Yet another person confused about Bodaks

[YellowMage]

So I'm running an encounter for my party right now featuring 3 Mythic Bodaks and a level 9 Mythic Cavalier, who also happens to be a vampire. Yeah, the campaign has been getting a little dark lately. Anyway, I'm confused by the Bodaks' Death Gaze ability. Am I correct to assume that it counts as a gaze attack, and thus the players would have to save against it every turn they're looking at the bodak (i.e., not averting their eyes or wearing a blindfold as in the core rulebook under the Gaze attack section)?

And if that's the case, does the save for the negative levels happen every time the Death Gaze goes off, or is it the type of negative levels where you get the save after 24 hours? I'm a bit confused, and would appreciate any help you guys could give me.

[Amrel]

It does count as a gaze attack. A PC must make a save each round (possibly twice if the bodak uses the gaze attack as an action) or gain negative levels as they are the result of the gaze attack.

As the levels are not said to be permenant I believe the players get a save each day to remove them at the same dc as the initial attack.

[Amrel]

As a side note: Be careful with this encounter depending on the abilities and skill level of your players. 3d4 negative levels each round can result in a tpk with just a few failed saves.

[YellowMage]

Amrel wrote:

As a side note: Be careful with this encounter depending on the abilities and skill level of your players. 3d4 negative levels each round can result in a tpk with just a few failed saves.

The party consists of a level 11 Mythic Barbarian with an Oracle of Life Leadership cohort, a level 10 Mythic Barbarian built around having a 15' -reach at all times, a 5/Fighter/5 Oracle of Battle, and a level 10 Gunslinger. They've been walking through encounters for a while now, and now they're in Undead country...

[Ravingdork]

Have the bodaks surround the vampire to protect him and then take the full defense action each round. This will allow them to stay in the fight much longer in order to force more saves upon the party. Pretty standard bodak tactics from what I understand.