleeping in the room near the front of Bhal-Hamatugn. They then proceeded to head downstairs via the prison cells where they dealt with the Mummy relatively easily.

From there they found the secret back entrance to the area 5, the central room of the complex. They had a bit of difficulty with the Kou-toan Whips but still managed to kill all of the Kuo-toans and heal back up to full before Ashunna, a CR 9 advanced Erinyes showed up.

Here's where things got messy. When Aushunna appeared the PC's were all standing on the platform next to the big statue. A 32 on a Knowledge:The Planes roll, combined with seeing her shoot off 4 arrows in 1 round told the PC's they were in trouble.

2 PC's jumped straight off the edge of the platform to the ground below (happily taking the 3d6 damage from the ground rather than staying in the open). The Rogue panicked, opened the door on the platform he had just unlocked (the door led to the Kuo-toan head priest's chambers) and then shut it behind him. They other 2 PC's ran down the stairs, jumped off just before they got to the bottom and then tried to hide behind the pillars supporting the platform above them.

Ashunna shot another 4 arrows at the Cleric who was prone next to the steps (he failed his Jump and Balance checks when he jumped off the stairs), hitting a couple of times. The party then started moving towards the secret door they used to enter the room in order to get out of the room and away from the Erinyes.

The rogue, after hearing more armour clinking in the room but not being able to see what it was coming from, panicked again, ran back out into the main area, and used his Boots of Spider Climb to walk underneath the platform he was standing on and move towards the secret door.

Since everyone had bunched together nicely, Aushunna dropped down and cast Unholy Blight amongst the party, hitting all 5 of them. The party retreated into the 5ft passage they came in. However, with little in the way of ranged weapons there wasn't a lot the PC's could do to hurt the Erinyes.

The Conjurer cast fly on the Warblade and Polymorped the Hexblade into a Troll but it still wasn't enough. Even though I rolled appallingly with Ashunna's ranged attacks she still had the party quickly burning through almost all of their healing potions.

The Rogue was knocked unconscious 3 times and all of the others PC's got close a number of times. They just couldn't deal with her mobility. The Warblade was the only one who could fly and when he got close to her she could just Greater Teleport away, regroup and attack the party again. Even if the PC's were right next to her she could just cast the spell defensively (at a +20 to the roll). She did fail her Concentration check once, took 2 hits from AoO's and then passed the second Concentration check to get her spell off.

Her at will DC 19 Unholy Blight meant that 3 or 4 of the party would fail their Will save each time and take 20-odd damage. The Rogue failed every Will save against the spell and kept dropping in and out of consciousness.

The session ended with Aushunna teleporting from the side tunnel the party had retreated to, back to the main chamber after taking about 45 points of damage (less than half her hit point total). She will probably return to attack the PC's in 1-2 rounds.

So what do the PC's do now? A TPK is looking increasingly likely. The one possible hope for them (in my opinion at least) is to use a Rope Trick to hide. Aushunna will be able to see where the PC's are but she won't be able to do anything about it.

Once her 10 minutes are up and she disappears the PC's should be able to flee Bhal-Hamatugn, rest up and come back for revenge. My only worry is that once the kuo-toan High Priest gets his armour on (it will take him a couple more minutes) he will find out where the Erinyes is, discover the Rope Trick, and dispell it. This will leave the PC's facing both Aushunna and the Kuo-toan Cleric at the same time.

Does anyone else have any other ideas? I really don't want to see a TPK here but it is looking increasingly likely.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Jeff Wilder]

Ha! I posted about this exact encounter years ago, also fearing a TPK!

If you have the ability to search, you should be able to find that discussion. Or perhaps someone will post a link.

One thing I don't remember from the encounter ... is the Erinyes summoned or called? This is extremely important, as summoned outsiders are not able to use summoning or (more importantly in this case) teleport magic. This rule is fairly well buried, but I'm sure someone else can give you a cite if you need one.

 

[Aran Thule]

When my party fought against her she definately teleported around, the only way to stand a chance is to catch her in a confined space.
Has the party thought of the rope trick themselves or are you planning on feeding them this idea?
If they do the rope trick then then Ashunna will spot the 'window' question is would she pass the info onto the priest (does she want to admit that she cant get to them and appear weak)
As you said if the priest does find out and dispel it then most likely you have a TPK.
So an option would be for the devil to curse at the escape of 'her' prey and shout up at the window that their torment will be at her hands and that she will be waiting for them and then she disappears.
The chief after dressing would emerge to find the carnage and get his remaining minions to search the place but without luck and would then have to split his remaining forces to guard the temple.
They will not have enough time to rest fully using the rope so retreat is the best option... just as long as they dont go back through the big room again.
If they dont do the rope trip then the best plan would be for them to free the prisoners and leg it, at least that will give Ashunna more targets to shoot at.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Well, she's a devil. Depending on her motivations, if the party rope tricks, she could ask for one of them to "toy with"/convert in exchange for her silence. It should be the rogue as the kuo-toa already saw him.

