My players are perhaps two-thirds of the way through the Sodden Hold in Hall of Harsh Reflections, having gotten through the water room, taken out the apprentice doppelgangers, and cut their way through the duplicates in the octagonal mirror room (though the PC duplicate, properly upgunned by me, gave them some trouble). They found the secret door in the octagonal room and, thinking that's the only way forward, have decided to rest inside the dungeon. They're going to spike the doors to the octagonal room, taking refuge in the map room -- which, notably, they did not find the secret door in.
Naturally, there's no way I can see Telakin just sitting back and allowing them to rest up. What tactics do you think he might embrace to give them one hell of a night? Right now, I'm leaning towards the idea of distracting the PCs with ghost sound to make them think someone's trying to come through the doors to the corridor, then leading a sortie with the maze-guards through the secret door. Slow and confusion should help stretch the resources of the half-healed party while the guards do their best to chop down unprepared PCs, right?
I don't know the module personally - but I think you've got the idea. Wear them out, make them use some resources that then *won't* be available the next day (b/c spells cast w/in 8 hours of rememorizing/praying don't come back).
But I would say that "holing-up" in the dungeon is a classic thing to do - don't kill them over it, just make it clear that it's not a freebie they can use at will.
Now - as for the defenses and traps that will be setup just outside their cubby hole? Go all out - they can take it :)
I don't know the module personally - but I think you've got the idea. Wear them out, make them use some resources that then *won't* be available the next day (b/c spells cast w/in 8 hours of rememorizing/praying don't come back).
But I would say that "holing-up" in the dungeon is a classic thing to do - don't kill them over it, just make it clear that it's not a freebie they can use at will.
Now - as for the defenses and traps that will be setup just outside their cubby hole? Go all out - they can take it :)
Good point. Fire trap and sign of sealing on the door, possibly some tripod-mounted heavy crossbows to zing them as soon as they pull open the door... *grin*
Ouch! This is like someone handed you the DM equivilant of holding someones arms behind their back and announcing to a friend "Free shots!" You've been given a wonderful opportunity... nay, obligation to introduce to the PC's the importance of proper area securement. Don't waste it!
You're just about where my party is! I loved running the Halls of Harsh Reflections! Did you have one of your players take the role of the hidden Doppleganger too?
Anyway- this crawl can be a bit much to go through all in one go. I guess you need to think about how mean you want to be to worn and weary PC's. At this point in the adventure, my party morale was pretty low, and they needed the win. So I didn't utilize the mirror maze to its fullest and they didn't walk out of the room crying.
But even at your meanest, I think Telakin would want to use his race's greatest treasure- deception. He has been watching the PC's, knows who they are and how they think. I don't think he'd be satisfied with merely killing them with force or stealth. After all, replacement PC could have slit some throats at any point during the adventure so far, but instead he watched the party kill his comrades all to maintain a ploy! If you want to push the PCs, I'd try to find a scheme that lures the party into the mirror maze. Maybe they crack the secret door just enough to have a dwarf or elf discover it as they pass by, thinking they found it on their own and not by enemy design. I liked the idea of using ghost sound or just some good acting against the party. Chances are good that they're pretty paranoid and won't take much at face value. You can use that to your advantage- play a multi-leveled ploy that gets them to react into their own peril.
Whispers just on the other side of the secret door feeding false information or hints that there might be yet another dopple in the party might get them to poke around, a shadowy figure beating a hasty retreat might lure them into ambush.... you know your party better than any of us could, but you get the idea. Dopplegangers love deception, and that should be the weapon of choice.
You're just about where my party is! I loved running the Halls of Harsh Reflections! Did you have one of your players take the role of the hidden Doppleganger too?
Oh yes. Of course, as my party has access to the Book of Nine Swords, I've found the need to upgun my opposition quite a bit... the hidden doppelganger PC was a rogue 3/cleric 3/swordsage 4 who ended up tossing the bard down the 60' deep pit with a Devastating Throw. (I had, unfortunately, forgotten that said bard was wearing the ring of feather fall from the Whispering Cairn, and the warmage shortly thereafter blasted the doppelganger's face off with scorching rays.)
