The party composition: Cleric, Paladin, Rogue, Wizard (all level 9)
Awhile back my players decided to research Devils and spent a few days in a library. They also used magic to help research things. As a result they were aware of the following: Pit fiends had DR good and silver, regeneration good, used fire attacks, had poison (missed out on the disease).
My plan: I retooled Zol a bit (turned him into a Barbarian/Martial Monk) and planned on hitting them the moment that the final door door was opened. However, the rogue doubled back and caught him waiting for them in one of the previous rooms. Nearly killed the rogue but they got the monk. Oh well.
After they opened the final door and saw the cage they prepped for nearly a minute just outside of room and the cage's reach (this was why I was going to have Zol hit them so they couldn't prep).
The cage went down in two rounds due to adamantine weapons on the rogue and paladin. Most of the damage on the cage was to the rogue (who suffered about half his hps in damage from a couple of good solid hits +grab and then constrict damage).
Liebdaga:
I had retooled Liebdaga to have 15HD with max hp, no staggered condition, and no -5attack (the negative levels affecting HD and ability scores was enough). Note: I would not have done all of that had I not known the capabilites of my group (the paladin can get her AC up to 36).
Liebdaga nearly killed the rogue with an improved vital strike bite attack in the first round of combat but the paladin took the damage upon herself. The paladin did ridiculous amounts of damage (3d6greatsword, 2d6bane, 2d6holy + approx 32 bonus damage on three attacks). Liebdaga shredded the paladin in response and nearly killed her except for the paladin's Hero's Defiance spell. The Cleric also performed emergency healing to keep the paladin alive. Wizard cast a spell that failed to penetrate SR.
Round 2: Paladin did alot more damage, Rogue got into the act again and both combined came close to finishing Liebdaga. Liebdaga rolled well enough to kill the paladin but the the paladin burned her use of the Dream Journal of the Pallid Seer (What Lies in Dust p59) and forced it to reroll one attack. This saved the paladin.
Round 3: Paladin and Rogue finished Liebdaga. Liebdaga was buried so deeply into the negatives that the spirit had no chance to bring him back.
Summary: Against a buffed up (enlarge, bear's endurance, bull's strength, haste, +5charisma, barkskin+4, Divine bond set to Holy, evil outsider bane) Paladin Liebdaga doesnt stand a chance as written. With a rogue that can do two-weapon sneak attack consistently (and who brings a dagger for every scenario) Liebdaga really doesnt stand a chance. If I had not buffed him up he wouldve died in round one with only a bit of damage on the paladin (redirected from the rogue).
- Gauss
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1) You rebuffed him to suit your party, which is wise DMing.
2) It sounds like he did stand a chance - not to TPK the party, perhaps, but he could have killed both the Rogue and the Paladin, from your battle report, except for the party being properly prepared and using up resources (Heroe's Defiance, Dream Journal) to keep from dying.
3) It sounds like you ran a smart encounter, and the players played it intelligently themselves, with thoughtful planning (plus perhaps getting a bit lucky with the Rogue doubling back; but that's also smart playing on their part). Fights where the party does their legwork and uses their abilities intelligently can end fast. If either the Rogue or the Paly went down at any point, the fight could have ended very differently, but the PCs used good teamwork. In general, published adventures don't punish the party for that.
Did the group feel the encounter was underwhelming? I suppose you could have made him a full-fledged PF with no negative levels, but then. . .
Like many people, I think that Liebdaga as written is too toned down (mainly due to the staggered conditon). I think for a pre-buffed paladin liebdaga (as written) would have been a cakewalk.
I love the pathfinder APs. They give me a jumping off point as I suck at campaign design from scratch. However, I always rebalance them for my group. In this case I was just reporting the rebalance and results.
Regarding a full fledged pit fiend, ohhh no. That wouldve over-killed the Paladin in a single round. The tweaks I did were about all I could do without making it a guaranteed TPK.
Anyhow, my group was happy with the near deaths.
- Gauss
Keep in mind that you were very close to wiping out your party. You almost killed the rogue as it was, and could have taken the paladin out with a critical hit, or maybe even just rolling a bit better.
And, a paladin is the PERFECT choice for this encounter. Sometimes that will happen, and adventure paths also have to be written for the groups who don't research, don't buff themselves up, and just walk in and..."I guess I attack it".
BTW, the Pathfinder rules were being written at the same time as this adventure. The author didn't even have a bestiary.
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Our fight went like this: Suggestion ("Don't attack; we'll send you back to your home plane if you don't.") Liebdaga took Delay on his next action. (I will never know if he failed the save or not!) We cast Dismissal. *poof*
Liebdaga has been sending the lead PC interesting birthday presents every year since then. He will probably show up somewhere down the road. Having a major devil interested in you is likely to be a mixed blessing....
My understanding is that the GM had planned to reduce the staggered effect as he felt the fight would be too easy. But as a player I was just as happy not to fight at all.