Then she leaves with the rogue and charm monsters him. She keeps her word and everyone gets to rest the night (except the poor rogue). The party can then hit him with a dispel magic and fight her later.

And perhaps, she asks the charmed rogue to do something for her, and he is off somewhere else, maybe near the party.


I'm just saying that when the tactics mean a TPK that doesn't necessarily mean the story dictates that. She knows she has won. Is wholesale slaughter of the PCs her goal, or is it something else?

 

[billd91]

As long as they're retreating (or running like heck, I suppose), there's no reason to unleash too much whupass on them. Give them a head start before having Aushanna get on their trail. Assume that, being at the kuo-toa's disposal, they'd tell her to make sure the PCs don't cause trouble around Zenith and Dhorlot first. So her first few rounds should involve telporting to those areas, making sure they are currently secure, and then tracking down the PC.

Then, if they leave Bhal-hamatugn and her 10 minutes are up, she shouldn't be an issue until they enter the central area again. I figure that the statue would bring her back after that first hour away to search the place for any intruders and then it probably wouldn't summon her back until they trigger the statue's attention again.

One thing I've noticed about D&D these days: Not many characters see to their ranged weapons unless they are specifically going to be an archer.

 

[Crothian]

That was about where my TPK was in Shackled City. That is also where the campaign ended and we never went back to that adventure path.

 

[Vurt]

When the erinyes showed showed up, my party figured there wasn't much they could do about her in the big chamber and beat a hasty exit out the double doors leading to the entrance hallway, which made for closer quarters. The thing is, our wizard had anticipate teleportation running, so when she popped in to give chase, the erinyes found herself surrounded and a bunch of readied actions went off, and then a timely crit from the fighter finished her off the next round.

From the player's point of view, what they really need to do is neutralize the erinyes' mobility and artillery. Get into tight quarters, sunder her bow, slow her down, that sort of thing.

From the DM's perspective, if you want to avoid a TPK, maybe have her hesitate if her quarry falls back, fearful of a trap. Maybe she'll want to give the party time for their buff spells to wear off, or spend time reporting to the high priest. Maybe she doesn't want to leave the big chamber at all, given that it's advantageous terrain she doesn't want to waste, and the adventurers will be back sooner or later.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

It also depends on her relationship with the priest/why she is there. Unless she likes him and wants to help him actively, she could be instructed to "drive away enemies" or "keep this place safe".

Whatever her instructions, remember, she is a devil and will twist them to her advantage.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Thanks for some of the suggestions so far everyone. I don't want to give my players a "free pass" on this but I really want to avoid a TPK if I can. They're just too much of a game breaker.

At the start of this campaign I said that I wasn't going to fudge dice rolls, I'd just let them fall where they may. It's worked pretty well so far and I've had a bit more fun DM'ing this way. Having done that, I don't want to turn around and let the PC's get away when logic suggests that they shouldn't.

In answer to your question Aran Thule, I didn't overly force feed them the Rope Trick idea. The Conjurer had Rope Trick on her list of spells prepared for the day. When the combat started to get really bad and it looked like it was headed for a TPK I told everyone to look over their character sheets for anything they had that might give them a chance to get away. That's when the Rope Trick possiblity came up.

With the Conjurer only 7th level the spell won't last long for them to rest 8 hours to get their spells and hit points back. However it should at least give them a chance to come up with a plan to escape from Bhal-Hamatugn (the kuo-toan complex they are currently in), regroup and come back for a second attack.

I was thinking of a possible reason why the Erinyes would not let the Kuo-toan High Priest (who will take another couple of minutes to put on his armour) know where the Rope Trick was so that he could dispel it. Getting the Erinyes to make a deal with the party is a great suggestion. Thanks Aberzanzorax

My thought is that the Erinyes agrees not to tell the High Priest where the Rope Trick is if they destroy the statue she is currently bound to. This would then remove her from service to the Kuo-toans. She's already gotten her end of the deal from the Kuo-toans so she'd be more than happy to get out of being called upon to protect the temple.

To make sure that they do come back and destroy the statue she gets to keep one of the PC's to "play with" until they return. I'll then have her Charm Monster the PC until they fail their roll who will then be taken to Zenith. The PC who I keep can take over rolling for the bad guys for me until they're back into the action.

I was trying to think of a way for the Erinyes to take the PC back to Hell with her, thus guaranteeing that the PC's will have to summon her again in order to get that PC back. After the PC's had summoned her and then destroyed the statue I would have the Erinyes attack the party again (just because she's evil! ), except this time the party would be a little more prepared for what they would be facing. This would give them more of a chance of defeating her. Defeating her would then give them a bit of closure. I'm not sure if this will work though.

The other thing I thought of was bringing her back into the campaign at a later date, just to be a thorn in the PC's sides.

Thoughts?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Dedekind]

I remember that encounter so well. I came so close to killing the party. That is a tough one all around. You might want to check to see if the old Paizo board is still up. This one was talked about a bunch.

As for the Aushanna, why don't you just decide there is a ward such that she can't go too far from the statue. It does let them just avoid her if they want... but it sounds like they might need to do that anyways