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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 3447306" data-attributes="member: 13966">Yeah, neat to hear how it went.I think one of the lieutenants probably should've been a Red Dragon Shaman using the Toughness aura (DR 1 or 2) which would've cut into the effectiveness of the full attacks a bit (long enough for him to get off a breath weapon attack against the party and buy some time).  Of course the Energy Shield aura would've been almost as helpful (doing quite a bit of damage to the party altogether, but only a little to each PC), just not as good at keeping the enemies alive long enough for a concerted assault.  The Knight charging in was certainly foolish (though not entirely out of character), but you won't make that miscalculation again.There probably should've been a squad of 1st or 2nd level Warrior grunts along too, making it more difficult for the Warmage to be approached as easily and allowing for some minor flanking attacks to wear down the tiger, warblade, and crusader (as well as threatening the princess with sheer numbers, forcing PCs to move into some kind of tactical positions to block them off or something).  Mainly this would buy time for the Warmage to get off a few spells, while the princess would probably have used her Healer spells to keep herself and the bodyguards alive long enough to geek the mage.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> Also, that squad of Warriors would all (or mostly, considering the limited radius of a DS's aura) be benefitting from the Red Dragon Shaman's aura of fire shield or damage reduction.....  But now I'm probably getting into the realm of a TPK situation.  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/nervous.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":heh:" title="Nervous Laugh    :heh:" data-shortname=":heh:" /> In any case, with the numbers and levels of NPCs you threw at them, the battle wasn't really one that would be expected as a tough fight, so the results aren't surprising.  It was an average or slightly-above-average encounter in terms of potential difficulty, the PCs got lucky and it turned out easier this time.Perhaps try messing with their heads after they escape the tunnel, with an enemy command group planning around a tent near the escape tunnel's exit (not too close, but close enough that it's unexpected).  These commanders for one section of the assault don't know about the secret passage nearby, but figure they're in a safe and relatively quiet place to hold their little strategy session.  Then all of a sudden some folks not belonging to their company are spotted nearby by a sentry standing guard outside the command tent; the enemy commanders move in to engage since they have only a few token guards posted in the camp and the rest of their company is already engaged near the walls or something.The enemy commanders of this section could be a Beguiler, a Dragon Shaman, and a Marshall, along with a Swordsage and a Knight.  All similar in level to the PCs, or slightly higher level in the case of the Beguiler, perhaps.  These middle-ranking commanders move in to engage the PCs, with only the Beguiler keeping to the back, behind the Knight or Dragon Shaman.  The DS probably wields a longspear, the Marshall a glaive, and the other two melee'ers just greatswords or longswords.  The DS and Marshall keep to the sides of the formation, probably with a 10-foot gap between them and their comrades, while the Knight and Swordsage stand closer with a 5-foot gap between; anyone wants to try a flanking maneuver, or reach the Beguiler, is likely to take AoOs from somebody.example:.........SS.....KN..........DS...................................MA..............BE..............Not quite sure right now what the best tactical positions would be, but that seems like a decent start.  The Beguiler would work his mind magic on the PCs or princess, while the Dragon Shaman unleashes breath weapons and stabs anyone who gets to close, moving to guard the Beguiler when necessary, and using his Toughness aura to keep everyone alive (then switching to the Vitality aura if someone gets knocked down too low in HP, but sticking with the Toughness aura most of the time).  The Marshall does his thing, boosting the party's attack power with auras, and the other two just try to draw the PCs to them so they can beat the PCs to a pulp.The Knight and Swordsage should probably be a bit lower-level than the PCs, since they'll be the main melee machines wailing on the party, while the Dragon Shaman and Marshall just provide support in both offense and defense (doing some damage but probably being second fiddle to the Knight and Swordsage).  I could be wrong, though; the KN and SS might need to be a bit higher level (6th-8th), with the DS and MA only around 4th or so, and the Beguiler around 6th-9th.  In any case it'll be the Dragon Shaman giving them all a fighting chance, with his sheer resilience and auras.  A stronger offense might be the way to go, using Energy Shield and having all four enemies besides the Beguiler move into melee right away.</blockquote>

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