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Hi Frank,

I realize this is after the fact, but maybe this can still be of help in a follow-up encounter:

I waited to have the Stormblades confront the PCs until immediately after one of my PCs participated in the Flood Festival drinking contest. He was falling-down drunk, and fortunately the player, who usually portrays an uptight cleric, played it to the hilt. After Todd's very first insult and cackle, the player just picked up a d20, rolled it and said "I guess I missed him." Several grapple checks and a couple of sleep spells later, no one had been harmed, tensions were running high, and the drunk cleric was taken to the jail to sleep it off (with no charges).

A couple of my players are already developing revenge scenarios for the Stormblades, particularly Todd. Good times.

I just finished reading the Test of the Smoking Eye, and my concern is:

What if a party refuses to participate in one or all of the tests?

One of my parties is largely neutral, and motivated primarily by money. There doesn't appear to be a lot of financial incentive to become the ruler of an Abyssal plane.

Another party I may run through eventually is extremely lawful good, so hooking them in is no problem; however, there is no way they'll sacrifice a member, and one of them may not think to sacrifice him/herself. Even if one of them does, they're very noble, do-gooder PCs, and I have a hard time imagining one of them with a fiery, smoking eye socket.

Has anyone else dealt with a party that diverges from the "one of the PCs will eventually pick up the Smoking Eye template" philosophy?

Thanks for the responses; I'm glad it wasn't just me. I got around the devastating full attack by making use of the flyby attack option. Fortunately one of the characters hit the grell with a tanglefoot bag and I was able to rule that the majority of its tentacles were stuck together (since the grell wasn't touching the ground and doesn't have any wings). Still, it was a tough battle, and would very easily have been a TPK if I wasn't actively trying to give the PCs a break (and if one fighter hadn't made several Fort saves).

Does it seem realistic that a grell, which could, theoretically, make 10 paralysis-inducing attacks per round with a full attack, is listed as a CR 3 encounter and is suitable for a 2nd level party?

Or am I misreading something?