Ok, here’s the situation. We have a game session tomorrow night. I had intended to do some significant planning last night and tonight. However, a RL work has exploded on me and I will have very little time to prep (hopefully I won’t have to cancel). I had a single major encounter left to detail and I would appreciate some help with it.
We will be starting the Ruby Phoenix Tournament. I wanted a tough but not deadly fight for the local qualification round to get them into the tournament.
Here’s the group:
- Half-Orc Archer Paladin 10 - Typical lots of arrows for massive damage. Pretty good saves but hasn’t really pumped charisma to get the great saves. Has trouble if forced into melee. Moderate armor class and hitpoints.
- Gnome Sorcerer 5/Dragon Disciple 5 – Fire blaster. Went dragon disciple for the hitpoints and natural AC not for melee.
- Half-Drow Ranger 2/Witch 8 – Gauntlet witch from Kobold magazine gives a little more melee capability. Fairly high AC and hitpoints. Tries to be a decent sword and board tank when needed. Utility caster with some healing and a few attacks the rest of the time.
- Elf Universalist Wizard 10 – Least experienced player. Wizard has no specialties. But has still been pretty useful with buffs and some attack spells.
PC’s were built with 20 point buy and are just about dead on for PC WBL.
For the opposition:
I was thinking a team of level 11 leader with 3 level 9 team members use 15 point buy and NPC wealth. That should make them a significant threat but still be winnable.
I wanted them to have to work for it and probably expend considerable spell/ability resources. It will be the only thing that day so the PC are free to nova (though they are not really nova builds).
I would like them to (even more than usual) see the value of working as a team with a plan. They have improved their ability to build good PC’s. But haven’t seemed to really put much effort into meshing as a team in combat. So their performance has tended to be rather erratic. When their individual tactics happen to compliment they slaughter the opponents. When they diverge or even conflict it has been less than stellar.
They need to win to get into the tournament, but I still want it to be tough for them. They will have had the chance to observe the competition in prior bouts and vice versa. Both groups will have 2 rounds to buff prior to start. Mostly open arena grounds. Though I could put in some barriers, pits, and traps if it seems useful.
Can you folks help me out with 4 NPC’s and the basic tactics to be used in the challenge match?