Anyway- this crawl can be a bit much to go through all in one go. I guess you need to think about how mean you want to be to worn and weary PC's. At this point in the adventure, my party morale was pretty low, and they needed the win. So I didn't utilize the mirror maze to its fullest and they didn't walk out of the room crying.
...
If you want to push the PCs, I'd try to find a scheme that lures the party into the mirror maze. Maybe they crack the secret door just enough to have a dwarf or elf discover it as they pass by, thinking they found it on their own and not by enemy design.
...
Whispers just on the other side of the secret door feeding false information or hints that there might be yet another dopple in the party might get them to poke around, a shadowy figure beating a hasty retreat might lure them into ambush.... you know your party better than any of us could, but you get the idea. Dopplegangers love deception, and that should be the weapon of choice.
So far, I don't think they've been heavily pressed -- despite a couple of close calls. The doppelganger PC managed to catch the warmage flat-footed and sneak attacked him for a goodly amount, then used the Elusive Target feat from Complete Warrior to redirect the swordsage's maneuver for 31 damage into the warmage as well. That dropped the poor warmage to -22, which would've killed him instantly if not for a timely pair of close wounds from the real cleric of Pelor and the crusader's Heironeous-cleric cohort.
That aside, though, they weren't in my opinion really pressed hard. Their resources have been depleted, though, which makes resting not a bad idea. They've just chosen a rather unfortunate locale to attempt to rest up. They did realize that jamming seven people into one of the trainee rooms would be unwise and splitting the party into two rooms would be even more unwise, and they don't want to retreat out of the dungeon. (They used the rope of climbing to ascend from the stone pillar to the doppelganger hideout after the scout evaded the octopus and lowered the water level, so I'm guessing they don't want to retreat all the way back down that way and risk the falling damage.)
*rubs hands together in evil-genius fashion and contemplates the most devious of plots*
Come to think of it, combining real effects with illusions which lure PCs to traps -- particularly when those illusions are of, say, summon monster creatures like huge monstrous centipedes that stand just behind pit traps in Telakin's throne room -- would be vicious. Especially if Telakin actually does use a scroll of summon monster to enforce the "reality" of the illusion.
Well, things just got more interesting. I asked the PCs, via our mailing list, where they were going to set up camp and whether they were planning to take any particular precautions. This generated quite a lot of back and forth -- there was the initial idea of fortifying the map room (heh heh heh) and taking 20 on searches (which probably would've found the door behind the bookcase, I suspect), and a number of replies followed.
However, the scout of the party (who's the DM in another game I'm in) is a wily player who's both crafty and game-paranoid. Not that I blame him, really; the two of us think alike that way. *grin* Anyways, he's proposing that instead of the map room, the party hole up in the drained water room, while placing a fire trap on the main door leading into and out of the lair. The theory, as far as I can make out, is that camping there allows the PCs to control entrance and egress to the entire complex. It does, actually, but it also sets the stage for some fantastic high-pressure combat, too.
Telakin still has his elite guards from the mirror-maze. The PCs never penetrated that far before deciding to fall back for recovery. So technically, all Telakin has to do is wait for a while (and be prepared to spy on the resting PCs with clairvoyance to see who's on guard). Once most of the PCs are asleep, leaving perhaps two (or three at most) keeping an eye out, Telakin could put an invisibility sphere over himself and his guards, get rid of the fire trap with a casting or two of dispel ward, sneak the group onto the high stone path from the door to the central column, and cast feather fall as the elite guards paratroop down into the midst of the party. As an 8th level wizard he has enough range to cast regroup (PHB2) and pull his troops from the floor back up to the span (50' above) if need be, where the party can't easily or quickly follow.
That sets the foundation for the night raid. However, the elites aren't primarily there to directly attack the PCs. Even with some of them sleeping, the party is astonishingly good at surviving tough circumstances... so Telakin's going to try to turn the terrain to his advantage.
The party wants to camp in the water room? By all means, do. The elite guards will skydive down, take control of the water column, and pull the lever. Per the module text, the room goes from empty of water to 40' full within one minute -- with each round, the water level rises by four feet.
