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Hey everyone,
Right now the group I DM the STAP for is almost finished with the Lightless Depths. There are 3 people in the party... A 13th level Human Druid, a Rogue 1/Warmage 7/Spellwarp Sniper 5, and a Hellbred Crusader 13 (from Tome of Battle). They are higher level than they should be in terms of the adventures level, but there are fewer of them. The problem I have is they are cake walking through Tides of Dread. They are already on level 1 of the Ziggaurat of Holashner and will likely face Ulioth and the Bilewretch this Saturday. Once they are finished I expect them to make a bee line to the Taboo Plateau. There in lies my problem.
The party has been massively effective at defeating every encounter they have faced for a long time now. In some ways Golismorga has been a big disappointment for them after the way I built it up. But that doesn't even compare to Taboo plateau. I have had Xerkamat periodically teleport in to spy on them as they have been going and have even periodically let the party get a glimpse of the creature without being able to try to engage it. After all the build up I don't want the Taboo plateua and Khala specifically to be anticlimactic. So, my question is what suggestions do you my fellow DM's have for how to better run the City of Broken Idols so that it isn't disappointing? I expect the party to hit 14th level at the end of Holashner's Ziggaurat, so they will be about 1 level higher than is called for by the adventure. Still, the combination of the Warmage's ridiculous damage dealing capacity coupled with the Crusaders insane AC and damage output with his martial maneuvers have made quick work of any creature I have had them face. I want Khala to be a memorable encounter without being an instant TPK, and I am having a hard time finding challenges that are somewhere between too easy and instant TPK for awhile now.
Obviously I can have Khala already have summoned a Retriever before they encounter him and I can have it such that he is aware they are coming, but on the surface it still looks to me like he won't be much challenge. The Crusader has a maneuver or feat that lets him hit with a shield bash as an immediate action in response to an attack, and if he hits (which he almost always does), the attack of his opponent fails automatically. His A.C. is in the low to mid 30's against CE creatures, so that makes him only about 50% likley to be hit by Khala's melee attacks, though he could just keep spitting Acid as a ranged touch every round till he has lost some levels.
Anyway, what would all of you suggest. How can I make the Plateua memorable without just instantly killing the entire party?
Hmm, some strategy advice
First-off, the crusader's problematic "shield strike". That one is a 'counter', hence it gets expended once used and can only be regained once _all_ the crusader's readied manouevres are expended - which should be 6 at level 13, and only then regained at the rate of 1/round, randomly determined.
Alternatively, the crusader - if using the "Adaptive Style" feat (ToB)- can expend a fullround action to regain 3 of six manouevres at once.. but these are determined randomly too, as usual for the crusader.
Hence, he should only be able to use the "Shield Strike" counter once or twice each battle, depending upon his random draws. If your player disagrees, check the rules.
As for Khala - that aspect is supposed to be a) clever and b) a master brewer with the Brew Potion feat and access to all evil cleric and wizard spells.
Let him brew up a batch of potions - he should after all, by your account, be pretty much aware of the characters' abilities and tactics. With his high Int, he should be capable of drawing of appropriate conclusions
I sincerely recommend potions of "shield of faith" (more AC), "invisibility" (now where is he ?", "mirror image" ("six avatars ?" *gulp*), "displacement" ("miss me ?"), to take care of being hit too often and with direct damage spell's circumventing his SR and possible immunities. Brew up some potions of "resist elements" against the warmages favourite attacks... And after all, those nasty orbs for one have to succeed on a ranged touch attack (which made mor difficult with additional Dex and Shield of Faith) and burn through elemental resistance - if they do not get wasted on a mirror image or decoyed by Displacement first...
A potion of "wraithstrike" might be wonderful if the crusader relies on heavy armour protection..
A potion of "barkskin" should give another +5 enhancement bonus to his natural armour.
Ahem, potion of "Haste" anyone ?
"Eagle's Splendour" should raise the DC of his magical attacks (especially his gazes and "feeblemind") by another +2, "Bull's Strength" adds some more punch (not that he needs it), "Bear's Endurance", gives more HP... etc etc. Drink them all ! Add a potion of "Divine Favour".... (another +3 to attack and damage )
So we are looking at +10 - + 14 to AC or more (shield of faith+3, possible potion of gerater or normal mage armour, potion of barkskin, potion of cat's grace), additional elemental resistance, a 50% chance to be missed with every strike, additional attack (from haste), at least +5 (Divine Favour and bull's strength) to one's own to hit and damage... Upgrade his defensive and detection abilities with potions of "Blindsight" (SC), "Tremorsense" (SC), Listening Lorecall (SC).... Resist Fire/Cold/Whatever,
Employ an "Expeditious Retreat" potion to maximize on his Mobility and Spring Attack combo
Potions of "Extend Tentacle" (SC) for +5 reach....
Potion of "Reverse Arrow" (SC ) for use against missile attacks
Potion of Conviction (SC ) for even better saves (should be like a +5 bonus too =) )
Some potions of "Cure Serious Wounds" and "Vigour" (SC) should re-up his HP quite nicely if he has to teleport away for a brief stint to regain his breath - although fast healing/5 will take care of much, if you go disappear for a minute or two...
As for tactics.... start of invisible, greater teleport behind the party, attack the softest target first (warmage ?), from the advantage of invisibility and all, bring them into range of your gaze attacks (remember, they have to save on their turn as well as yours !), then dance in and out of range of the crusader, forcing him into single attack mode... And looking at the likely combat area - remember that charging through water is not easy ( without magical help), as is normal movement, so use your movement advantages.
