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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Xavim" data-source="post: 1151929" data-attributes="member: 14089">Normally I'd say that there would be a good chance of the Wizards ignoring the occurance altogether.  Screams aren't such a strange happenings in Drow society.  But since the PCs attacked the outpost earlier, and escaped, the wizards would obviously be more wary of any disturbance.  Plus they would probably have alarm spells (mental) set up to warn of anyone approaching thier tower.  Thus:I think you should mix it up.  Since each of the Drow have different personalities you could have one student that's a real egoist, and he can buff up, and take the PCs on full force, bringing various summons and Simulectroms/Golems to bear.  Using mobility and the tactical advantage of terrain knowledge, he could do some hefty damage.  I recommend that this guy be the "head student" since he would have to be pretty sure of himself to employ such a direct attack.  Don't make him too foolish though, just brazen.Maybe have another Drow also attack head on to help the Head Student, but more conservatively.  Focusing more on debilitating magics (spectral hand with touch of idiocy/Contagation/Hold spells) and counterspelling the PC spellcasters.  Perhaps he's a common ally of the Head Student, and they employ this tactic in most of their fights.  Maybe their personal relationship is more than that, who knows.  You don't have to worry too much about the PCs finding the subtle wizard if they levitate/fly high enough into the cavern out of sight (unless the PCs also have darkvision, in which case an Invisibility spell seems prudent before DDing to the cieling), the PC's own Silence spells will make it impossible for them to locate them unless the wizard uses a ray, or some flashy attack (which he/she won't).Meanwhile, I'd have the last Drow scrying the entire battle.  Once things start heating up, and going poorly for the Head Student, he teleports to the area and Nukes both the PCs and the Head Student, killing him.  This move accomplishes two things, Damages the PCs (which is always good), and allows the divining wizard to elimate a rival in total Drow fashion.  While all of this is going on, the Archmage sends in his pet demon, and decides what his role in the battle will be.  Depending on the situation, he may or may not even show himself.  If the battle looks to be evenly matched or his students are losing, he'll show up and pound the PCs with a series of devistating attacks.  I recommend Reverse Gravity(best for party) or Power Word Blind(best anti-spellcaster spell next to AMF) since both don't allow Saving throws and the party would be weakened enough for PWB to work.  While the Players are stuck hovering in midair, the archmage lets loose with Chain lightning, maybe summons another demon via Summon Monster V and then continues to clean up the act with his enchanted arrow abilities.Of course transmuting the ceiling/floor to mud, and then the mud back to rock, might be an interesting tactic to 'bog' down the group.  But that would use all of the Archmage's 6th level spells.  Which wouldn't be fun at all.The Archmage also needs to have the manditory Contingency:teleport spell cast, set to go off if he is in mortal danger (ie reduced to 25% of his hp) this will take him back to his sanctum where he can heal up through potions and get ready to face the PCs a second time, or flee, becoming a villain that can come back to haunt the PCs later)The PCs really should have thought this one through and done a little recon/information gathering about the place before attacking.I wouldn't worry about the PCs being reduced to the consistency of toast.  If they're dumb enough to attack a wizard sanctum head on, without knowing what's in store they deserve the kick in the teeth.  On the other hand, if they manage to win, they'll sure be happy when they get increased exp for a tough encounter.  Not to mention all those nice magic items the wizards are sure to have.  Although if its turning into a total slaughter, which I think it will be.  (Your party is 6:10th-12th level PCs while your enemies are 2-10th, 1-11th, 1-15th and a demon CR13) you can weaken the damages of the enemies spells by like 10-20% to help your party out.Hope this helps!  Sorry about the length <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" /></blockquote>

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