Fort Rannick is too easy!

[Loren Peterson]

So far my players have absolutely trounced the encounters set before them with only a few exceptions. Due to the levers in thistltop that can shut the gates around the trap on the bottom level Nualia created a very effective kill zone (no deaths but we came very close), Chief Ripnugget killed our inquisitor (who was then brought back), The scarecrow decapitated our inquisitor (who was once again brought back). But the problem I am having now is that things are far too easy. The party consists of a Tiefling wizard 5/fighter 1/eldritch knight 2 (with a 6th level Orik vancaskerin for leadership), a Dwarf paladin 8, a half-orc monk 8, and a half-orc inquisitor 8. In addition they are accompanied by Vale, Jakardos, Kaven(who can throw a wrench in the works), and Shalelu. That is 10 characters between 6th-8th level taking on a fort full of (mostly) cr3 ogres. I understand they have numbers on their side, but given the low cr I expect that the pc's wont even break a sweat. The ogre fighters tossed into the mix might help a little bit but overall I expect them to be little more than a distraction, and Jaagrath will probably do a resounding nothing before the party drops him in 2 rounds. Even without the rescued Black Arrows this entire encounter area seems far too easy for a group of 8th level characters.

[Skeld]

A couple things to think about.

Once the assault begins, there should be no time when it's convenient for your group to stop to rest/regroup. Pile the encounters on. Fort Rannick is a battle of attrition. If your party is light on healing, then they'll start to suffer.

Also, don't run any single-foe encounters. Every encounter should be a group.

-Skeld

[Skeld]

Another thing: When my players finished taking back Fort Rannick, the were pretty beat up by the end. There were also 8th level (Alchemist, Ranger, Paladin, Wizard, Rogue, Cleric/Fighter) and split Jak, Vale, Kaven, and Shalelu off into a second assault group so that they were effectively "off-stage."

-Skeld

[Loren Peterson]

I thought about that after I posted this and the few changes I have made are as follows

-Constant never string of encounters (even having ogres leave the relative safety of the fortress after several rounds if the players are dragging their feet).

-Kaven springing some traps on the pc's when appropriate (lighting the new barracks on fire with them inside or possibly running off to find lucretia and bring her into the fight)

-Keeping a "subjugated" Hill Giant in the back just in case things are too easy

[Loren Peterson]

I thought about that after I posted this and the few changes I have made are as follows

-Constant never ending string of encounters (even having ogres leave the relative safety of the fortress after several rounds if the players are dragging their feet).

-Kaven springing some traps on the pc's when appropriate (lighting the new barracks on fire with them inside or possibly running off to find lucretia and bring her into the fight)

-Keeping a "subjugated" Hill Giant in the back just in case things are too easy

[PhineasGage]

Mine rolled through it too...that is until they hit the Confusion casting Ogre Sorc. She nearly downed them, and during the fight Kaven ran off to get Lucrecia, which at least made the end of the battle when all their resources were used up (the zen archer had run out of arrows and was reduced to punching people) really challenging.

[ciretose]

This is a big encounter, in a physical sense as well. Is it mainly CR 3 Ogres? Yes.

Are there a lot of them? Yes.

And then once the combat gets rolling it doesn't really stop until you've cleared the place, which is pretty substantial.

All of this also remembering it is fortified with a high wall and big enough that the party can easily get separated.

I think you may be underestimating the encounter a bit. But let us know how it goes.

[JakobDK]

My group waltzed through the fort as well without the aid of the NPCs. Healing wands (CLW and Vigor) made it one big slaughterfest. The only noteworthy aspect of this part of the adventure is that the ogres all carry ogre hooks. So the PCs went from practically unharmed to near dead whenever the ogres were lucky enough to score a (power-attacking) x3 crit.

[Mazra]

spoiler:

My party also went through Fort Rannick without too much trouble though Jaagrath Kreeg did take out Vale. I Dimension Door Lucretia out of the fort. Fort Rannick is a middle adventure for the third book. It should not be as tough as the final boss encounter for this section. Also Barl Breakbone with Lucretia made for a very difficult boss encounter at the end of book three. I also added a Stone Giant Zombie for fun.

But if you really want to ramp up the difficulty at Fort Rannick, just throw in two or three extra Kreeg Ogre Brutes to the mix. That should do it.

[Skeld]

Mazra wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:

I Dim Doored Lucretia out of the basement also. I plan to reintroduce her during the Barl Breakbones fight at the end. I'm glad to see this worked out when you did it.

Along the lines of beefing up the encounter,

Spoiler:

you could upgrade all the regular ogre to ogre fighters (using the stats in the book) and upgrade the ogre fighters that are already called out by advancing them or adding a couple more levels (including Jaagrath and Dorella).

-Skeld