One round, four feet deep, inconveniencing anyone on the floor and leading to a cold and sudden awakening.
Two rounds, eight feet deep, and suddenly anyone in armor on the floor is in serious trouble.
Three rounds, twelve feet deep, and the giant octopus that fled to the drains comes back out to play.
And all of a sudden, things turn from a watchful night of rest into a rough and tumble fight for survival in rapidly worsening circumstances.
All that said, given that Telakin will still be invisible up topside, what kind of spell roster would be most effective? In my campaign, he has INT 21 (so 2 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, and 1 4th lvl bonus spells). This is what I think he'd have to have prepped, at the most basic levels.
0th: detect magic, (3 others)
1st: (scroll -- dispel ward x2); mage armor, feather fall, (4 others)
2nd: false life, resist energy (fire, given the warmage incinerated the PC doppelganger with two castings of scorching ray and the swordsage kaboom'd three PC-mirrors in the Hall of Deception with a Desert Wind-style death mark), (3 others)
3rd: (scroll -- fireball); invisibility sphere, lightning bolt, regroup, clairvoyance.
4th: confusion, (2 others)
5th: (scroll -- dominate person)
Any suggestions? Wall of fire seems not quite as useful for the circumstances, given that the room will be flooding, but I suppose it could be used as a barrier against PCs trying to storm the water control pillar as the waters flood in.
All of what follows assumes that the party actually does decide to camp on the floor in the water control chamber.
The party will feel secure behind the fire trap and the 50' drop, forgetting that there are villains with magic and collaborative team tactics too. Having swiftly determined that there is an abjuration on the door (by means of detect magic, Telakin will command his elite guards to make near-continuous distracting noises -- horrible pleading screams calling out for help, monstrous growls and roars, the sound of the adventurers' own voices making snide comments, singing annoyingly catchy songs (in perfect four-part harmony), whatever. They will do so at intermittent intervals, with unpredictable spans of silence as well as noise so that such activity is unpredictable.
Following someone else's suggestion, I have made Telakin's class levels wizard 8/barbarian 5/cleric (Xan Yae: Celerity, Trickery). His spells for a night raid on the camped-out party will be as follows (Telakin has INT 21 and WIS 17):
Cleric Spells (5/3+1+D/2+1+D/1+1+D): (DC13 + spell lvl)
0th: detect magic, read magic, cure minor (x2), mending.
1st: dispel ward (d20+5), entropic shield, command (Will DC14) (x2), expeditious retreat(D).
2nd: bear’s endurance, interfaith blessing (+2 attack for 5 minutes), silence (20’ radius, cast on an object the guards will take down with them), invisibility(D).
3rd: glyph of warding (8d6 lightning bolt, Reflex DC18 for ½), mass resist energy (fire, 10), nondetection(D).
Wizard Spells (4/4+2/3+1/3+1/2+1): (DC15 + spell lvl)
0th: ghost sound, detect magic, mage hand, read magic.
1st: mage armor, feather fall, dispel ward (d20+8), magic missile (x2), ray of enfeeblement.
2nd: false life, arcane lock, web (Reflex DC17), scorching ray.
3rd: clairvoyance, invisibility sphere, lightning bolt (Reflex DC18), regroup.
4th: confusion (Will DC 19), defenestrating sphere (Fort DC19), wall of ice.
Scrolls: fireball (8d6, Reflex DC 18), dominate person (Will DC 20), dispel ward (wizard: d20+8)
During one of the bursts of noise, Telakin will take 10 minutes to lay down a glyph of warding on the corridor behind the fire trapped door. The glyph will strike anyone who doesn't follow the doppelgangers' deity (Xan Yae) with a lightning bolt (the spell-glyph can contain any 3rd level spell, so this will generate 8d6 electrical damage, starting with the triggering character, straight down the 5' wide entry corridor and out along the stone bridge).
Having set his own defensive trap, Telakin will attempt casting dispel ward on the fire trapped door. Wizard casting first (d20+8), then cleric if that doesn't work (d20+5), and finally using the wizard scroll as a last resort (d20+8 again). All of these dispel checks will be against a DC of 18 (the warmage is level 7).
