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I recently ran both parts of the Rats of Round Mountain set of scenarios at high tier for 6 players (mostly the same, but two players were different in each group). I had no deaths, I had no one go unconscious, and I had no combat make it more than a few rounds. There were a few things I know for a fact I could have done better, mostly in playing the dragon. I had to knock some rust off since I've been too busy with work to GM or play for several months, but I think this could be more than rust.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not out to kill. It's not a goal that I strive for. It just seems to me that if my players are doing so well in such a notorious set of scenarios, that I might be partly to blame.
As best as I can remember, the party for part 1 consisted of:
9th level bear shaman Druid
11th level two-weapon fighting Rogue
8th level tank Cleric
9th level evoker Wizard
10th level large biped eidolon with 15ft. reach and pet Summoner
10th level musket master Gunslinger with a seeking musket
Part 2:
Same Druid
Same Cleric
Same Summoner
Same Gunslinger
8th level White-haired Witch
7th level greatsword-wielding fighter
I'm not really sure what all details to give about the individual encounters. I don't know if I'm looking more for advice, or commiseration, or what. Just felt like venting a bit, I guess.
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I feel you man. Sometimes players, or just the dice, can surprise you.
Some time ago I recall gloating on how challenging You Only Die Twice would be. Well, what do you know, it was a complete walk in the park: I missed with just about every attack roll, couldn't offer any challenge because of a random set of parameters, such as certain combat grid moves that were made on a whim closing charge lines, etc. Utter disappointment there, but at least the players were relieved.
In Rats' case, I think the dice didn't hate me or anything, my players just had the perfect party. It happens!
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Did they enjoy themselves? If so, you did a great job.
Aye, they seemed to. I know that's the real point of all this, but sometimes I don't have fun unless I know that I've played the baddies as well as I could. I don't feel like I did in this case.
In Rats' case, I think the dice didn't hate me or anything, my players just had the perfect party. It happens!
There was a bit of this. The Gunslinger went first in all but a couple encounters, and critted at least once in every fight, and never misfired. She rolls openly, so no shenanigans there. The eidolon is a beast, and at times had a higher AC than the Cleric who was built for it (both were in the mid to high 30s). They seemed to have the perfect answer to every problem (Archers behind arrow slits? Wind Wall. Wall of Stone cutting the party in half? A race between the DDooring Summoner and the Druid's stone shape. Cleric dominated (not the best choice, but he was in line of sight, and the Fighter and 'slinger weren't)? Successful dispel from the Summoner or Druid, one. They both had it, I think.
Running the dragon, the biggest mistake I made was choosing to stay and duke it out (thinking my own high AC and attack bonus would give me a shot against the eidolon) instead of risking the three AoO's I would have provoked moving away.
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Mystic : 2 things here
A) Season 3 was the last season designed for 4 characters/ 4 players. That means that as soon as you add another character.. or even 2 more in this case you are introducing a destabilising influence on the encounter setup. 2 more players means 2 more set of actions each round, 2 more characters for the BBEG to target, more spells and so on.
B) During combat tactics. Sometimes for what the creature can do these make no sense. Just keep in mind you can modify this to react against certain things. Id certainly be breathing the dragons breath on spellcasters/ ranged types.
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I've often worried the same thing about games I GM, especially when I play in a lot of games where we're getting through by the skin of our teeth.
But in this specific example, Kyle's right - you've got 4 high powered classes there, and chances are pretty fantastic they were optimised. If you have 1 or maybe 2, it might be worth talking about, but this game had FOUR. And a cleric. And one of them had a wizard.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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greater glyph of warding tied to antimagic shell triggered if someone wouldn't be hurt by the rocks.
My pointy wizard hat is actually a massive iron cone with shrink item running on it; when the antimagic field hits, the cone returns to full size and falls down around me like a little hut or teepee. It shields me from the rocks, and since it blocks line of effect for the antimagic, I then teleport away. Mwahahaha.
;)
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Oh yeah, my two Rats parties.
Part 1: Inquisitor/Rogue/Shadowdancer 10, Cleric/Fighter 8, Dragoon/Gendarme 11, Grenadier 10, Oracle (Life) 9 and Merciful Healer 10
They talked their way out of every encounter but the second to last and that encounter was a steamroll.
Part 2: Same party sans the Gorumite multiclass cleric. Grenadier went up a level during the middle.
This was a decent challenge. The welcoming committee downed all but two characters and it would have been a tpk without the channelers. Later combats went pretty fast, but the boss was a great finale: incredibly tough main adversary with some greatly built goons.
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That was the second to last encounter, right?
Eh, been a while.
Yeah, yer right. But then how was it a steamroll?
That ambush is nasty!
Iirc, an invisible shadowdancer popped his head out of the hole they had dug and went "Huh, well damn". Then a flying grenadier popped a couple of aao's and dove back into the tunnel. What followed was a slogging match/fighting retreat which quickly turned into a charging gallery once the cavalier set his sights on the gugs.
lance +27 (3d8+84/x3)
"What a story Mark!"