Have the skullwyn swarm and interdict a single character (if you feel nasty, feed them some potions too ). Use your "Greater Teleport" repeatedly to force reorientation by the party. "Fly" up and use "Greater Dispel" on obviously buffed characters or summoned critters...
Use your "Telekinesis" to throw a character, corpse or whatever across the room, dividing their defensive formation (most likely the warmage)
Perhaps let a "Projected Image" soak up the initial barrage (while staying hidden or invisble in a side room... then have Khala let it crumble "defeated", and take the PCs off their guard =) THEN strike.... (he has an INT of 22, that certainly makes him a smart fraggle ).
Determine the depth of the pool - do characters in it have to swim ? How opaque is it ? If it is deep and muddy, have Khala hide in it, possibly after teleporting away... then jump or reach out from its depth and draw some unwitting victim in !
Don't use all of the tactics mentioned above at once, just those that fit your style of play - although that demon to my mind almost screams TPK, if I am honest.
Ah, and another helpful hint - Khala's attacks in the original adventure assumes him using Power Attack at 5 points.... now, if he just laid off this for a few strikes at first, he would hit like 75% of the time, making his rotting touch _very_hard to avoid for the unfortunate Crusader/everyone else. He certainly is smart enough to think of that. Otherwise, let the Skulwyn's "aid" him to hit, plus assuming flanking positions....
Just my 2 cents, hope they help you some
Also, swapping out one of Khala's feats for the one from what, Complete Mage that lets you delay a potion's effects is totally sensible for the character of the villain. And handy for you!
Cut XP in half so that they are the correct level.
Whenever I get an uber-PC, I like to mind control him and let him wipe out the rest of the party. Give Khala a co-hort with charm.
Also, swapping out one of Khala's feats for the one from what, Complete Mage that lets you delay a potion's effects is totally sensible for the character of the villain. And handy for you!
yeah, like the utterly ridiculous "Whirlwind attack".... I just did not want to rework the BBEG himself, because that would open up a big can oof possible worms.
And, let's face it, that encounter is written as a CR 17 =). I doubt that 3 level 14 guys (even level 15 chars ) will consider that battle a "walk-over" if Khala is played properly, taking advantage of his repertoire of abilities.
He spits acid and there are acidic pools before meeting him. You can use it to remove some of the wands/potions/scrolls or other equip of the players.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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As for Khala - that aspect is supposed to be a) clever and b) a master brewer with the Brew Potion feat and access to all evil cleric and wizard spells.
Let him brew up a batch of potions - he should after all, by your account, be pretty much aware of the characters' abilities and tactics. With his high Int, he should be capable of drawing of appropriate conclusionsI sincerely recommend potions of "shield of faith" (more AC), "invisibility" (now where is he ?", "mirror image" ("six avatars ?" *gulp*), "displacement" ("miss me ?"), to take care of being hit too often and with direct damage spell's circumventing his SR and possible immunities. Brew up some potions of "resist elements" against the warmages favourite attacks... And after all, those nasty orbs for one have to succeed on a ranged touch attack (which made mor difficult with additional Dex and Shield of Faith) and burn through elemental resistance - if they do not get wasted on a mirror image or decoyed by Displacement first...
A potion of "wraithstrike" might be wonderful if the crusader relies on heavy armour protection..
A potion of "barkskin" should give another +5 enhancement bonus to his natural armour.
Ahem, potion of "Haste" anyone ?
"Eagle's Splendour" should raise the DC of his magical attacks (especially his gazes and...
Just an FYI... even though he can brew almost any potion he can't make some mentioned above.
No-No's
-Barkskin is a Drd. Rgr, Plant only
-Mirror Image is a personal spell and can't be made into a potion
-Wraithstrike is useless as a potion, it lasts until the beginning of your next turn and you waste you only standard action to drink it (unless you happen to get some AoO's before that).
Good to go!
Haste, Heroism, Displacement, Invisibility, Resist Energy, Shield of Faith, Protection from Good!
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It's been forever since I ran this adventure, but since it popped back up on the front page I had to revisit it for a minute. Khala ended up like so many of the BBEG's in the STAP for this group. That is to say he was turned into mushy remains inside of 5 rounds. If I remember correctly, he did kill one of the PC's but the PC ended up back alive anyway. I found throughout the adventure all the way through Demogorgon at the end that the Crusader as written is just completely and utterly broken. His ability to reorder party actions, coupled with several martial abilities that are just plain ridiculous made much of the rest of this campaign very difficult to DM and ultimately not so much fun when all was said and done.
It was unfortunate really. I loved the STAP and wanted to run it badly. The first time through front to back was not that great. I started running it for a second group and it has been much more fun than it was the first time through. That group has gone on extended hiatus right now, but it has been much closer to what I envisioned the first time than the first time actually was.
Interesting that point about potions - and completely correct. One cannot 'load' a potion with a personal spell in it, disqualifying true strike, mirror image, shield and a bevy of other spells. An oft-overlooked element of the limitations of that item creation feat...
But yes, it would be very easy for Khala (with his CL) to have a rack of potions brewed up and ready to roll. The PCs can find elsewhere in the huge chamber he lairs in a large case with shards of broken glass on the floor in front of it. A disgusting liner aside, they can easily see the former resting places of the many vials. Etched upon the broken glass shards of course: Break and Consume in Case of Adventurers.