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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whimsical" data-source="post: 5032463" data-attributes="member: 3976">One thing that happened when we fought Lolth was that one of the players moved up and then broke a Staff of Power/Magi (I don't remember) to go nova. Lolth was right outside of the blast radius. Doh.For the original poster, make it clear to the players that losing this battle results in total enslavement, not death. They're fighting an EHP god of slavery & tyranny, after all. This removes the possibility of a TPK with something much more terrifying.Have all damage dealt by the enemies be non-lethal damage. This will put the players in the WTF zone right away. If one of them drops, the EHP can use his staff to make the character his thrall while healing all of the damage (no save). This will creep them out when they realize that there's no death = escape option here.Include some secrets, surprises, and opportunities. One or more of the opponents is a dominated good creature, such as a gold dragon, couatl, or good outsider. The EHP is very proud to have control over such a powerful good creature, but the control isn't as complete as he would like. If the players can figure out how to free the good creature during combat, then he'll become a powerful ally. This differs greatly from "an NPC saves you" because the players chose to make it happen with their cleverness.It also turns out that if the EHP has the PCs on the ropes after an intense battle, his trusted lieutenant will take advantage of the opportunity to try to enslave the EHP. She has a secret whopper of an attack to make this so, and is just waiting for the right opportunity.And the EHP doesn't know everything about the artifact. PCs that have done their homework and pull out some good Knowledge checks know an obscure detail about it that can cause it to benefit the players or work adversely against the enemies. Maybe something cool happens if a high-level cleric channels the positive energy of a Turn Undead into it.Several rounds into the fight, there's an intense earthquake, causing many open fissures, <a href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/dungeons.htm#caveInsAndCollapsesCr8" target="_blank">cave-ins, and collapses</a> in the area. This inconveniences everyone!</blockquote>

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