So I am running my party through Master of the Fallen Fortress and the way they dealt with was awesome. This is my party.
CN Fetchling Bard who is a professional storyteller
CN Goblin Rogue who masquerades as gnome but still acts like a goblin yet hates them. Motivated by pretty things and pink things.
CG Half Orc fighter whose great joy is getting attacked and not falling down
CG Catfolk sorc, aquatic bloodline with scent and a climb speed and motivated by shiny.
NG Assimer Cleric of Desnia with wings (randomly rolled)
I have scaled this for 5 players but that is not all the much more.
dogs:
During encounter 1 the dogs come running out the tower and charged the party. 3 went for the half orc who promptly cut them in half using power attack. The cleric readied create water to intercept the charge of the last one and I ruled this an opposed spellcraft vs acrobatics roll and the dog failed and fell prone. From there the bard, rogue and cleric took 3 rounds to kill the poor thing while the Sorc hide in the cart because cats are afraid of dogs.
spider:
The half orc walked straight into this room and promtly got attacked by the spider. The spider was hanging by a web directly over the fighter then thought maybe I should let the rogue with seath and perception go first from now on. The Bard used his whip to cut the web (trip attack) the spider was hanging on and even though it took a few tries the half orc eventually cut it in half. To ensure that there were no more spiders in the the room the goblin lights all the webs on fire but instead of running out of the fire the goblin and fetchling run deeper into the tower. with the fire chasing after. The see the door to the center stairwell but both utterly fail at a DC 12 str check to open it (rubble pinning it shut). The catfolk used the drench spell on herself and then the other to keep them from roasting alive. The Sorc gleefully claims the dog tag as hers since she loves the idea taking a trophy from a dead dog and the goblin pouts about it but decides that she can have being that she just saved her life and all.
bats:
The party is going up before the go in and after they have anchored a rope on the second floor they proceed to the third where the bats nearly knock them over the edge. (not sure that swarms can bull rush but seamed like the right way to go at the time.) The bard tried to stun them with loud high pitched sound using ghost sound but the bats made their fort save. The mechanic I use for this was that the bard had to take the lower of knowledge nature and spellcraft rolls to create a sound that would stun the bats while the bats got a fort save of that DC.
getting to the roof:
Safely on the forth floor the try to catch a grappling hook to the railing on the roof. Turns out that with bless, guidance, moment of greatness, the catfolk pulling the rope taut at the right time (aid other) the DC 30 to catch the hook the edge was doable with a 20 on the die for the goblin. The would have helped as well but I ruled that the was no shot unless the goblin was actually able to see the top of the tower. That was supposed to stop them from trying but instead they tied a rope around the goblin and threw her off the balcony so that she could see the railing. Still she needed to hit a 20 to actually pull it but on their second attempt the cleric remembered that he had the luck domain and that made all the difference. Apparently when the cleric use it the d20 will show 20 so up they go.
boss fight:
Instead of windows I declared that the walls were invisible from the inside on the 5 level. That means that mister boss man sees the PCs coming and prepares by ordering all of the other trogs to hide in stairwell and ambush them when the come into the room while Tasskar sits in the throne and looks all arrogant. I decided to also put bells on the trapdoors on the roof so that they would know when the attack was about to begin. While that did not work. The goblin detects the bells before they go but the DC to disarm them from the outside higher then she can make. The cafolk says hey i have acid splash can I try to devolve a hole just beg enough for the goblin to get her hand in. While this lead to anouther luck domain 20 on spellcraft followed by yet another luck domain 20 on disable device. Both the sorc and the goblin got over a 25 on their stealth to do this quietly. What do you know they actually get a surprise round witch they use to to have the bard cast grease on the stairs just to be sure nothing comes up from below. Many failed reflex saves later and 8 trogs are out of the fight (sigh). To jump down unhurt i declare that they have to make dc 15 acrobatics roll or take damage form the fall. The goblin goes first and mucks in up with a 2 on the die taking 6 out 7 HP. This followed with a near miss the crocodile and screaming goblin. The catfolk jumps down and like a cat and chucks her caltrops on the floor around the throne (guess he is not going anywhere). Tasskar start summoning. The fighter and bard both jump down and land on their heads. Cleric just floats down on his Assimer wings, (18 on the die) Goblin runs tumbles away from the croc and shoots the casting druid for bit but he concentrates just fine. Croc takes out good size chunk of the orc. Sorc follows this up with memory lapse and druid loses his spell (don't think that you get a concentration check with that one). Druid start summoning again. Fighter engages the corc while the bard starts singing. Cleric heals the group for 6 and all fell a lot more confident about things. Goblin gets in position to back stab the croc and obliges by attempting eat her and th 8 on the damage die scares the crap out her until she see the 3 on the d20. Sorc obliges the druid by making him forget all over again(here I thought this spell was useless in combat). Now Tasskar cast procuce flame. Fighter strikes at the croc but is dismayed when 22 HP fails to kill it. Bard nets the crocodile and when the cleric chooses not finish the croc and instead throw his spear at the druid the party gets mad but not for long as his spear goes in then out of the druid and he topples over dead in the throne (crit for 30 HP). Goblin finish the croc and fighter decaptiates the poor dead druid and throws the head down the stairs with 24 intimidate check on the trogs. They take the conveniently placed ropes the party left behind and high tail it for the horizon.
Forgot to mention the catfolk with scent reaction to sniffing at the trapdoor and getting a snout full of troglodyte stench. Good thing she made the fort save and she was not going in there until the goblin handed her ear plugs for her nose. LOL
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