I'm using the unmodified Drathkar, and he's an excellent foe! I choose not to go with the souped-up sorcerer version because I want to play a wily Vampire.
One character death, one in the negatives, one dominated so far, and the party is racing for the exit. I had to tell them Drathkar was a Vampire because I earlier remarked he must be "some kind of undead lycanthrope". I guess the earlier battle with the were-rats and the implausibility of facing a Vampire at their level made this a little too easy to believe!
Unlike other campaigns (i.e. olaf the stout), one of my players (a tank) was dominated by Drathkar.
We're switching over to Pathfinder before our next session, and at least one of the players has promised a Vampire slaying build. So if they make it to safety, I expect the characters will research, prepare, and return to fight a more even battle.
I know DMs are often encouraged to skip this part of the adventure path, but I would recommend playing it. My focus is not on yet another dungeon crawl, but on a wide-ranging fast-paced Vampire battle.
I'm using the rule for bat swarms (in their MM entry) that says they take half-damage from slashing and piercing weapons (double damage from tennis rackets) and ignoring the idea swarms of diminutive critters are immune to weapon damage.
Ignoring the bit about the bats being immune to weapon damage will certainly make the fight easier for your party. With that change the fights probably would have been a lot easier for my party. I liked it the way it was though. It made my party think a lot more about what they were doing as they slowly suffered "a death of a thousand cuts". :-)
Olaf the Stout
Ignoring the bit about the bats being immune to weapon damage will certainly make the fight easier for your party. With that change the fights probably would have been a lot easier for my party. I liked it the way it was though. It made my party think a lot more about what they were doing as they slowly suffered "a death of a thousand cuts". :-)
Olaf the Stout
Oooooh how I want to have the bats immune to weapon damage - one of the players even asked what size the bats were and made your point - unfortunately the description for bat swarms addresses the issue directly. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was your original description of 'bats vs. party' that influenced me to choose bat swarm for the first encounter with Drathkar.
Unfortunately, my players heard the bats coming and simply closed the door on the bats - sealing the bottom with a robe, and a towel borrowed from the bathhouse. My sound of bats hitting the door got a laugh. Still 4 swarms waiting for the characters.
The party has been roughed up (one dead, one dominated, one dropped flaming burst scythe picked up by drathkar, one in negatives, all tearing their hair out) and is about to race to the surface ---- through the bats they assume Drathkar has called off.
After their last performance they've started to call themselves the "Cluster___ks". If they live up to that name and allow the bats to start in on them there just might be a TPK. I've decided to have Drathkar hold back for the rest of this encounter, but it is so tempting to have him try and pick a couple more of them off!
The magic weapon was a very weird one. It's a flaming burst scythe with legacy powers that I introduced early. It could kill these bats, and I greatly feared it felling Drathkar in a single blow. When the player wielding it encountered Drathkar, he dropped it immediately in order to use a shield. At that point the party thought Drathkar was some kind of zombie, so it seems odd that a character would make so drastic a move.