Problem with final boss's tactics in Keep of the Huscarl King

[Terek]

There is a problem with the final boss's tactics... it is not possible unless I am somehow missing something.

Spoiler:

It says the final boss cast's true strike and then readies an action to use her domain power to throw the axe at the first person she sees casting a spell. First of all, true strike is a standard action and her domain power specifically says it is a standard action. I see no way for her to quicken true strike so you can't do that the same round.

So to follow the tactics I had her just cast true strike.

Next problem. Even if she readies the action the next round, true strike affects your next attack but wears off and the end of the next round. So if you cast it the round prior, it will be worn off at the end of your next turn thus not being applicable to readied actions at all.

So the final boss wasted a round casting true strike and just let it wear off. The cleric that almost got dropped in one shot, was missed because true strike wore off (I noticed this problem after I rolled the damage then asked someone to look up true strike to make sure I was correct that it wears off the end of your next turn).

Let me know if I am missing something on his/her tactics because per the rules, it is not possible.

[BYC]

You aren't missing anything that I can recall. It's very bad tactics, along with that she is not proficient in great axes, so even going melee is bad for her. When I ran it at the time, I had her make her speech, and then take cover so she doesn't get arrowed, and only started casting spells once PCs were closer so she can reach them next round.

I don't recall when GMed were asked to follow the tactics more closely, but this is one of the prime examples of terrible tactics written. I vaguely remember Citadel of Flame also having bad tactics.

[Marack]

There are a few scenarios where the tactics don't make a lot of sense with the map that gets assigned to the encounter and this is one of them.

Spoiler:

It's only made worse by the fact that she stands there to be shot and her allies give up once she drops. It seems to me that the encounter was designed with either the players starting in the range of her weapon or the writer did not understand the range limitation on the ability she was using to throw it. I believe the point of the tactic is to hurt a spellcaster with the big scary axe and create some drama and fear before she gets turned into a smear by the revenge seeking players.

I think that many GMs tweak this encounter and feel little guilt about it.

Spoiler:

Adding some cover for the bad guys helps. I used wagons that they were filling with things from the keep. I also had her allies use all the tricks that players use to keep each other alive instead of giving up instantly. The final alteration was a big one and a mistake on my part. I used the range on her ability as a range increment. This was a newbie mistake, I was still learning the PFRPG rules and I read them wrong. It made no sense to use her tactics as listed if she couldn't reach a caster the next turn. While technically wrong, it made for a much better encounter that was worthy of the work the players had put into the series. Even the rules expert who asked me about it the next day and pointed out my mistake admitted that it probably helped everyone's enjoyment of the encounter.

[aboyd]

So, this is an old thread that I probably shouldn't raise from the dead. However, I am running Shades of Ice part 3 soon, and searched for forum topics, and yours came up. Assuming any new GM like me will do the same search, I need to add this correction to the thread, for future readers.

Melkorka's tactics do work. They are extremely limited, but they work. The key is understanding this line of text from the True Strike spell:

Quote:

Your next single attack roll (if it is made before the end of the next round) gains a +20 insight bonus.

Note that it doesn't say "made before the end of your next turn." It uses the word round -- which gives her room to ready an action, so long as it triggers before the round ends. So, let's say Melkorka is 2nd in initiative, with 2 PCs after her. Here it how it works in round 1:

• Player 1 does stuff.
  
• Melkorka casts True Strike. The meter is now running.
  
• Player 2 does stuff.
  
• Player 3 does stuff.
  

Easy, right? And here is round 2:

• Player 1 casts a spell. Melkorka cannot stop this, as she's not ready yet.
  
• Melkorka readies to use Hand of the Acolyte. She has until the end of the round before it runs out.
  
• Player 2 does stuff. If it's a spell, Melkorka's ready triggers, with full benefit of True Strike, since the round hasn't ended.
  
• Player 3 does stuff. If it's a spell, Melkorka's ready triggers, with full benefit of True Strike, since the round hasn't ended. Special: if it's not a spell, the "fallback" part of Melkorka's readied action triggers (hit the "most heavily armored PC"). Either way, she's hitting something.
  

You might ask how she's still "in the round" if her readied action triggers after the last person fails to cast a spell. Technically, the moment she sees the last person's standard action is not a spell, she interrupts the final person's turn, setting her initiative to before that person, so she's still operating in the round. Here is the rule text for readied actions:

Quote:

Your initiative result changes. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action, and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action.

Of course, if she falls dead last in initiative, her readied action immediately triggers the "hit the most heavily armored" contingency. So she's not going to lose that True Strike.

Her readied action is short-lived, but it works, and it has a fallback so it always triggers before True Strike runs out.

Also, just as an aside, with a +20 coming her way, it's trivial for her to use the Fight Defensively option for that round: all attack rolls at -4 in exchange for a +2 AC. It's a small thing, but since many people are saying that the final combat is trivial, it's a nice bonus that seems within reasonable battle tactics.

Best wishes to all the GMs running this trilogy. It's fun.