My group is just about to wrap up the 'Test of the Smoking Eye' and as such it's time to roll out the assassins when they return to Cauldron.
How did that encounter go for all of you? Tricks/tips? I'm intending to put some of the local NPCs that the PCs <I>like</I> in the room as well (it's going to be a little party to celebrate Skylar Krewis' engagement to the neighbor of one of the PCs).
I do have a rather large group of PCs as well: a Druid, a Cleric/Fighter/Radiant Servant of Pelor, a Rogue/Diviner/Arcane Trickster, a Rogue/Thief-Acrobat, a Fighter/Occult Slayer, and a Cleric of Kord. Will the three assassins be enough, you think, to really throw a scare into them, or should I mayhap add a fourth assassin?
Thoughts, as always, appreciated.
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I ran it will 4 players and the end result was 1 PC death and a couple of close calls. If the assassins can surprise the PCs, the sorcerer can do some real damage to the party with his area affect spells. (At least that is how I softened the group up and killed several innocent bystanders.) Also remember, the assassins are pretty heavily buffed so I think they would be able to be a real threat to your group of 6. The group will just gain less XP for the encounter.
The fact that the PCs hung out around town without their armor meant that the barbarian could do full power attacks, doing 40-50 point hits. The silence spell is a real problem for the spellcasters. The fact that the sorcerer will be blasting away in a crowd of bystanders will boggle the PCs who care, and they will be distracted on removing/protecting/healing the crowd or moving the fight outside instead of striking back.
When I ran it, the cleric was killed. First PC kill in a long while. They trashed the party. The ambush factor is huge.
Thanks, guys - that's all I needed to know. I think I'll make sure to ask them if they're going to wear the nice outfits they wore to the Cusp of Sunrise, or did they want different apparel, just to see if any of them do decide to wear armor and/or be armed...
Have I mentioned lately how much I love drawing on the collective experience of these boards? Booyah.
E-mail the players of the clerics and wizard and ask them to e-mail you with the spell list that their characters prepare when they are not adventuring and are dinking around town.
I ran the ambush last night and there were no PC deaths.
There were a few problems. Firstly, my players are so paranoid that they always wear their armor everywhere. This isn't inconvenient because they all got mithral armor as rewards for "rescuing" Zenith.
Secondly, the party has 9 characters due to 6 PCs, half of which have the leadership feat. Even though I added a fourth dervish assassin, it wasn't enough to kill any of them, though there were a few close calls. As a DM I'm not sure whether to be disappointed in my performance or happy with the players tactics.
Now they have taken the sorceror Kennock Brage prisoner and are going to interrogate him. Do you think he'll talk? Does this call for beefing up the encounters in the cathedral? I think it does.
My players didn't have too much trouble with the assassins, but my group only has one spellcaster.
My group was surprised at how easy the first floor of Wee Jas was. The monsters are basically hit point wells, so they take a while to kill.
The fight at the top, however, had 2 PC deaths. I rolled great on initiative and was pretty well able to corner them on the stairs and pitch spells on top of them. A little mean, I suppose, but it isn't like the monsters weren't prepared for the PCs arriving.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love drawing on the collective experience of these boards? Booyah.
I'll second that sentiment.