To much or not enough

[Advand]

Hey I am setting up an adventure for a group of six level three adventurers. I was wondering if this is a well balanced final encounter for the group.

Grevain
Initiative +4
Shroud of the grave aura 5; all undead creatures within the Aura loose vunirablilty to Radiant damage.
HP 79; Bloodied 39
AC 19; Fortitude 15; Reflex 14; Will 17
Resist 5 necrotic
Speed 6
m Quarterstaff (standard; at-will) • Weapon
+6 vs AC; 1d8 damage
r Magic Missile (standard; at-will) • Force
Ranged 20; +9 vs Reflex; 2d4 + 6 force damage
C Necrotic whip (standard; at-will) • Necrotic
10 one target; a whip of black necrotic power is generated and passes through the target chilling them to the bone.; +9 vs Will; 1d6 + 4 ,3 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends)
R Dancing Lightning (standard; encounter) • Lightning
Grevain makes a separate attack against 3 different targets: ranged 10; +8 vs Reflex; 1d6 + 6 lightning damage
A Thunder Burst (standard; encounter) • Thunder
Area burst 1 within 10; +8 vs Fortitude; 1d8 + 6 thunder damage, and the target is dazed (save ends)
R Call of the Grave (standard; encounter)
four undead Zombie rotters apear in unocupide spaces within range. these undead minions take their turns imediatly after Grevain


Grevain also has a casting circle, in my game those work like this
+1 to all defenses
+2 damage of a chosen type on every attack (necrotic)
+1 to the range of all auras for the caster
and you have to stand in the center of four squares to benefit from the effects , effectively becoming a large creature.

dread protecter Morgan
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +1; low-light vision
shield of undeath aura 1; when the dread protecters master is within the aura, the master takes half damage from melee and ranged attacks
Shield bearer aura 1; gives adjacent allies +2 to AC
HP 72; Bloodied 36
AC 21; Fortitude 18; Reflex 14; Will 15
Speed 5
m Great axe (standard; at-will)
+8 vs AC; 1d12 + 4 and the target is marked until the end of the protecters next turn.
Protecters call (move; at-will)
teleport 5 squares to a square adjacent to its master.
Mark (standard; at-will)
marks the target, fighter mark

The cauldron of death is a trap that does three things.

Attack: range 5 ,+7 vs reflex, pulls the target two squares closer to the cauldron

Aura: 7 necrotic damage to anyone adjacent to the Cauldron

Spawn: spawn 1-3 Zombie Rotters adjacent to the Cauldron based on what happened the round before.
1: standard
2: if the cauldron dealt combat damage this round
3: if a player faild a check to damage the cauldron

The cauldron takes damage one at a time and only from one of three sources ( it has 4 HP)
1: If a character makes a 25 DC arcana or religion check
2: If a character uses a channel divenity power on the cauldron
3: If a character uses a 'word' power on the cauldron.

and a bunch of zombie rotters from the cauldron and Grevain as well as a few to start..

 

[Mesh Hong]

You have missed out the level of the creatures and they seem to be designed in a way that makes it hard to determine what they are supposed to be.

Grevain - is he a level 4 elite controller?
Morgan - is he a level 2 elite soldier?

It might also be usefull to know what other creatures are in the initial combat, so I can judge the encounter level.

 

[Goonalan]

Hey I am setting up an adventure for a group of six level three adventurers. I was wondering if this is a well balanced final encounter for the group.

Grevain
Initiative +4
Shroud of the grave aura 5; all undead creatures within the Aura loose vunirablilty to Radiant damage.
HP 79; Bloodied 39
AC 19; Fortitude 15; Reflex 14; Will 17
Resist 5 necrotic
Speed 6
m Quarterstaff (standard; at-will) • Weapon
+6 vs AC; 1d8 damage
r Magic Missile (standard; at-will) • Force
Ranged 20; +9 vs Reflex; 2d4 + 6 force damage
C Necrotic whip (standard; at-will) • Necrotic
10 one target; a whip of black necrotic power is generated and passes through the target chilling them to the bone.; +9 vs Will; 1d6 + 4 ,3 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends)
R Dancing Lightning (standard; encounter) • Lightning
Grevain makes a separate attack against 3 different targets: ranged 10; +8 vs Reflex; 1d6 + 6 lightning damage
A Thunder Burst (standard; encounter) • Thunder
Area burst 1 within 10; +8 vs Fortitude; 1d8 + 6 thunder damage, and the target is dazed (save ends)
R Call of the Grave (standard; encounter)
four undead Zombie rotters apear in unocupide spaces within range. these undead minions take their turns imediatly after Grevain


