RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
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Greetings!
I've been running Curse of the Crimson Throne for about a year and a half now, and things are building up to a confrontation between one of my players (a Paladin) and a certain evil cleric. Given that this foe is an intelligent one, and has been travelling with and observing the Party for some time, I want to really think about how I can challenge them. I'm particularly interested in giving the Paladin a run for his money; I think I can deal with the others relatively easily.
The cleric is level 12, and the Paladin is level 13. Unfortunately, the Paladin has an AC in the mid-30s (more when he's Smiting Evil), and his saves are all around +20. He also has a Ring of Evasion, so even though his Reflex save is his weakest, it would be a bad idea to target that one. So I'm looking for spells and/or tactics that will allow my cleric to hold his own against the Paladin and hopefully actually do some damage.
One rule, though: I don't want to Daze the Paladin, or otherwise tell him "sorry, you don't get to play." In my experience, effects that take away a player's turn entirely are not much fun, so I try to avoid them when at all possible.
Thanks in advance for the tips!
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two words: Green Goblin!
Give the paladin an ethical conundrum, like Green Goblin did in Spiderman. Should he save the innocents doomed to whatever horrible fate the baddy's cooked up or should he save someone else he loves or admires? The baddy doesn't have to target the paladin in order to hurt him. Just get him to points where he'll willingly accept damage in exchange for someone elses safety.
Well let's see.... Summon Monster VI should make things interesting...
Dire bear*
Dire tiger* Fiendish using smite
>> Pounce - [claw +18 (2d4+22+grab), claw +18 (2d4+22+grab) + bite+18 (2d6+22+grab) + rake~ claw +18 (2d4+22) claw +18 (2d4+22) = ouch!]
Elasmosaurus (dinosaur)*
Elemental (Huge) Elemental
Elephant*
Erinyes (devil) Evil, Lawful
Giant octopus*
Invisible stalker Air
Shadow demon Chaotic, Evil
Succubus (demon) Chaotic, Evil
Triceratops (dinosaur)* Fiendish using smite
>> Powerful charge gore +19 4d10+30, then +17 2d10+30
many options here!
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Read Sail's Tactics. He always has a way to get what he wants. Also Sail would not kill the Paladin out right as said paladin is a way to get Kazavon back. So he would beat said paladin but would not kill him. This doesn't mean that he would not humiliate and humble the bejeebus out of said paladin.
Also the Kyton is the first line of defense she would keep the shiny paladin busy with trips attacks while Sial gets off summons and the like, and in the end if it goes badly for Sail he still has Word of Recall, to just come back with more minions to make the Paladin pay. He would also make sure the rest of the party knows it is no slight towards them at all and only the Paladin brought it upon himself.
If the cleric has reason to fear that the paladin might become trouble he would surely pray for some suitable spells should the paladin attack.
Here's a couple of tactics I have used on players in some similar situations:
Antilife shell is perfect to keep a melee monster out of reach, the best part there is no save, unfortunately the shell only extends out to ten feet so it could be breached by someone with enough reach. The spell also has a long casting time. While inside the antilife shell the cleric could focus on buffing and summoning.
Dispel magic and greater dispel magic is great to take out the paladins most potent items, although only for a few rounds. Most items have pretty low caster levels as well. Target the armor to reduce the paladins defenses or the weapon to lower the paladins offensive abilities, he could also target the paladins ring of evasion if he knows about it.
Harm is a great tank killer, although he will receive a save for half damage, the spell only requires a touch attack to deliver and even on as successful save the spell will deal 60 points of damage which is probably more than the cleric would otherwise manage. The drawback is that the cleric has to be in melee to use it.
Wall of stone can be used to slow down the paladin by entrapping him inside a hemisphere or a cube. This should by you a few rounds to buff up and summon while the paladin hacks his way through the wall. For added fun put a few summoned monsters inside with the paladin. You could also surround yourself with a wall to gain a few precious rounds.
air walk is a great way to limit your foes tactics. If the paladin is of the typical kind he's probably not the best ranged combatant, and even if he has a few good ranged options these can be mitigated by a wind wall or entropic shield spell. If he can lure the paladin to a source of water he might consider water walking and water breathing to take control of the battlefield.
If the paladin gets to close you might consider casting deeper darkness on one of his items (the weapon is great because he most likely has to drop it to be able to see, as is the armor because it takes a long time to remove.)There is no save against this spell but it requires a touch attack to cast. The downside is that the cleric can't see the paladin either, but he could summon devil's which can see in any kind of darkness to give the paladin loads of trouble. He could also use the spell to gain some time to buff up or heal.
He can always choose to use his channeling to give the paladin some pain. With the Death's embrace domain power you can even heal yourself with this channeling.