This Saturday I ran Maure Castle and we finished the second level. The PCs stumbled upon Yug-Anark and being all chaotic, noone was affected by the word of chaos. The PCs won initiative and the Minotaur Fighter and the Shadowdancer flanked the cleric and brought him down to 50 hp in one round. So I decided that Yug Anark would use Word of Recall at once to fight another day...but with a meager +9 to Concentration he has little chance to succeed (for word of recall that's 12 or higher) on casting defensively. I have to admit that I fudged the roll and let him escape, but a cleric without minions should have a high Concentration, otherwise he is cannon fodder, isn't he?
Creative Director
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This Saturday I ran Maure Castle and we finished the second level. The PCs stumbled upon Yug-Anark and being all chaotic, noone was affected by the word of chaos. The PCs won initiative and the Minotaur Fighter and the Shadowdancer flanked the cleric and brought him down to 50 hp in one round. So I decided that Yug Anark would use Word of Recall at once to fight another day...but with a meager +9 to Concentration he has little chance to succeed (for word of recall that's 12 or higher) on casting defensively. I have to admit that I fudged the roll and let him escape, but a cleric without minions should have a high Concentration, otherwise he is cannon fodder, isn't he?
Perhaps. Then again... not all NPCs need to be invulnerable; sometimes they should have weaknesses, such as no concentration ranks. Normally, an NPC can five-foot adjust away from peril to cast, but in the few cases where the PCs are tactically-minded to set themselves up so the NPC can't... think of it as a reward for them for being tactical.
The tactic which I plan on using, is to have as much "ganging up" as humanly (gnolly?) possible. My party just started MC and have an EL in the 14 to 15 range, so there are going to be some easy encounters early on. I plan to make use of the "Listen" checks quite frequently, with one group coming to the aid of another as often as possible. I don't remember the room set-up around Yug, but if she (he?) is too isolated, maybe I'll make sure some Claws are tending to her at the time the party shows up. I've even moved a few doors here and there to make it easier for the residents to join in other battles. That way, I don't overload on XP (it's all the same CRs) but I can increase the EL of certain areas to make things more interesting.
Also, I've added an advanced-evolved bodak to the main level. But that's just to scare them a bit. :)
Greg
...but if she (he?) is...
She ... as a rule of thumb Gnolls are Matriarchal - like Hyena's.
It is actually pretty easy to get her involved with several of the seeker guards at her side. There is the giant Tyrg at the base of the stairs, and unless the party can take that out in one round (before it howls), most, if not the entire, level becomes alert. I made this call because the description for the Tyrg explicitly points out how load their howl is - that it can heard for miles. Her chamber is pretty close to the Tyrg - as well as many seeker guards, including the two lieutenants - so having her sneak in during the party's battle with the first group of guards seems appropriate.
However, if the party is using silence or similar magics (or is just really lucky), the Tyrg may not be able to do its thing. In that case, I would say they what happened is fair game - she may give it a round, but would split after it was apparent her big bang spell did nothing. She is pretty wise, after all.
-IO