Assuming his attempt to get rid of the fire trap is successful, he will scan the chamber beyond using clairvoyance to espy just where the adventurers are standing guard or sleeping. He will then prep an object with silence and puts it down near the door to nullify any sound of his further casting while he goes off down the corridor with his guards.
In quick succession, he then casts mage armor, false life, mass resist energy (fire, 10 pts resist), entropic shield, interfaith blessing (as Xan Yae has the War domain, that should grant +2 to-hit to Telakin and four guards), bear's endurance, and invisibility sphere. Thus prepared, he will unlock the top door with no sound due to silence, and proceed with his four guards to the end of the stone span leading out over the chamber.
Telakin’s tactics are as follows:
• Round 1: the elite guards jump off the stone span down onto the water control column, and Telakin immediate-action casts feather fall to have them take no damage from the fall. They have the silence-stone with them, and will land by the end of the round. Telakin then casts defenestrating sphere to displace any adventurer directly guarding the water control column.
• Round 2: the elite guards attack anyone still on the column, with at least one of them taking a standard action to pull the water control lever. If no one is left on the column, they hold their actions to attack anyone who tries to ascend the column. By the end of the round, water is 4 feet deep on the floor of the chamber and the column is 14’ high. Telakin casts confusion to prevent coherent action on the adventurers’ part, as presumably they will be trying to advance on the column in formation. He also moves the defenestrating sphere to where it can do the most good.
• Round 3: the elite guards hold the column against anyone who tries to climb up, or take potshots with light crossbows at anyone who’s trying to tread water (suddenly rushing water is Swim check DC 15, adjusted by armor penalty). By the end of the round, water is 8 feet deep in the chamber and the column is 18’ high, making Jump checks to get topside effectively impossible. Telakin casts web in a corner of the room, trying to entangle as many adventurers as he can and leave them to drown under 40 feet of water. He moves the defenestrating sphere across the surface of the waters, tossing anyone who’s trying to move towards the column, or to fling about anyone who is flying or spider climbing.
• Round 4: the giant octopus comes back into play now that the water is high enough, and starts attacking anyone who is free. The elite guards continue to hold the column against anyone who wants to try to flip the lever back to “drain”, taking crossbow potshots if no one is actively trying to climb the ladder. By the end of the round water is 12 feet deep in the chamber, and the column is now 22 feet above the stone floor. Telakin snipes anyone still free and unconfused with scorching ray, magic missile, or (for anyone breaking free of the web) ray of enfeeblement. He moves the sphere to displace anyone getting close to the column’s ladder.
• Round 5: by the end of the round water is 16 feet deep in the chamber and the column's top is 26 feet above the floor. Telakin muahahaha’s and casts lightning bolt on the surface of the water above the web, which should deal the bolt damage in a 20’ radius from point of impact with the water.
If things go badly for the elite guards, Telakin recalls them with a casting of regroup (from the PHB2). If the adventurers trying to run away down the corridor back to the barrel-boat, he chokes that corridor with web or blocks their egress with wall of ice.
If they threaten to overwhelm his position at the top of the chamber, he recalls his guards, blocks the adventurers' approach with a wall of ice and retreats, casting arcane lock to secure the door behind himself.
Opinions? Reactions? Am I being too harsh, or have they really put their heads into a death trap and dared it to bite them?
Of course, there are two wild cards that can greatly shift the course of the battle. Two of the six PCs are swordsages (either single- or multi-classed), and both of them have Shadow Jaunt. That gives them unparalleld mobility, and if they stand directly under the stone span they'll be able to use its 50-foot line of sight teleport to get up there.
A potion of fly isn't too much for Telakin to have, I think... just in case.
My group of players holed up in the doppleganger lair as well. They used the planning room with the secret door and they wedged the doors shut. This happened after the party was soundly defeated by hit-and-run ambushes in the mirrored corridors.
Despite that, I still had Telakin organize an assault for the middle of the night. The primary purposes was to drain away the party's spells for the next day. It also helped that one of the PCs had already been charmed.