Grevain also has a casting circle, in my game those work like this
+1 to all defenses
+2 damage of a chosen type on every attack (necrotic)
+1 to the range of all auras for the caster
and you have to stand in the center of four squares to benefit from the effects , effectively becoming a large creature.

dread protecter Morgan
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +1; low-light vision
shield of undeath aura 1; when the dread protecters master is within the aura, the master takes half damage from melee and ranged attacks
Shield bearer aura 1; gives adjacent allies +2 to AC
HP 72; Bloodied 36
AC 21; Fortitude 18; Reflex 14; Will 15
Speed 5
m Great axe (standard; at-will)
+8 vs AC; 1d12 + 4 and the target is marked until the end of the protecters next turn.
Protecters call (move; at-will)
teleport 5 squares to a square adjacent to its master.
Mark (standard; at-will)
marks the target, fighter mark

The cauldron of death is a trap that does three things.

Attack: range 5 ,+7 vs reflex, pulls the target two squares closer to the cauldron

Aura: 7 necrotic damage to anyone adjacent to the Cauldron

Spawn: spawn 1-3 Zombie Rotters adjacent to the Cauldron based on what happened the round before.
1: standard
2: if the cauldron dealt combat damage this round
3: if a player faild a check to damage the cauldron

The cauldron takes damage one at a time and only from one of three sources ( it has 4 HP)
1: If a character makes a 25 DC arcana or religion check
2: If a character uses a channel divenity power on the cauldron
3: If a character uses a 'word' power on the cauldron.

and a bunch of zombie rotters from the cauldron and Grevain as well as a few to start..

Not sure, what's the XP add up to- figure it out via the tables in the DMG, I've not got them to hand at the moment alas. However if you want your bad guys to last then I'd make one or both of them Elite.

However only you know what the PCs are going to be going through before they get to this encounter, and what state their likely to be in. You do want it to be challenging though so it needs to be Level +3 at least- see how much XP you have to spend for a Level 6 Encounter for 6 PCs.

Sounds like a nice encounter though, although you may need a piece of paper to keep a track of things, you've got plenty of stuff going on just with the auras, magic circle and the cauldron.

Cheers PDR

 

[Advand]

Thanks and sorry if it is a bit confusing, I have

Grevain: Elite artillery leader level 4, 350 EXP

Dread Protector Morgan: Elite Soldier Level 3, 300 EXP

The Dread Cauldron: Level 5 Trap (just what I thought was right), 200 EXP

4x Zombie Rotters: 150 EXP

Total EXP: 1000

Encounter level: 3 (so I need more monsters then most likely).

I used the Death Master template on a human mage for Grevain and the bodyguard template on a dread protector for Morgan.

Thanks a ton for the help.

 

[Mesh Hong]

Using templates assumes the MM1 style of elites that adds bonus defences, this was done away with in MM2 so I have designed them from scratch to give you an idea of what I might do. I am not sure Grevain should be an artillery as he seems much more controllery to me (but I’ve stat’ed him now).


Encounter: 1254 xp (level 5 encounter for 6 level 3 PCs)

Grevain – level 4 elite artillery (350 xp)
Morgan – level 3 elite soldier (300 xp)
Cauldron Trap – level 5 trap (?) (200 xp)
Casting Circle – 100 xp (arbitary amount but it is good enough to warrant xp)
8 Zombie Rotters – level 3 minion (304 xp)
4 Zombie Rotters (when Grevain becomes bloodied) – level 3 minion (0 xp)

Grevain Level 4 Elite Artillery
Medium Natural XP 350
Initiative +4 Senses Perception +8
Shroud of the Grave aura 5; All undead creatures inside the aura lose their
vulnerability to radiant damage
HP 84; Bloodied 42; also see Induce Fear, Call of the Grave
AC 16; Fortitude 15, Reflex 16, Will 17
Resist 5 necrotic
Saving Throws +2
Speed 6
Action Points 1

Staff Strike (Standard; at-will) ♦ necrotic
Attack +9 vs. AC; 1d8+2 damage; on hit secondary attack +9 vs.
Fortitude; on hit target loses a healing surge

Necrotic Whip (Standard; at-will) ♦ necrotic
Reach 10; attack +9 vs. Fortitude; 1d6+4 necrotic damage; on hit target
is slowed and takes 3 ongoing necrotic damage (save ends both)

Skeletal Hand (Minor; at-will) ♦ 1/round
Range 10; does not provoke opportunity attacks; attack +9 vs. Fortitude;
on hit slide target 2 squares

Black Bolt (Standard; at-will) ♦ force
Range 20; attack +9 vs. Reflex; 2d8+6 force damage

