So I'm running a party of three players who are doing gestalt characters. I should have guessed after Tides of Dread when they fought the entire pirate fleet in front of Farshore that they'd do this, but in Lightless Depths they found the Ziggurat and charged it.
It was heavy hitting and originally the Ranger//Warlock and Psion//Bard were dominated. The Paladin//Cleric managed to escape with the Ranger//Warlock and dispel the Domination.
Tonight they fought to get their Psion//Bard back. It was an intense fight. They used Word of Recall to return to Sasserine, sell almost everything they'd gotten and boost themselves with tons of new magic. Since Sasserine's GP limit was high enough, the Cleric got his hands on Storm of Vengeance.
So tonight was their grand assault on the Ziggurat. It was a very long night of gaming. The Troglodytes were wiped out after the first batch of hail. Maximized Blade Barriers and Flame Strikes were a plenty, and the Kopru Behemoths simply couldn't reach the pair of flying characters.
Finally they fought their way in, dispelled the Psion as he fought them and then went deeper. They confronted both the Kopru Thrall of Demogorgon and the Bilewretch in the same room (they left to rest right before encountering the Thrall).
I figured things would be going badly for them after the Psion was reduced to 1/2 hit points and the Paladin was down to 1/3 after a single black bile breath weapon.
Then the Paladin charged and attacks with a high power attack smite. He just hits the Bilewretch and inflicts 60 something damage. I roll for massive damage and am shocked as I stare down at a "1." It was definitely the kind of moment you always get blind sided by. So with a mighty swing the Bilewrech was decapitated and the Paladin stood triumphant.
Just a story I had wanted to share here ^_^
~ Bryon ~
I've had such moments--they are jaw dropping but in a way it is worth it to see the look of joy on the player's face. It sounds like it was a lot of fun actually.