The dopplegangers managed to get into the room before the PCs knew what hit 'em. Things were looking grim for the PCs early on but eventually they prevailed.
The net effect actually hurt Telakin because it stripped away dopp minions he could have used later on. He ended up getting smoked fighting the PCs all by himself.
In the illithid lair was where the party really learned their lesson. They made a total of three incursions into the lair, retreating the first two times and being wiped out in a TPK on the third. Their high water mark was the chamber with the advanced octopin.
The key to handling their multiple incursion strategy was having the illithid organize its drow throws and strike an alliance with the naga (who had managed to flee the PCs twice beforehand).
As a result, by the party's third incursion the enemy was well organized and waiting for them. While the party went after the naga, the drow (plus some undead and carrion crawler fodder mustered from the sewers) attacked from behind. Myrianaas hung back and summoned or supported with divine firepower. It was a grand slaughter, with Myrianaas and a lone PC fighting it out at the end. The drow won. The party's wizard was the only one to escape.
I had decided beforehand that if their third incursion wasn't successful in slaying the illithid (they never even reached him), then the city guard and another band of adventurers (Auric's Warband) would intervene and clean the place out.
As it turned out, the PCs were wiped out and Auric's Warband finished the job they started (although Zyrxog escaped via his plane shifting ability). I kept the adventure going by having Tirra provide to the party the incriminating documents about Loris Raknian.
So in the end, the party got what they needed but they're in tough now because they're underpowered for the Champion's Belt adventure.
The key to all this is that a DM must make the adventure's enemies dynamic. They must react to the PCs. If the party keeps blowing their load in the first battle and then trying to retreat and rest (effectively trying to wage a slow war of attrition), have the enemy hit 'em hard. When the enemy knows the PCs are coming, they no longer have to abide by the initial adventure setup. Have all the bad guys muster together and launch an all-out assault on the PCs. That'll teach the PCs that they need to take advantage of their initial surprise when entering a dungeon and capitalize on it before the enemy can muster its forces, organize a plan, and coordinate an attack of their own.
Yeah, I've thrown some curveballs into the whole mind flayer lair stage. The naga's the same, but as for the rest...
First, I stole an idea from someone else on the boards and replaced the drow with dolgaunts. Not just everyday dolgaunts, but a cabal of Pyremius-worshipping swordsage (Desert Wind and Setting Sun focused) assassination-and-arson kung fu types who fight with their bare hands in leather armor. They're led by a female dolgaunt cleric 9 of Pyremius (Fire and Destruction domains), who's wearing a Crimson Coat of Ilpharrz (or however it's spelled -- the +4 leather armor that lights on fire and does damage to people who attack with non-reach weapons) and wielding a volcanic-obsidian enchanted morningstar.
And just to top it off, as the dolgaunts aren't equipped with any metal (all the metal Zyrxog keeps is behind octopins and large stone doors), I gave her a pet rust monster. Yes, there's a bit of a tentacular theme.
Of course, rust monsters as written are a little bit TOO gross, so I used a hybrid of what's in the Monster Manual, what Mike Mearls wrote up over on wizards.com, and the spell rust ray from the Spell Compendium. Instead of auto-destroying metal items, the items instead take 2d6+5 (monster HD) points of damage past hardness and either lose 1d4 points of AC (for armor) or take a 1d4 penalty to attack and damage (for weapons). Naturally, magical arms and armor keep the DC 17 Reflex save, and gain +10 hp per plus of enhancement. I think I'll throw in that the AC/attack/damage penalty roll is reduced by the plus on the enchantment, as well. Thus, a +2 large shield would have 40 hp, and lose 1d4-2 points of AC rather than 1d4, and could very well keep working at full throttle right up until it falls apart from rust. (At 2d6+5, that would on average take three or four hits -- hopefully long enough for the wearer to realize that something was going seriously wrong and run like hell.) Damage to an item which hasn't been wholly destroyed could be repaired either by mending (1d3 pts of damage with each casting) or make whole.
The octopins, stone brain, and vrock are going to be pretty much as written in the module, but bumped up a little bit because of the size and martial-adeptness of my party.