Black Darts (Standard; recharge ) ♦ force
Range 20; 1 or 2 targets; attack +9 vs. Reflex; 1d6+4 force damage

Black Lightning (Standard; encounter) ♦ lightning
Range 10; 1, 2 or 3 targets; attack +9 vs. Reflex; 1d6+4 lightning
damage; on hit target is dazed (save ends)

Induce Fear (Standard; recharge ) ♦ fear, only while bloodied
Only while bloodied; burst 3; enemies only; attack +9 vs. Will; on hit
target is pushed 5 squares and immobilised (save ends)

Call of the Grave (Free; encounter) ♦ when first bloodied
When first bloodied Grevain summons 4 Zombie Rotters that appear in any
free square within burst 5 and act imediately after the current creatures
turn

Alignment Evil Languages common
Skills Arcana +10, Intimidate +11, Streetwise +11
Str 10 (+2) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 13 (+3)
Con 12 (+3) Int 16 (+5) Cha 18 (+6)
Equipment robes, staff



Morgan Level 3 Elite Soldier
Medium Natural XP 300

Initiative +5 Senses Perception +7, lowlight vision
Protecting Shield aura 1; All allies inside aura gain a +2 bonus to AC and
Reflex defences
HP 92; Bloodied 46
AC 19; Fortitude 16, Reflex 15, Will 14
Saving Throws +2
Speed 5
Action Points 1

Sword Strike (Standard; at-will)
Attack +10 vs. AC; 1d10+3 damage; hit or miss target is marked until the
start of Morgans next turn

Repeated Blows (Standard; recharge )
2 attacks against the same target; attack +10 vs. AC; 1d8+3 damage; hit
or miss the target is marked; if both attacks hit the target is knocked
prone

Defend the Master (Immediate Interrupt; at-will) ♦ when Grevain attacked
If Grevain is targeted by any attack while Morgan is adjacent to him then
Morgan may switch places with Grevain and become the new target of the
attack as an immediate interrupt action

Snap Out Of It (Minor; recharge )
Morgan grants Grevain an immediate saving throw with a +2 bonus against
any one effect that a save can end

Right By Your Side (Move; recharge )
Morgan shifts 5 squares but must end this move action adjacent to
Grevain

Alignment Evil Languages common
Skills Athletics +9, Intimidate +5, Streetwise +5
Str 17 (+4) Dex 14 (+3) Wis 12 (+2)
Con 14 (+3) Int 10 (+1) Cha 8 (+0)
Equipment longsword, shield, chainmail

Well that’s what I have come up with, I hope you find it interesting or it gives you some ideas.

Oh by the way Grevains Shroud of the Grave aura (which is a pretty powerful effect) has absolutely no use in the encounter which is a bit of a shame. You might want to swap out 4 Zombie Rotters and add 2 Zombie (level 2 brute) instead, this would add 98 xp to the encounter but it would still be a level 5 encounter.

 

[Advand]

OK so here is what I've got currently:
Grevain Level 4 Elite Artillery (I used Mesh Hongs design) 350 EXP
Dread Protector Morgan Level 3 Elite soldier (what I had before) 300 EXP
2x wights (something for Shroud of the Grave to work on) 400 EXP
4x zombie rotters 150 EXP

200 EXP for the Cauldron
100 EXP for the Casting Circle
1200 EXP for the monsters

Total EXP: 1500 (level 6 encounter).


Do you think that I should drop the starting rotters? This Encounter is starting to look like a little to much.

 

[Mesh Hong]

Only you can say if the encounter is too much for your group or not, a 6 man team can cope with a lot but it depends on their set up and how beaten up they are before the fight.

This is certainly looking like a hard encounter, which is probably what you want as a boss battle.

I think you probably showed wisdom in chosing standard (level 5) wights over (level 4) Deathlock Wights. They are easier to run which will help keep thinks moving, and deathlock Wights are significantly nastier, especially in this encounter.

In my opinion you need some starting Zombie Rotters as they are themed with the Cauldron and it makes sense for them to be there. Personally I would like more, maybe you could squeeze in another quick encounter in a room directly before the boss fight that is just 20 Zombie Rotters. It would be an easy encounter but might help set the stage for the boss fight and would contrast nicely the difference between an easy and a hard encounter.

 

[Advand]

I have just that with a stairway out front that is just filled to the brim with Zombies and a few Homonculi.

 

[Rechan]

What, no Corpsetaker? No Cowl?! Morgan, just a thug!?

 

[Advand]

What, no Corpsetaker? No Cowl?! Morgan, just a thug!?

Haha 10 points for getting the refrence, I can only hope that some of my players will be so astute.