Thought exercise time:
You are given a very nasty Gargantuan monster with an extremely deadly Swallow Whole ability. It is hasted and gets two potent attacks per round. It has max hit points for its level. This is an encounter for a party of six 8th-11th-level PCs (the creature itself is about as powerful as you'd expect, considering it's fighting mostly solo). Assume the party is well-optimized and focused on DPR.
The creature is stunned for the entire first round. Your goal is to make this encounter last at least six rounds; the longer, the better. What tactics do you use to:
A) Avoid a ton of PC fatalities (though they are acceptable)
B) Keep the creature alive and dangerous as long as possible.
Ideas on statistical tweaks for this creature are acceptable, though tactical ideas are the focus. The creature can behave as stupid or intelligently as you like, but outright fleeing is not an option.
The goal here is to tackle the old problem of "rocket tag" that surfaces at higher levels. How do you extend a 6-on-1 combat in a fair, fun way? Giving everything effects like displacement and mage armor/shield isn't exactly the best answer.
Some ideas:
Have it focus on debilitating combat maneuvers like Trip that slow the enemy down. Drawback: AoOs could potentially make this a very bloody tactic.
Instead of stunning it, allow it to behave as if on Total Defense for the first round. Drawback: I have it on good authority that players hate Total Defense. Plus, this is kinda cheating on the exercise.
Give it Regeneration and a burrow speed. Have it enter "sleep mode" when it gets badly injured, fleeing underground to heal. Ooh, this could be cool for a recurring ghoul villain. But drawback: This would get hella annoying. The point is to make combats more epic. Drawing them out through the GMing equivalent of choppy editing seems to defeat the purpose.
Have it fly, dispel its enemies' flying spells, then stun everyone. Drawback: Your players might find out where you live.
Mooks. Drawback: Again, kiiinda cheating. The idea of an epic 6-on-1 should be achievable all on its own, but the rules don't really support it. The idea of this exercise is to force it to work.
Give it a s#~$ton of HP and have it use cool stuff like Snatch to throw people around instead of killing them outright. Drawback: Giving it bonus HP is still kinda cheating, but I actually like this one.
Cheat like the dickens. Drawback: Kiiiinda cheating.
Feral! *Nervous laughter* Uh, fancy seeing you here! Hope you aren't still mad about, you know, anything that might currently be happening elsewhere. And you know, I was just saying to rorek over here—
*Bolts*
Some ideas:
Have it fly, dispel its enemies' flying spells, then stun everyone. Drawback: Your players might find out where you live.
Now you're bragging? Maybe I SHOULD find out where you live. =p
Hey, I'm not bragging. I was responsible for nothing in that list except execution. And him having Dispel Magic, but that's a bonus spell, so it's barely even my fault!
1st things 1st, give it 1.5 max hp or 2x max hp.
I'll get back later on tactics.
Give it awesome blow, send the fighters flying.
Give it SR = 6+HD.
Focus on trip/grapple/awesome blow abilities. Possibly a grab attack.
The trouble with grappling is that it tends to keep the boss monster occupied with 1/6th of its enemies. That said, Snatch is awesome. Awesome Blow kicks equal amounts of ass.
Spell Resistance might be a good trick. No more than 6+, of course, since SR can really cheese off a caster. Not a great thing to do in an epic final battle.
Crazy as it is, an effective way of making a fight draw out is giving the baddies HP+1/2. Doesn't make the encounter deadlier outright, but is very effective at making the fights last a round or two longer.
Hero points can be used to make big baddies last long enough to recur (oh look, I'm going to act out of turn now).
If the creature is caster based (such as a dragon), Project Image is a woefully unappreciated spell that can cause the party to waste resources on a nonexistent combatant. Other illusion spells can fill the gap if needed (such as programmed image of the dragon sleeping on its horde while the real one dozes in a nearby chamber)
Misdirection or misrepresentation prior to the fight to prepare the party for the wrong fight. (See the case of the Albino Red Dragon).
Alternatively, if you want another way to make the fight epic, you can always use the same tactic that some of the more recent APs use.
Mythic. Just on the boss, never used anywhere else in the adventure. Throw the players out of whack, catch them off guard as the Big Bad goes again before their turn comes back around. Surge on a climatic roll, such as a vital save against a debilitating spell or landing the devastating crit. No matter how it's executed, it will shake things up.
Thought exercise time:
You are given a very nasty Gargantuan monster with an extremely deadly Swallow Whole ability. It is hasted and gets two potent attacks per round. It has max hit points for its level. This is an encounter for a party of six 8th-11th-level PCs (the creature itself is about as powerful as you'd expect, considering it's fighting mostly solo). Assume the party is well-optimized and focused on DPR.
The creature is stunned for the entire first round. Your goal is to make this encounter last at least six rounds; the longer, the better. What tactics do you use to:
A) Avoid a ton of PC fatalities (though they are acceptable)
B) Keep the creature alive and dangerous as long as possible.Ideas on statistical tweaks for this creature are acceptable, though tactical ideas are the focus. The creature can behave as stupid or intelligently as you like, but outright fleeing is not an option.
The goal here is to tackle the old problem of "rocket tag" that surfaces at higher levels. How do you extend a 6-on-1 combat in a fair, fun way? Giving everything effects like displacement and mage armor/shield isn't exactly the best answer.
Give it DR and extra hit points well beyond max to make sure it survives the first round. Also give it high saves and chances to reroll so that it does not trade out one status affect for another one.
Also give it minions(to soak up some of those attacks). One creature vs that many people is not likely to go well unless you don't mind fudging dice.
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I'd give it the simple mythic Invincible template. It gives it DR 10 Epic, 4 points of natural armor, Resist 15 to all elements, extra saves, extra hp, and the ability to try and block 1 attack per turn. It would raise the CR by 1, and should give the creature a fighting chance against a 6 to 1 action economy.
While Mythic can make a group of players rather crazy in terms of ability it gives you wonderful utility with bosses, and makes the one huge boss against an entire group an actual battle rather than the boss getting a single turn then exploding.
+1 on Awesome Blow. You can send the heroes sprawling!
DR.
I'm thinking of one of the Sand Worms from Dune, which I used for my campaign: DR, Awesome Blow, difficult terrain (so no charging it), Crush. Between enough HP and DR, that should help it last more than a round. It was, of course, vulnerable to water, which - when the players realized this - they used to drive it away.